February 2008 Archives

If there was anybody that came into the 2008 season under the microscope more than Mick Fanning it very well could have been Andy Irons.  Yes, he won an event in Chile last year, and also finished sixth in the world, which would constitute a brilliant, career-best go at it for every other human, but we’re talking about a guy renown for his nerves—a guy who’s won at almost every venue in the world—except the Gold Coast, which makes things even more interesting. And while Taj, Parko and Kelly appeared to be in the mix all season long, come the end of ’07, in form uncharacteristic to the three-time world champ, Andy fell out of contention early.

The 2008 season is officially off and running, and what a season it promises to be. Ask anybody in the know and they’ll tell you, there’s more talent on the world tour this year than ever before. “It could be the best season ever,” pontificated Peter Townend from the hill overlooking D-Bah, where the first day was held due to lack of swell at Snapper.

Consider this: Mick Fanning’s your defending world champ, and after a blistering season last year the man hasn’t lost an ounce of focus. “He had a great offseason, had a few parties, got back on the training, and if anything he may be too focused,” told Mick’s shaper Darren Handley.

After beating legend of the waves Kelly Slater last year, Australian surfing sensation Julian Wilson will dedicate the biggest event of his career to the National Breast Cancer Foundation by competing on a pink board at the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast beginning this weekend.

At just 19, Wilson is considered one of the up and coming talents of surfing after claiming various junior world titles and raising a huge global profile.  He has received a wild card entry into this weekend’s event at Snapper Rocks [Gold Coast] and is hoping to excel when he takes on either Mick Fanning (Tweed Heads, NSW), Taj Burrow (Yallingup, WA) or Slater (Florida, USA).

Julian's unpredictability and the ease at which he makes the impossible seem simple is sure to please the huge local crowd at Snapper Rocks and will have a few of the top seeds watching out for his distinctive pink board which he will compete on throughout the event.
 

Surf videos are great. Turn one on, sit down, and watch away until you find the motivation to go surf. But up until now even the most diabolically choreographed water shots didn’t put you solely in the drivers seat. Well, that’s all changed with Red Bull’s latest brainchild: Inside Tahiti.

You’d be hard pressed to find somebody that would argue with the fact that it’s been a dismal season in Hawaii this year. It just seems to be one of those years where we find ourselves stuck in a funky weather pattern, filled with bad trades, too many squalls and hardly a northwest swell to speak of. And now, as the Pipeline Pro grinds on, it seems to be sadly reminiscent of the disappointment that was this year’s Pipe Masters. With one exception: two feet of rain didn’t fall when the Masters was running. For the past 72 hours Hawaii’s been on a full-on flood watch. And another band of rain is headed for the islands, there have been a couple of bright points, most notably the fact that, come Round 4, Backdoor Shoot-out winner and runner-up Jamie O’Brien and Bruce Irons, as well as fellow Bull rider Ian Walsh, are all still going strong. Peruvian hard-charger Gabriel Villaran fell victim to the local knowledge of Gavin Beschen and Chas Chidester in Round Three. Also stumbling a bit was three-time world champ Andy Irons as he fell in the first day of Round Four—by the eighth heat of the day conditions had deteriorated so badly that the contest was put on hold and has since to run again. The contest has to run the next two days, no question, so stay tuned as the sky falls and the Red Bull crew sticks it out in Hawaii.