The Surf Blog Spot

Congratulations Ke11y Slater! 11 times is the charm! Great job man! You are the best at what you do!

You are the most dominate athlete in your sport and any sport. Name any other athlete that even compares to what Ke11y Slater has done in his career. I dare you!

Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y! Ke11y!

Yes, that’s 11 Kelly Slater congratulatory yells!

Watch his year in review here

Congratulate Ke11y and shop Ke11y Gear

Ke11y Slater 11x Champion

Check out all the surfing action live at Ocean Beach(San Francisco, CA). Watch Slater chase down his history making 11th ASP World Title.

Click here for the LIVE action during the day!

Rip Curl Pro Search 2011

Check out last weeks carnage that the California winter storms brought to Pacific Beach, CA. This guy is kayaking at Pacific Beach Drive and Mission Blvd (San Diego, CA). No more sidewalk surfing during these storms!

Pacific Beach Street Kayaking

On Saturday, September 19, Surf City USA celebrates Huntington Beach’s Centennial with a tribute to the city’s surf heritage and coastal environment with the much-anticipated “Surfboards in the Sand.” Thousands of surfers and lovers of surf culture will gather with their surfboards on Huntington City Beach adjacent to the famed HB Pier to be a part of the world’s largest surf photo commemorating 50 years of professional surfing at the Huntington Beach Pier.

 Anyone with a surfboard (long boards or short boards acceptable – no boogie or skim boards, please); individuals, groups, families, surf clubs. So bring, beg or borrow a board to be part of this history-making photo event.

Surfboards in the Sand information

Sign up NOW

Get your stick out and go surf today! 

From the NOAA National Weather Service: 

A HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PDT THIS
EVENING.

FOR ORANGE COUNTY BEACHES AND SAN DIEGO COUNTY BEACHES FROM IMPERIAL BEACH TO POINT LOMA AND NORTH OF CARLSBAD. THE SURF WILL CONTINUE TO RANGE FROM 4 TO 6 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SETS TO 8 FEET ON EXPOSED SOUTH FACING BEACHES. THE SURF HEIGHT WILL REMAIN BETWEEN 3 AND 4 FEET ELSEWHERE.

Surf Alert: There is a huge South Pacific storm brewing right now and the whole western side of North and South America will receive a direct hit!

Southern California forecast for this week:

SURF: 5-8 ft. – head high to 3 ft. overhead occasionally 10 ft. and fair-good conditions. Solid SSW groundswell builds throughout the day with weak NW wind-swell mixing in.

Here is a pretty cool California surfboard shaper!

New Kreation Surf Products

You might be wondering…is “Powersliding” serious? Most definitely not. Is this a sport? It’s ridiculous, totally undefined and up for interpretation. What is the event about? Powersliding made us think…what’s next? It’s something we found these creative kids doing that kind of makes people think about what’s possible. So we built them a massive course, setting the stage to see what they can do.

Check this video for a teaser of some powersliding that will go down next week.

Don’t forget to bring your camera and your surfboard!!

Event Listing:

WHAT:       Levi’s 3rd Annual Powersliding Championships – The event includes a sizable street course that will test the competitors’ freestyle skills with 40-foot, four-story rails and boxes, and a cool ocean breeze. Other event highlights include a performance from Brooklyn rockers Matt & Kim, complimentary treats from Mountain Dewand Kogi Korean BBQ taco trucks, and free custom screen-printed apparel, all surrounding the massive Powersliding course.

WHERE:     Santa Monica Pier parking lot off HWY 1, Santa Monica, CA

WHEN:       April 15, 2009 – 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Celebrity judges including Olympic Gold Medalist skier Jonny Moseley, Jason Acuña (“Wee-Man” from Jackass), and Kendra Wilkinson (the too hot to handle star of The Girl’s Next Door), sliders, Brooklyn rockers Matt and Kim, KROQ’s Psycho Mike, Catfish, and the public.

The swell forecasters are predicting more California swell this weekend and into early next week.  Thank goodness for winter storms!  There is another good storm coming in behind the current California storm.

Check your local California swell forecasts and cameras.

Northern California surf forecast

Central California surf forecast

Southern California surf forecast

Wow, I need to surf again soon! I haven’t surfed since the Saturday after Christmas.  My friends and I happened to score some left over storm surf at Carmel Beach (11th street) that Saturday after Christmas.  All the Holidays, California rain and work definitely got in the way.  There is supposed to be some swell right now, but I will miss that swell too.  Time to go look at the forecasts and find out when I should surf again.

I was reading the California surf reports this morning and the reports show some chance of fun surf this weekend.  The South Pacific is showing signs of activity.  The predicted storms down by New Zealand looks like they should arrive around January 4-5, 2009.  Central and Southern California should see the best waves.  Keep your eyes open and continue to check the swell forecasts.

Swell Forecasts

Wow!  The California Coastal Commission, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association), and the MBNMS (Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary)  finally made their decision this past week.  They made a decision that will likely disappoint a lot of surfers and a lot of people involved in the surfing industry.  Personal Water Craft (or PWC) use is now restricted in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  This means PWC surfing for Ghost Tree and Moss Landing are off limits.  The ban will take place in early 2009 in all areas of the sanctuary, with the exception of 4 pre-existing zones near boat harbors, as well as a seasonal fifth zone designated specifically for tow-in surfing at Mavericks.  Read more…

I think this ban will only keep out the honest weekend warriors, but will not keep out the pro tow-in surfer teams.  I found the current punishment for violating the ban pretty interesting.  The current penalty for PWCs breaking the MBNMS law is only $500 for first-time offenders and a higher amount for repeat offenders.  This is just pocket change for any pro-surfer or any other surfer making the cover of SURFER Mag or Surfing Mag.  Think about it……$500 fine vs. +$50,000 for making the SURFER mag cover, XXL biggest wave competition check, potential sponsorship.  I think the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages of paying a fine for your shot at an epic Ghost Tree swell.

