Monday 8th March Surf
QUIKSILVER + ROXY PRO’S - WRAP-UP
Taj Burrow won the Quiksilver Pro and Stephanie Gilmore won the Roxy.

Stephanie Gilmore	Stephanie Gilmore and Melanie Bartels

Men’s - Quiksilver Pro
The final day of the event saw the semis and the final contested. The conditions were the poorest for the whole competition, wind effected, choppy and small (about 1 metre). Seemed strange to finish the event when there was still 5 days left in the waiting period, but then that’s not for me to say, they have pretty sophisticated swell forecasts these days.
Taj was the first to reach the final eliminating Bobby Martinez in their semi. Bobby was on his backhand and the conditions just didn’t suit, Taj had little winning the heat. The second semi was the matchup of the future superstars Dane Reynolds V Jordy Smith, both heralded as future world champions and both in their second year on tour. Dane and Jordy were also in top form, the day before, Dane blew Parko out of the water in their quarterfinal with the best heat of the comp. Parko scored two high eights but was still combo’ed by Dane, who just kept landing near impossible aerials and finishing with a two wave score of 19.20 (out of 20). An amazing heat. Jordy was also hot, eliminating Kelly Slater in round 4 and an in form Bede Durbidge in the quarters. In the end the semi was an anti-climax, Dane just didn’t fire. The form Dane showed yesterday deserted him, he just wasn’t pulling off the manoeuvres as he had in the quarters. Then, instead of consolidating his score with more conservative surfing he kept going for the high risk aerials and when they didn’t come off ended with a small two wave total of 8.96. It was more like Jordy didn’t win the semi, Dane lost it.
Below are the heat by heat results of the quarters through to the final.

QUARTERFINAL:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.70 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.40
QF 2: Bobby Martinez (USA) 16.66 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 10.64
QF 3: Dane Reynolds (USA) 19.20 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.47
QF 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.10 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.77

SEMIFINAL:
SF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.67 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 13.00
SF 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.30 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 8.96

FINAL:
1 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.57
2 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.56

WOMEN'S ROXY PRO
Being the current world champion and the event defending champion Stephanie Gilmore was the favourite for the event but her first hurdle was the trials winner Tyler Wright. They met in the round one, both totally ripped, Stephanie won with Tyler second in the three women heat. This set up a round 3 elimination heat, Stephanie won again but Tyler showed yet again she is one of the hottest properties in junior women’s surfing. Stephanie then had two relatively easy heats, Rebecca Woods in the quarters, then Coco in the semis. Coco didn’t fire in her semi against Stephanie but her previous heats showed Coco will have another strong year on the WCT. Coco’s quarter final against Sally Fitzgibbons was one of the stand out heats of the event, either surfer could have won and each showing they will be a force in this years tour.
The final was between Stephanie and Hawaiian Melanie Bartels. A very motivated Melanie, who now has a full time coach despite not being sponsored, had an impressive march to the final. After a close round 3 win over Jessi Miley-Dyer (Yeah, Jessi wasn’t out in round 2 for a change), Melanie eliminated Sofia Mulanovich in the quarters and Chelsea Hedges in the semis, a tough route to the final.
Like the men’s final the conditions were average but Stephanie deserves the win, her two wave score 12.40 compared to 10.36 for Melanie.
Below are the heat by heat results of the quarters through to the final.

Taj Burrow	Bede Durbidge

Kelly Slater	Stephanie Gilmore

Chelsea Hedges

Thursday 4th March Skate
Belco Bowl Jam
After a couple of years break a welcome return to the skate scene has been Canberra’s Belco Bowl Jam.
Michael White made it down for the event and his photos have been posted in the gallery. Here
Apart from the best of the Australia bowl skaters, thanks to the Bowlarama being on the week before a bunch of overseas riders also made it down to Belco, ie Lance Mountain, Octavio Neto and Ben Rayborn were several I was aware of.
Having a good time is the main aim of Belco and results aren’t that important, but for the record here are the winners.
(I think the main reason to give out prize money is to have more money floating around at the after party).

Lord Of The Bowl - Jimmy Beck
Best Run - R.J Barbaro
Best Local - Joel Webb
Longest slide/grind - Lance Mountain
Best trick over the channel - Andrew Currie -backsmith
Best slam - Kiernan Ironfield

Hopefully we see it on again next year.

Wednesday 24th Feb Skate
Bondi Bowlarama Wrap-up

Pedro Barros Photo: Michael White

Pedro Barros Photo: Richard Ell

Bucky Lasek Photo: Bill Fonseca

A young Brazilian skater has ended Bucky Lasek’s domination of the event over the last couple of years. 14 year old Pedro Barros topped off his Wellington Bowlarama win last week with also winning the Bondi Bowlarama. Barros relegated Bucky Lasek to second place with Bob Burnquist coming in third. The highest placed Aussie was RJ Barbaro who finished 6th. Renton Millar made the final as usual but a heavy head slam in the final jam ended his Bowlarama campaign.
In the Masters Steve Caballero scored a 3 peat winning the event for the third year in a row. Second was Pat Ngoho with local Mick Mulhall third. Lance Mountain skated the elimination round but unfortunately back problems prevented him from competing in the finals.
More Photos have been posted in the gallery.

Monday 8th Feb Skate
Battle For Supremacy -Sydney



The Sydney leg of the Battle for Supremacy, that was to be held down at Darling Harbour last Saturday 6/2/10 had to be cancelled due to the rain.
Shame, as the skaters that were competing looked to be insane and the course looked rad. No news on whether there will be a replacement date.

Saturday 6th February skate
Battle For Supremacy - Sydney leg
Top 20 Australian skaters competing in two rounds for $20,000 in prize money
Darling Harbour 2pm
Confirmed riders

29th January Surf
Billabong World Juniors Wrap-up
Been ages since an update I know, too many distractions over summer.
The World Juniors at North Narrabeen is an excellent start to a new action sport year.

Laura Enever and Maxime Huscenot The 2009 Junior World Champions

Mens
Wildcard surfer Maxime Huscenot from the Reunion Islands won the World Junior Title defeating Jadson Andre (Brazil) in the final. It was a surprise result, Andre was the no 1 seed for the event and apart from an average first round performance Andre was the stand out surfer leading into the final. He consistently scored rides in the nine-point range and his massive airs were the pick of all the aerials thrown up by many of the surfers during the event. Andre has scored a place in the WCT for 2010 - it will be interesting to see the impact he will have against the best surfers in the world on the WCT if his form in this event is anything to go by.
Leading into the event it was a common view that after a long drought the World Junior Title would return back to Australia, if not courtesy of Owen Wright, then either local surfer Davey Cathels or 2008 Australian Junior Champion Stuart Kennedy. (The last Aussie to win the Junior World Title was Parko in 2001). Well the Aussie drought continues, Owen was eliminated in the 4th round by event winner Maxime Huscenot, Davey Cathels went down in Round 3 to Wiggolly Dantas and Stuart was the last Aussie in the event before being defeated by Jadson Andre in the quarters.
If the Australians results were disappointing the opposite was the case for the Brazilians, Even though they didnÕt win the Junior World Title they lead the way in the progressive manoeuvres department and scored three of the four spots in the semi finals, with Jadson Andre, Gabriel Medina and Alejo Muniz. Gabriel Medina was the only surfer of the event to score a perfect ten. An amazing effort from the Brazilians in such a competitive field.
Below are photos heat-by-heat results for the quarters through to the final;
Heaps more photos are in the gallery.

