ARICA, Chile (Thursday, June 28, 2007) – Defending Rip Curl Pro Search champion Andy Irons (HAW) found the form to grab another globe-shaped trophy with his win over Damien Hobgood (USA) in Arica, Chile today.

“They’re the best trophies – they’re epic,” Irons said. “They’re my favorite trophy and I’ve got one for the living room and one for the mantle now.”

The former 3X Foster’s ASP World Champion bested Hobgood 16.84 to 8.67 in the four foot (1.3 metre) waves off Ex Isla Alacran.

“It was a battle,” Irons said. “I was hitting the reef and getting worked, but I tried to play it smart and catch the inside waves. Damien was waiting for the sets and it was almost better to not have priority because I caught whatever came in. You can never count Damien out though; he has beaten me before in Tavarua so I knew I had my work cut out for me. With two minutes to go, I was still nervous.”

Irons held the heat lead throughout the 35-minute bout, but cemented it with a 9.17 late in the game.

“It was a set wave and kind of bumpy,” Irons said. “Damien was paddling out and I got in just underneath it. When I was coming out, I did an extra stall to make sure that I got behind the hook. I came out with a bit of emotion to show them I liked it and it paid off.
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The summer is eventually here, and the kick off of the crucial period for our european contingent is underway. After a series of very good results in the first half of the year, Europe’s rising surfers are already on their way to South Africa for the historical event of Durban, the Mr Price Pro, a 6 Star WQS offering $ 125 000 of prizemoney to the best surfers of the planet. (more…)

ARICA, Chile (Wednesday, June 2, 2007) –Rip Curl Pro Search Chile Quarterfinals 2 through 4 will not run today. Small waves have seen the remaining six heats of Foster’s ASP World Tour competition called off for the day.
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ARICA, Chile (Tuesday, June 26, 2007) –Australia’s Dean Morrison dazzled in his Round 4 heat against Kelly Slater (USA) to eliminate the 8X Foster’s ASP World Champion from the Rip Curl Pro Search Chile today.

Slater was on the first plane out of Arica after earning his second equal 9th place finish of the season. Morrison walked away with the highest two-wave heat total of the event – 18.83 out of 20.00 – and a quarterfinal berth.
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ARICA, Chile (Monday, June 25, 2007) – Day 6 of the 12-day Rip Curl Pro Search Chile waiting period proved a drama-filled affair. The elimination of world No. 2 Taj Burrow (AUS), a scorching performance by 3X Foster’s ASP World Champion Andy Irons (HAW) and a perfect 10-point ride by Fred Patacchia (HAW) headlined proceedings.
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After showing some amazing surfing in his opening heat of the Rip Curl Pro Search WCT Chile last week, Jérémy Flores (Fra) had to accept the domination of Fredrick Patacchia (Haw) in their round 3 match-up. In solid 6 to 8 ft waves, the two youngmen paddled out for their much anticipated duel, a massive crowd waiting for some great action.
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photography: Lucia Griggi

The Fat Face Night Surf, part of the Fat Face Night Series Tour and the second leg of the UK Pro Surf Tour, took place on the weekend of the 22nd -24th of June at Lusty Glaze. With the conditions proving to be most challenging, all 3 events were run including the Men’s, Women’s and Longboard as well as the Grom tour on Sunday and of course the relentless money manoeuvre- the best floater!.

Friday greeted the large crowds with 1-2 foot onshore swell in which all surfers made the most out of these challenging conditions. In addition to the surfing the crowds were treated to a great party both Friday and Saturday nights, featuring live music acts, volleyball competitions and of course the Barbie! A great display was also seen by the Red Arrows which attracted large crowds down to the beach from all over. Displaying one of the most spectacular air shows ever seen down in Cornwall the show was a great success.

Saturday greeted the surfers with similar conditions, surfing went on throughout the day with standouts including Russell Winter, ‘Skippy’ Skilton and Jarred Sulliven. Great surfing ability was seen by Mark ‘Egor’ Harris who showed off some excellent surfing in the most challenging conditions seen yet on the tour this year. Mark swept through his heats securing a place in the final alongside England’s top surfer, Russell winter, Porthtowan’s, Shaun Skilton, and international competitor Jarrad Sulliven from Australia.

