theBOMBsurf blog - theBOMBsurf - South African surfing magazine

ASP World junior tour set for 2010

31 July 2009, 16:26

Looks like a full blown ASP World tour is going to kick off for the juniors in 2010...check this out:

COOLANGATTA, Australia (Wednesday, July 29, 2009) – Stemming from the unparalleled success of the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, ASP International will be instituting the world’s first ASP World Junior Tour, commencing in 2010.

The proposed, three-event ASP World Junior Tour will following January’s Billabong ASP World Junior Championship (which will crown the 2009 ASP World Junior Champions).

“The expansion of the ASP World Juniors is a direct result of the continuing global surge in ASP Pro Junior events,” Brodie Carr, ASP International CEO, said. “When we partnered with Billabong in 1998 on this concept, we had just 12 global junior events, and through our joint vision, it has grown to over 50 events as recently as 2008.”

Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, two-time past ASP World Junior Champion (1999, 2001), knows all too well the benefits that development through the ASP Pro Junior tem can provide. The Australian is currently holding down a runaway lead on the ASP Dream Tour ratings and is en route to his inaugural ASP World Title.

"The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships has been a major stepping stone to the highest levels of surfing for over 10 years now,” Parkinson said. “It started me on my career path, and if you look at the guys who have won it from Andy (Irons) to Jordy (Smith) to Adriano (de Souza), they’ve all made major impacts on professional surfing."

Each event will host 48-man and 18-woman fields, running formats similar to those found on the ASP Dream Tour. The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships will retain the third and final slot on the tour (crowning the ASP World Junior Champions), however the remaining two slots for ASP World Junior Tour events are presently available with ASP International now taking bids.

In honor of the newly founded ASP World Junior Tour, each of the three events will increase the prize purses to US$75,000 for the men and US$20,000 for the women in 2010. ASP World Junior Tour events will also be encouraged to run in venues holding excellent surf, further preparing the athletes for competition at the highest levels of the sport.

“We will be taking the ASP World Junior Tour to the best waves in the world just like the ASP World Tour,” Carr said. “The winner will be the undisputed ASP World Junior Champion and with the added bonus of a boost up the ASP WQS rankings for the following year, will be en route to the ASP Dream Tour.”

In addition to being the most prestigious and richest junior tour on the planet, the winner of the men’s ASP World Junior Tour will receive a wildcard into the last seeded round any ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) event he chooses to compete in. The men’s Runner-Up and Women’s ASP World Junior Champion will also be seeded into the second-to-last seeded round at any ASP WQS event they choose to compete in (similar to how it operates at present).

Qualification for the ASP World Junior Tour will remain the same as it is presently for the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships. Surfers (aged 20 and under) will compete on their respective regional ASP Pro Junior Series for a chance at qualifying for the ASP World Junior Tour.

“These are the best kids in the world and with three events, the ASP World Junior Tour is the recognized career path that all the kids know they need to follow to reach the ASP Dream Tour,” Carr said.

The remaining two venues on the 2010 ASP World Junior Tour are presently available, with ASP International taking bids immediately. All interested parties can send RFPs to admin(at)aspworldtour.com

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

1 Comments so far:

Sam Edwards on 3 August 2009

Looks like we in for new full blown ASP World Tour: for two very different opinions on this, check Nick Carrol VS. Kelly Slater:

http://www.surfinglife.com.au/news/asl-news/1278-kelly-slater-speaks-about-new-tour

http://www.surfinglife.com.au/news/asl-news/1197-smoke-and-mirrors

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The dedicated always score

28 July 2009, 17:07

It has been a sublime patch of surf on the KZN S Coast over the last 4 days. What is funny is that the guys who are really on it and who prioritise their surfing always end up scoring. They are the guys who hit the dawnie and get 2-3 good hrs in before the wind gets up. They are the guys who always know where the banks are best and what is doing what on what tide. Its funny how the same faces keep cropping up again and again at the different spots. The last two days have been seriously special though. Today driving back from the coast to finally do some work I pondered how lucky we really are here. It is world class when its on, it really is. There was no where else in the world I would rather have been than on the S Coast this morning. Mellow crew, cooking waves and balmy sub tropical winter weather. I guess what I'm leading towards is that it amazes me how people spend vast fortunes travelling to exotic destinations when we've got it right here. All you have to be is dedicated. That's where it all comes down to priorities. There is a small crew of people who prioritise their surfing over everything else and those people always get waves. There are others who blow it because they can't prioritise their surfing or are unwilling to step out of the comfort zone and take a drive up or down the coast. For them the winters will always be lean because they literally have to get lucky to score. For the others luck has nothing to do with it, its a lifestyle choice, a decision to be a surfer first. What kind of surfer are you?
John

4 Comments so far:

Mark on 29 July 2009

John be happy that the majority of surfers are sheep and only stay and surf at one spot...means more waves for us that are dedicated...

John Bromley on 29 July 2009

Careful, what you have there is unique in the world. Just hope that the world does not wake up to it.

Dave on 3 August 2009

now now, lets not encourage more in the line ups on the SC John!Or you could soo see your pleaseant dawnies turn into a New Pier hussel...lets leave those not prepared to step out of their comfort zone to blow it up and surf town with everyone else or spend those vast fortunes traveling to exotic spots (they are helping the econpmy after all) so we can still enjoy our own back yard for a while longer...thanks

rod on 8 August 2009

it seems the genuine surf comraderie really only happens when conditions are getting close to life threatening or if there are more waves than surfers. Hard core is blind to top predators in the line up or being caught inside when the monster sets pull in wide of the comfort zone. We all think what we have is unique and sharing it with good people is no problem. KZN has some magic especially in the winter months people pressures make for high performance and only missioners get rewarded mainly! Cheers John!