Womens
Favourite for the event, popular local surfer Laura Enever won the women's World Junior Title. Laura defeated Hawaiian Alessa Cuizon in the final.
Laura totally dominated the event, never being challenged in her heats, which included her round 3 matchup against fellow Australian Tyler Wright. Why the event seeding had these two competing against each other in such an early round was a mystery to me. I would have thought their previous results would have had Laura and Tyler among the top seeds of the event.
Laura home break is North Narrabeen and even though local knowledge would have been an advantage there is no doubt Laura has developed into a world-class surfer and is one of the most promising talents in women's pro surfing at this time. Hopefully we will see Laura progress to the WCT in 2011.
Lastly, one interesting statistic - even though Laura's still only 18 she has already competed in the World Juniors four times and her junior career hasn't even finished yet.
Below are photos and heat-by-heat results for the quarters through to the final;
Heaps more photos are in the gallery.

FINAL RESULTS (Men)
1 Maxime Huscenot (REU) 14.17
2 Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.60

SEMIFINAL RESULTS (Men):
SF 1: Jadson Andre (BRA) 15.06 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.77
SF 2: Maxime Huscenot (REU) 15.56 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.27

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS (Men):
QF 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 9.66 def. Clay Marzo (HAW) 1.60
QF 2: Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.27 def. Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 12.36
QF 3: Maxime Huscenot (REU) 15.50 def. Nat Young (USA) 13.10
QF 4: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.73 def. Granger Larsen (HAW) 14.07

FINAL RESULTS (Women):
1 Laura Enever (AUS) 18.33
2 Alessa Cuizon (HAW) 11.10

SEMIFINAL MATCH-UPS (Women):
SF 1: Laura Enever (AUS) 17.33 def. Joanne Defay (FRA) 9.84
SF 2: Alessa Cuizon (HAW) 14.30 vs. Pauline Ado (FRA) 8.97

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS (Women):
QF 1: Laura Enever (AUS) 14.50 def. Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 12.33
QF 2: Joanne Defay (FRA) 8.96 def. Gabriela Leite (BRA) 5.33
QF 3: Alessa Cuizon (HAW) 12.57 def. Malia Manuel (HAW) 10.53
QF 4: Pauline Ado (FRA) 13.60 def. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 11.57

18th November MX
SUPER X ROUND 5 SYDNEY

One of our photographers fav events is the Super X and the tour hit Sydney over the weekend (14th November).
Apart from the several photos above there are heaps more in the gallery. These are the Sydney Open results and the current ratings:

Super X Open Round 5 Results
1. Chad REED (QLD) / Monster Energy Kawasaki, 25
2. Jeremy McGRATH (USA) / Woodstock Honda Thor Racing, 22
3. Jay MARMONT (NSW) / CDR Rockstar Yamaha, 20
4. Tye SIMMONDS (NSW) / Motorex KTM Racing Team, 18
5. Daniel McCOY (NSW) / Pacific Ink Coastal KTM High Roller Energy Team, 16
6. Craig ANDERSON (QLD) / Kawasaki Racing Team, 15
7. Cody MACKIE (NSW) / Cool Air Conditioning Kawasaki, 14
8. Robbie MARSHALL (QLD) / Titan Garages / Northstar Yamaha / Aussie Bike Loans, 13
9. Cheyne BOYD (VIC) / CDR Rockstar Yamaha, 12
10. Cameron TAYLOR (VIC) / SP Motorsports Byrners Suzuki, 11

Super X Open Championship Points after round 5
1. Jay MARMONT (NSW) / CDR Rockstar Yamaha, 108
2. Chad REED (QLD) / Monster Energy Kawasaki, 107
3. Dan REARDON (VIC) / Woodstock Honda Thor Racing, 98
4. Tye SIMMONDS (NSW) / Motorex KTM Racing Team, 86
5. Daniel McCOY (NSW) / Pacific Ink Coastal KTM High Roller Energy Team, 78
6. Cody MACKIE (NSW) / Cool Air Conditioning Kawasaki, 68
7. Cheyne BOYD (VIC) / CDR Rockstar Yamaha, 66
8. Craig ANDERSON (QLD) / Kawasaki Racing Team, 63
9. Cameron TAYLOR (VIC) / SP Motorsports Byrners Suzuki, 58
10. Troy CARROLL (QLD) / Cool Air Conditioning Kawasaki, 52

The next event is Hamilton New Zealand on Saturday 21st Nov. For more details go to www.superx.com.au
You can also check out previous events on Channel 10 Sundays at midday.

9th November Surf
Movistar Peru ClassicVISTAR PERU CLASSIC WRAP-UP
Sofia Mulanovich won the Movistar Peru Classic the only WCT event in her home country. Sofia defeated current ratings leader Stephanie Gilmore in the final. What a great result for the event, the Peruvian surfing fraternity totally idolise Sofia. It was Sofia first WCT win of the year and she how sits in 3rd Place in the ratings.
On the final day of the event the quarters through to the final were contested, the heat-by-heat results are below. In the semis, Hawaiin Coco Ho-tour and winner of the previous event in Portugal scored a 15.17, narrowly losing to Gilmore's 15.60 in the first semi final. Australian 18 year-old Sally Fitzgibbons fell to eventual winner Mulanovich in the other semi's, but Sally’s equal third was her best WCT result.
The only surfer in the top 5 leading up to the event that didn’t reach the quarters was Melanie Bartels, eliminated by Rosie Hodge in round 3. It was disappointing to see Melanie eliminated so early. I thought she might have been in World Title contention during the Hawaiian events. Also, three rookies made it through to the quarters, Ho, Harab and Fitzgibbons with two making the semis, Ho and Fitzgibbons. The young surfers are proving to be highly competitive on this year’s WCT.
Like the men, the final WCT contests of the year move to Hawaii, the Gidget Pro at Sunset and The Billabong Pro at Maui. Both events are also round 2 and 3 of the Vans Triple Crown.
Although maybe six surfers have a mathematical chance of the world title if both Stephanie and Silvana crash out in the early rounds in the next two events, realistically the world title is between Stephanie and Silvana. Silvana needs to finish a couple of places ahead of Stephanie over the next two events to win the world title - quite achievable. Will Silvana do it? My guess is no, Stephanie will win a third world title this year.

