Rip Curl Pro-Bells Beach 2010

The waiting period for the 2010 Rip Curl Pro Bells and the Rip Curl Women's Pro kicks off today at the famous Bells Beach, Victoria. The Rip Curl Pro is the second stop on the ASP World Tour and brings together the world's best male and female surfers. Not only will they be chasing valuable rating points and prize money but they will also be after bragging rights and the infamous Bell trophy..

Reigning World Champions, Mick Fanning (AUS) and Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) will be leading the charge along with defending event Champion Joel Parkinson(AUS). This years line up will also include past event champions Andy Irons (HAW) and kelly Slater (USA), current World #1 Taj Burrow and ASP tour rookie Owen Wright (AUS) and another Occy vs Curren clash!

New surf website: Everyspot

Heres an interesting new surf website called Everyspot....heres what the guys there have to say:

EverySpot intends to be the 1st social destination for surfers all around the globe. The website (http://www.everyspot.com) lets surfers see who surfs the same spots they do, connect with them, check out the boards they ride, and schedule surf sessions together. The website also provides a user-generated database of spots all around the planet. Surfers can add spots to the world map, upload insider information about them, and attach pics and videos to them. A newsfeed shows users relevant information about their favorite spots and friends. Traditional surf websites focus mainly on weather and swell forecasts and leave out the whole community aspect of surfing which we believe is crucial to this sport. EverySpot fills this gap.

Marine Conservation Society: Cleaner beaches

This winter I've noticed more an more junk and trash on my local North Sea facing beaches, both domestic and industrial waste, from plastics, to nets, to metal containers and its an awful thing to witness. So thank goodness for organisations such as the Marine Conservation society dedicated to protecting our island's sea waters and coastline. Heres some info on the recent beach cleans initiated by the MCS:

"MCS Beachwatch Big Weekend is the biggest volunteer beach clean up in the UK. Over the weekend of the 19th and 20th of September 2009, 397 beaches were cleaned and 4,665 people went to their local beach to make a big difference.

What sort of rubbish is on our beaches?

Well, it’s mostly PLASTIC, PLASTIC and more PLASTIC. The most common items of litter found were small plastic pieces and 64% of all the rubbish was made of plastic. Worryingly, plastic litter has increased by an enormous 121% since Beachwatch started in 1994.

The problem with plastic is that it never really goes away. It breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces but never disappears. In some parts of the ocean there are more plastic fragments in seawater than there are plankton."

To learn more and support the MCS click on their website:

http://www.mcsuk.org/

Massive waves: Teahupo'o gets mental

Check out this awesome footage of Teahupo'o from a recent session where the wave just goes off. The wave looks a little meaner than normal and its more evidence that this has to be one of the heaviest waves on the planet. Heres the story:

"Wednesday the 17th of March will be remembered as surfing's greatest St Patrick's Day ever. A giant low-pressure system, creating a massive 15-20ft swell that developed and battered the New Zealand coastline then intensified in the Pacific gaining strength and size on its way to Teahupo'o in Tahiti.

Open ocean swells break from extremely deep water onto very shallow coral reef at Teahupo. This causes the wave to break below sea level and with no back to the wave. When Teahupo'o gets big the only way to ride it is with the help of personal water craft (Jet Skis), not only to get into the wave but also to save any surfers that wipeout on the reef.

Having already surfed Teahupo’o twice before with one particular wave getting nominated for biggest barrel and ride of the year at the Billabong XXL Awards, Doug Young (Chch) woke up to write his local surf report and realised what he was looking at on the swell map, a chance of a lifetime to surf the break for the third time. Doug had one hour to organise his life.

Doug grabbed young surfer Sam Hawke (Chch), rushed to the airport and managed to get the only flight heading to Tahiti for the week. Reaching Tahiti late and exhausted Doug and Sam slept on the beach and woke up to what locals are calling the biggest day ever in Teahupo'o.

“I scored one of the most amazing barrel rides of my life only to be swallowed by the foam ball and dragged across the reef. I then had another five more waves on the head before finally being rescued by the jet ski. It was a very special day with many of the best big wave chargers from all around the world claiming to have ridden the best waves of their lives.” Doug recalls.

