Liquid Lifestyles is a series of 10 episodes following the surfing action in the world’s most spectacular destinations. Champion surfers work the waves and give their ‘take’ on reading the surf along with in-depth stories from the local viewpoint. Learn about different cultures, cuisines and people in this energetic television series. Unlike most travel documentaries, this series is a surfer’s view of the world. Surfing is not just about the water and the adrenalin-rush of catching the big waves. It’s about knowledge, skill, cultural curiosity, and an affinity with nature. This surfing documentary series portrays the strengths of man and nature. It puts a human face on the sport, delving behind the images of magnificent wave riding – sharing the expert surfer’s knowledge of the craft, and the instincts and attitudes of the local surfing culture. It is also filmed in some of the most spectacular destinations on Earth.
The series is made to explain all one needs to know before setting off for their next exciting surf travel adventure. Think of this series as a television travel show based around surfing and not a television surf show based around travel. This in itself gives Liquid Lifestyles more marketability and value for money.
Another Irons brother won the 2008 Rip Curl Pro Search. Bruce Irons pulled out a win on the 6th stop of the ASP World Tour against his Hawaiian mate, Fred Patachia. Andy Irons won the 2006, 2007 Rip Curl Pro Search contests and now his little brother has a Rip Curl Pro Search WCT victory. Bruce can feel complete this year since he will end his professional contest surfing after this year.
With this win, Bruce moved into 10th place on the ASP World Tour rankings. Kelly Slater still remains in first place with a very comfortable points lead. Tiago Pires, Portugal, was in it to win and actually knocked out eight-time ASP World Champ and the current ratings points leader, Kelly Slater, in Round 3. Tiago Pires would eventually surf his way into 3rd place in the Rip Curl Pro Search contest.
Rip Curl Pro Search Final Results
1 – Bruce Irons (HAW) 17.66
2 – Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.16
Current ASP World Tour Top 10 After Stop NO. 6
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 5620 points
2 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 4548 points
3 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 4382 points
4 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 4370 points
5 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 4353 points
6 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3950 points
7 – Andy Irons (HAW) 3938 points
8 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3870 points
9 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 3628 points
10 – Bruce Irons (HAW) 3392 points
That somewhere will be Stop 6 on the ASP World Tour and will start “somewhere” in Indonesia. The opening day of the contest will begin July 30 and last until August 10. Surfing fans are waiting on edge for the exact location. The event directors and surf forecasters (Surfline) have a spot in mind, but that will not be disclosed until the first heat is underway. Log onto the Rip Curl Pro Search website to see exactly where Kelly Slater and other top ASP surfers will battle. Watch the event live on the Rip Curl Pro Seach webcast and see your favorite pictures from the event.
Where do you think the 2008 Rip Curl Pro Search “secret surf spot” will be located?
Current ASP World Tour Top 10 Surfers 1. Kelly Slater (USA) 5210 points
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3948 points
3. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 3782 points
4. Mick Fanning (AUS) 3753 points
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 3638 points
6. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3540 points
7. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3460 points
8. Andy Irons (HAW) 3338 points
9. Bobby Martinez (USA) 3028 points
10. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 2884 points
Make sure you stop by the IPEVO and ROCKSTAR Energy Drinks vendor booth in the vendor village. Go to the GO211 US Open of Surfing website for more information.
The contest is over and Kelly Slater has won again. He defeated Mick Fanning in the finals to take home his fourth 2008 ASP tour stop title and his fourth J-Bay title. Kelly Slater, 36-years-young, brought his “A” game to Supertubes Thursday and showed why he is the best surfer in the world. He earned his 38th ASP World Tour victory while downing Mick Fanning in 4-6 foot J-Bay. Winning is Slater’s middle name (not really) and after 14 years on the ASP World Tour, he still has the motivation to win. He wants to be known as the BEST surfer ever!!
Slater beat Fanning 16.73 to 9.40 in the Billabong finals. The start of Thursday morning competition was very clean and as the contest continued, the conditions started to deteriorate with the onshore winds. The officials were worried about the North winds that tend to blow out the faces of J-Bay, which made the final round a little difficult. But this did not stop Slater and his victory drive. Slater now has a 1262 point lead on the World number 2 Joel Parkinson and now has such a large lead that his 9th World Title is in his sights.
The next event on the 2008 ASP World Tour remains a mystery. The “Search” event will be held July 30-August 10, 2008, “Somewhere.”
ASP World Tour Ratings after Stop No. 5 – the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 5210 points
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3948 points
3. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 3782 points
4. Mick Fanning (AUS) 3753 points
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 3638 points
6. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3540 points
7. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3460 points
8. Andy Irons (HAW) 3338 points
9. Bobby Martinez (USA) 3028 points
10. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 2884 points
Jeffreys Bay finally got the restart it needed while completing Round 3 and half of Round 4. The 20 heats of Wednesday’s competition went down in 4 to 6 foot (two meters) surf. There are only 11 heats of the Billabong Pro left and the 2008 champion should be crowned Thursday. The contest officials want to conclude the event with world class surf and the lingering swell. The first heat of Round 4 will be Heat 5 featuring the reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning and Hawaiian Bruce Irons.