FINAL:
Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 15.00 def Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.74

SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.60 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 15.17
SF 2: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 16.27 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.20

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Coco Ho (HAW) 14.74 def. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 10.16
QF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 9.27 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 6.60
QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.16 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 6.83
QF 4: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.67 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 10.17

ASP WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR CURRENT RATINGS:

1 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 4765 pts
2 Silvana Lima (BRA) 4188 pts
3 Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 3891 pts
4 Coco Ho (HAW) 3679 pts
5 Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 3043 pts
6 Melanie Bartels (HAW) 2895 pts
7 Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 2820 pts
8 Paige Hareb (NZL) 2616 pts
9 Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 2424 pts
10 Rebecca Woods (AUS) 2251 pts
11 Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 2239 pts
12 Samantha Cornish (AUS) 2028 pts
13 Alana Blanchard (HAW) 1836 pts
14 Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 1650 pts
15 Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 1476 pts
16 Amee Donohoe (AUS) 1458 pts
17 Megan Abubo (HAW) 1080 pts

2nd November Skate
DON’T FEAR THE REAPER
Here are some photos from the Don’t Fear The Reaper skate Comp Cameron from Analog put on at Fernside (Waterloo) on Halloween:

October 28th Surf
RIP CURL PRO SEARCH UPDATE
The Rip Curl Search (men’s) was saved from becoming a very average contest by a quality swell arriving on day 9, the second last day of the waiting period. After a horror run where the original site was washed away by storm swells and rounds 1 + 2 (new format) moved to backup locations in a desperate attempt to find some quality waves, the swell finally arrived last night, (Australian time) in the nick of time at Supertubes Peniche, the primary venue of the Search. It was the second last day of the waiting period and the event would have had to run irrespective of the conditions so as to be able to finish the event in time. Round 3 and the quarters were held last night in barrelling 6 to 8ft waves. It was one of the most insane days of surfing of the whole contest year. Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson although one and two in the ratings have had some shocker results in the previous events but made it though to the semis, almost guaranteeing them that one will be the World Champion after the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii. Two surfers who could have possibly threatened Mick or Parko for the world title, C.J. Hobgood and Adriano De Souza were eliminated in round 3. Wildcard Owen Wright continued his impressive form progressing to the semis by eliminating Dane Reynolds and Damien Hobgood before having to be taken to hospital with a ruptured eardrum after a massive wipeout. It’s up in the air whether he will contest the second semi against Mick tomorrow. Bede Durbidge is the other semi finalist taking on Parko in the first semi.
The event will have to finish tonight, as it is the final day of the waiting period. On yesterdays form Parko would be favourite although Mick may have an advantage if Owen Wright withdraws and Mick doesn’t have to surf his semi.
If the swell is happening they will probably start the women’s heats tomorrow also.

Check the events sections for webcast details.

SEMIFINAL MATCH-UPS:
SF 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Joel Parkinson (AUS)
SF 2: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Mick Fanning (AUS)

Heat by heat results from day 9

ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.67 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 8.87
Heat 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.20 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 8.73
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 10.17 def. Drew Courtney (AUS) 3.00
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.94 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 11.84
Heat 5: Owen Wright (AUS) 17.27 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.67
Heat 6: Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.33 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.43
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) 18.33 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 4.66
Heat 8: Tim Reyes (USA) 11.37 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 8.74

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.50 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.17
QF 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.60 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 9.00
QF 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 12.83 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.50
QF 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.17 def. Tim Reyes (USA) 5.90

October 26th Skate
Cranebrook Skatepark Official Opening
Cranebrook skatepark (Penrith) has been opened for several months but had its official opening on Saturday 24th October.

Definitely worth a skate if you’re out in the Penrith area. It’s at the corner of Borrowdale Way And Hosking St Cranebrook.
Here are some photos to check out.

Josh Wilken Photo- Michael White	Matt Stanton Photo- Michael White

Ben Bodnar Photo- Michael White	Josh Anderson

Ben Bodnar	Reese

and a couple to finish off;

a couple of closet surfers	Photos- Michael White

Stack of the day	??? Hijinks

October 21st Skate
NEW SKATEPARK AT ROCKDALE
Here are some photos of the new skatepark at Rockdale Sydney.

SRSA put a skate comp on Sunday 18th October and here are some photos of Matt Katai and Ryder Lawson.

Matt	Matt

Ryder	Ryder

If you want to check it out its at Bicentennial Park West Botany Rd Rockdale.

October 19th Skate
Kincumber Skatepark Opening (17/10/09)

Kincumber on the NSW Central Coast had the opening of its new skatepark, on the weekend.
(with the number of scooters there, maybe it should be called a scooterpark)

Here are some photos from the ESS skate team.

This is Rebel who won a skate deck for being the only girl to go in the skate comp.

We have a couple of promo packs (cap, t’s, shorts, stickers etc) from the events sponsor Bad Boy to give away.
We’ll send out the promo packs to the first two to email us at richard@neutraliser.com.au (include your postal address).

October 10th Surf
Billabong Pro Mundaka
Stop No. 8 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour
Mundaka, Euskadi/Spain
October 5th October 17, 2009

Making history, 22 year-old Brazillian Adriano De Souza has defeated Australian, Chris Davidson, in the ASP World Tour at Billabong Pro Mundak, becoming the first South American to ever win the prestigious event. De Souza has won the ASP World Junior Championships in 2001 and the ASP World Qualifying Series in 2005. With the level of his surfing over the last couple of years it's hard to be believe that this was Adriano's first ever WCT win. It may have been his first but I'm sure it wont be his last. The other final contestant, Chris Davidson defeated American C.J. Hobgood, this is Davo's best result in the ASP tour and hurdles him to 20th position in the point ratings.
The standout heat on the last day, for me, was not the final between Adriano and Australian Chris Davidson, but the semi match-up between Adriano and Kelly Slater. It was so close, Adriano 16.00 (8.33 + 7.67) to Kelly 15.93 (7.00 + 8.93). Kelly had the lead twice, and after Adriano took the lead again with a 7.67, Kelly needed a 7.07 with 11 minutes on the clock. Kelly usually triumphs in situations like this but on this occasion could only manage a 4.93 over that 11 minutes. I think this was a pivotal heat for Kelly. Even though it's still mathematically possible for him to win, I believe he really needed to win this event if he was going to retain the world title again this year, but the importance of that heat will only be known when the next two events unfold.
The eighth stop on the World Tour has certainly being the most exciting event yet, who would have guessed the two ratings leaders would be eliminated so early in the comp, in round 2 (Parko) and round 3 (Fanning). For Parko, whether this loss of form is due to his injured foot or a case of getting the jitters, only Parko could really know for sure, but to see such a commanding rating lead disappear due to his 3 consecutive 17th place finishes must be so disappointing. Still, even with those crap results the other surfers still have heaps of chasing to do if they are to catch Fanning and Parko and take the world title. For example, even if any one of the other top ten win both the next two events both Parko and Fanning will still stay ahead of them in the ratings if either one make the semi's in both events.

If the others can't catch Parko or Fanning which one will take the world title? I'll go with Parko.

