Extremehorizon Surfing Blog
Extremehorizon surf blog providing: regular surfing news, updates, stories, surf pictures, product reviews, surfer interviews and anything from the world of actions sports which is begging to be blogged!
Here at Extremehorizon HQ we read this story with interest, not just because a surfable wave pool is being built in the desert! but its a sign of a whole new direction being taken in the leisure and tourism market. Its seems as though most of the worlds population has embraced the beach lifestyle (even if some of them have never seen the ocean) and surfing is becoming more mainstream every year. So if the people can't visit the beach and learn to surf, bring the beach to them. I've a feeling that these wavepools are going to pop up all over the place, with kids learning to surf without ever dipping a toe in salt water. These pools will also open up new opportunies to stage surf competitions, with audiences close to the action as the pools can guarentee wave height, swell direction and no wind on any or every day of the year. I would'nt be surprised if surfing wave pools wont feature in the Olympics some day. A wavepool isnt a bad thing and it will add a new dimension to surfing, but an indoor pool full of chlorine with mechanical waves will always be souless and is never going to replace the raw energy, unpredicatability and power of the ocean and nature.
Story: Mesa Arizona, USA to receive new Waveyard water complex
Waveyard is slated to become a first-of-its-kind tourist destination, featuring the largest surfing wave pool in the U.S., a multi-channel white water rafting and kayaking course, scuba diving and snorkeling lagoon, wakeboarding park, massive sand beach, and a resort hotel with an indoor water park. Waveyard will occupy 121-acres on the Southeast corner of the Loops 101 & 202 interchange in Mesa. Waveyard will be in close proximity to the Mesa Riverview retail development, Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport and Arizona State University (ASU). The resort will generate an estimated $5 million in annual revenue for the City of Mesa and create more than 7,000 permanent jobs.
Through the practice of environmentally conscious thinking and the use of eco-friendly technologies during construction, Waveyard developers have ensured that the resort will conserve as much water as possible. In fact, the annual estimated water usage at Waveyard will be directly on par with an 18-hole golf course. Waveyard will require a one-time fill between 30 and 50 million gallons. Daily use, evaporation and the splash effect will require between 60 and 100 million gallons each year. In comparison, a typical 18-hole golf course uses 144 million gallons per year.
Police tape surrounds a Northern California beach after a shark attacks a surfer. The monster's teeth left a huge gash on the surfboard. Todd Endris lost half his blood in the attack. His torso and leg are badly scarred, the result of seven hundred stitches to sew him up. Endris says the blow from the shark knocked him out of the water. Endris recalls the terrifying attack, saying, "The first time he hit me he couldn't fit me in his mouth." He says the shark, which he estimated to be 18 feet long, was traveling at a speed of 20 to 25 MPH. He believes the shark mistook him for a sea lion. Endris says the shark took his entire leg into its mouth. Quickly he began to lose consciousness. Then incredibly, a pod of dolphins surrounded him, distracting the killer shark. Endris tells INSIDE EDITION, "(the dolphins) formed a wall between me and the shark and that gave me just enough time and I started to swim in." The dolphins blocking maneuver gave fellow surfer Joe Jansen just enough time to help pull Endris onto shore. Jansen tells INSIDE EDITION, "it was horrific...just a massive gash, the full nine yards. It was about the worst thing I've ever seen in person." Endris is thankfully that Jansen was there to help, calling him "the most heroic guy I know." Now, the wounds have healed and Endris is in therapy, rebuilding his torn muscles. He's thankful the shark didn't kill him. Story published by insideedition.com
 TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE FOR THE ANNUAL SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE RAFFLE Spend just £1 on a Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) raffle ticket and you could be a winner of some great ‘GREEN’ prizes; a fantastic £1000 in cash, an opportunity to star in your own surf DVD, a carbon neutral surf holiday in Fuerteventura, an Eco Surfboard and many more prizes many more prizes; and what’s more every ticket sold will help to raise much needed funds for the Surfers Against Sewage campaign for clean, safe recreational water.
Surfers Against Sewage is a not for profit organisation based in St Agnes and the annual raffle is the organisation’s biggest annual fundraiser. Last years raffle raised a whopping £9,000, which helped to fund a new ‘Mean Green Education Machine’ and it is hoped that this year’s raffle will raise even more!
SAS are proud to say that this year all the prizes in this years raffle are ‘green’; there are eleven GREEN prizes up for grabs all donated by supportive companies including Low Pressure, Maniac Films, Extreme Board Shots, Kind Design, Pointbreaks, Baggy Lodge, Global Boarders, Azul Surf Camps, Joel Blackman Boards, Buy Buy Bicycles, Surfers Path, O’Neill, Pendoric Bed and Breakfast, Ethical Superstore and Surfs Up! Surf School. Tickets are on sale now for £1 each at the SAS Office, Wheal Kitty Workshops, St Agnes and online at www.sas.org.uk.
