Another day of small swell and another day of waiting at the Globe Pro Fiji. One week into the contest and only the money contenders are hanging around on Tavarua. After back-to-back contests in the sun-drenched South Pacific, most of the top ASP World Tour surfers have headed back to their local breaks or another epic surf trip. The Globe Pro contest director may give the contest a go tomorrow or Monday. Another call on competition status will be made tomorrow at 7am.
Next time you are headed to Fiji, remember some of these key words and phrases:
“ni sa moce” (pronounced – ni sa mothey) - Fijian for “Goodbye”
“ni sa yadra” – Fijian for “Good morning”
“bia” - Fijian for “beer”
“wai” – Fijian for “water”
“vaka-viti” - Fijian for “Fijian”
Check out the local Fijian swell models provided by Wavewatch.com
Day 7 of the Globe Pro Fiji turned into a something other than a surf contest. The Wimbledon of Tavarua Island came to town and the surfers turned into tennis players. The Globe Pro Fiji took the day off again and entertainment switched from barrels and cutbacks to serves and volleys. The tennis tournament winner will earn themselves a nice $200 bar tab. Life must be tough being a professional surfer. If there are not any waves on your tropical island then pick up the tennis racquet and win a $200 bar tab. Sounds good to me.
The contest director is predicting a 6 foot (2 meter) swell and says that the new swell should show up this Sunday, Monday, or even Tuesday. Cloudbreak should be the spot for Round 4.
Cloudbreak on Tavarua, Fiji Islands
Another official call on the contest status will be made tomorrow morning at 7 am.
Match-up of the day: Heat 4 – Damien Hobgood vs. Kelly Slater
Globe Pro Fiji Round 4 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Luke Stedman (AUS)
Heat 2: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
Heat 4: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)
Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Dayyan Neve (AUS)
Heat 6: Chris Ward (USA) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Pancho Sullivan (HAW)
Heat 8: Frederick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Day 5 of the Globe Pro Fiji is off for the day until more swell can be generated. Sixteen of the top 45 ASP Tour surfers are still in the hunt for capturing the 2008 Globe Pro Fiji title. Dropping swell has forced contest officials to call off today’s round and wait. Rounds 1 -3 have been completed and now the contest has only 9 days left for swell to fill in and to complete the event.
Event officials will make a call this morning and decide if the contest is a go or no go. Remember, Fiji is 19 hours ahead of theWest Coast and 22 hours ahead of the East Coast.
Stop number 4 on the ASP World Tour continues to roll out some amazing heats and amazing upsets. The 3-time world champion, Andy Irons, was ousted by another fellow Hawaiian in Round 3 of the 2008 Globe Pro Fiji. Fredrick Patacchia, the 2005 WCT Rookie of the Year, closed the door on Andy Irons by beating him in Heat 15, 16.34 points to only 5.83.
The match-up of Round 3 included past ASP World Champions Mark Occhilupo and 8 time world champ, Kelly Slater. Even though Occy officially retired last year, he entered this contest as a wildcard. Occy was downed by Kelly Slater in Heat 8. Now Slater will match up with the defending Globe Pro Fiji champion Damien Hobgood in Round 4. With the contest swell dying and some lay days ahead, the 2008 Globe Pro Fiji is finished for today.
After taking a year off in 2007, the 2008 Globe Pro Fiji is back and firing. The contest is being held on the tropical island of Tavarua, Fiji. The perfect left hand bender called Restaurants and the hollow curl of Cloudbreak will be pitching up waves from May 24-June 6. Day 2 has already concluded and Round 3 is underway. Check here for the most recent 2008 Globe Pro Fiji results.
Tavarua Island and Fiji Islands map and location
Tavarua Island, Fiji
Ever wonder why the surf break is called “restaurants?” Well, the locals, surfers, and tourists can watch the contest from the Tavarua Restaurant. What a great way to enjoy dinner.
I wish this surfboard shaping class was available while I was attending California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA. I took some really fun and intellectually challenging classes while at Cal Poly, but none were as fun as my bowling class. Ok, I have to admit that I took bowling 3 different times while in college and never missed a class. Yes, bowling is a little different than surfboard making, but this was the one class that nobody wanted to skip. I got 1 college unit per class, an improved curve ball, and an awesome handicap. The only thing different with the new Cal Poly surfboard shaping class is that the students do not earn college credits and you can not really get a surfboard shaping handicap.
Cal Poly’s surfboard shaping program was recently recognized by The Surfer’s Journal and the magazine will be running an article sometime this fall. Read the Mustang Daily newspaper article.
The surfboard class is offered through Cal Poly and the ASI, Associated Student Inc, Craft Center. ASI offers the class to students and non-students. The price for students is $150 and $190 for non-students. More Craft Center surfboard shaping info.
Check out this cool video on the ASI Craft Center and their surfboard shaping class.