I thought the Round 3 rematch between Travis Logie and Kelly Slater would bring out some better competition, but Slater annihilated Logie 19.14 to 12.06 in Heat 8 of Round 3. Next up, Slater will face the current ASP number 4, Adriano de Souza in Quarterfinal 2.
The Last South African Heat Matchup:
Heat 7 of Round 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
Why watch this heat? Taj Burrow beat Jordy Smith in the 2006 Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay semi-finals when Jordy was surfing the event as a wild-card. More reasons to watch. Jordy Smith is the last South African surfer in the event, he will have home field advantage, and will have the local crowd cheering him to victory!
The surfers and contest officials have decided to call off the Tuesday competition. The predicted swell for Tuesday did not show up and the Jeffreys Bay contest officials only have 5 days left in the competition. There are smaller and inconsistent waves at J-Bay, but not enough for a professional surfing contest. Wednesday and Thursday look to be the last days for scoring waves and a new swell is on the horizon.
There are still 3 South African surfers (Travie Logie, Jordy Smith, and Royden Bryson) left in Round 3 and look for them to work their local surf spot.
Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay has been called off for the day. Lack of swell has forced event officials to look into the 11-day waiting period to assess which two days of the eight left will offer the best scoring potential for the remaining ASP Top 45 surfers.
The next best opportunity for swell might come Monday and Tuesday. The official swell forecaster, Surfline, predicts Tuesday as the best day to re-start the competition.
Round 2 of the 2008 Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay is complete.
Swell Forecasts indicate that conditions may be unfavorable for Billabong Pro competition over the weekend. Event officials will meet each morning at 7am, local time, to monitor the waves and make an official call.
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.33 def. Mark Occhilupo (AUS) 9.67
Heat 2: Andy Irons (HAW) 15.17 def. Granger Larsen (HAW) 11.83
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 16.33 def. Rudy (jnr) Palmboom (ZAF) 4.33
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.07 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 11.00
Heat 5: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.67 def. Ricky Basnett (ZAF) 11.34
Heat 6: Luke Stedman (AUS) 12.00 def. Daniel Ross (AUS) 7.60
Heat 7: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.27 def. Jihad Khodr (BRA) 13.94
Heat 8: Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.50 def. Timmy Reyes (USA) 12.00
Heat 9: Ben Bourgeois (USA) adv. Pancho Sullivan (HAW) n/s
Heat 10: Dayyan Neve (AUS) 15.66 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 14.50
Heat 11: Heitor Alves (BRA) 16.66 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.83
Heat 12: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 15.10 def. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 13.70
Heat 13: Mick Campbell (AUS) 15.30 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 9.50
Heat 14: Luke Munro (AUS) 16.33 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 12.55
Heat 15: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18.60 def. Neco Padaratz (BRA) 11.33
Heat 16: Chris Ward (USA) 13.16 def. Mikael Picon (FRA) 12.17
My Round 3 Key Matchups:
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Daniel Wills (AUS)
Heat 5: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)
Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Ben Bourgeois (USA)
Heat 14: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
My Round 3 Key Matchup Revisited:
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Look for some payback in this heat. Travis Logie almost changed the 2005 ASP World Title race by beating Kelly Slater in their heat at the Brazilian Nova Schin Festival. Then Nathan Hedge stepped-up with a heat win against Andy Irons and ended up sealing the deal for Slater. That gave Slater his 8th World Title and 2008 looks to be another title year.
If you would like to share your personal surfing photos, surf travel photos, surf spot photos, or any other surfing related photos please send an email with the submission to:
The 2008 Billabong Pro surfing contest at Jeffrey’s Bay (J-Bay) is set to start on July 10, 2008. This surfing contest is stop number 5 of 11 on the ASP World Tour. Supertubes will be the spot for the 5th surfing event and will include all the top ASP pro-surfers. Kelly Slater leads the ASP World Tour rankings, has won 3 out of the last 4 ASP tour stop events, and is the only professional surfer to win J-Bay 3 times. Another notable finish for Slater was his 2007 second place finish behind Taj Burrow.
J-Bay Location:Jeffrey’s Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa: Jeffrey’s Bay lies on the southern South African coastline, around 45 miles (70 km) west of Port Elizabeth.
The Jeffrey’s Bay surfing contest runs from July 10-20 with an 11 day waiting period. Mike Parson, the contest director, will decide the best surfing conditions for the 63 heats required to determine the 2008 J-Bay Champion.
Anybody not attending the actual South African surf contest can watch the action LIVE on the ASP World Tour website and on the Billabong Pro webcast. You can get instant event coverage, contest scores, and live video feeds from either website.