With two events remaining the excitement continues to build, next stop on the 2009 ASP World Tour will be the Rip Curl Pro Search in Peniche, Portugal from 19 - 28, 2009. See event results below and current top ten ratings:

BILLABONG PRO MUNDAKA FINAL RESULTS:
1st Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.40
2nd Chris Davidson (AUS) 11.83

BILLABONG PRO MUNDAKA SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Chris Davidson (AUS) 13.84 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 10.53
SF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.00 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 15.93

BILLABONG PRO MUNDAKA QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.00 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.97
QF 2: Chris Davidson (AUS) 13.40 def. Drew Courtney (AUS) 10.10
QF 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.33 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 10.67
QF 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.33 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 10.60

BILLABONG PRO MUNDAKA ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 8.00 def. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 6.17
Heat 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.93 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 10.90
Heat 3: Chris Davidson (AUS) 14.73 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 14.17
Heat 4: Drew Courtney (AUS) 13.26 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 10.74
Heat 5: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.44 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.10
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.16 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 11.44
Heat 7: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.93 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 9.26
Heat 8: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.60 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.43

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 (After Billabong Pro Mundaka):
1 Mick Fanning (AUS) 6350 points
2 Joel Parkinson (AUS) 6306 points
3 Adriano de Souza (BRA) 5773 points
4 C.J. Hobgood (USA) 5748 points
5 Bede Durbidge (AUS) 5524 points
6 Kelly Slater (USA) 5514 points
7 Taj Burrow (AUS) 5149 points
8 Bobby Martinez (USA) 4914 points
9 Taylor Knox (USA) 4816 points
10 Damien Hobgood (USA) 4794 points

8th October environment
Sea Shepherds Australian Tour with the Steve Irwin

Antarctic animal activists are about to set sail again for another season of whale defending. Before their 6th Whale Defense Campaign Operation 'Waltzing Matilda' they'll be stopping in ports around Australia for you to meet and greet the team. The vessel will be open for tours, from 10am to 5pm daily.

Sydney - October 5-12 at Circular Quay

Melbourne - October 23-29 at berth no 3 at North Wharf Rd

The crew of the Steve Irwin welcomes you aboard! www.seashepherd.org/australia

In other Sea Shepherd news, the very pooular band Modest Mouse has released their much anticipated video for 'The King Rat' song, directed by Heath Ledger. Proceeds from iTunes video downloads in the first month of release will go toward Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The movie was made to raise awarness about the whale slughter in our Southern Oceans.

To check out the video visit www.modestmouse.com.

7th October Skate BMX Music
MEGARAMPAGE CANCELLED
Megarampage which was to be held in Melbourne on the 31st of October has now been cancelled due to low ticket sales.
Word has it that the bands may still be touring ... Stay tuned for further details.

6th October Surf
BEACHLEY CLASSIC WRAP-UP

Silvana lima	Silvana + Stephanie

Layne

The Beachley Classic is one of the highlights of Pro Surfing in Sydney and I always look forward to those three days of hanging out on the Northern beaches, this year at the new location of Dee Why.
It’s not always the case that the two form surfers of an event meet in the final but here at the Beachley Classic they did. Stephanie Gilmore and Silvana Lima were the top two of the event and both deserved their finals berth. Stephanie was the favourite especially after her semi against Melanie Bartels where her last ride, a big messy right hander was one of the most skilful displays of surfing I have ever seen. I totally agreed with the one judge who gave her a perfect 10.
As you can see from the photos above, Silvana came out on top, defeating Stephanie 16.60 to 12.67, her second finals defeat of Stephanie in a row. Silvana was much more consistent than Stephanie, riding 3 high scoring waves compared to Stephanie’s single high score, an 7.00.
After only three of the seven events completed it’s a bit premature to make predictions about how the women’s 2009 WCT season will play out but Stephanie, although favourite for the world title is nowhere near as dominate as last year and with Silvana breaking her voodoo of heaps of seconds but no wins it’s at least a two man race for the title. Melanie Bartels is also very capable of winning events and one good result would put her in touch with Stephanie and Silvana at the top of the ratings. The last two events are in Hawaii and if Melanie is in the race for the title over there local support will be huge.
The other highlights of the event was firstly Stephanie Gilmore and Tyler Wrights round 3 re-match. (Tyler eliminated Stephanie from the event last year as a wildcard). Tyler lost the heat more than Stephanie won it, both surfers were evenly matched and in the final minutes Tyler only needed a 2.85 to take the lead but after several attempts could only manage a 2.30. The other highlight being Layne bowing out of pro surfing with the lowest ever score in her career, a minuscule 0.50 in her round 3 elimination by Rebecca Woods, a true Don Bradman way to end.
Here are the heat by heat results of the final day, the current ratings and some photos:
We’ll also post more photos in the gallery.

Final:
1- Silvana Lima (BRA) 16.60
2- Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 12.67

Semifinals Results:
Heat 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.17 def. Melanie Bartels (HAW) 6.87
Heat 2: Silvana Lima (BRA)10.60 def. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 5.40

Quarterfinals Results:
Heat 1: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 6.35 def. Rebecca Woods (AUS) 5.97
Heat 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.54 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 8.80
Heat 3: Silvana Lima (BRA) 12.57 def. Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 9.00
Heat 4: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 12.86 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 8.10

ASP Women’s World Tour Ratings After Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic:

Silvana Lima	Silvana Lima

Stephanie Gilmore	Sofia Mulanovich

30th September Surf
BEACHLEY CLASSIC UPDATE DEE WHY SYDNEY


Stephanie, Layne and Tyler Wright

It’s been mid April since the last W.C.T. women’s event, (The Rip Curl Pro Bell’s), but the women are back at last.
The Beachley Classic commenced today with the running of the 6, 3-man, round 1 heats.
The surfers that finished 3rd in those round 1 heats were relegated to the 2nd round where the 3rd placed surfer in both the round 2 heats will be the first eliminations from the event. Surfers relegated to round 2, include Layne Beachley in her last WCT event, Jessi Miley-Dyer who has had a shocker start to the year with two, round 2 eliminations already from the two events this year, Amee Donohoe, Chelsea Hedges and rookies Bruna Schmitz and Alana Blanchard. The round 2 draw is below.
The surfers in the round 3 heats won’t be decided till round 2 is completed with the exception of top seed Stephanie Gilmore is matched up against wildcard Tyler Wright in heat 4 of round 3. I don’t think 15 Y.O. Tyler will repeat her amazing effort of eliminating Stephanie in round 3 this year like she did in last years Beachley Classic (where she then went on and won the event) but whatever the result it’s going to be one of the highlights of the event.
Check www.beachleyclassic.com each morning to see if the event is on or if it’s a lay day. It may not be back on till the weekend.

Here are the round 1 results, round 2 match-ups and some photos:

Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Rebecca Woods (AUS) 10.45, Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 9.15, Layne Beachley (AUS) 8.25
Heat 2: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 15.25, Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 11.05, Amee Donohoe (AUS) 10.85
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.00, Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.40, Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 12.05
Heat 4: Silvana Lima (BRA) 8.60, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 8.60, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 4.70
Heat 5: Coco Ho (HAW) 10.65, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.35, Alana Blanchard (HAW) 10.25
Heat 6: Samantha Cornish (AUS) 9.55, Paige Hareb (NZL) 7.85, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 6.40

Upcoming Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic Round 2 Heats:
Heat 1: Amee Donohoe (AUS), Layne Beachley (AUS), Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
Heat 2: Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Bruna Schmitz (BRA), Alana Blanchard (HAW)

Jacqueline Silva	Sofia Mulanovich

24th September Surf
BEACHLEY CLASSIC DEE WHY 30TH SEPTEMBER 5TH OCTOBER
The most prestigious surf event to be held in Sydney is almost upon us, so If you're from Sydney here are the details if you want to check it live.



