Super-Bowls Sunday
Who is reaping the real benefits of the Northeast's rough winter
February 9, 2010, 5:04 PM
By: Jon Coen
As has been mentioned here on the blog, the more of a beating the East Coast takes with these winter storms, the more pressure gradient. Hence, more fetch. Long after our swell is gone and the snow turns to ice, northerly swell meanders past our coast (missing us completely) and heading down to the Caribbean. There isn't a week that goes by without some amazing news or images from the southern Atlantic this winter. So, I figured I'd share a few.
Tarik Browne
While this wave may look perfectly makeable, look at the size of the human on the left. That's why no one is out. This is a fast-moving bowl.
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Searching for videos
Rip Curl's 7 Ways in seven episodes
February 9, 2010, 11:57 AM
By: Jon Coen
It's in every surfer -- that desire to go looking beyond your day to day break for a new wave, a different culture, and a new challenge. The Search comes in different forms. For some, it means packing a tent and heading around the world, eating Ramen noodles and naming never-surfed spots. To others, it means paddling to the peak just beyond their comfort level. But in all of us, there is a challenge to search.
Rip Curl
Matt Wilkinson searching to find that inner peace (and outer fan.)
Rip Curl has always been into the idea of searching -- since Curren graced the screen in Sonny Miller's original Search movies (now VHS classics) in the early 90s. Then came products for the Search, the secretive locales of their mobile Search Pro event, and now "Live the Search: 7 Ways," the webisode series that recently debuted on Rip Curl.com.
This is top shelf footage collected from seven young Rip Curl superstars on an Indonesian odyssey. Seven surfers get their own episodes -- Matt Wilkinson, Alex Smith, Garut Widiarta, Stu Kennedy, Dean Brady, and of course, Owen Wright. Here's Wilkinson's episode:
A new episode will be released every Monday, through March 15th at ripcurl.com/livethesearch.
Slater Speaks
Kelly Slater on his new 3D iMax film, the world tour, and finding nirvana.
February 9, 2010, 3:30 AM
By: Jake howard
"I loved it," says a semi-crusty, old lady with Coke-bottle glasses and dangly jewelry. She's a 50-something gypsy with a touch of Venice cool. "I don't surf," she continues, peering cross-eyed out her lenses, "I'm a stand-up comic by trade, but after seeing this movie, I guess I've been missing out."
The movie she's talking about is "The Ultimate Wave Tahiti," a 3D iMax feature starring Kelly Slater. Somehow (unbeknownst to even her) the comic, along with a couple hundred intrigued, Gollywood-oriented humans, found their way into the California Science Center in Los Angeles's Exposition Park for the film's world premier.
I had the good fortune of pinning Mr. Slater down for a couple minutes prior to the premier. After a long, interview-filled day -- one that started with an 8:00 a.m. appearance on KROQ and didn't end until him and I sat down at 5:30 p.m. -- this is what the nine-time world champ had to say:
You've done a few interviews today?
Yeah, just a couple.
I guess we talk about the movie. How'd the idea for a 3D iMax surf movie come about?
It's something that's been in the works for a couple years now. Stephen [Low], the director, had been down in Tahiti and spent some time with Raimana [Van Bastolear], and this idea about doing a film with Tahiti and Raimana taking center stage began to evolve. We did a couple of trips down there, and Raimana's like family and I love Tahiti, so it was a lot of fun. It's never been done with surf before, so there were some obviously some challenges.
So, is this the iMax surf film?
I hope so. I saw a cut of it awhile ago on a monitor, but I haven't seen the finished version yet. I'm excited to see how it all came out. But it's not just for surfers, this is a film that can be shown around the world to any audience.
It also deals with some environmental subject matter, correct?
It's not so much an environmental message as it is more informational, more geographical. There's a lot of information explaining how waves are formed, and how things like reefs and tides have an effect on it.
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Above and beyond
Surfing gets its own pre-season training camp.
February 8, 2010, 11:37 AM
By: Jake howard
Shorty/Red Bull
Jordy Smith, in full practice mode.
With the World Tour moving to a "one-world" ranking system, the recent dismissal of head judge Perry Hatchet, and now the announcement of a pro junior tour, the ASP's definitely been undergoing a metamorphosis this offseason. And while the inner workings of the tour are being tinkered with, some of the surfers are noodling with their own game.