Past Jeffrey’s Bay Champions:
2007 – Taj Burrow
2006 – Mick Fanning
2005 – Kelly Slater
2004 – Andy Irons
2003 – Kelly Slater
1996 – Kelly Slater
My 2008 J-Bay Champion prediction: Kelly Slater aka Jimmy Slade
The California Surf Museum will be part of the “Summer of Sports” at the San Diego County Fair this year. The 2008 San Diego County fair kicks off this Saturday, June 14. The fair runs from June 14th – July 6th. During this time The California Surf Museum will unveil its latest exhibit “San Diego Surfs,” which includes a variety of significant area surfboards from past to present, photos and stories.
The fair has designated Saturday, June 14, as “Surf Day,” and be sure to check out the special surfing presentations in the theme exhibit hall. The reggae band, Steel Pulse, will also be performing on the official Surf Day.
The San Diego County Fair is the largest annual event in San Diego County and the fifth largest fair in the United States, drawing more than 1.2 million visitors each year. Gates open daily at 10 a.m.; exhibits close at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Fun Zone closes at approximately midnight. Admission is $12 for adults, $6 for ages 6-12 and 62 and older, and free for ages 5 and younger.
Next time you are surfing in Africa and get cut off, you better check twice and make sure it is not one of the surfing hippos catching waves in Africa’s Loango National Park.
A Loango surfing hippo
Loango National Park is located on the west coast of Gabon. Africa is hoping Loango National Park will become the next ecotourism capital. This unspoiled location is part jungle, having the most intact expanses of rain forests left in Africa, part swamp and it sports 60 miles of Atlantic Coastline with plenty of waves for everyone. It has one of the greatest concentrations of undisturbed wildlife anywhere in Africa. Whales stop over to mate; giant sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs; elephants saunter along the beach and the most remarkable attraction are the hippos playing in the surf!
The African surfing hippo
Catching a wave is a new sport to the African River Horse (aka hippo) as they are not particularly fond of sea water. But with many being displaced by human development or when young bulls are “voted out of the herd” they will hang ten if it is the closest water source. So, be forewarned, if you are planning a surfing safari to Gabon’s Loango National Park you might find yourself sharing your wave with a SEEKOEI (pronounced SEA COW) as they are called in the Afrikaans language.
By the way, if you are big fan of the CBS reality show, “Survivor,” be sure to tune in for this year’s Season 17 as it all takes place in Gabon, Africa!!! The season is appropriately named “Survivor: Gabon – Earth’s Last Eden.” Plus, Season 17 will be the first year Survivor filmed in HD! Imagine the bug bites and the surrounding landscape in High-Definition. Hopefully the cast or crew do not steal any of the local’s waves. The video below could be a lost local.
The 8-time world champion has claimed another crown by defeating C.J. Hobgood in the Globe Pro Fiji final. I thought Slater might lose a close one in the finals, but he held true to form and rounded out the contest by winning in windy 6-foot Cloudbreak. Slater is the only ASP Top 45 surfer to win an ASP event in 2008. Slater has won 3 out of 4 events so far and remains number one on the ASP World Tour.
Kelly Slater’s win at Cloudbreak has extended his ASP ratings lead with Joel Parkinson (AUS) and Bede Durbidge (AUS) maintaining their World No. 2 and No. 3 spots behind Slater. C.J. Hobgood is 0-2 versus Slater in the Globe Pro Fiji and after losing to Slater has positioned him for another record breaking ninth ASP World Champion. Slater already holds the record with 8 ASP World Titles and looks like he might add another one.
The anticipated swell at the 2008 Globe Pro Fiji finally arrived and delivered decent waves to Cloudbreak. The waves were not smooth and hollowing winds made Round 4 very challenging. Kelly, Taj, Bede, Bobby, Mick, C.J., Joel, and Adriano all advance to the Quarterfinals.
The last heat of the day ended up being the up-setter. The Brazilian, Adriano de Souza, finished off Frederick Patacchia of Hawaii. In Heat 4, Kelly Slater solidified his place in the quarters by beating Damien Hobgood.
Since Fiji is 19 hours ahead of California and 22 hours ahead of Florida, the Quarterfinals will take place Tuesday morning, local Fijian time. Event directors are saying that the Globe Pro Fiji will finish Tuesday and event organizers are aiming for a 7am start. An official surf call will be made, Tuesday, 6:30am local Fijian time.
QF1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
QF2: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)
QF3: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. CJ Hobgood (USA)
QF4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Watch QF3: Defending 2007 ASP World Champion vs. Former 2001 ASP World Champion
My Prediction: Kelly Slater will win his quarterfinal against Booby Martinez, win the semi-final, and then lose a close one in the finals
The Globe Pro Fiji and the remaining ASP surfers are stuck in another lay day. Competition is still OFF for the fifth consecutive day today, but contest directors are giving indications that Round 4 of the Globe Pro Fiji may resume at Cloudbreak tomorrow, Monday, June 2, 2008.
One interesting note on this year’s Globe Pro Fiji is that the event sponsor, Globe, is promoting their Globe FIRST Environmental carbon neutral program. This means that Globe will give back to the Mother Earth for all the gasoline used in the boats and jet-skis, all the electricity used while on Tavarua, and the other natural resources used. Globe will plant 1,500 trees, or about 6 acres, in a Nicaraguan forest.