 The Gold RushBritish Surfing Association
Fistral Beach, Newquay Cornwall
Date to be determined 2007/2008 SURFERS GET READY TO GO FOR GOLD! With huge winter swells now on the cards, The British Surfing Association’s surf experts are currently scanning the weather charts for the ‘perfect storm’ that will allow them to run The Gold Rush, a speciality big wave event sponsored by Skinners Brewery, to be held at Fistral Beach. Last year’s inaugural event was a huge success. Spectators were treated to some of the best contest surfing the UK had ever seen as clean 8ft waves (created by the tail end of Hurricane Gordon) pounded the Cornish coastline. In a dramatic final, Jersey’s Scott Eastwood took the £1000 winners cheque with a last minute barrel that earned him a perfect 10 from the judges and some serious respect from his peers! Dropping everything and heading for big waves has always been the quest of keen surfers. But all too often contest dates coincide with small and or messy surf, resulting in lackluster performances. So the BSA came up with the innovative idea of a contest that would only happen when the surf is epic. With support from Restormel Borough Council and the RNLI, not to mention the enthusiastic surfers, the Gold Rush vision became a reality. The event is called ‘on’ at 2-3 day’s notice, allowing near certainty of big, clean waves. For safety reasons, and to ensure a high standard of surfing, the event is invite only, with a field small enough to allow the BSA to run the event in one day, which can be any day of the week. Karen Walton, National Director of the BSA says, “Last year was the first ever Gold Rush and it was just immense! With the opportunity for us to call the contest at 24 hours notice to co-incide with superb conditions, we can ensure that we’re providing the very best canvas that the ocean can provide and therefore continually raising the bar of competitive surfing in this country.” The contest date will be announced on the BSA website as soon as it has been decided. Photo: Tony Plant
 Virgin Atlantic, one of the world’s leading long-haul airlines, has come to the aid of sports travellers by announcing that they can take one piece of sporting equipment in addition to their checked baggage allowance. The announcement comes after rival carrier, British Airways, decided to ban surfboards and other sporting equipment, such as pole vaults and javelins, in the cargo hold on its flights from 6th November 2007. This means that, as long as the equipment complies with size and weight allowances, Virgin Atlantic travellers can check in to the hold of the aircraft their diving equipment, golf equipment, fishing equipment, hang gliders, snow skis, surfboards, windsurfing boards, booms and sails, bicycles, paragliders, canoes and kayaks - all free of charge. Sporting wheelchairs are also considered sports equipment. Paul Dickinson, Sales and Marketing Director, Virgin Atlantic, said: "Virgin Atlantic continues to be the airline for sports enthusiasts unlike others who are doing everything they can to prevent the gold medallists of the future transporting their equipment. Our new sports equipment policy enables all sports travellers, whether Olympic teams or not, to enjoy their journey throughout." The sporting equipment can weigh no more than 32kg, unless with prior consent, and must not exceed overall dimensions of 62" (width + height + length). If the sports equipment weighs more than 32kg, the item will be treated as two pieces of checked baggage, excess baggage charges will then apply. Sporting equipment weighing more than 45kg will need to be transported as cargo and cannot be accepted as checked baggage. Larger dimensions are allowed for surf boards as outlined in the table below.
  Northcore's newest and yet to be named member is actually a cartoon character designed by Mike Vincelli who is the creator of the "Beachnuts Comic Strip" which is an insightful and sideways vision of the surfing world. Mike's writing is clever, amusing and the quality of his artwork speaks for itself. Northcore's concept for the new character was to produce a surfer who's stoked to be surfing head high waves in freezing water to represent Northcore's roots.
Mike Vincelli's bio says:
"We think Mike likes to surf, with head high, on-shore dribble in polluted water being his favorite conditions.
He took some art classes in high school and college, but got sick of drawing inanimate objects and disgusting naked people that shouldn't be seen in the nude, let alone be reproduced as art (so no, he was never an art major).Ba ba BeachNuts is the culmination of his 16 years of being a surfer and a hapless kook.
Also, to the utter disgust of his friends (he has friends?), he can be found in the lineup riding boards that should no longer be ridden - buy a new board, you cheap b*stard!" More information on Mike's work can be found at http://www.beachnutscomic.com/
Northcore Boardriders are a British based, European surf & boardriding company with an International heritage, combining British innovation with English and Australian designers merged with Californian know how. Everything Northcore does reflects its roots in hardcore cold water surfing producing tough, practical products and custom surfboards all of exceptional quality, integrity and design. Currently the primary products are surf based accessories and surfboards but Northcore are continually working on new innovations in all the board riding disciplines to supply a growing demand for top end, technical equipment and apparrel for todays surf and snow board riders.”