Having the right tow partner plays a crucial role in riding these waves; one small mistake by the driver can turn into a big mistake for the surfer. This was not however the case for Young and Hawke, after several hours flying and sitting in seats that were their lucky numbers they didn't want there luck to run out.

Wearing as much green as they could on St Patrick's Day, it was the luck of the Irish when Young raced toward the largest set wave of the day and towed Hawke into the biggest, gangliest wave of his life. The wave of the day which everybody called the biggest ever ridden at Teahupo'o!

After getting washed into the lagoon Young pulled Hawke out of the water, struggling for breath, blood rushing out of his nose only to be greeted by a standing ovation from an all star cast of surfers including; Shane Dorian, Ian Walsh, Vatea David, Carlos Burle, Raimana Van Bastolaer and the rest of the local crews.

Both Surfers rides will now be amongst the top contenders for the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards, a global competition rewarding the worlds best big wave surfers with a first prize purse of US$50,000. Hawke and Young’s rides will be entered in the ride of the year and monster tube categories."

*Story: Surfers Village

World class English surf

British surfers already know that on their day some surf spots in England serve up classic waves which can rival some of the best in the world, however surfers from elsewhere may not be aware of the quality of the swells unloading onto our little island. The one aspect often lacking though is consistancy and Porthleven on the south Cornish coast is a perfect example.

'Leven is a reef break which can throw out long heaving barrels but its fickle, so the picture opposite captured by Wavelength magazine is from a long awaited recent swell which lit up the reef with double overhead pits demonstrating the potential on our shores.

To find out more visit Wavelength's website or to subscribe to their sick mag click here

Wax Buddy: revolutionize your surf wax removal!

From time to time a product comes along that just makes sense and its a no brainer to want to buy and own one...the new Wax Buddy is just such a product.

The 100% recycled Wax Buddy solves a common problem that all surfers have: Removing old wax from surfboards. After years of experience using everything from credit cards, to kitchen spatulas, the creators of Wax Buddy finally found the perfect tool for the job.

This handy tool incorporates a scraper, a comb, and a cupped rail edge. Its trademark is the handle that provides incredible leverage. The compact size fits easily into a travel bag, boardies or glove box.

Its made of 100% recycled materials, is super tough and comes in 3 different colours....we love these things :) BUY ONE HERE

Crunchy Boots

This British winter has been a long and cold one and its not quite finished with us yet. I went for a morning surf yesterday and had to snap the frost off my frozen wetsuit boots! Still, there was a waist high glassy little swell and despite the cold the sun was shining which offered a glimmer of hope that spring isnt too far away!

New surf gallery opens in WA

Western Australia based surf lensman Russell Ord has joined forces with a collective of like minded creative surfers and established a gallery called The Sitting Room dedicated to surf art, focusing on ocean images, artwork, graphics, web design and more. The gallery has recently opened in Cowaramup, just north of the world famous surf destination of Margaret River. If you're in that part of the world drop in and check it out or to see more of Ord's stunning images visit http://www.russellord.com/

Localism: Carved in Stone

On a recent visit to the Canary Islands I walked across the exposed lava reef and spotted a clear message carved into the rock "ONLY LOCAL". Surfers in the Canaries are known worldwide for being some of the most fiercely protective of their surf spots, so the carving didnt come as a surprise but it made me think about the issue.

Over recent years surfing has seen a growth explosion with well know surf breaks becoming swarmed with "surfers" wanting to be a part of the scene. Combine this with cheap air travel and the natural desire of surfers to explore we have a level of crowding that reaches saturation point at some spots. So its easy to see why localism can develop- we devote years surfing and getting to know and love our local breaks so if it gets crowded with kooks or inconsiderate surfers friction is going to occur.

Localism takes many forms from verbal exchanges in the line up, to waxing car windscreens, right through to violence to keep intruders away, but is this the way to go? Although conflict is understandable, all surfers travel and surf away from home, so at times, all of us fall into the "non-local" category so the way forward is to show respect when surfing away from your regular break. If we don't hog waves, dont turn up on mass, dont drop in and sit on the shoulder a while and pick a few waves off the vibe should remain a friendly one.

Perhaps its too late at some spots, but post us your comments as it'd be interesting to hear others opinions