What:
COMMONWEALTH BANK BEACHLEY CLASSIC Stop No.3 on ASP Women's World Tour of surfing, The standalone women's event will give Sydney-siders the chance to watch the world's Top 17 female surfers in action. This year's event features five new rookies and also defending champion Tyler Wright (Lennox Head, NSW).

Where:
The Beachley Classic is changing venues, from North Steyne where it's has been held for the past three years due to beach front reserve works being undertaken by Manly Council. The Beachley classic will now reside in Dee Why, Northern Beaches, NSW.

When:
30th September - 5th October 2009. Check www.aspworldtour.com each day to see if competition is on or if it's a lay day.

Who:
The world's top 17 female surfers along with Oakley wildcard and defending event champion Tyler Wright (AUS).

Trials:
There will be no trials this year as defending champion Tyler Wright has been granted automatic entry into the main event. Tyler was the young Oakley Wildcard winner who won the Trials and then went onto cause a major upset by winning the 2008 event.

Who to watch:
- Stephanie Gilmore 21, reigning two-time ASP Women's World Champion and current ASP Women's World No. 1.
- Silvana Lima: Won the last WCT women's event at Bells and is always highly competitive at the Beachley classic.
- Sally Fitzgibbons: A rookie but could very easily cause a few upsets in the event.
- Layne Beachley: THE 7th time world champion would love nothing more than to win her own event.
- Tyler Wright The defending Beachley Classic winner, holds the added prestige of having taken out - Stephanie Gilmore at last season's event.

Entertainment:
The surfing event will be staged in conjunction with a 6-day festival.

23rd September Surf
Dripping Wet Pro Junior Manly (17 – 20 September)

Owen	Tyler and Kirby

Went down and checked out the Dripping Wet Pro Junior at Manly (September 19/20) at the weekend. I haven’t been able to get to a juniors event for a while so it was rad to see the best up and coming surfers in the country. Apart from the Pro Juniors there was also a cadets division (under 17’s).
The event was a clean sweep for the Wright surfing dynasty with Owen winning the men’s and sisters Tyler and Kirby matching up in the women’s final with Tyler coming out the winner.

Mens
Apart from having to come behind in his fourth round heat and being frustrated with the small conditions Owen Wright showed his class and kept his 09 juniors record of being undefeated all year, intact. If his junior record isn’t impressive enough Owen is also currently third in the WQS rating and with seven 6 star events still be contested winning the highly competitive WQS tour is quite possible. It will be interesting to see what impact Owen has on the WCT next year.
Owen opponent in the final was Dean Bowen and although he is a class surfer just couldn’t match Owens manoeuvres and wave selection. Equal third went to Chris Friend and Thomas Woods, the results basically being in-line with where the surfers are sitting in the junior ratings.

Womens
The form surfer in the women’s junior division Laura Enever was eliminated in the 4-man quarters but Laura had enough points to claim the 09 Pro Juniors Series. This will see her at the World Juniors Titles at Narrabeen in early January.
Tyler Wright defeated sister Kirby in the final with Brittani Nicholl and Philippa Anderson coming in third. Philippa went down to Kirby in semi one while Tyler took out Brittani in semi 2.

The Under 17’s (Cadet division) was won by Connor O’Leary with Soli Bailey second and Doug Chandler third.

Soli, Doug and Connor.

Here are the current junior ratings: (Top 10) and some photos:

MENS
1 Wright,Owen NSW-Lennox Head 12720
2 Bowen,Dean NSW-Gerroa 10170
3 Parkes,Garrett NSW-Byron Bay 9145
4 Friend,Chris Qld-Alex Headland 8935
5 Wrench,Sam NSW-Ulladulla 8710
6 Lane,Noah Qld-Rainbow Beach 8635
7 Cathels,Davey NSW-Narrabeen 8465
8 Savage,Brent NSW-Casuarina Beach 8220
9 Woods,James Qld-Coolangatta 7825
10 Vlug,David NSW-Narrabeen 7010

WOMENS
1 Enever,Laura NSW-Narrabeen 4785
2 Wright,Tyler NSW-Lennox Head 4150
3 Wright,Kirby NSW-Lennox Head 3795
4 Keighran,Angela NSW-Mullaway 3495
5 Coffey,Ellie-Jean NSW-Crescent Head 3435
6 Nicholl,Brittani NSW-Cabarita 3423
7 Smith,Ashleigh NSW-Cabarita 3260
8 Anderson,Philippa NSW-Merewether 3145
9 Stoyle,Dimity Qld-Maroochydore 2838
10 Fish,Georgia Vic-Flinders 2530

Tyler Wright	Kirby Wright

Brittani Nicholl	Owen Wright

Dean Bowen	Thomas Woods

21st September Surf
Hurley Pro Trestles Wrap-Up
After a third consecutive lay day was called at Trestles, competition finally resumed on the last day of competition. The waves weren't classic Lower Trestles but at two-to-three foot enough to finish the comp. Mick Fanning took ou the event, his first for the year, movinghim all the way from seventh in the rating to 2nd. Mick knocked out Slater in the semi-finals and when former event winner Bede Durbidge fell to Dane Reynolds, it left a Fanning and Reynolds final. Mick out-surfed 24-year old Dane Reynolds in the final, posting an 8.5 and an 8.9 to secure the win, walking away with the abundant prize money and his first ASP world tour win since Brazil in 2007. As runner up Reynolds still rated the top two single-wave scores of the comp with a 9.70 and a 9.67. He has now escalated from 20th to 11th place on the 2009 ASP World Tour ratings.
Even though Parko could not technically win the world title at this event, a win or even a finals birth would have meant the other top rated surfers would have needed a total miracle to catch him in the World Title race. However, with Parko’s 17th finish at this event the race has changed completely. Parko is still in a commanding position, but now all the surfers in the top ten can still be in contention if Parko slips-up again and is eliminated early in any of the next European events. Specifically, with Parko on 5486 points, Fanning is only one win away from him on 4550 points and Slater, who after his dismal start to the year, is now sitting in 6th spot on 3906 points and is only a couple of good results away from being in the chase for his 10th world title.

YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHY WE ONLY SUPPLIED ONE CRAP PHOTO OF THIS EVENT.
The reason is that in what can only be describes as a major setback for the progression of surfing, the ASP (the governing body of professional surfing) made the decision to sell the photos rights for the W.C.T. events to the American company Getty Images. Getty’s now charge for all W.C.T. photos except for a couple of token freebies, where as in previous years photos of the WCT tour were free to media organisations. The ASP is the only governing body of a sport this magazine deals with that charges for photos. Most are happy to get as much coverage for their sport as possible, but obviously not the ASP.
No wonder companies like ESPN regard the ASP as incompetent and are actively developing a surf competition that by-passes them.