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Battle of the Craft

25 July 2009, 16:32

I made my way down to the Fox Surfer X event at Dairy this morning to check out the vibe. They were just getting the through the first few heats and it was a cracking day - the gazebos were out, the music was pumping, the Monster girls were looking hot - all being gently thawed by the winter sun.

After watching a few waves at the contest, I paddled out at New Pier. There was quite a long lull between sets and to be honest not that many people out for New Pier on a Saturday morning - 3 SUPs, about 6 longboarders and about 4 of us on shortboards. The problem was that with such long waits between sets, the SUPs would catch the sets from way out, ride them all the way in and whatever was left over the longboarders would catch, then they'd all be back, not in the lineup - BEYOND the line up out at sea waiting in time for the next set.

The other shortboarder in the lineup with me was getting increasingly vocal and we resorted to trying to sit pretty much under the fishing lines, getting the insiders that would bowl up against the rip that was too close to the Pier for the SUPs and longboarders. I was also getting pretty frustrated, almost resorting to dropping in on a few of these Ballies with their oversized equipment - then to my horror of horros - just when I thought it couldn't get any worse - a goat boater rocks up in the line up!

After 40 minutes in the lineup, without having caught a set wave - I was getting pretty edgy. Then within about 10 minutes, all the longboarders, 2 of the Sups left the lineup and the paddleskier moved over to the middle of Dairy (I'm pretty sure he didn't even realize there was a comp on) For the next hour myself, Yasmin, Josh and the other guy, plus 1 or 2 groms enjoyed small but funnelling New Pier as the tide turned - and my anger subsided as I and the other shortboarders caught our fill of waves.

My question to you folk is this - How do we maintain peace, love and harmony in the lineup with all these different craft out there and who is responsible for making sure that everyone behaves - or do those of us on the smaller craft have to resort to breaking surfing no1 rule of "no dropping in-EVER" just to get a wave from the Wave hogs? And don't get me wrong - some of them are cool - but not all because I promise you the SUP/lomgboard/goatbaot/shortboard battles are going to become more frequent. Any suggestions or comments - post 'em below

3 Comments so far:

jean on 27 July 2009

bru this is becoming a huge problem, not only are these guys abusing their craft but the guys who are learning are trying it on in the middle of the line ups, and a out of control sup is freaken dangerous. I dont know how this is gonna be solved but there is fast coming a time when we gonna see drop ins fighting and a general melee on our hands there is gonna have to be someway of policing this i am open to ideas?
I am a short boarder too, so i am not without pregedice but this situation is getting out of control! I am non violent and hate is when it goes all raging bull in the lineup but something is gonna crak soon.

BigG on 27 July 2009

I'm sorry, but what has happened to the simple rules governing the line up? I am a longboarder, and have surfed New Pier many times with the shortboarders, and in harmony. Its all about respect, not being a hog, allowing all water users their due. That said, No 1 rule, NP is not a learning break, they shouldn't be out there. There are plenty other breaks where people can learn. (Reminds of the days when surfboard hire and lessons were being given in the break) Unfortunately, 'someone' has to have a word with the transgressors, perhaps too, one might even have to take a stand, because if you dont, it will simply get worse. My suggestion, form a committee, perhaps speak to Shitcliffe, see if it can be recognized, install some sign boards with surf break rules, tribal surfing rules, etc. Also make it very clear that learners are not allowed unless in the shorebreak. This is hard without resorting to violence or confrontation tho', dudes. Try this Learner/SUP/Goatboard shit on at Supers tho, & at a few other spots around SA, and see what happens to you. It's all about locals banding together and coming to amicable agreements. Failing that...drop in and make your mark! But be sure to advise the ballie/learner before hand that you have had enough now and that he should respect your presence and right to a wave too. Failing that Call Chris Botha or Mouse!

B on 28 July 2009

Not to mention kiteboarders. I had a serious shout at one in Elands, he was flying into the line-up from way out back and taking waves on the point. I'm a very mild ou, but let that gut have it and told him to f**k off and tell all his potential Elands kiteboarding friends that they are not welcome at Elands. There will be blood...

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The morning sickness

22 July 2009, 11:06

We met Tim and Dave before dawn hit the road to our local secluded spot. There wasn't a breath of wind and it was looking good in the dawn light, but the left over East spoilt our party to start with and the sea had some morning sickness. But she tried her best to come right and the boys got a couple of fun little drops, turn and odd one that walled up and ran through. Gonna hit it again now and see if it work on the push. Ah, such is life.

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The future of Pro surfing?

20 July 2009, 22:04

A new era in Pro surfing history?

This morning I bumped into Greg and Davey at my local vida e cnr of Florida and Innes in DBN. I hadn't seen Davey since his incredulous heat in J-Bay last week. For those of you who weren't watching he sat for 35mins without catching a wave. For Davey fans everywhere it was torture watching our boy lose without really getting to his feet. This heat illustrated everything that is wrong with competitive surfing. In short the luck factor of getting waves. The heat before pumped, the heat after pumped, but for those weird minutes on the slack tide Supers just went to sleep. The result was Davey was left drifting in the line-up with nothing to ride. Then Slater, who up till then was without doubt the form surfer of the event (throwing away a couple of 9's in his previous heat) fell victim to the same moodiness of the Supers curse. Make no mistake there were incredible waves around, it was just that Slater couldn't buy one if he'd had a bar USD. It was weird watching him lose to a mediocre Taylor Knox. Taylor has proven he can surf Supers but his performance this year didn't come close to his performance last year. He beat Slater not because he was the better surfer on the day, but because he was the lucky guy who got the waves. Every single person on the beach knew that. Hell, Taylor knew it too. Slaters frustration was evident, Davey just left the water feeling he was jinxed. The point is it was so random!How can a real professional outcome be decided by the roll of the dice?

