Swatch Girls on Tour – Episode Two

Surfing Highlights Package: Quiksilver King of the Groms – Gisborne

Kane Rowson wins Bog Works Big Wave Invitational

In a solid 2 metre swell and steady offshore winds today, New Plymouth surfer Kane Rowson won the inaugural Bog Works Big Wave Invitational.

Out of the field of 20 surfers who entered the surf competition, Rowson also won the prize for the Most Committed Take off, and The Biggest Wave, collecting a total of $2,500 in prize money.

 

The prize for the Deepest Tube went to Taranaki surfer, Bachelor Tipene who also took out second place overall behind Rowson. Meanwhile Taranaki surfer Jarred Hancox won third place.

With a swell size that peaked at up to triple overhead on the big sets, Surfing Taranaki’s executive officer Craig Williamson says the event created some surfing history.

“This is the first time Bog Works has been used as surf competition arena, and it’s the first time New Plymouth has been able to stage a surf competition on its downtown foreshore,” says Williamson. “It’s also the first time there has been a dedicated Big Wave competition in New Zealand for some time. A great crowd turned up to watch, and I’m sure more than a few office workers were following the event just by looking out their window!”

The $5,000 prize package was broken down into $2,000 for the winner, $1,000 for the runner up, $500 for third, $250 for the, fifth and sixth place getters, along with awards of $250 each for the Biggest Wave, Most Critical take-off and Best Tube Ride of the day.

If sponsorship funds allow, it is likely another Bog Works Big Wave Invitational will be staged again next year as part of the TSB Bank New Zealand Surf Festival.

Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards This Friday! Who Will Win?

Click HERE to see all the nominated entries on the BillabongXXL.com website

Click here to join in and “Like” the XXL at www.facebook.com/BillabongXXL
NEWPORT BEACH, CA – (April 30, 2012) – The 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Monster Energy will reach its peak moment as the winners are announced at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California this Friday, May 4. After a full year of action featuring many of the most spectacular waves ever documented, it all comes down to the final votes of the judges, and the big party to celebrate an epic year in surfing.

Five nominees were named last month in each of the event’s seven categories including Monster Tube, Monster Paddle, XXL Biggest Wave, Verizon Wipeout of the Year, Surfline Overall Performance, Billabong Girls Performance and the ultimate Ride of the Year Award. A handful of surfers are nominated in multiple categories including Hawaiians Garrett McNamara and Kohl Christensen and California surfers Greg Long and Nathan Fletcher. To view the video and photos of all the amazing nominated rides, see the BillabongXXL.com website.

Garrett McNamara (Haleiwa, Hawaii) is nominated in both Ride of the Year and XXL Biggest Wave categories for a huge peak challenged off the coast of Portugal in November which made worldwide headlines as surfers and non-surfers debated whether it was the biggest wave ever ridden.

“Three huge lumps appeared on the horizon, we picked the biggest one and Andrew Cotton towed me in,” recalls McNamara of his monster wave off the town of Nazaré. “I remember dropping and dropping, then punching it off the bottom and wanting to get up into the tube, but it just exploded and landed right on my shoulder and felt like a ton of bricks. I just focused on making it and somehow cruised out to the end. At that moment I didn’t have any idea that ride was going to get so much attention, all I was thinking was ‘put me deeper on the next one.’”

The determination as to the height of all five of this year’s Biggest Wave nominees — and whether any of them may usurp the current world record — will be decided this week by a panel of big wave surfing and photography experts who will precisely examine and measure the existing still and video images of each ride. The current Guinness World Record is held by Mike Parsons who rode a 77-foot wave at the Cortes Bank off California in 2008. Also in contention for the XXL Biggest Wave prize are Andrew Cotton (England), Ollie O’Flaherty (Ireland), Axi Muniain (Basque Country, Spain) and Damien Warr (Australia).