Final results posted below:

HURLEY PRO TRESTLES FINAL RESULTS:

1 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.40
2 – Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.10

HURLEY PRO TRESTLES SEMIFINAL RESULTS:

SF 1: Dane Reynolds (USA) 16.77 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.23
SF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.26 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 10.74

HURLEY PRO TRESTLES QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:

QF 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.83 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.50
QF 2: Dane Reynolds (USA) 18.20 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 12.50
QF 3: Kelly Slater (AUS) 13.84 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 8.17
QF 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.50 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.00

HURLEY PRO TRESTLES ROUND 4 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.67 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 5.83
Heat 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.50 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.00
Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) 9.50 def. Roy Powers (HAW) 3.67
Heat 4: Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.60 def. Rob Machado (USA) 10.94
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.83 def. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.50
Heat 6: Heitor Alves (BRA) 14.16 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.27
Heat 7: Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.83 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 11.96
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) 11.63 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 10.43

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 RATINGS:

1 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5486 points
2 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 4550 points
3 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 4348 points
4 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 4272 points
5 – Damien Hobgood (USA) 3974 points
6 – Kelly Slater (USA) 3906 points
7 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 3760 points
8 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 3685 points
9 – Taylor Knox (USA) 3616 points
10 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 3582 points

17th September Surf
Hurley Pro Trestles

As a lay day was called I decided it was time to update the Hurley Pro Trestles competition in Lower Trestles, California. It was small, inconsistent surf at stop number six of ten on the 2009 ASP World tour that halted the comps proceedings. Once competition recommences, former event winner Australian, Bede Durbdige will be first up against fellow Aussie, Kai Otton. Mick Fanning, Kieren Perrow and Josh Kerr are the other competitors flying the Aussie flag still in the comp, Kerr will be up against Brazillian Adriano de Souza next, whilst Fanning and Perrow will come head to head when competition reconvenes. Joel Parkinson was a shock knockout in only the 3rd round, but world title favourite Kelly Slater's still in, no doubt loving the small surf conditions with a surfing background that began in Florida. It is still only round four with the Quarters, semi's and finals to go, however, after todays lay day of poor surf it will hopefully begin to pick up soon to finish off the last full day of competition left.
Here's what happened in round three and whats coming up when competition commences:

HURLEY PRO TRESTLES ROUND 3 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.33 def. David Weare (ZAF) 12.83
Heat 2: Kai Otton (AUS) 16.67 def. Jay Thompson (AUS) 13.50
Heat 3: Josh Kerr (AUS) 8.23 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 7.76
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.07 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 12.26
Heat 5: Taylor Knox (USA) 13.17 def. Greg Emslie (ZAF) 9.77
Heat 6: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 7: Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.33 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 12.94
Heat 8: Rob Machado (USA) 11.27 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 10.73
Heat 9: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.83 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 9.24
Heat 10: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.50 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 10.46
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.10 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 14.73
Heat 12: Heitor Alves (BRA) 15.77 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.50
Heat 13: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.50 def. Luke Stedman (AUS) 10.93
Heat 14: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.10 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.60
Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.74 def. Michael Picon (FRA) 10.33
Heat 16: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 13.84 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 13.44

HURLEY PRO TRESTLES ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 4: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Rob Machado (USA)
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)
Heat 6: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 7: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)

1st September BMX
Spinal Disorder 31 August 20
Photos from The Spinal Disorder BMX comp held as part of the Gold Coast Show have been posted in the gallery.

17th July Skate
Maloof Money Cup


Maloof street course

I’m over in the States at the moment as there’s heaps action sport stuff going down. My first stop was the Maloof Money Cup, held at Costa Mesa, Orange County California. It had park - amateur, women’s and men’s, vert and a mega ramp rail jam.
Even though this is only the second year it’s been held it already become one of the major skate events of the year.
Throughout the year people kept telling me to make sure I checked out this event and they weren’t wrong.
The background is simply that two brothers decided they wanted to stage a skate comp with the Maloof Money Cup being the result. They go out to make sure it’s world class. The courses are all pulled down straight after it’s finished but even still the street course is all concrete and shits all over the majority of skate parks around (check out the photo above). Then in vert, apart from the usual halfpipe the there was also a mega ramp leading to a rail then leading into the half pipe via a tunnel. It seems criminal that it has to be all pulled down. Prize money is way up there. The men’s park winner scores 100 Grand and men’s vert 75 Grand. With that level of prize money and insane courses it no wonder the best skaters in the world turned up. Park had Paul Rodriguez, Sheckler Chas Ortiz, Chris Cole and vert, Bucky Lasek Andy MacDonald, PLG, Bob Burnquist and Rob Lorifice to name just a few.
In vert the usual suspects ripped, Bucky with his rodeo flips, Bob Burnquist kick flips to fakie and last year’s winner PLG with 360 flips to fakie, but after Alex Perelson completed a 900 the Maloof Money Cup had its vert winner. Perelson is only the fourth skater to pull off a 900 and it’s the first time I had ever seen a 900 live – Insane.

Vert winner and the newest member of the 900 club Alex Perelson	Chris Cole

Park was contested over heats in three areas of the course, the UCI rail, the transition area and then the Rincon rail and stairs. Anyone could have won the park final but it was Chris Cole who overcame his more high profile opponents and won the 100K.
Highlight were his cab front side bluntslides on the rail and front side 180 switch smith grinds. Tommy Sandoval a skater I’m not to familiar with came in second with Nyjah Huston third. P Rod, Sheckler and Oritz all pulled huge tricks but weren’t as consistent as the top three.

Tommy Sandoval	Nyjah Huston

So what else when down? 16 y.o. Leticia Bufori won the women’s park, with Elissa Steamer coming in third. Snoop Dog did a live performance - average as but then I’ve never been a Snoop fan.

Leticia	Snoop

Australia wise, Shane “Nugget” O’Niell scored a second in amateur park while Renton Millar completed in vert but didn’t make the finals. I think Lewis Marnell and Jake Duncombe completed in park pre-lims but they were held the day before I arrived and I don’t have any details.

Nugget O’Neill

There will be more photos and info (including heaps of sequence shots) in the next issue of the mag.
Off to the Dew Tour In Boston next.