Rumours abound about KS's controlled Wave pool series, the whole ASP double elimination format plus a host of other variables. Nothing is confirmed though so its all speculation for now. If you have views share them. It would be great to get some debate going on the recommended future for professional surfing.

John

10 Comments so far:

Migs on 21 July 2009

Hi John

I cant think of anything worse!

Although I agree that the luck factor can make or break a result and even a career, but one of the great things about surfing is just being in the ocean! If you take that away, you take away the soul of the sport.

They need to find another solution...

John Mc on 21 July 2009

Hi Migs

I agree, personally being in the ocean is a huge part of surfing for me. It's not all bad though as we'd all still be surfing in the ocean just the contests that count would be in the controlled environment. Your point about soul in the sport is interesting though. Since it's inception competitive surfing has had a mystique that revolves around a connection with the ocean. The question is by taking surfing out of the ocean do you remove the essence of what makes surfing so appealing? As human's we've perfected the art of instant gratification. Waves on demand is just the logical extension of that thinking. The act of surfing won't change, but the sport of professional surfing most certainly will. Purists will argue that competitive surfing or the sport of surfing (as opposed to the art and freedom of expression associated with free surfing) is devoid of soul anyway so we're losing nothing. I'm not sure...

simon nicholson on 21 July 2009

it certainly is an interesting time to be alive... i second john frustration watching daves heat, that was bullshit and if neptune was on the beach i would have punched him out, (well.. tried anyway).

there are a lot of rumours floating around, and i think everyone needs to be careful of jumping to conclusions to soon. IF slater is involved in a wavepool tour, (slater is not stupid, he is still copping abuse for jimmy slade character in baywatch, he will think very carefully before "selling out" again) i am sure there will be some kind of balance,maybe it will form part of a tour.

i for one would give my left nut to surf a 6-8 foot version of that circle wave pool. yes is man made and plastic, and certainly lacks the spirit of the ocean, but shit it would be fun, and imagine slater and his crew unleashed on that thing while you and a few mates suck on some cold beers...mental. lets be honest the WCT wont get much better than the j-bay event, this might be the way forward for competition.

for a competitive surfer removing the luck factor is a dream come true, imagine an event with a x games format i.e you get 2 runs/waves your highest score counts. the waves are identical, and longer and easier to launch high performance turns on... the technical level will go through the roof in a couple months.

surfing in the ocean can never be replaced, if we are honest it never really was a "sport", there a just a lucky few who get paid as if it were .. this new era might seperate the "art/lifestyle" of surfing from the "sport" of surfing?

it will be interesting to see who the brands follow.

Gareth on 21 July 2009

There is a slight sense of staleness about the 'Dream Tour' at the moment. Without stating the obvious, perhaps the 'CT can do with re-inventing itself once again. Rip Curl's 'Somewhere' events have proven to add some degree of spice each year, although one gets a feeling that even this concept has a limited shelf life. The answer may not necessarily lie in refreshing locations, after all the more iconic venues are what makes the dream tour marketable (besides the sick waves on offer at most!) But surely some of them need to change. Brazil ? Snapper - sure, it's had it's moments but Australia is continent! There are a multitude of arguments and possibilities in terms of venues but more significantly, there needs to be a change in personnel. The 'new format' tested in certain events this year has proven successful only for those who have escaped a potential career limiting first round loss. These guys have families to support, flying for two days only to be sent packing in a wave starved 30 minute heat actually borders on unethical. I would love to see a ten-stop, top 16 tour, with locations revolving annually. There would be far more flexibility in terms of even formats. Sure, getting into that Top 16 would be extremely tough but with the evolution of the WQS, with 6 star Prime events and the like, and further refinement to this tier, all would not be lost for those surfers missing the cut.

Migs on 21 July 2009

Hi Guys

Without doubt Daves heat was hard to swallow, but moving to wave pools will mean we are barely a step away from pausing the whole event for ad breaks between waves (a bit like the NFL superbowl!).

As for the sense of "staleness", the same has regularly been said about many sports, including the "Super 14" rugby, test cricket etc. The problem is that we are now so spoilt for choice - the events are competing for our attention.

There is possibly room for both options: a pro circuit that incorporates wave pools etc. and one that stays in touch with Neptune. The one that you choose to follow would depend on your nature.

Sam Edwards on 21 July 2009

This whole man made wave pool compo thing, smacks of the 1987 Hollywood movie "North Shore":

Film about Rick Kane (Matt Adler), a young fictional surfer from a wave tank in Arizona, who heads to surf the season on the North Shore of Oʻahu and see if he has the skills to cut it as a pro surfer. As he progresses on his journey, he learns the qualities he possesses are not going to pull him through alone.

Kane quickly finds out he has neither the skills nor the attitude to make it. After the Hui, led by Vince (surfing legend Gerry Lopez), take his stuff, he fortuitously runs into Turtle (John Philbin). Turtle introduces him to Chandler (Gregory Harrison), a shaper and soul surfer, who teaches Rick to surf and advises him in the nuances of the North Shore scene. The film�s antagonist is named Lance Burkhart (Laird Hamilton), who plays the role of a violent and often frightening surfer, appearing from time to time to bring an element of danger to the film.

(see poster link: http://sofarfromshore.com/blag/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/north_shore.jpg) Epic movie.