PADI: Professional Association of Diving Instructors
I know this is not an exclusive surfing sweepstakes, but what the heck. If you enter and win this sweepstakes, you and a friend will be jet-setting your way to the island of Oahu. No diving license? Never been diving? Darn, that is too bad. I have never been diving and would love to win this opportunity!! Last time I checked, the North Shore of Oahu has some decent waves. Have you ever heard of the 7 mile miracle? If you have not been to the Hawaiian Islands, then here is your chance to act like a surf bum and diving bum. Here are some of the fringe benefits you and a friend will win:
Round-trip air fare for you and a friend to Hawaii
Seven nights stay at a hotel resort in Oahu, Hawaii
Open Water Diver certification for two (including, eLearning/Home Study, confined water training, open water dives, equipment rental)
Two new sets of a mask, snorkel and pair of fins
Eight-day car rental
Fifty dollars cash per day per person for meals for eight days
ELIGIBILITY: PADI GO Deeper. GO Dive Sweepstakes (“Contest”) is open to citizens of the United States and US territories and possessions who are 18 years of age or older (“Entrants”).
All entries must be received by 8:00 AM, PST on 30 June 2008. Multiple entries will not increase entrants’ odds of winning. All Entrants must agree to these Official Contest Rules and be bound by the final decision of PADI.
With conditions deteriorating and the swell dropping, the 2008 Billabong Pro Tahiti – Teahupoo ended Thursday with a Brazilian knocking out a local Tahitian rider. This was only the second time in WCT contest history that 2 wild-card surfers were competing in a WCT final round. Bruno Santos (BRA) ended Manoa Drollet (PYF) aggressive charge towards a tour stop victory. Even though Drollet found a couple 10 point scoring waves in Round 4 and in the Semi’s, he could not find any perfect waves in the Final Round. Drollet only chalked up a combined 6.83 points in the final, compared to Santos and his low-scoring 9.16 points. Bruno is the first Brazilian to win an ASP Tour event in five years. Bruno Santos was battling more than the inconsistent surf. He had to battle finding a smaller board.
“I got two little barrels and then there were no more waves, I don’t know, maybe Mother Nature was trying to help me,” Santos said. “Today is so small and my 6’3 was too big so I borrowed a board from a French guy in the channel. He saved my life, I want to keep the board.” Bruno Santos also defeated last year’s World No. 1 Mick Fanning (AUS), World No. 2 Taj Burrow and 2001 ASP World ChampionC.J. Hobgood (USA), as he advanced to his victory.
Bruno Santos celebrating his victory (Photo: ASP)
Top 10 ASP World Tour Rated Surfers after the Billabong Pro Tahiti: 1. Kelly Slater (USA) 2810 points
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 2340 points
3. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 2318 points
4. Andy Irons (HAW) 2196 points
5. Mick Fanning (AUS) 1989 points
6. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 1932 points
7. Taj Burrow (AUS) 1886 points
8. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 1874 points
9. Kai Otton (AUS) 1800 points
10. Dane Reynolds (USA) 1742 points
The biggest upset of Round 3 goes to Manoa Drollet, the local Tahitian, knocked out the 8 time world champ, Kelly Slater, and moved onto Round 4. Kelly Slater could only manage a combined 9.83 wave score in Round 3, compared to Drollet who scored a 14.00 heat total. Another top standout and last year’s ASP World Number 2 surfer, Taj Burrow, was beaten by Brazilian surfer Bruno Santos.
Kelly Slater was slapped with a priority interference penalty while paddling for a wave Manoa had priority on and Slater’s second wave was disqualified. Even though Slater finished this contest in 17th place, he will maintain his ASP Tour Number 1 ranking.
With 2 of the top surfers vacant from the Teahupoo lineup and only one day left in the competition, the field will be battling for the Teahupoo victory. Slater’s biggest threats are still in the contest. The two biggest worries include Andy Irons (HAW) and Joel Parkinson (AUS). Both of these pros are ranked 6th on the ASP Tour and if either of them win the Teahupoo competition, they would move all the way up to Number 2. Putting them right behind the Number 1 and adding more pressure on Slater and his 9th World Title contention.
Looks like Kelly Slater wanted a piece of that $320,000 pie and decided to show up to the 2008 Billabong Pro Tahiti – Teahupoo event. Rumor has it, he was kicking back watching the Lakers playoff game with his “other” friends. He flew out to Tahiti just in time for his heat. This guy treats his heats as a warm-up when the others surfers in the contest came a week earlier to knock off some rust. It is up to Slater to lose his 9th world champion title. If he does not want to surf an event, then the competition gets that much closer to Sl8ter!!
After waiting 5 days for Teahupoo to erupt, the contest officials finally flipped on the swell switch. But seriously, there is no magical switch and contest officials are a little bummed on the current swell conditions. The Teahupoo glassy waves and Round 1 are officially underway at 7:00am, May 13, but there are some famous faces missing.
The defending Teahupoo champion, Damien Hobgood, is missing from this years competition because he fractured his shoulder a month ago and it has not completely healed. Apparently, another notable surfer might show up fashionably late. Teahupoo insiders report that Kelly Slater is not present at the contest either. Since Slater has earned the most world titles, he decides if he will show up or not. The waiting period at Teahupoo has not garnered enough swell and hence Slater might not show up on time. He is probably surfing another head-high, world class wave on some other tropical island. Stay tuned to see if he will show.