Check out the new website at: www.northcore-europe.com
Or for further information on stocking Northcore products contact: sales@northcore-europe.com
 HALF MOON BAY, Calif., Nov. 13 2007 - On just 24 hours notice between December 7, 2007 and March 31, 2008, 24 legendary big-wave surfers will make the trek to Half Moon Bay, home of Mavericks, one of the most majestic and infamous surf breaks on earth, to test their individual skills and vie for the highly sought-after 2007/2008 Mavericks Surf Contest® title. Competitors will face the dangerous elements of the frigid northern California waters in search of the perfect ride on waves reaching heights of 30 to 40 feet. The invite list is as follows:Matt Ambrose, Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Ion Banner, Ross Clarke-Jones, Kenny “Skindog” Collins, Randy Cone, Danilo Couto, Shane Desmond, Brock Little, Greg Long, Josh Loya, Garrett McNamara,Peter Mel, Shawn Rhodes, Ryan Seelbach, Evan Slater, Tyler Smith, Russell Smith, Jamie Sterling, Anthony Tashnick, Darryl “Flea” Virostko, Grant Washburn, John Whittle Zach Wormhoudt.
Thankfully the predicted storm surge on Friday didn't do much damage in Lincs other than some sand dumped way up against the sea defences. The swell was a good size northerly but strong North winds on Friday messed it up. Sat morning there was no wind at all and low tide looked tiny, but the predicted swell picked up on the push along with moderate offshores to a solid 3ft with bigger sets. Surfed at TV which was a pit peaky with strong lateral rips and a long paddle out but it was clean with fun lefts.
Imbituba, Brazil – Australian Mick Fanning clinched his maiden Foster’s ASP World Title after winning the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil today. Fanning was in the water about to surf a semifinal heat against childhood friend Joel Parkinson (AUS) when Taj Burrow (AUS) was eliminated by Tom Whitaker (AUS) and his lifelong dream was realized. Americans Kelly Slater and Andy Irons have monopolized the World Title for the last five years but Fanning’s win today makes him the first Australian to clinch a men’s ASP World Title since Mark ‘Occy” Occhilupo did so in Brazil in 1999.
 I'm posting this blog for no other reason than this shot taken in Western Oz. Its been submitted for the BillabongXXL big wave awards and location is called Judgements. It was ridden by Justin Allport in July this year. This lad has huge huevos to be surfing and getting pitted on such a mental and downright lethal wave
The swell was small 1-2ft today but super clean/glassy and fun on the longboard. Sea temp is dropping noticably, but still managed OK without gloves and air temp was about 14c
Extremehorizon have made a few changes to keep the shop home page as user friendly as possible. Theres a site map, some of the surf forecasting tools and webcam links have been shifted to their own dedicated page "Surf forecasting and webcams" and some of the stuff that wasnt required has been binned. Theres also some killer new images on the homepage header. Enjoy
The Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational, In Memory of Eddie Aikau have announced their invite list which goes up from 24 to 28 contestants this year, with a strong Hawaiian contingent. The Opening ceremony kicks off at the end of this month and the waiting period for a 20ft+ swell begins 01st Dec. The invitees are: 1. Andy Irons (Hawaii), 2. Brian Keaulana (Hawai) ,3. Brock Little (Hawaii), 4. Bruce Irons, (Hawaii), 5. Carlos Burle (Brazil) **,6. Clyde Aikau (Hawaii),7. Darryl Virostko (California),8. Greg Long (California), 9. Ibon Amatriain (Spain) **,10. Jamie O’Brien (Hawaii) ,11. Jamie Sterling (Hawaii), 12. Keone Downing (Hawaii), 13. Jason Ribbink (South Africa) **,14. Kelly Slater (Florida),15. Makua Rothman (Hawaii),16. Mark Healey (Hawaii),17. Michael Ho (Hawaii) 18. Noah Johnson (Hawaii),19. Paul Paterson (Australia), 20. Peter Mel (California), 21. Ross Clarke-Jones (Australia), 22. Rusty Keaulana (Hawaii), 23. Shane Dorian (Hawaii) ,24. Sunny Garcia (Hawaii), 25. Takayuki Wakita (Japan) **,26. Titus Kinimaka (Hawaii),27. Tom Carroll (Australia), 28. Tony Ray (Australia)
A 40ft whale has been found dead, washed upstream in the Humber Estuary. Its most likely a Sperm whale which are deep diving mammals who feed mainly on squid which are also a source of fluids for them. The North Sea doesn't contain a lot of squid, so its been suggested by Marine life Rescue that whales can become dehydrated in this area and occasionally die. Sadly stranded or dead whales are found on the east coast from time to time, its such a shame we only get to see them in this state rather than breaching close to the surf line up.
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