While McNamara’s feat has made him a global mainstream celebrity, at the opposite side of the spectrum is one of surfing’s most low-key yet universally respected big wave chargers, Nathan Fletcher (San Juan Capistrano, California). Fletcher is nominated for the Surfline Best Overall Performance Award, along with Monster Tube and Ride of the Year nods for a cartoonish cavern of a wave ridden at Teahupoo, Tahiti last August.
“I hadn’t been to Tahiti since 1998, when I got two perfect 10s in the Teahupoo contest which turned me into a pro surfer and changed my life forever,” said Fletcher of his history with the iconic wave in French Polynesia. “We saw this massive swell headed there and went for it, totally unprepared but stoked to go back. When I got that wave and it walled in front of me, it seemed like a giant skateboard half-pipe. I was looking UP at the boats in the channel and just thought, ‘I have got to make this wave, it’s not something a human could survive.’ Then the foam hit me, it was incredibly violent and I just went, ‘OK, it’s been great, I’ve had a great life but this is it.’ But just as violently I suddenly came to the surface, in one piece. I couldn’t believe I was still alive. Tahiti just changed my life again for the second time.”

Other top surfers with multiple nominations include Kohl Christensen (Haleiwa, Hawaii) who distinguished himself with numerous outstanding sessions from Fiji to Chile to Hawaii and Greg Long (San Clemente, California) who is nominated in the Ride of the Year category for a spectacular paddle-in barrel at Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Long, who has won a total of five XXL titles in his career, is contending for the Surfline Best Overall Performance crown as well.

And while the ceremony at the Grove is open to just 2,000 invited VIP guests, there are a pair of incredible giveaways that are available to the general public this week. These include two free tickets to Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui and a state of the art waterproof backpack from Pelican Products. Both will be given away to lucky surfing fans in a matter of days – get all the details and sign up to win on the XXL Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/BillabongXXL.

The 12th Annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards show will be webcast this Friday evening on YouTube’s Network A, and will be broadcast as a one-hour program on FUEL TV on Sunday, May 20 at 3 P.M. PT.

The Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards are fueled by Monster Energy. Verizon Wireless is the official communications provider and XPERIA Sony Smartphone is the official cell phone supporter. Surfline.com is the exclusive surf forecast of the XXL and Contour the exclusive provider of point of view cameras. The event is sponsored by Air Tahiti Nui airlines, Surfing Magazine and Pelican Products.

Interview with Malia

Hawaiian natural-footer Malia Manuel, 17, has made a statement on her opening campaign on the ASP Women’s World Championship Tour, leading her rookie class as the first freshman to make a final while posting several top results in the first four events this year. In addition to her flare on the Top 17 stage, Manuel has done serious damage in Australia over the last three months, finishing runner-up in multiple ASP 6-Star events. ESPN caught up with the talented rookie to talk about her first impressions of the big leagues, and this… is their story…

She started the season with a third place at the Australian Open. Then it was a solid fifth in her maiden World Tour event. She followed that up by taking runner up at a pair of 6-stars, and fifth place at Bells. Last week, she made the finals of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic. All season long, she’s been rolling right over the competition. And she was recently in the Wall Street Journal. So who is this girl?

It’s not like 18-year-old Malia Manuel is a new name to womens surfing. After all, she became the youngest shredder to ever win the US Open when she aced the circus at Huntington in 2008 (at 14-years-old.) Born into a Hawaiian family steeped in surfing tradition, she was on a board at age two.

And now, as a rookie, she currently sits in the No. six slot on the Womens Tour, just below 2011 World Champ Carissa Moore and just above another rookie phenom, Laura Enever. But how about the amount of times she’s come up against current World No. one Stephanie Gilmore? And she’s held her off at the Beachley Classic and Margaret River. The young upstarts are proving a point this year and we caught up with Malia Manuel on Kauai to get a better handle on this giant slayer.

ESPN: So that first leg of the tour must have been quite a blur for you?
Malia Manuel: Three months flew by in Australia. I’ve never been away from home that long so I was anticipating what it would be like. Doing seven events back to back to back was a challenge, but I managed to stay healthy and it all was worth it.

 

 

Bog Works Big Wave event scheduled for Tuesday, May 1.