30th June Skate
Billabong City Squared Skate Comp

The City Squared Skate Comp was held in the plaza of The World Square shopping complex in the heart of Sydney on Saturday (27/6/09). Billabong built a double-set stair setup for the comp, with thirty skaters in the heats being culled down to 14 for the final. Kerian Reilly who wins the majority of the skate events these days qualified in the heats but didn’t skate in the final.
Chima Ferguson won, up and comer Sam Giles was second with an injured Blake Harris third. Photos from Michael White

Chima and Sam Giles (far left)

Chima



Marty Girotto

Ben Gauci	Bjorn Johnson

Blake Harris	Chris Wood

18th June Skate
GO SKATEBOARDING DAY - SUNDAY 2IST JUNE
These are the Go Skateboarding Day events
Sydney
Waterloo – 3pm
Manly – 3pm

Melbourne
Fastimes are doing a skatepark crawl starting at Prahran 11am
Coburg - 12.30pm

Brisbane
Coorparoo - 2.30pm

Gold Coast
Globe Store - 1pm

Flyers are in the events section. Here
If we’ve missed any send us an email

11th June FMX
Hart Huntington FMX Photos
Here are some photos from the Melbourne leg of the Hart Huntington FMX tour.
Photos are courtesy of ARLS Photography (Angus Scotsford)

Carey Hart

	The Browns Grafix Mini Bike Team were also on the bill

4th June FMX
Crusty Demons Sydney 30th May
The Crusty demons are in Australia and heres some photos from Bill Fonseca and Sarah Moore.
The dates for any other Crusty shows are in events.

And FMX just isn’t FMX without hotties:

21st May Surf
Billabong Pro Tahiti - Wrap-up
The classic Teahupoo wave never arrived, Kelly Slater was out again in round 2 and Joel Parkinson also bombed, (out in round 3, eliminated by Taylor Knox) ending his 2009 dream run.
American Bobby Martinez won the event, Taj Burrow was runner up, moving him into 2nd place in the ratings and in so doing becoming a serious world title contender.
The final between Bobby and Taj was never in doubt, Bobby was the form surfer of the event and maintained this dominance in the final. He had Taj combo’ed for much of the match-up. The final two wave scores were 18.46 (Martinez) and16.10 (Burrow).
Aritz Aranburu was the surprise of the event. Aritz had not won a heat in the previous two events but came to Tahiti and defeated Dane Reynolds (round 1), Kelly Slater (round 2), Damien Hobgood (round 3) and Tom Whittaker in the quarters before falling to Bobby Martinez in the semis. That’s what I call a form reversal.
Kelly Slater - yet another 17th place to add to his previous two 17th place finishes so far this year.
Kelly is now 25th in the ratings, 1770 points behind the ratings leader Joel Parkinson. Kelly is obviously up against it as far a 10th world title is concerned but when you take into account that at the end of the year a surfers two worst results are dropped when determining his rating, a couple of solid results will put Kelly right back into the world title race. Kelly was helped with rating leader Joel Parkinson also having a poor result in the event, (out in round 3), only increasing Kelly’s ratings deficit marginally.
The next event is Hang loose Pro Brazil. June 27th - July 5th Bede Durbidge won it last year, Mick Fanning has won it twice and both Kelly Slater and Taj Burrow have won. Should be interesting. My pick? Adriano de Souza.
Here are the results, and the top 10 in the ratings some photos. We didn’t have a photographer there so the photos are courtesy of the A.S.P.



Bobby Martinez

Bobby Martinez	Taj Burrow

FINAL:
1 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 18.46
2 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.10

SEMIFINAL:
SF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.86 def. Michael Campbell (AUS) 10.00
SF 2: Bobby Martinez (USA) 17.17 def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 15.23

QUARTERFINAL:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.33 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.06
QF 2: Mick Campbell (AUS) 12.84 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 10.17
QF 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 15.93 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.67
QF 4: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.66 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 10.66

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10:
1 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3000 points
2 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 2318 points
3 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 2208 points
4 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 2196 points
5 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 2174 points
6 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 2076 points
7 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 2025 points
8 – Tom Whitaker (AUS) 1932 points
9 – Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 1886 points
10 – Kieren Perrow (AUS) 1742 points
10 – Taylor Knox (USA) 1742 points
10 – Damien Hobgood (USA) 1742 points

7th May Skate
Volcom's Wild in the Park Australian Final
The Wild In The Park Australian/N.Z. final was held on Saturday (2/5/09) at Fernside Skatepark Waterloo.
Here are the winners;

Bjorn Johnson won the opens with Harry Clark second and Pedro Day third.	Katherine Williams won the women’s, Aimee Lee Massie second and April Caslick third.

Under16’s - Nick Stipanovic won, brother Steve was second and Chase Jager third.

The winner of the two men’s divisions, Bjorn and Nick won a trip to the U.S. to compete in the W.I.T.P. world final where there’s 20 grand up for grabs.
Kat Williams the winner of the girls wasn’t so lucky. Kat had to settle for an empty bottle and a bag of Volcom stuff. Them’s the breaks.

Here’s some photos:

Bjorn Johnson	Pedro Day

Harry Clarke

Kat Williams

1st May Surf
Billabong Pro Teahupoo - Trials Ready To Commence.


Jamie O’Brien from last years trials.

The trials at most WCT events are pretty much a non-event but the exception to this is the Billabong Pro Teahupoo. 64 of the best big wave riders and Teahupoo specialists are hanging out at Teahupoo waiting for the trials to start, which are held between 2nd – 6th May.
Below is the full list of the trialists. The winner receives the last wildcard to the main event. Last year Bruno Santos progressed from the trails to the main event and went then on to win the final defeating Teahupoo legend Manoa Drollet. Webcast details are in events.

20th April Surf
Parko Wins the Rip Curl Pro

2009 Rip Curl Pro winner Parko with the bell

Parko and runner up Adam Robertson

Missed the women’s draw but made it down to Bell’s for the last two days of the men’s.
Joel Parkinson won the 2009 Rip Curl Pro defeating wildcard and fellow Australia Adam Robertson in the final. In equal third spot was Jordy Smith and Fred Patacchia.
The highlight of the event was the achievement of local rider Adam Robertson. Robertson scored a wildcard by winning the trials and then surfed all the way to the final. He eliminated Bede Durbidge (round 2), Tom Whittaker (round 3), Keloa Bacalso (quarters) and Fred Patacchia (semis). Roberson’s runner-up result makes him the most successful Victorian in the event ever.
The Rip Curl pro was also marked by the number of top seed upsets. World title favourite, Kelly Slater was eliminated in round 2 by another wildcard Australian Owen Wright. This is Kelly’s second, 17th place finish in the two events this year and relegates him to 24th in the ratings. Also defeated in round 2 upsets were Taj Burrow, (eliminated by Jay Thompson) and Bede Durbidge (eliminated by Adam Robertson). Mick Fanning another favourite for the event only made in to the quarters going down to Jordy Smith.
Here are the results from the final day, the current ratings and some photos.

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.40
2 – Adam Robertson (AUS) 13.37

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.33 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.24
SF 2: Adam Robertson (AUS) 13.87 def. Fred Patacchia (HAW) 12.73

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.17 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 8.66
QF 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.50 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.16
QF 3: Adam Robertson (AUS) 14.26 def. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.33
QF 4: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.13 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 12.17

2009 ratings – Top 10
1 Joel Parkinson (AUS) 2400
2 Mick Fanning (AUS)† 1608
3 Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 1476
3 Jordy Smith (ZAF) 1476
5 C.J. Hobgood (USA) 1464
6 Adriano de Souza (BRA) 1442
7 Taj Burrow (AUS) 1286
8 Tom Whitaker (AUS) 1200
9 Bede Durbidge (AUS) 1142
9 Adrian Buchan (AUS) 1142
9 Kieren Perrow (AUS) 1142
9 Damien Hobgood (USA) 1142
9 Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 1142

Parko	Adam Robertson

Adam Robertson	Jordy Smith

31st March Skate
WINMALEE SKATEPARK OPENING
Winmalee Skatepark (Blue Mountains) opened last weekend (29th March) and Dustin Dollin's PD Distro team was there mixing it with the locals.
Here are some photos thanks to Michael White.