I agree with John and Simmo about how cruel the ocean was to Davey and Slater, but isnt that the point, doesnt the dice roll the other way too. I was screaming for dave online, my work collegues thought I was bipolar, my heart broke when he lost that heat, I felt his pain. But competing in a wave pool, cone on, I understand using it for training to get the technical stuff waxed, but not for competition! Part of the beauty of surfing is using the conditions to your advantage, good or bad, and being world champ is about mastering all the conditions out there, backside, frontside, slop, heaving, gentle, flat etc.

Davey Weare on 21 July 2009

I agree 100% with Simon, you can't and will never replace the ocean, it's what draws us to surfing and it's amazing to be apart of that enviroment/mother nature. I can't see events ever going away from the ocean, cause you have spots like Chopes and Pipe that are so phenominal when they're on that you won't be able to actually imitate the whole package but to add wave pool events to the mix is very possible and to me would be pretty damn interesting. taking out the luck factor would help out a lot in contests, the best surfer would win each time, the sport could grow huge like skating and moto cross has with the X games styled arena's, it would generate alot of money and new sponsors for the sport and grow the sport to the same if not bigger than what some of the main stream sports are today because surfing is so cool. You will lose that connection with the ocean but I think if they could combine wave pool and ocean events, you'll have a winning combo. Purists will hate the idea of wave pool events, but all that means is that they could stick to the ocean, lineups would probably be less crowded so its a win win. I'm excited to see when they do produce a proper wave pool wave and I'm all for a wave pool event, would be interesting and the progression of the sport could only go up.

Greg on 22 July 2009

The ocean factor will always be the true essence of surfing, but for far to long now a sport that greats so much revenue has been left out of main stream, and in some what has been left behind, By creating a Super bowl effect all of a sudden you can incorporate it ito the xgames/ olimpics all round the world, take it to any city in the world and have 60K fans chearing inside a staduim, Coporate's will get involved in surfing and the sport can make the most radical change in its history but keeping the core focus of the sport.

Have a supper series of contest all round the world, the difference is it dos'nt take 10 days to run the event, it is over in a couple days. So viewing will be come available which is what creats revenue and sales

And to all who thing main stream is no way to go, Think about the guys that are trying to make a living out there and have not got a "core" sponsor. it's easy for us to sit on the side line and say surfing is our soul keep the coporates out, then bitch like hell when the event web sites looks a bit shit and our groms cant compete internationaly because our surfing brands are not sending them round the world

Bring on the wave pool!

Mark Hansel on 27 July 2009

I have a theory that may in a way remove the luck factor in ocean surfing contests and it goes a little something like this: keep the two man heat format and keep a basic time constraint for heats, but be flexible is this. Each surfer gets to ride three waves in a heat, two scores will count, so if you do fall on one wave then you at least have a backup. In some cases a heat will be over in ten minutes, in others it may take a bit longer but I believe it will all balance out in the end... the next heats surfers paddle out at the same time or after the first waves have been ridden so they will be ready and in the water! Sure the competitors will be more selective in their wave choice but they would obviously not have all day if one guy is getting waves surely the other competitor should be too, waves would be done similarly to the priority format currently in use! And high risk manouevres should be greatly rewarded so that the surfing is kept fresh! At least in this way each surfer gets judged on the same amount of waves and it takes the luck factor out?? Wave selection, solid surfing and the best surfer will be the winner??

BigG on 27 July 2009

Heats like the one Davey and Kelly suffered in should be declared nul and void thru a voting system involving the Contest Director, the judges and possibly a few surfers representatives. This is happening all to often and we often see mediocre surfers getting thru' on a luck. Not kewl and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth

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An Impending swell...

19 July 2009, 20:37

An impending swell...

So anyone who lives on the east coast and even remotely checks the charts will tell you there is a bit of action forecast for later this week. It's amazing how this little bit of info can change your whole week. Personally as soon as I discover there is a swell coming I start plotting. The thing is these days if you are on it you can score by being in the right place at the right time. The call for later this week is gonna be a hard one. All the KZN points are gonna cook. The Eastern Cape is going to have real waves. The Southern Cape will light up in various rare spots and the Western Cape will also do its thing. The big question for us is where to surf this week? We've got a heap of work to catch up on so staying local for the first part of the week seems likely, then who knows...

Wherever you are I hope you score.
John

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The open road

17 July 2009, 07:50

So it's Friday morning and we're heading home from the Billabong pro. After the MOTHER of all parties on Wednesday night, yesterday was a long, hard, painful day for most of J-Bay's visitors. John and I had a quick surf to try and wash off the cobwebs and limped out of town at about lunchtime. Still feeling a bit unsteady, we broke the drive up with a surf at Port Alfred and arrived at Surrette and Andre Malherbe's house in EL last night. As I type this, we've just left EL and are speeding north to try and catch the tide as we've heard there's a Kei spot cooking this morning!

Iain

1 Comments so far:

kelly on 17 July 2009

MOTHER of all parties is the understatement.

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The second last word on the Billabong Pro 2009

15 July 2009, 20:51

Naked girls, 10 second barrels, savage beatings, broken boards holy shit this billabong pro has been one for the record books. The surfing was off the hook. Kelly's late charge halted by his good mate Taylor Knox, Oh the frustration was evident on Kelly, you could see it from 150m away he was pissed. Holmsey charged so hard I really thought he could go all the way. I wanted to see him on the podium and he could have...except for Dane Reynolds. In case anyone has ever doubted it that guy RIPS. Where last year he looked seriously ill at ease at Supers this year was a whole new story. Dane Reynolds went to town with the highest heat score of the event, a 19.5 I think. What is really amazing about that score is that it was done in very difficult NW berg wind conditions The drama at these events is as much about the pain of the losers as it is about the elation of the winner. Joel and his team had the formula down though and he was amazing through the event. He was a deserved winner. The Curren Occy heat today was a bit wave starved but both surfers laid down some classic stylish old school surfing. I think we'll see more of these legend showdowns. As I write this Warren Wareing just arrived at the house with mischief in his eye and a bag full of bikinis for the BOMBshells to try on. The boys are cracking a couple of cold ones, and theBOMBshells are ready to hit the jol. So that's it from theBOMBsurf team's coverage of the Billabong Pro 2009.