With Russell not yet being defeated on a UK Pro Surf Tour event, an interesting final was to be seen with the whole beach lit up with spectators from all over the country flooding down to watch the final heat of the day. Jarrad selected the better waves coming through with great skill and judgement allowing him to provide bigger and better manoeuvres. Unfortunately for Russell, he only managed to select waves that opened up for one manoeuvre and this was not enough to topple of the Australian. So close after coming out of injury, Russell did not go away empty handed winning the ‘Relentless money manoeuvre’ for best floater seen over the duration of the weekend winning a neat little cheque of £250.

Winner, Jarrad Sulliven spoke “Thanks to all the sponsors for a great event and thanks to Dave Reed, contest director, and the team for a great opportunity in competing within the Uk Pro Tour and I hope to continue competing in other upcoming events within the tour”.

Also seen on Saturday was the women’s division with Newquay based Holly Donnelly now leading the woman’s tour, despite being 15 years of age, her win preceded in putting her into the lead. With the conditions being small, Holly was at a huge advantage and as a result taking home the title in the woman’s division, beating last years title holder, Nicole Morgan from Ireland. Holly also secured second place in the under 16 girls division held on Sunday. In the Longboard division Chris Thompson of Newquay defeated challengers from all over the country to take the title.

Sunday resulted in similar conditions running the under 12’s, under 16’s girls and boys. Newquay based grom Harry Timson showed off some spectacular surfing maintaining his title and holding leadership on the tour for what could be seen the second year running. Harry has won both events this year and is yet to express fantastic surfing ability throughout the year.

Harry stated, “I had a great final although the conditions were challenging. The sets were pretty inconsistent but I made the most of what was there by picking the better set waves,”

photography: Lucia Griggi

Further results were Gwen Spurlock, winning the under 16’s division, securing her title for another year. Gwen showed off some better manoeuvres of the day making the most of the set waves coming through. Stuart Campbell took the under 16’s boys title beating Tom Good, Toby Donachie and Lewis Clinton in the finals.

Dave Reed contest director spoke, “this is the 7th annual Fat Face night series event and it was a great success. We managed to live stream the whole event which has never been done before, giving us vast coverage all over the world. The conditions were most challenging, however, all surfers excelled themselves and have furthermore shown how competitive and professional surfing has become in the UK. A big thanks to the red Arrows for their support of the event and hope to see them back in our future tournaments.

A big thanks to skinners ale for coming onboard this year alongside relentless energy drink in supporting the tour and providing the money manoeuvre prize. The next leg of the tour will be the ‘Hot Tuna Open’, August bank holiday.

photography: Lucia Griggi

ARICA, Chile (Monday, June 25, 2007) – The Rip Curl Pro Search Chile, stop No. 4 of 10 on the Foster’s ASP World Tour, will resume with the last two heats of Round 2 before moving into Round 3 this morning.
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ARICA, Chile (Sunday, June 24, 2007) –Round 2 of the Rip Curl Pro Search ran ten heats of Foster’s ASP World Tour action at Ex Isla Alacran today. Heats 4 through 10 were run in eight foot (two and a half metre) sets before the winds turned onshore and competition was called off.
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ARICA, Chile (Sunday, June 24, 2007) – Round 2 of the Rip Curl Pro Search Chile, Stop 4 of 10 on the Foster’s ASP World Tour, has recommenced in eight to 10 foot (three metre plus) waves in Arica this morning.
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ARICA, Chile (Saturday, June 23, 2007) – After another morning spent assessing the conditions at Ex-Isla Alacran, event organizers for the Rip Curl Pro Search Chile opted to run the Foster’s Surf Showdown before calling Round 2 off for the day.

Event No. 4 on the 2007 Foster’s ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Search Chile, was greeted with conditions similar to yesterday, with heaving 8 to 10 foot (three metre plus) waves detonating on the shallow reef. While officials deliberated on whether or not to send Round 2 out, the Foster’s Surf Showdown took center stage.

The Showdown featured an hour-long battle royale pitting two-man teams representing the United States, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, the Foster’s Rookies and a special host team from Chile against one another in the challenging conditions.

The exhibition was an incredible display of big-wave bravado as surfers charged the 10-foot bombs slamming into Ex-Isla Alacran. When the hour-long session finished, it was the Chilean Team, comprised of trialist Ramon Navarro and wildcard Manuel Selman, causing a sensational upset and claiming the Rip Curl Pro Search Chile Foster’s Surf Showdown Title over runner-up Team USA, which featured Kelly Slater and Chris Ward.
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