It could be Mayday and Mayhem tomorrow as Surfing Taranaki’s Bog Works Big Wave Invitational 2012 is all go for Tuesday, May 1, in predicted 4 metre waves and light offshore winds.
 
With a $5000 prize purse, the big wave surfing event will be held at the legendary big wave break, Bog Works, on New Plymouth’s foreshore with a 10am start. The best viewing for spectators will be from along Woolcombe Tce (just east of Placemakers) or from the acclaimed Coastal Walkway below.
 
The line up of big wave contenders includes Paige Hareb, currently in between ASP World Tour events, as well as Daniel Keropa and a host of Taranaki and New Zealand big wave riders.
 
The Big Wave Invitational will run along the lines of other big wave competitions around the world, says Craig Williamson, Executive Officer of Surfing Taranaki.
 
“One of the most famous and long standing big wave competitions is Hawaii´s annual Eddie Aikau Memorial Competition,” says Craig.
 
“We have taken some inspiration from this event and hope to create our own little bit of magic right here in Taranaki for New Zealanders to take part in and enjoy. Taranaki often enjoys sizeable ground swells from the Southern Ocean from Autumn through till Spring enabling Bog Works to come into its own as a big wave break not for the faint-hearted.¨
 
The prize packages is broken down into $2,000 for the winner, $1,000 for the runner up, $500 for third, $250 for the, fifth and sixth place getters, along with awards of $250 each for the Biggest Wave, Most Critical take-off and Best Tube Ride of the day.
All competitors below are confirmed but still need to register with the Beach Marshall before 9am and be present for a competitors 9:15am meeting, with the view to get underway by 10am.
JAMIE (CHIP) ANDREWS
TYLER ANDERSON
JEREMY CURD
KANE ROWSON
BACHELOR TIPENE
JEREMY GRAINGER
GORDON MCBRIDE
JARROD HANCOX
CRAIG DINGLE
JASON MATHEWS
SIMON DEKEN
CONAN JAMES
SIMON MOULDMIKE BREWERELI SMITHPAIGE HAREBDAN KEREOPAPETE MALONEYCLINT REID

Surfers registered and on Standby are:
 
MARK PARTHMORE
MILES RATIMA
SAM HAWKE
DOUG YOUNG
BEN NOTTINGHAM
 
 

Surfing Taranaki Bog Works Big Wave Invitational 2012 is all GO for tomorrow, Tuesday 1st May 10am Start.

Note: There is some lingering concern about the coming swell’s size and the exact direction of the wind first thing, that said we are still 95% confident that it will be solid enough and will swing offshore just in time for the start of the event (Bog Works was already 2x overhead at 10am this morning and a significant swell size increase is expected tonight).
Organisers still reserve the right to put a hold on the start time or even postpone the event should conditions not be satisfactory, in which case an expression session with $500 prize money will still take place.

All competitors need to register with the Beach Marshall and sign a disclaimer before 9am and be present for a 9:15am meeting, with the view to get underway by 10am.

Below is the list of competitors who have paid the $50 entry fee and thus CONFIRMED their entry (please refer to my 13 February email to you all):

JAMIE (CHIP) ANDREWS

TYLER ANDERSON

JEREMY CURD

KANE ROWSON

BACHELOR TIPENE

JEREMY GRAINGER

GORDON MCBRIDE

JARROD HANCOX

CRAIG DINGLE

JASON MATHEWS

SIMON DEKEN

CONAN JAMES

SIMON MOULD
MIKE BREWER
ELI SMITH
PAIGE HAREB
DAN KEREOPA
PETE MALONEY
CLINT REID

Now on STANDBY because no payment has been recieved are:

MARK PARTHEMORE

KEONE CAMPBELL

MILES RATIMA

SAM HAWKE

SHAYNE BAXTER

DOUG YOUNG

BEN NOTTINGHAM

In Australia and on STANDBY so UNLIKELY to make it:

MARAMA JAYNE KERI KAKE
ALAN GEE

 

“Code Red” Full Movie – Surfing Goes Huge At Teahupoo Tahiti

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