The Surf Blog Spot

See what Kelly Slater has to say after getting off a plane.  Slater is caught by a TMZ reporter in a Whole Foods parking lot.  Find out what he had to say.

Great job Bobby! Bobby Martinez defeats the #2 ASP surfer in an epic Teahupoo barrel for barrel final.  Bobby Martinez (USA) 18.46 vs. Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.10.

 Watch the final heat at the 2009 Billabong Pro Tahiti

2009 ASP World Tour men’s rankings after 3 events

Past Billabong Pro Tahiti Champions:
2008: Bruno Santos (BRA)
2007: Damien Hobgood (USA)
2006: Bobby Martinez (USA)
2005: Kelly Slater (USA)
2004: CJ Hobgood (USA)
2003: Kelly Slater (USA)
2002: Andy Irons (HAW)
2001: Cory Lopez (USA)
2000: Kelly Slater (USA)
1999: Mark Occhilupo (AUS)
1998: Koby Abberton (AUS)
1997: Andy Irons (HAW)

The Billabong Pro Teahupoo -Tahiti started May 9 and the contest will end on May 20, 2009.  This is event 3 of 10 on the ASP world surfing tour.  The Teahupoo event has completed the first 14 heats of Round 1, but is on hold for right now.  The contest officials have called for lay days this week due to weak swell and poor surfing conditions.

Watch for these exciting Round 2 heats:

Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Heiarii Williams (PYF)
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)

Other notables to watch in the 2009 Billabong Pro Teahupoo – Tahiti:

Former three-time ASP World Champion Andy Irons (HAW), 30, and Von Zipper Trials Winner Heiarii Williams (PYF) as wild-cards in the 2009 Billabong Pro Tahiti.

Watch the contest live and catch up on all the Billabong Pro Tahiti news

From the BBC South Pacific Series:

The South Pacific, known as the place where surfing originated, is home to over a quarter of the world’s water and approximately 20,000 islands. These isolated islands exist in some of the most pristine waters found anywhere in the world, harbouring life that is rarely seen.

Some of the biggest waves in the world break on south pacific islands. The storm swells that created the waves in this clip travel over 3000 miles to break on Pohnpei’s shorelines.

Useful Facts:

• The location of the surf shoot is Pohnpei (formerly known as Ponape), Caroline Islands in The Federated State of Micronesia, a place well known within the international surf community for it’s world class reef breaks.
• The $100,000 high speed camera used to film this surf sequence can operate in super slow motion and high definition at 20 times the speed of a normal HD camera. The camera is a TyphoonHD4 which has been specially modified by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, UK, and is similar the the one used on previous BBC landmark series such as Blue Planet and Planet Earth.  It required a special housing unit designed and built by German specialist high speed cameraman/technician Rudi Diesel. Until this film no one had ever tried using this type of camera underwater before
• The cameraman who filmed the clip is 27-year-old top surf Australian cameraman Bali Strickland. He’s filmed many of the world’s best surfers at the top surf destinations.
• The surfer who is featured in the clip is 33-year-old Australian world class surfer Dylan Longbottom. Dylan is a world renowned big wave surfer and surfboard shaper. Known for pushing the traditional limits of both aerial surfing and big wave tow in surfing, Dylan won the monster tube award in the 2005 Billabong XXL awards. These days Dylan is developing his board shaping business (Dylan Longbottom designs) and continues to track down and surf the biggest and deadliest waves he can find.

  Link to camera image

Information provided by Rubber Republic

Watch this monster wave and stoked surfer filmed in slow motion.

A huge ocean wave filmed in slow motion with never before seen images. 

This wave footage is part of the BBC Natural History Unit’s new series, South Pacific. The wave was filmed in super slow motion using a high-definition camera.

I wonder how many poundings the cameraman took before he got that perfect shot?

Happy Cinco de Mayo to all the surfers out there!