Julian Wilson proved to be the form surfer of the day, claiming victory at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Grade-4 Nike 6.0 Pier Pressure presented by Jack's Surfboards, in improved two-to-three foot peaky conditions over Stuart Kennedy (Lennox Head AUS), Chris Salisbury (Newport, AUS) and Andrew Doheny (Newport Beach, CA).
Wilson wasted no time in the final, acquiring two solid scores in the opening minutes to put his fellow finalists on the ropes. His performance topped off a flawless run of competition, which saw him win every heat he surfed in from Round 1.
"This win feels really good," Wilson said. "I've never had a good result here, and I thought if I came here and did this event it would be good experience for the US Open, and it's worked out well that I came here early. I'm pumped for the US Open, and I can't wait for it."
Wilson was a standout throughout the event's entirety, winning a total of seven heats over the stack of international talent. The young Australian posted the event's highest total heat score of a near perfect 18.35 out of possible 20 points in his Quarterfinal heat against current ASP North American Pro Junior Series ratings leader Cory Arrambide (Ventura, CA),
Hawaiian standout Kai Barger (Haiku, HI) and San Diegan Brent Reilly
(Carlsbad, CA).
"The waves have gotten a lot better," Wilson said. "I think there's still a bit of tide on it, but it's really clean, and there are more fun peaks, and not so many closeouts, and it's not too hard to get a score out here today."
It was time to clear out. "Let's go free surfing, let's go find some
waves, that's as good as it gets in surfing," frothed Kauai's Gavin
Gillette, and he was spot on. Competition wise everything may have not
gone exactly to plan, but with the swell switch seemingly stuck on
"four-foot and pumping," and with foam fringed coral reefs sluicing in
every direction, it was time to find some waves and unleash some free
surfing action.Aboard the Teate, we set sail for north, away from the tropical resorts with their aqua marine bays and blinding white beaches and up to a few hidden waves in the northern atolls. A couple of hours later, we motored into a large channel and almost screwed our collective necks, frantically looking between a perfect reeling left, and a spitting hollow right on either side of the channel.
Continue reading Red Bull Rising: Tales From Friday the 13th.
See photos of the carnage here...The flames of rivalries were stoked, lines were drawn in the sand (only to be erased by the high tide), and it came down to brother against brother (sort of) at the 2008 Red Bull Riders Cup National Championships. Held on the cobblestone point at Trestles known simply as "Church" (a fitting name for any western shoot-out), the swell poured through all weekend long, giving opportunity to the best high school surf squads from around the country to test both their mettle and manhood. But come finals time, crosstown rivals San Clemente High and Carlsbad High would be the only two standing.
Continue reading Red Bull Rider's Cup: And the Winner Is....
“I
was so in the zone, just getting right into my surfing, that it wasn’t
till I duckdived and saw the bright stars through the roof of the wave
that I remembered that it was the middle of the night.” And so Julian
Wilson, the 19-year-old wunderkid from Queensland, Australia, talked
through a full-moon session last night at Pasta Point. Julian competed
in the Sri Lankan Airways Pro over here, and, although not an athlete
on Red Bull Rising, he decided to spend the week on board and try and
soak up as much information and inspiration from the WQS high
performance program as he could.
Continue reading Red Bull Rising: Full Moon Fever.
Story By Ben Mondy“I’m going to sleep well tonight,” Michel Bourez is sitting on top of a Dhoni, a traditional Maldivian boat, and the transport equivalent of a truck in these parts. “I’ve tried to just two hours a day surfing, but I must have done at least four hours today, the surf was too good.”
We were chugging along a glassy Indian Ocean on the roof of the Dhoni, under a molten pink tinged sky, five minutes before dusk, heading back to the Teate, a sweet boat, Maldives Red Bull Rising HQ and our home for the week.
It had been another epic freesurfing session, as Michel was joined by Tim Boal, Clint Kimmins and Gavin Gillette, in a tune up session for their heats in the Sri Lankan Airways Pro, a six star WQS event being held in the turquoise waters, tropical heat and ruler edged reefs of the Maldives.
Continue reading Red Bull Rising: Live From The Maldives.
Last January 19 of the world’s leading junior surfers were invited to
the Red Bull WQS Selection Camp held in Australia. After an intensive
selection phase only four made the cut into Red Bull Rising, Red Bull's
high performance program. The surfers that made this unique elite
athlete surfing development team were Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas, the
Hawaiian Gavin Gilette, Clint Kimmins from Australia and Frenchman Tim
Boal. The fifth surfer, Michel Bourez from Tahiti was nominated through
a wild card due to his outstanding talent.
Continue reading So you wanna be a surf star? Red Bull Rising Begins Now!.
Story By Cassio CortesBrazilian Peterson Crisanto defeated Tahitian Tamaroa McComb twice during the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship’s Under 16 competition on his way to the grand final, but unfortunately for the Red Bull athlete, the Tahitian picked up his top form in the final heat, and won in a very tight final.
Tamaroa began with an 8.10 that slotted him into first place. Peterson scored a lesser 6.20. A few minutes later, the Tahitian scored a near-perfect 9.10 after having executed a huge off-the-lip, followed by five big maneuvers that took him all the way to the beach. Not to be defeated, the Brazilian then scored a high but insufficient 7.54, which left him searching for a very difficult 9.66.
Crisanto very nearly got the score when he pulled off two stylish roundhouse cutbacks, a tailslide 360 and two off-the-lips onto the sand, which gave the Brazilian a 9.62, just 0.04 below what he required. With this score, he needed precisely 7.92, which unfortunately he never quite found. Still, it was a career-best result for Crisanto.
Boys Under 16 ISA World Junior Championships Results
Gold: Tamaroa McComb (TAH)
Silver: Peterson Crisanto (BRA)
Bronze: Matty Costa (HAW)
Copper: Ian Fontaine (FRA)
Story Courtesy Jamie Sterling“There haven’t been this many soldiers flailing in the surf since the invasion of Normandy.” The veteran looked a lot like Sergeant Rock. He was big and tough and had a giant tattoo on his back and when you looked up from the tattoo you couldn’t help but see a giant, jagged canyon of a scar that started at the base of his neck, went straight up the back of his shaved skull and then branched off to the left. There was a bad story behind that scar, but the veteran was trying to leave that story behind.
Continue reading OPERATION HEALTHY VETERANS: Operation Amped Storms the Beaches of Zuma .
Carlsbad High beat defending Red Bull Riders Cup National Champions San
Dieguito Academy in an overtime thriller today at Seaside Reef. In a
competitive game both teams had great overall strategy and teamwork.
Most valuable player Brent Reilly scored a 7 in the final minutes of
the third period tying the score and sending the game into overtime.
Continue reading Field Set For Red Bull Riders Cup National Shoot-Out.
Check out some Postcards From Nantucket...and don't forget to take a peek at the Ultra-Super-Fantastic-Mega Red Bull Night School gallery while you're at it.Story By EXPN.com's Jon Coen
Several of the best aerialists from North Carolina to Massachusetts stepped off the gangway leading to a cobblestone street, lined with charming storefronts and blossoming cherry trees. The surfers may have looked out of place among Nantucket's old-money crowd with pink collars and tiny dogs (some in strollers), but this was actually the perfect destination. They were met in the parking lot, and shuttled off to a remote beach on the south side of the Island. There they found a tow-at surfer’s paradise—a pair of isolated cedar-shaked houses, a beach with four Red Bull jet-skis just waiting to be launched, and the kind of solitude to master the art of towing without disrupting another surfer for miles.
Continue reading Graduation Day: Red Bull Night School Concludes With Resounding Success.