For the last week a crew that includes world champ Mick Fanning, Jordy Smith, Michel Bourez, Sofia Mulanovich, and Sally Fitzgibbons, to name a few, have been posted up in Lennox Head, NSW, for Red Bull's inaugural "Project Air." As it's title would indicate, the first-of-its-kind training camp is solely dedicated to helping hone their above-the-lip prowess.
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New mascot for Trestles?
Dam good news for San Mateo watershed
February 8, 2010, 10:30 AM
By: Jon Coen
Punxsutawney Phil wasn't the only clever little mammal to get some press last week. Remember back during the fight to save Trestles when surfers sided with a variety of environmental and cultural groups? One of the arguments made was the native species that would be at risk with the construction of the toll road and the degredation of the whole State Park area.
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Shake up in the minor leagues
ASP Announces a World Juniors Tour (technically just expanding the World Junior Championship.)
February 7, 2010, 6:00 PM
By: Jon Coen
ASP
The ASP Juniors who make the World Juniors will now have a three-tour event to air out in.
<
p>Well, for those of you who think that kids in surifng have it all today, now they've got something else. There are some changes in the minor leagues.
It seems that in an attempt to create a better overall system of governing the sport of surfing, the ASP has amped up the juniors' calendar to now include a World Junior Tour.
This may seem a bit confusing at first. Yes, there already is an entire calendar of events for surfers under 21. Yes, these are designed to give young surfers competitive experience somewhere above the amateur level, without having to duke it out with the World Qualifying Series studs. And yes, there is already a junior who finishes the year crowned World Junior Champion from the Billabong World Junior Championships fueld by Monster.
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Swell models and snow shovels
East Coast, get ready.
February 5, 2010, 4:19 PM
By: Jon Coen
NOAA
Look at that swirl, East Coast. This one means business.
All's quiet right now. But while the sea off the mid-Atlantic Coast is soothing glass reflecting gray skies, it won't last long. If ever there was calm before the storm, this is it.
Right now, Gulf moisture is just feeding into an already-formidable low that is currently crossing into Georgia. The storm is set to continue its northeasterly track toward the Outer Banks. When it gets out over the ocean tonight -- well, that's when things turn into the atmospheric equivalent of a Scorsese flick. Here in New Jersey, we've run right past the chance of flurries and winter storm watch to a full blizzard warning. Even with gentle winds and calm waters, trucks are moving salt into place. We are about to get hammered.
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Southbound with a beard
Here comes 180 South, the latest film from Chris Malloy.
February 4, 2010, 6:36 PM
By: Jake howard
Courtesy 180South.com
"180 South," a mountain-climbing surf trip.
In 1968 Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and friend Doug Tompkins' set out on a 5,000-mile trek that led them from Ventura, Calif., down the coast (and up the mountains) of South America to Chile, and eventually Patagonia. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Glory and defeat Pipe vid
February 4, 2010, 2:15 PM
By: Jon Coen
We know you read the story of the Volcom Pipeline Pro earlier this week and you know that Jamie O'Brien came out victorius, but here's ESPN Surfing's full video.
Isn't Pipeline grand?
Fatal Florida shark attack
Surfer killed by sharks off Stuart, Fl., while kiteboarding
February 4, 2010, 12:57 PM
By: Jon Coen
Last night, the Palm Beach Post reported that 38-year-old Stephen Howard Schafer, of Stuart, Fl., was the victim of a fatal shark attack yesterday. Schafer was a surfer. He was kite surfing yesterday afternoon when he was attacked by several sharks. A lifeguard saw Schafer offshore, paddled out, and dragged him onto a rescue board. Schafer was still alive at this point. He received emergency response and got to Martin Memorial Hospital, where he died.
According to the article, this is a time of year that sharks feed off the Florida Coast. Last week, a hammerhead was caught off nearby waters. The article goes on to list shark statistics, including the fact that Martin County has never had a shark-related death. Another article that ran today in the same paper quotes a local scientist as saying that a Great White is not out of the question. Great Whites normally prefer cooler water, but the local waters have been abnormally cold this winter. The examination results have yet to be released.
Getty Images/Jeffrey L. Rotman
Results of the body examination have not been released yet, but a large hammerhead was caught nearby last week.
Beaches are open today.
The local surf community is obviously deeply saddened to loose a waterman like this. A memorial has been scheduled for Saturday at Stuart Beach.
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