The ASP tour caravan stopped at the Grande Plage, Lacanau for this third leg of the European Pro Junior Circuit. Like in the contest before, the surfers had to wait all day for the hoped-for swell which never arrived, forcing the organizers to cancel the contest. The 30 centimetre off-shore waves from the morning didn’t change much by the afternoon, only the wind changed from east to north/north-west, destroying the quality of the waves.
Read the rest of this entry »

Newquay’s Fistral Beach resembled a lake for most of the day yesterday, but action at the Rip Curl Boardmasters was well and truly back on today, with Round 3 of the Men’s 5 star World Qualifying Series event being held in contestable 2-3ft (1m) surf.

Retired Foster’s ASP World Tour surfer Jake Paterson (AUS) paddled out in Heat 1, matching up against current Foster’s ASP World Tour No. 23 Adriano De Souza (BRA), Wade Goodall (AUS) and local Mark Harris (GBR). The Brazilian was the standout in the small conditions, but Paterson did enough to secure second and a spot in Round 4.

Read the rest of this entry »

FREE FAMILY SURF LESSONS WITH TOP PRO LLEWELLYN WHITTAKER OVER AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND

The popularity of surfing continues to grow apace and thanks to the sponsorship of the English Surfing Federation (ESF) Surf School by Freespirit, families will now be offered a unique opportunity to learn to surf for free with top pro Llewellyn Whittaker. Over the August bank holiday weekend (Sunday 26th and Monday 27th August) special family focused clinics will be available on one the UK’s most famous surfing beaches – Fistral Beach in Newquay.
Read the rest of this entry »

Sunny skies, a favourable wind and clean 2ft waves welcomed the Rip Curl Boardmasters to Newquay’s Fistral Beach this morning for Day 3 of the week-long surf and music festival. Although the swell size did drop overnight, competition did start at 8am this morning – with event organisers running the final eight heats of Round 2.

Tour veteran and 2002 ISA World Champion runner-up Frédéric Robin (Reu) handled the small waves well this morning, unleashing his quick back-hand attack to defeat Nathan Carroll (HAW), Michael Marjanovic (AUS) and Norman Landa (EUK) in Heat 19. Robin recorded a two-wave combined heat score of 13.50 points out of 20 to book himself a spot in Round 3.
Read the rest of this entry »

Despite some early wet weather this morning at Newquay’s Fistral Beach, the Rip Curl Boardmasters launched into action at 8am this morning with the opening round of the 5 star Men’s World Qualifying Series (WQS) contest.

The opening round featured 12, four-man heats, with the event’s unseeded competitors battling the tricky 2-3ft (0.5-1m) surf in 20-minute spurts.

Eight British surfers paddled out in Round 1, all hopeful of winning through their opening heats and impressing the large local crowd.

Mark Harris (GBR), Sam Lamiroy (GBR), Matt Capel (GBR), Oli Adams (GBR) and Johnny Fryer (GBR) all won through their Round 1 heats, advancing to the ‘Round of 144’.

Lamiroy was one of the early standouts, defeating former ASP Europe Pro Junior winner Josch Scmeltzer (ZAF) and Joss Ash (GBR).

“I’m glad I made this one, I just checked the heats yesterday and realized I would be out in the water very early,” said Lamiroy. “It ended very good for me, so I’m just happy to get through.”

Lamiroy was later eliminated in Round 2 by former 2004 European Pro Surf Tour champion Justin Mujica (PRT).

Read the rest of this entry »

Four revolutionary eco-friendly surfboards are being exhibited by the Eden Project at the Rip Curl Boardmasters Surf & Music Festival at Fistral Beach, Newquay, until Sunday (August 12).

The boards are being heralded as “the most sustainable in the world to date” and two will be surfed by professionals in the Rip Curl Eco Tag Team Contest during the festival.

Every year approximately 750,000 surfboards are manufactured worldwide. The vast majority of these are made from oil-based plastics with little thought to the environmental impact of either their manufacture or disposal at the end of their life.

Eden has been working on its eco board project for four years with the ultimate aim of seeing all boards manufactured using sustainable materials and processes.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Davidoff Cool Water Wave Women’s 5 star World Qualifying Series (WQS) event hit the water at Newquay’s Fistral Beach at 8am this morning, launching an exciting week of action sport and music mayhem at the 26th annual Rip Curl Boardmasters.

The WQS surfers faced wind-blown 3-4ft (1-1.5m) waves throughout the morning, competing in front of a massive crowd who were also enjoying one of the more warmer days Newquay has seen in recent weeks.

WQS events always showcase the exciting young talent moving through the surfing world ranks, but the Boardmasters is also blessed to have some of the ASP World Tour’s elite in town for the week. Tour veteran Megan Abubo (HAW), Sam Cornish (AUS), Jacqueline Silva (BRZ) and 2006 ASP World Tour ‘Rookie of the Year’ Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) are four of the higher profile surfers who competed today.
Read the rest of this entry »

Saturday night saw the arrival of a solid 4-5 foot swell. A light off-shore which only lasted until the end of the morning gave way to a steady side-shore. The waves continued to pick up with the out-going tide, making the paddle-out difficult for all the surfers.

The contest started at 8 o’clock with the girls. They had the good fortune of taking advantage of the best of the conditions to finish the semis and the final.
Read the rest of this entry »

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California (Sunday, July 29, 2007) – C.J. Hobgood (Melbourne Beach, FL) has taken the 2007 Honda U.S. Open of Surfing presented by O’Neill title today, defeating Jeremy Flores (Hossegor, FRA) in an all-elite Foster’s ASP World Tour final.
Read the rest of this entry »

After yesterday’s interruption in the last heat of round 3, what a relief it was fro everyone to get back to the beach knowing Keoni Perkins (Haw) was definitely safe. We could then start round 4 in the best conditions, some clean 3 ft waves breaking for this final day of competition of the OPT-Tahiti Pro Longboard. The three-men quarterfinals started at 8.30 AM, and Duane De Soto (Haw) faced Scott Fong Jnr (Haw) and local Heifara-Jean Tahutini (Pyf). With a similar level, the three men surfed really well, Fong using the repertoire with accuracy while De Soto and Tahutini were going vertical on the hollower lefthanders. Opening the day with an upset, Tahutini eventually eliminated Fong to advance to the man-on-man quarterfinals.
“I’m stoked to make the man-on-man heats at home. Just too good to reach such a round and surf against some of the best surfers in the world,” said Tahutini.
Read the rest of this entry »