Glenzo, the Polecat, John Mc, Iain, Shella and Rouxmia - signing off the BIllabong Pro 2009.
Thanks for coming.

4 Comments so far:

WARREN LOOM on 16 July 2009

AND I THOUGHT I HAD A COOL JOB! NICE ONE FELLAS!

Phil on 16 July 2009

Wonder if those laptops were even switched on ????

Kelly on 17 July 2009

I heard a webcam was employed macgyver style.

Suzie on 17 July 2009

He he he Nice one boys....

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Holmesy the man of the moment

15 July 2009, 08:16

I just heard event commentator "GT" interview Dane Reynolds after his heat this morning where he took out Michel Bourez and GT asked him : "So Dane, what do you think of Sean Holmes surfing?" "Man I'm terrified of surfing against Sean out here", Reynolds replied.

Dane and Sean are up against each other in the next round - the Quarterfinals!

Everywhere you look, like the newspapers, you see Holmesy - the people here are all talking about his surfing and there is a buzz around the whole of J-Bay that Sean could go all the way this year.

We're having a great time down here - theBOMBshells are working their magic and spreading stoke wherever they go - in the contest tower, the VIP area and in the competitors hottub! Check out some of our videos on the Billabong events page here

Iain

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Holmsey takes out Taj!

14 July 2009, 11:49

In contests there are heats that fizzle out and end up as real anti-climaxes and there are GIANT heats. The Curren- Occy match this morning was cool but the waves were not great so it wasn't as wow as it could have been. The Holmes Taj match up was incredible. The surf cooked and the guys went toe to toe. The atmosphere on the boardwalk was unbelievable. We all know that Shaun rips Supers, but Taj is a legitimate world title contender and Shaun beat him. This of course prompts the question of how good is Shaun really? One thing is for sure there isn't a guy in the top 44 who wouldn't take him seriously at Supers. He looks so comfortable out there even though when i interviewd him yesterday after his first heat he said he was nervous. Any sign of nerves was gone today though washed away with the morning offshore... got to keep watching this guy, I think that his best may still be to come.
John

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Curse of the Mexican

14 July 2009, 08:14

Tuesday, 7:20am:

We won't go there suffice to say that we scrambled out of bed this morning to find the beach packed at first light. Some leftover fog in the cockpit didn't diminish the excitement of watching the Occy Curren match up. Holy shit the entire spectator stand and competitors area was packed, the 44 and regulars watched on in awe as the Curren magic prevailed. In all truth the waves were disappointing (inconsistent 2-3') but that didn't slow Curren down. In the post surf interview that GT, the Bong Pro web commentator did, he said: "so did you take it seriously Tom?" You bet your ass he did. Curren was there to win. You could see Curren's focus from 100 miles away. There was no way Occ was going to win. It was vintage Curren and slightly disapointing Occy. Either way though I've never seen the beach so packed with so many good surfers to watch a heat. They're surfing again tomorrow so stay tuned for our take on the return bout.

John

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Game on at the Billabong!

13 July 2009, 13:52

It was dark, the wind was freezing and the waves were starting to peel through as John and I stood at the keyhole waiting for the guys to paddle out. We chatted to Greg, Devyn and Jordy on their way out - the guys were frothing! Check out the vid on our dedicated page http://www.thebombsurf.com/pages/360/billabong-pro-jbay

Then it was back to the house, careful not to wake the sleeping beauty BOMBshells as John and I scrambled for our boards and paddled out straight in fron of our house and surfed Albatross. We could see the white doughnuts peeling through from Supers, through Point and towards us with military-like precision. Taylor Steele, droped a cool little Tweet earlier this wek which said "Curren, high lines, low Supers" and that's what I was thinking when I paddled into my last wave of the morning, bottom turned, set a high line and flew across the bricks, gave it a close out bash and paddled in - stoked!

Then it was back to the contest site for Holmesy's heat - the crowd were hooting, shouting and going nuts for Sean as he laid down some clean lines and some tight little tubes, beating Dustin Barca.

Local favourite, Ryan Payne was up next against Hawaiian, Kekoa Bacalso, Ryan surfed well, but not too many bombs came through that he could capitalize on, like he did to win the Xcel Supertubes showdown last week.

Devyn Matthyes was in the next heat, and just couldn't find the waves against an inform Timmy Reyes who surfed really, really well and got 3 tubes on his last wave to see Dev off.

Greg has just advanced over Brazillian Heitor Alvesand Davey is in the water now.

I gotta go keep the BOMBshells out of trouble - John is chasing them around with a camera, so will have a pretty funny video for you guys later this arvo.

Iain

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Surf hard, party hard, drive hard and find the Super's Bank.!