The 2008 Billabong Pro Teahupoo, Tahiti takes place May 8-18. Kelly Slater is still in first place in the world tour rankings and Teahupoo has yet to unleash its fury. The contest has been postponed today, due to small swell. The official swell forecasters are predicting better swell for Tuesday and Wednesday. Tune into the Billabong Pro Tahiti and watch a LIVE webcast on www.aspworldtour.com/billabongpro. There is a nice $320,000 prize purse for those surfers lucky enough to conquer ‘Chopes.
Teahupoo, Teahupo’o (pronounced Cho-pu or Te-ah-hu-po), also known as ‘Chopes, is located on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. The largest and main island of French Polynesia, Tahiti, is situated in the eastern South Pacific Ocean. Tahiti is pretty much in the middle of South America and Australia. If you have ever flown from Los Angeles, CA to Auckland, NZ, then you flew right over Tahiti. Are you ready for your next surf trip?
Tahiti and French Polynesia
Tahiti is shaped like an hour glass and is the most populated island in French Polynesia. You may know Tahiti mostly for black sand beaches and honeymoons, but among the surfing community, Tahiti is known for Teahupoo. Teahupoo is a world-class reef break spitting out left-handed barrels that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up straight. The main circus attraction of Teahupoo is when the tow-in surfers get a whiff of big swell. Any significant swell will turn this place into a surfer frenzy. Here is a picture of what Teahupoo looks like when the pro-surfer circus rolls into town.
You must be asking yourself…this offer is too good to be true. Yes, a free entry into one of the heaviest lefts in the world might sound a little crazy. The only crazy thing is that you are not really on the sun-splashed island of Tahiti. Instead, you are on your fluorescent-splashed, electronic wave machine creating your own surfer and your qualifying heat is next! Get pumped up and get your game face on! Hold onto your keyboard and try not to wipe out.
Screen shot of the virtual surfing game
Billabong and Youriding.com have stepped it up a notch with this free virtual surfing experience. The Billabong Pro Tahiti is set to take place May 8th-18th, 2008 and now you have your chance to enter as one of the top 48 surfers in the contest. This virtual experience is brought to you by Youriding.com. Youriding.com is a global surfing website that features the first and only free online surfing video-game. Internet users can enter any surf contest they want by going to www.youriding.com, create your own virtual surfer, and have the opportunity to compete with virtual surfers from around the world. Now is your chance! Enter the Billabong Pro Tahiti 2008 contest and earn enough points to beat other Teahupoo virtual surfers.
Thevirtual contest registration ends May 7, 2008and the virtual contest starts May 8 and ends May 18. There will be prizes awarded to the best 8 competitors and 8 other randomly selected participants. Just register and you could win! Be aware that you might need the current version of FLASH for the website to load correctly. CLICK HERE for Flash update
Good luck and make sure the boss does not catch you playing!
Yes, Kelly Slater and Sandspit reunite once again. Now you can see why he is unmatched in the barrel. I am talking about the insane Sandspit breakwater located in Santa Barbara, CA and not the Sandspit some people might associate with sand dunes and Morro Bay. According to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, Kelly Slater’s favorite surfing spots around the world include Kirra in Australia, Pipeline in Hawaii, and Sandspit in California.
Kelly Slater won his first world surfing title in 1992 at only 20 years young. Winning this surf title made Slater the youngest surfer EVER to be awarded this prestigious trophy. In a very short period of only 16 years, Slater has raked in a whopping 8 world titles. Kelly Slater is now 36 years old and is currently in first place, again. Tune into the next stop on the ASP World Tour to find out if Slater will go for three in a row.
Check out these fresh video clips from the 2007 Surfer Poll Awards winner of “The Best Movie.” I was searching for some good video clips of Kelly Slater and Bruce Irons, but stumbled upon some sick clips of Kelly Slater and Julian Wilson. These clips just happened to be from Quicksilver’s dual-disc “Young Guns 3.” This is the third installment in the Young Guns series and the footage will surely amaze you. The two-disc DVD showcases some of the progressive surfing leaders along side some of the rising stars in the surf scene.
Young Gun Master Kelly Slater
Kelly Slater is definitely the front-runner when it comes to innovative surfing and is unmatched in the barrel. The 8 time world champion has been on the scene for more than 18 years and still amazes crowds around the world. Even though the Quicksilver Team Rider has semi-retired over the past few years and only surfs select WCT events, he has surpassed Tom Curren for the most career victories. Currently, Slater owns 36 tour victories and is on pace for his 9th World Surfing Champion title. He has already won the first 2 events of the 2008 ASP Tour. There are 11 ASP tour stops.
Young Gun Julian Wilson
Although Kelly Slater is not a “Young Gun” anymore, he does have some young gun rippers following in his footsteps. Take a look at the Sunshine Coast surfer, Julian Wilson. The 19 year-old professional Australian surfer from Coolum Beach, Queensland is also sponsored by Quicksilver. In 2006, Julian made his surfing mark and ended up winning the Quicksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.