MC for the day Dustin Dollin	Local Adam Scarf. If you’re going to break a board do it when Dustin’s giving away new Death Wish decks.

The Blue Mountains gets a new skate shop (for the day anyway).
Since Sk8 Logic closed the Blue Mountains hasn’t had a skate shop.

Clive Van Capelle - frontside boardslide	Aron Chivas - frontside tailslide

kickflip to fifty fifty

27th March Skate
SBA Finals Monster – Results
Winners from SBA at Monster at the weekend (23/3/09)

Sponsored

1st Place - Kieran Reilly (NSW)
2nd Place - Ryder Lawson (NSW)
3rd Place - Jesse Schulkins (QLD)
4th Place - Jesse Ballard (WA)
5th Place - Rylan McNeil (VIC)
6th Place - Johnny Matthews (QLD)

Girls



1st Place - Jeniffer Oaks (SA)
2nd Place - Elle Summerhayes (NSW)
3rd Place - Aimee Harris (NSW)
4th Place - Bec Andrews (NSW)
5th Place - Maddison Hay (SA)
6th Place - Beth Whitaker (NSW)

Under 18’s



1st Place - Josh McMurry (WA)
2nd Place - Brett Young (SA)
3rd Place - Anthony Bull (NSW)
4th Place - Jake Paterson (VIC)
5th Place - Dale McDemott (VIC)
6th Place - Angus Diekman (NSW)

Under 15’s



1st Place - Ryan Bowen (NSW)
2nd Place - Dani Campbell (NSW)
3rd Place - Harley Powell (VIC)
4th Place - Mitchell House (QLD)
5th Place - Jamey Foxton (NSW)
6th Place - Will Paterson (WA)

26th March Skate
Warragul Skate Comp (Melbourne)

Haven’t covered any Melbourne skate events before but the magazine will be available in Melbourne starting with the next issue.
To coincide with this we will start updating the news with Melbourne action sport stuff also.
The Warragul skate comp was on the 23/3/09 and is one of the rounds of the South East League division.
There are still about six rounds of the division still to go before the final at Riverslide on May 30th.
Details of the upcoming comps are in the event section. Check back to see posts from some of the other comp’s.
Photos are thanks to Angus Scotford from ARLS photography.

Opens	Opens

Girls	Under 16s

Under 16’s

26th March Skate
SBA Finals Monster Skatepark
Here’s some photos from the SBA final held at Monster at the weekend (23/3/09). Thanks to Bill Fonseca for the photos.
Will update will podium shots and results next post.

Click on images for larger version

Sponsored – Kieran Reilly	Girls – Jennifer Oakes

Sponsored – Ryder Lawson	Under 18’s

Girls – Aimee Harris	Under 15’s

24th March Snow
2009 U.S Open of Snowboarding

Aussie Wonder Girl Torah Bright

Peetu Piiroinen

Winter has come to close on Stratton Mountain, Vermont at the 27th annual Open Snowboarding Championships. The ‘open’ part of the US snowboarding event means it allows any geezer to enter, making this an exciting battle of old pro’s and fresh young talent. It‘s also home to the final stop of the Burton Global Open Series (BGOS) and the men’s TTR World Snowboard Tour.

Points have been tallied and the winners of one of the worlds most progressive snowboard competitions have been crowned. Finnish competitor Peetu Piiroinen is $50,000 wealthier after winning the men’s Swatch TTR World Tour, whilst Chas Guldemond from the USA has taken home not only the Burton Global Open Series Championship, the U.S Open Slopestyle title, but also a second place in the TTR Title race. Chas the lucky devil has walked away with prize money totalling a whopping $145,000. Scotty Lago (USA) has been awarded the Volvo Most Valuable Rider Award, earning himself a new Volvo XC60s.

In the women’s events, Jamie Anderson also from the United States of America took out the BGOS championship earning her 100K, the single largest pay out in the sport, whilst Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas from Norway walked away with the women’s Slopestyle championship and the winner of the women’s Volvo Most Valuable Rider Award.

For some Aussie pride, Australia’s very own Torah Bright has yet again taken out the US Open Halfpipe women’s title, this will be her third title in the same event. Kelly Clark who finished second is the only other person who holds three halfpipe titles in the US Open. And Danny Kass from the USA is the first to win his fifth U.S Open halfpipe competition. To finish off the days award ceremonies, the popular music group Santigold, who recently released there album ‘Santogold’ and for those who remember performed at the Sydney festival earlier this year, played a free concert for spectators and competitors.

Torah Bright	Zach Blach

BGOS STANDINGS

Men’s
1   Guldemond, Chas   USA   47088
2   Reid, Charles   CAN   43913
3   Malin, Markus   FIN   41367
4   Mitrani, Luke   USA   39424
5   Aguirre, Mason   USA   38268

Women’s
1   Anderson, Jamie    USA   43953
2   Wiik, Lisa   NOR   43313
3   Mittermueller, Silvia    GER   41755
4   Candrian, Sina   SUI   39518
5   Pancochova, Sarka   CZE   38139

Danny Davis	Petja Piiroinen

24th March Surf
SURFEST 09

Contest site - Merewether Beach through to Bar Beach

Travis Logie

Dimity Stoyle (2nd) and Philippa Anderson (1st)

One surf contest I never miss is the Surfest in Newcastle. Apart from the surfing - The Mark Richards Pro (Men) and the Maitland Toyota Open (Women) there’s skate/BMX demo’s, surf art exhibitions, a Miss Surfest contest and this year the official ceremony declaring Merewether the 7th national surfing reserve.
In the Mark Richards Pro the top seeds WCT surfers Adrian Buchan and Dayyen Neve were eliminated in round 1 making for a wide open contest. In a close final it was Travis Logie who took the win with a score of 17.50, defeating Australian Drew Courtney (16.45). The speed and power Logie generated from the small waves was just amazing to watch. Also worth a mention is Catherine Hill Bay rider 18 Y.O. Sam Lendrum who progressed all the way to the semis where he went down to Travis Logie, the best result from the local surfers.
In the women’s - The Maitland Toyota Open, the 23 year drought of a local taking out the event was broken when 17 Y.O. Merewether rider Philippa Anderson won defeating Sunshine Coast surfer Dimity Stoyle in the final. Surfers that the finalists eliminated as they progressed to the final included Sofia Mulanovich (Stoyle) and Rebecca Woods (Anderson).

Click on the 2 action shots below for a larger image

Travis Logie	Philippa Anderson

Merewether becomes the 7th National Surfing Reserve