12 July 2009, 18:06

Geeze but the roads through the 'Kei have improved. We managed to sneak through and get to a quiet spot just outside of Slummies for a late arvo session. Just Iain and I in this amazing bay. Great to wash off the drive. Then it was back into the car flooring it to make Farryl's gig at the Grahamstown festival. Flip he rocked, that guy is getting so good if you haven't seen him yet you gotta go check out one of his gigs. Then believe it or not but back in the car and off to a late dinner and beers with Warwick Heny, Gigs, Roman and Simon Lowe in Port Alfred. We thought we had it sussed for an early surf, but woke to a flat ocean so we decided to bail and head straight to J-Bay. We moved into our styling pad on the beach at Albatross and then dialed into the scene. While there was NO surf in J-Bay today that didn't stop the vibe in the town. Everywhere we turned we bumped into famous surf related personalities, it was just crazy. Looking at the charts and having a quick chat to contest director Mike Paarsons it seems as if the contest will be wrapped up by the end of Wed as thats really the only real swell window they have. It's not going to get big, my guess is 4ft max, but there is so much sand on the point it's going to cook even at 3-4'. As Pete Nicholson remarked all the locals are calling it The Super's Bank.

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Metal missions

11 July 2009, 12:54

Early start this morning - I picked John up before dawn and we hit the road heading for Port Alfred. We're on our way to the Billabong Pro in JBay - We're meeting up with some of our BOMBshells there who are going to hang out with us this week and help us with our media coverage of the event. So we've just gone through Umtata, blasting the new Metallica album, when the phone rings - one of our good buddies tips us off that the Grahamstown Arts festival is on and tonight is the grand finale - turns out Farryl Purkiss is jamming, so we're thinking of pulling in to witness the jol. Then the phone rings, and it's another mate, who happens to reside in the East London area that reckons there's a spot he knows about that might just turn on this afternoon. John is driving the X-trail like a man possessed (not sure if it's the Metallica, the prospect of scoring a cooking secret spot, or both) to make up the time. Either way - we could score waves and a fat party in the next 12 hours. Stay posted!

Iain

1 Comments so far:

Debby on 12 July 2009

Can't believe the enthusiasm and what you get done in a day! This site is amazing - don't have to talk to you at all! Proud ma!

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Working around waves

10 July 2009, 13:47

Working around waves.

This week has been crazy for us because of the super fun waves we've been having. The balmy KZN winter has seen us surfing all morning, every morning this week. Light variable winds and sunny skies have greeted us with almost groundhog day precision. What a week! The only downside is that staying awake till midnight to get our work done has been challenging after a long day of surfing. It's been cool to see all the real locals drinking their fill. Garth Saville, Judge Oliver, Sean Delport and the crew have all been ripping. It's amazing how people who really love to surf somehow 'make a plan' when the surf is good. Our run comes to an end today though as we head down to the Billabong Pro tmro. Flip I can't wait to check the top guys hit J-Bay, plus that Curren-Occy match up could be sick. My money is on Curren. I saw him surfing here (on the KZN SCoast) earlier this week. He is still so good it's scary. I reckon he's gonna smoke the Occ. Tmro somewhere on the east coast and then Sunday in J-Bay. We've got some cool things lined for our coverage of the Billabong Pro, which I reckon will be on from Monday so stay tuned...
John

Updating the site from the boot of the car before our surf....

...and after. It was still cooking!

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Breath hold and gaining confidence in big waves.

8 July 2009, 15:36

Check out the two mails below. We received a mail from Ariel wanting some advice on breath holding and feeling more confident in bigger surf so we got hold of Big Wave Nutter Chris Bertish to give us all some pointers.

Hi Guys

First off... awesome online mag... awesome content... love it! Thanks for the great job.

I was looking through the bombfitness section cause i have been wanting to get any tips i can to improve my breathhold... and on how i can improve my confidence in bigger waves.

What do most surfers do when they wipe out on a fairly sizable wave and are held under for a couple seconds? Should you just totally relax and try sink downwards...? Is there a particular position that you should try and fall in...? What is going through these big wave surfer's minds when they are held down for 30 seconds+...?

None of the waves i surf are ever going to hold me down for that long... but i want to know what i can do to feel less stressed about taking a big wave on the head. Any gems of wisdom, or do i just need to stop being a wimp?

Thanks

A

Chris responds:

Ariel,
Like with anything in life, the more you put yourself in any situation you find intimidating, the better you get at handling it.
The same with surfing bigger waves or holding your breath longer than you really want to. The more you do it, the more accustomed you get with the situation and therefore, the better you deal with it. This translates into feeling more confident & more relaxed to deal with it and the more relaxed you are, the less you stress. The less you stress the less oxygen you use to fight it.
The trick is to try and stay as calm and relaxed as possible. Literally go with the flow, don’t fight it. When you fight it, you’re \using very valuable oxygen. Remember, the more you go with the flow, the further the wave is taking you in, which is out of the main impact zone, so this is normally a very positive thing....as difficult as that may sound, given the rather, violent & turbulent situation.
Distract your mind from the thought of needing to breath. Think about everything else, like knowing where you are, where the surface is, where is your leash, how far is your board away from you...Once you get to the point where you have stayed calm as long as humanly possible and you now need to desperately breath.
Relax even further, find your leash on your leg calmly and start climbing your way up it. Remember at the top of this is an incredibly buoyant piece of foam; your board, which is literally like a cork.
So, if you get to the end of your leash and you get to your board & you are still not at the surface, that’s when you can start getting a tad concerned. As you now only have two options.
You can both hold onto your cork/ board and hope that it will pull you to the surface, so you can sneak in a quick breath before the next wave hits you or you can let go of your only lifeline and hope you get to the surface before you black out. Either which way this isn’t a great predicament to be in, so try and avoid finding yourself in either of these two situations at all cost!
If you do find yourself in the above situation...Breathe, meaning, relax within your head, don’t panic, as this only causes you to use very valuable oxygen which you can’t afford to waste, given your current predicament. My advice is like the wise old Captain said” Never leave a sinking ship unless you stepping up into the life raft, as it disappears below you.” Moral of the story; don’t let go of your board, otherwise you seriously screwed; it will always come to the surface long before you will. Believe me, tried and tested, learn from the mistakes of others, so you don’t have to make them yourself!
The only thing that will help you further than the above advice is training! Cross training in the pool and other cardio training exercises liker running, cycling and stand up paddle boarding on a regular weekly basis. During season, or a three months before a major big wave event I do a great deal of pool & underwater training. The magic key to remember is that physical fitness gives you the mental confidence to achieve and get you through anything!
Breath holding techniques to expand your lung capacity & improve your breath holding capabilities are numerous and varied across many of the top big wave riders and free divers and it is a very personal choice of what works best for you...Your lungs are a muscle like all the others in your body and it can be trained to perform a great deal better for you, but a word of advice, never do this kind of training alone. Once you start increasing your fitness and lung capacity with training, your confidence will soar and you fear will diminish.
Keep surfing, keep smiling, keep charging and I look forward to seeing you all out there in the line-up.
Chris Bertish-(Forever learning, Ocean rider)

