Aritz Aranburu eliminates Kelly Slater in Round 2

Aritz Aranburu (EUK), 23, current ASP World No. 39, caused the upset of the event, eliminating reigning nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 37, in Round 2 of the Billabong Pro Tahiti.
Following four consecutive lay days, the event roared back to life this morning, with the world’s best surfers tackling the three-to-four foot (1 – 1.5 metre) waves on offer at Teahupoo.

After surprising eliminations of Euroforce members Jérémy Florès, local surfer Michel Bourez, Miky Picon… at the very beginning of the event, Aritz Aranburu and Tim Boal were the last two european surfers still on course last night. (more…)

The Surfing Tribe, by veteran Newquay surfer Roger Mansfield, is the first book to document the rise of surfing in Britain from the 1930s to the modern day. The 208-page hardback, with over 200 classic and iconic photographs, many of which have never been seen before, is published by Orca Publications on 1 June.

The Surfing Tribe tells the fascinating story of how a sport first practised in Hawaii found its way to the chilly Atlantic shores of Britain thanks, originally, to a Birmingham dentist and a Newquay ice-cream seller. Way back in the late 1930s Midlands dentist Jimmy Dix was leafing through the Encyclopaedia Britannica when he spied a photo of surfing in Hawaii and felt the urge to give it a go. He obtained a 14-foot wooden surfboard from a surf club in Waikiki, Hawaii, and took it down to Newquay in Cornwall on his annual holiday. There he met a young Newquay ice-cream seller, Pip Staffieri, who built his own wooden board and taught himself to surf. (more…)

Three surfers are going against the grain of the norm, they are seeking out the biggest, the heaviest, most unpredictable and hidden breaks around Ireland Why? Because they are Artists, they are driven by an unquenchable passion for their art and never choose the easy route. Powers of Three is a documentary that follows three remarkable guys as they pioneer and conquer Irish waves through the bleak winter months. (more…)