Ghost Tree is located off of Pescadero Point along the famous Pebble Beach 17-mile drive.  Pebble Beach is located on the western side of the Monterey Bay Peninsula.

Ghost Tree Monterey Bay Peninsula

More information:

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/jointplan/

http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2007/8/F4c-8-2007.pdf

I was searching around the net for surf forecasts and found some interesting swell predictions.  The experts are predicting a strong North Pacific storm for the end of next week.  Northern California, the Central Coast, and Southern California will all see increased wave heights and stronger waves.  NorCal and the Central Coast should look for the swell to peak on Friday.  The swell will continue down the coast and light up all the surf spots from Point Conception to Baja California.  Looks like late Friday and Saturday will be the best bet for Southern California.

Check the California surf forecasts

Do not miss the O’Neill Cold Water Classic in Santa Cruz, CA. The event takes place October 21-26, 2008.

The O’Neill Cold Water Classic is an ASP 4-Star event and is event #40 on the ASP WQS Men’s Tour. Catch the action at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, California.

Round 5 was completed Saturday, October 25 and will start up again Sunday, October 26. A couple of local Santa Cruz surfers look to keep this years title in Santa Cruz.

Watch the live action

The next stop on the ASP World Tour will tip off at the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley.  The defending Boost Mobile Pro champion and current ASP World Tour points leader, Kelly Slater, will look to defend his title and points lead.

The Dates:  September 7-13

The Location: Trestles, CA - USA

ASP World Tour Schedule

Nathaniel Curran: Rowland/ASP Covered Images

Nathaniel Curran (USA) defeated Tim Boal (FRA) at the 2008 Honda US Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill and also moved into the ASP WQS ratings lead.  His first place finish came in 1-3 foot surf at the Huntington Beach pier.  Nathaniel managed to score a combined two-wave score of 11.66 vs. Boal’s 10.70.  The best two-wave score out of 20 possible points determines the combined wave score.

Taylor Jensen, from San Clemente, CA, claimed the O’Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding presented by Honda title.  He beat out three other competitors, Noah Shimabukuro, Oceanside, CA, Ned Snow, North Shore, HI and Tony Silvagni, Kerry Beach, NC,  to win his second US Open title.

Orange County local boy, Tanner Gudauskas, took the O’Neill US Open Pro Junior presented by Honda title.

Men’s final results:

GO211 LIVE featuring the Men’s Honda US Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill:
1 – Nathaniel Curran (USA)
2 – Tim Boal (FRA)

O’Neill US Open Pro Junior presented by Honda Results:
1 – Tanner Gudauskas (USA)
2 – Julian Wilson (AUS)
3 – Chris Salisbury (AUS)
4 – Nat Young (USA)

O’Neill US Open of Longboarding presented by Honda Results:
1 – Taylor Jensen (USA)
2 – Tony Silvagni (USA)
3 – Ned Snow (HAW)
4 – Noah Shimabukuro (USA)

Go to the official US Open of Surfing Website to see other winners

The 2008 US Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach, CA has started and the men’s second round is complete.  Today, July 23, will feature the women’s Round of 60, 48, and 24.  Thursday will feature the men’s Round of 96: Heat 1-20 and the Boost Mobile Pro Shoot Out Heats 1 and 2.  This weekend is the grand finale featuring the men’s and women’s surfing final, specialty events, interactive festival village and the first ever Corona Stand-Up Paddle Surf Challenge. 

For complete coverage and times go to US Open of Surfing Event Schedule.

While visiting the GO211 US Open of Surfing contest, make sure you stop by the Festival Village and check out the IPEVO and ROCKSTAR Energy Drinks booth.  Enter your best surfing injury at the Festival Village booth or on The Surf Blog Spot if you want to WIN a free PoV webcam and a free USB Skype phone.

The 15^th annual US Open of Surfing competition kicks off today in Huntington Beach, CA, and runs through Sunday, July 27. As one of the world’s biggest surfing and action sports beach festivals, the US Open of Surfing is North America’s only 6-star ASP WQS contest and attracts crowds of more than 400,000.

Helping to kick off the event, we have one of IPEVO’s prize packs to give away to our readers.  IPEVO, a designer of devices to enhance the Internet experience, will be at the US Open of Surfing’s Vendor Village hosting a ‘Scar Search’ contest along with ROCKSTAR Energy Drink. The two companies will be taking pictures of the most impressive scars, as well as showing off their latest products.  Check out a map of the US Open of Surfing Vendor Village.

 Enter the sweepstakes now:

1. Tell us all about your worst surfing related injury

2. How it happened?

3. Most importantly – how it hasn’t kept you from getting back on the board!

Enter your story in the comments section below for a chance to win an IPEVO PoV Web Camera and FR-33.1 USB Handset for Skype. The winner with the best injury story will be selected on Friday, August 1, so get your entry in soon.

More GO211 US Open of Surfing Info

Any questions please contact The Surf Blog Spot:

info@surfblogspot.com