To see why Chris has learned to hold his breath for so long watch this clip of him as the first person EVER to paddle in at Jaws in Hawaii :

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Meet the Pro's

8 July 2009, 14:59

OK BOMBfans, brace yourselves because the WCT circus is rolling into town! Word is filtering through from J Bay about all kinds of famous surfers, surfing personalities and others of infamous fame being spotted around town and in the lineups. Even up the KZN coast there were a few Ausies in the water making their way down the coast to the Billabong Pro. It lloks like the best of the swell is going to arrive Monday through Wednesday - we'll have to see if the contest organisers run the traditional 4 day format or switch it to 3 days to run it in the best conditions.

Out of the water there's a lot of action happenning:

Come and hang with Kelly Slater, Dane Reynolds and the Quik Pros this friday night:

Watch the Quiksilver and DC skate teams kill the in-store bowl at the Quiksilver store in JBay and experience one night only sale promotions. Come have some drinks/snack and listen to some good beats…

Venue:           Quiksilver Store – Fountains Mall – Jeffrey’s Bay
Date:              Friday 10 July
Time:              18:00

Also going down this Friday....

Oakley, O'Neill and Freestyle sponsored riders signing is going down in PE:

Where: Walmer Park Shopping Centre - Centre Court.
When: Friday 10th July 2009
Time: 6 for 6.30pm
What can you expect :

Shaun Tomson will be there to launch his book and will autograph copies of the book. (He will donate a percentage of the sales to EP Surfing.)

Adriano De Souza, Dustin Barca, Dave Weare, Jordy Smith, Bede Durbidge, Tom Whitaker, Greg Emslie and Shaun Joubert will be there to sign posters.

The chance of winning an O'Neill wetsuit kindly donated by Surf Centre and Oakley prizes are up for grabs.
Please support EP Surfing in this Fund Raiser. Spread the word amongst your friends.

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Twiggy interview from Peru

8 July 2009, 06:53

Twig, Last week you were scoring epic pits on the KZN coast, this week you’ve been chasing big wave events again, this time off to Peru at Pico Alto. Shessh, but you get around! You must be multi platinum voyager by now.

Hey John,

Yeah, It's been a great run for me lately and all the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year have come together. I basically wanted to score good waves on our entire east coast before 01 July and it's come together nicely. I've had great waves in Mozambique, at home in Northern KZN and scored cooking J-bay so defiantly no complaints from my side!!

You just got pipped in the semis can you tell us what happened?

I had a great first heat and felt really comfortable out there, Pico Alto is a fantastic big wave, easy to get into but then it walls up and spins down the line so you can really surf the wave rather then just surviving like Dungeons and Mavericks. It was my first time there but I felt like I was handling myself quite well. Then the semis came up and I just couldn't find a good wave for the life of me and lost to three better surfers on the day.

So you can’t win em all?

Ha ha...says who? No, I think what a lot of people don't understand is how incredibly difficult it is to win these events, you need to get so lucky with the waves coming to you and if you make a tactical error at any stage it's tickets. But on the other hand it felt good to see a local Peruvian surfer go through and to see the stoke on his face after the heat.

Your long time friend and rival Greg Long won, what was it like watching the finals?

It was great to watch, I made quite a few new friends in a short time before the event and we all sat around drinking beers and talking shit...It's another great big wave location with friendly locals who are just the same as we are and love to charge in and out of the water.

Tell us a bit about Peru, would you recommend a visit?

Peru is amazing, I am in the North at the moment and we just surfed a mental left point break that rivals the wave we found in Nigeria in many way's. I would recommend it to any surfer who doesn't mind driving for waves and enjoys a good time.

Are you hanging there for a bit, what’s your next move?

I'm hanging for sure, there's not much on the maps for back home so I'm going to go and explore some of the Southern coast next week and see if we can't come up with another XXL type wave that we can surf in the future.

Shot Twig, See you soon, somewhere that there’s waves no doubt!

Thanks John

T

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Playing Tom Curren's guitar

6 July 2009, 22:11

I got a text from John late on Sunday night - "meet at theBOMBshelter 7.30am" which is quite unusual considering we usually surf first every day then meet up theBOMBsurf HQ aka "theBOMBshelter" (which is actually John's converted garage). Anyway, so I arrive early as planned - and we get stuck into the Monday morning workload, needless to say my sense of humour was running on empty, considering it was a peach of a day and I needed to surf.

