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"After seven, consecutive lay days, the Billabong Pro Tahiti commenced action today, and the world’s best surfers unleashed a barrage of high-fi performances on glassy three-to-four foot (1.5 metre) barrels on offer at Teahupoo.
Stop No. 5 of 10 on the 2010 ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Tahiti completed Round 1 and the opening six heats of Round 2 today, bearing witness to interesting developments in the 2010 ASP World Title Race as well as the dramatics of the midyear cut-off.
When competition resumes, up first will be Taylor Knox (USA), 39, up against Jay Thompson (AUS), 28, in Heat 7 of Round 2 of the Billabong Pro Tahiti. Event organizers will reconvene today at 6am to assess conditions for a possible 6:30am start.
Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for the current south-southwest swell to fade throughout tomorrow, with a small mix of south and southwest swell on offer for the end of the waiting period.
With virtually no surf to speak of yesterday, event organizers at the Billabong Pro Tahiti have called the fourth consecutive lay day, but with swell projected to rise throughout the day today, the world’s best surfers may finally hit the water in the morning.
“No surf today and we’ve called competition off but tomorrow looks like a real possibility,” Richie Porta, ASP International Head Judge, said. “We’ve known from the beginning that the forecast we were presented with would be challenging. Swell is projected to increase this afternoon and into tomorrow and we could be looking at a Round 1 start in the morning.”
Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for a small, long period southwest swell to build slowly today and continue Friday, which will offer a slight increase in size and power from what we’ve seen the past couple days. A better looking swell is lining up for Sunday afternoon and Monday.
A full breakdown of ASP World Title Rankings possibilities, including the ASP midyear field reduction, for the Billabong Pro Tahiti are available at ASPWorldTour.com Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7am to assess conditions for a possible 8am start.
The Billabong Pro Tahiti will be webcast LIVE via billabongpro.com/tahiti10
BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS
Heat 1: Damien Hobgood (USA), Kekoa Bacalso (HAW), Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 2: Jadson Andre (BRA), Luke Stedman (AUS), Nate Yeomans (USA)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Marco Polo (BRA)
Heat 4: Dane Reynolds (USA), Tom Whitaker (AUS), Blake Thornton (AUS)
Heat 5: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Roy Powers (HAW), Tim Reyes (USA)
Heat 6: Bede Durbidge (AUS), Kieren Perrow (AUS), Joan Duru (FRA)
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS), Adam Melling (AUS), Tamaroa McComb (PYF)
Heat 8: Jordy Smith (ZAF), C.J. Hobgood (USA), Manoa Drollet (PYF)
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS), Tiago Pires (PRT), Tuamata Puhetini (PYF)
Heat 10: Kelly Slater (USA), Andy Irons (HAW), Heiarii Williams (PYF)
Heat 11: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Dusty Payne (HAW), Drew Courtney (AUS)
Heat 12: Owen Wright (AUS), Brett Simpson (USA), Neco Padaratz (BRA)
Heat 13: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Tanner Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 14: Michel Bourez (PYF), Dean Morrison (AUS), Mick Campbell (AUS)
Heat 15: Taylor Knox (USA), Luke Munro (AUS), Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 16: Chris Davidson (AUS), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Ben Dunn (AUS)
Some very narrow minded local water authorities on the UK's east coast are allowing partially treated sewage to be pumped into the North Sea straight off the beaches for 6 months of every year. Its a disgusting thought but thankfully the amazing team at Surfers Against Sewage are campaigning on our behalf to put a stop to this gross practice. So please sign up to the petition link below to help put a stop to this. Thanks
The Billabong art of shaping happened over the weekend. Its a really interesting concept and was located in Orange County this year:
"Billabong USA is proud to announce the third annual “Billabong Art of Shaping Orange County Edition Event” August 13th at the ASR Action Sports Retailer Trade Show and August 14th at the Sacred Craft consumer surfboard expo which both run concurrently at the San Diego Convention Center.
This years’ “Billabong Art of Shaping: Orange County Edition” event will feature many of the top shapers from the hotbed of the Orange county surfing community. The finalized list of invitees includes Robert August, Matt Biolos, Steve Boehne, Bob “The Greek” Bolen, Lance Collins, Richard Harbour, Roger Hinds, Bob Hurley, Bruce Jones, Jeff “Doc” Lausch, Terry Martin, Mickey Munoz, Timmy Patterson, Ed Sakal, Peter Schroff, Terry Senate, Cole Simler, Tim Stamps, Bill Stewart, Shawn Stussy, Jeff Timpone and Barry Vandermeulen.
Orange County is well known for forward thinking creative shapers with a long heritage from the likes of Dale Velzy and Hobie Alter in the 50’s and 60’s through the radical 70’s, punk rock 80’s and into the present. Names like Rich Harbour, Robert August, Bob “The Greek” Bolen, Terry Martin, Mickey Munoz, Billy Stewart and Steve Boehne paved the way for Shawn Stussy, Lance Collins, Peter Schroff, Jeff Timpone, Bob Hurley and “Doc” in HB while Matt Biolas, Cole Simler, Timmy Patterson and Terry Senate hold court in south county. Meanwhile craftsmen like Roger Hinds, Bruce Jones, Ed Sakal, Tim Stamps and Barry V have stealthily done their thing.