After an hour, my bearded colleague, quickly packs up his mac and says, "it's time to go" and marches out of theBOMBshelter. Before I could ask questions, the boards were in the car and we were heading South. He didn't say much, and didn't say exactly where we were going - so I knew something was up, especially when we passed all of our usual S Coast spots without so much as the needle on the X-trail dropping below 120 km/h.

John takes a call, has a quick chat and suddenly we swing the car around, complete a u-turn and head back towards DBN. I think my esteemed partner has lost the plot. Soon enough we pull into one of our regular spots - there's only 4 guys out, the water is crystal clear, there isn't a breath of wind and there's some perfect little waves running down the meticulously groomed bank. Whoooooo Hooooooo!

We paddled out as the tide started to push and surfed for 2 hours - Frankie O was out there, surfing in true Frankie style - so smooth, so relaxed and oozing style. I saw him do 2 maneuvers that were better than anything I saw at the CWC and the MPP combined - one was a 360 spin IN THE TUBE! The other was a figure 8 turn, from bottom to top, back around on his outside rail, smashing the rebound off the peeling lip with a perfect re-entry on the inside - and back to the vertical bottom turn - It was textbook, it was sublime. Frankie has been chilling with 3 times former world champ Tom Curren this last week - so after our surf we went back to catch up with Tom and Frankie.

Tom Curren (left) John (middle sitting), Rich Hambloch (middlestanding), Frankie (right)

Tom is a mean guitar player and has this little 3/4 sized guitar, held together with Rip Curl stickers and fiberglass strips - it even has a bit of deckgrip as a scratch pad below the strings! But it had pretty good tone. I jammed it a bit, so did Frankie - wow - what a cool afternoon! We'll post the video interview we did with these guys soon.

Tom's guitar

If any of you BOMBsurf fans out there want to meet Tom Curren while he's out here, him, Frankie and Ricky Basnett will be signing free posters at the Rip Curl Store, in Gateway, tomorrow (Tuesday 7th July) – from 6pm – 7pm... so don’t miss this opportunity to meet one of surfings’ legends!

Come and get this free Rip Curl poster, signed by Tom at the Rip Curl Store,
Gateway, Tuesday 7July at 6pm.

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Perfect opposites

5 July 2009, 21:16

I had the weirdest day. I woke early after seeing the surf rise yesterday arvo on the South Coast. I just knew it would be good in front of my house early today. Its no secret that the bank is good so I expected a crew on it early. Still living there has its advantages. I paddled out in the dark. Just as it was getting light the dolphins arrived and went cascading down the point. The sun still hadn't popped up and the rides were sooo good. I couldn't believe it but my early strategy paid off. I surfed for an hour alone (except for the dolphins). Finally Gary Van Weirigen arrived to help me with the tube quota, then Skilly, Jack, Snick and Roy pulled in to share a few. The waves were so good and the crew so mellow I couldn't believe it. I literally tore myself away from the point to head up the coast to Ballito to watch the finals of the Mr Price Pro. What an anti-climax! 1-2 ft windswept onshore crap for the finals... blind. It's amazing that surf can be so different 100kms apart on the KZN coast. It really was a case of perfect opposites.
John

1 Comments so far:

Mark on 6 July 2009

and once again we re-iterate...being a pro surfer sucks!

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Being a pro surfer sucks!

3 July 2009, 09:24

Being a Pro Surfer Sucks!

I've been watching a bit of the Mr Price Pro this week and once again I've reached the conclusion that being a pro surfer sucks. On the surface pro surfing appears to be a glamourous, fun and exciting occupation. Travel the world, surf new spots meet heaps of chicks...That's all cool if you are winning and getting through heats, but if you are not well then it's a different story.

I stood next to Pierre Tostee while we watched a hapless Japanese surfer catch one wave in his heat. He then proceed to get caught inside by massive waves for 20 mins, finally he got out the back but couldn't get a second scoring ride and was eliminated. He needed a 1.5 score to get through the heat. Toast just shook his head and said "I know what that feels like. Fly halfway around the world to Japan and lose just before you reach the money round."

Consider that on the WQS right now there are way more guys losing than winning. That is just how the mathematics of events work. 144 guys start and only one guy ends up winning. That means realistically 143 losers per event. Of course you also get counting results which are basically anything from the quarters up in a 6 star, but thats only 8 guys. The rest, well they FEEL like losers. Therein lies the crux of what I'm saying. Great surfers and cool people have the life and competitive spirit crushed out of them on the WQS. You can't enjoy the traveling, the people and the places if you are not winning. It just becomes a grind. The pressure to perform just builds up as obligations to sponsors and oneself mount. It's not fun.

My heart goes out to one specific guy who is a great surfer, but since his victory in Brazil a few years back he just hasn't got it together on the QS. Wok hasn't had a great year but he's kept trying. Like the boxer who just won't give up. Finally he made it through a couple of heats at the Mr P. You could actually see the spring in his step. The thought that maybe his luck had turned and he would get on a roll. His elimination in third place in his next heat would have felt like walking into someone swinging a lead pole at your head. Devastating.

As I said being a pro surfer sucks!
John

1 Comments so far:

julian on 6 July 2009

Well Jon, quite philosophical. But life is all about choices and pros on the tour CHOOSE to be there. Nobody is forcing them to be there and if losing in a WQS crushes the life out of them, change your profession!!!
Wanting to compete in surfing is equally a choice.... a choice to allow 6 people to criticize your surfing, against what THEY think is the " correct " way to surf a wave.
So, being a pro surfer isn't want sucks........ wanting the approval of 6 people, is what sucks! But the pro knows that he is seeking approval for the way he surfs and that is his CHOICE.
He could just choose to go surfing.

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