The intention of Billabong’s 2010 Art of Shaping Orange County Edition Event is to showcase and pay tribute to Orange County shapers and their invaluable accomplishments and contributions to the art of surfboard building over the last five decades. Close examination of the list of invitees will reveal shapers from each decade that collectively have established the reputation of Orange County as a “hotbed of innovative surfboard design, development and forward thinking.”
The Concept
The concept of the “Billabong Art of Shaping Event” is simple; it is a venue to showcase the talent of Orange County surfboard shapers and craftsmen by allowing them to build boards that highlight their particular contribution or influence on the evolution of the surfboard over a particular span in time. Shapers are invited and encouraged “to create a board representing the era, style, or shape they are best known for or relate to”; whatever best motivates their creativity and talent.
The shapers entry is then placed on display at the ASR trade show and the Sacred Craft consumer surfboard expo along with full sized images of the shaper himself and a profile that includes information on the board he chose to build, his company or label, and his shaping history or career.
How it Works
All invited shapers receive a check from Billabong for $600 to be used towards materials. The shapers are then free to submit whatever type of board they choose; knowing they will be in friendly competition with their peers to win bragging rights of winning the “Billabong Art of Shaping Event”, along with a check from Billabong for $2,000. The first runner up will receive a free full page ads in SURFING Magazine’s“Board Builder’s Issue” featuring his boards and label. The second runner up will receive a free full page ad in SURFER Magazine’s “Board Builder’s Issue” featuring his boards and label.
As the “Billabong Art of Shaping Event” is a charity event, the winner of the competition is the shaper of the board that brings in the highest auction price and thus becomes the largest single donor to the Billabong Art of Shaping Beneficiary; The SIMA Humanitarian Fund Grant Recipients which includes Keep a Breast, Boarding for Breast Cancer, Surfer’s Healing, Jimmy Miller Foundation, AccesSurf Hawaii, Mauli Ola Foundation, Best Day Foundation, Outdoor Outreach, Stoked Mentoring, Life Rolls On, Project Wipeout, Surf Aid International and Sumba Foundation.
Extremehorizon Surf Distribution and Matunas Organic surf wax were pleased to be given the opportunity by the UKPSA Pro-surf tour, organisors of the 2010 Relentlesss Boardmasters, to offer free Matunas wax samples to all of the competitors in this years event.
The Relentless Boardmasters is Europe's ultimate action sport and music festival, held over 5 days in Newquay the UK's original surf town.
The festival is set across two locations. Fistral Beach hosts the Men’s 5 star WQS surf event, Vans summer sessions, retail village and Nuts bikini babe competition, while Watergate Bay entertains the masses with 6 music stages filled with the latest and greatest musicians from around the globe.
Extremehorizon, Northern European distributors for Matunas said “We'd like to thank the UKPSA for welcoming Matunas wax into such a prestigous event and to the Boardmasters competitors for trying out the cool temp wax during the heats. It was a great opportunity to gather direct and respected feedback on the brand from such a amazingly talented cross section of international pro-surfers”
Top British surfer Sam Lamiroy who finished an overall 9th position in the competition said of Matunas wax “I actually put Matunas on my board just before my heat, an unusual gamble for me to be honest and i was really, really relieved to find that it's actually one of the best types of wax i've ever used.... stoked!”
Dave Reed, Contest Director said of the initiative “We are grateful for the generosity of Extremehorizon Surf distribution and Matunas wax for helping out the surfers with wax during the Relentless Boardmasters”
Matunas have been making an organic surf wax from their 25 acre farm in Santa Cruz California since 1998. They use ingredients grown on the farm and everything is 100% natural, with fragrances from real strawberries, raspberries and jasmine flowers. Matunas have created a product which is superior to paraffin and chemical based surf waxes by manufacturing a non-toxic, biodegradeable wax presented in 100% recycled paper, soy ink, wrappers.
Matunas eco-surf wax has been tested and proven by some of the worlds best surfers including Kelly Slater, Gerry Lopez, the Malloy family, Cory Lopez, Chris Ward, Brett Simpson, Ratboy, Gavin Beschen, Joel Tudor and Tom Curren.
Matunas also received the honour of winning the Green Product of the year 2007-08 by Surfers Path and enjoy continuing support of the Surfrider Foundation and Surfers Against Sewage.
Matunas surf wax is an environmentally friendly alternative that's beneficial to our oceans and a small step towards sustainability in surfing
Public polling has begun for the 26th annual Quiksilver In Memory Of Eddie Aikau. Voting will close August 31, 2010. More than 70 of the world's best big wave paddle-in surfers are posted on the polling list. To vote for your favorite big wave rider go to polls.quiksilver.com. Voting is limited to one vote per voter.
This is stage one of the selection process to elect the esteemed 24 invitees for the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau. The event will run on one day between December 1, 2010, and February 28, 2011, when waves at Waimea Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, reach a minimum of 20 feet. An Opening Ceremony on December 2nd, 2010, will bring together the Aikau Ohana and selected Invitee and Alternate competitors.
