August 2008 Archives

After an exhilarating day of action, local surfer Joe Sear has been crowned the winner of the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters Qualifier event at Cronulla. It was a popular victory for the 19-year-old Cronulla surfer who entered the event as the hot favourite and impressed judges and spectators throughout the day with a polished display of smooth, mistake-free surfing.

Sear edged ahead of Currarung surfer Jordi Watson who also threw some huge, spray-throwing turns in the thrilling 25-minute final. "I'm pumped," said Sear afterwards. "The conditions were pretty challenging out there but I managed to find a couple of long ones which linked all the way to shore."

Local surfer Nick Laidlaw is the winner of Red Bull Junior Surf Masters Qualifier Event at Avalon Beach. It was a victory at sea for the 19-year-old Avalon surfer who tamed huge stormy waves and outclassed a field of the best surfers from Sydney's Northern Beaches to come out on top.

"It was probably the hardest surf contest I've ever been in," said an elated Laidlaw afterwards. "During my first heat I was washed all the way into shore before I even managed to catch a wave. I've surfed through four heats today and I'm buggered but really stoked."

I actually had the previous yesterday afternoon off from surfing. The surf was pretty big, and there were a few big barrels around, but for some reason I felt a little tired and wanted to switch off. I went to the driving range with Clipper and hit a few balls. It felt good to get away, but then again, with golf, it just gives you something else to stress and think about. But it was still fun and then I drove back home, about half hour south from Hossegor,  back to Biarittz and had dinner with my girlfriend Eladie, and had a pretty early night. I slept pretty well, I don't tend to wake up or be too nervous.

Words: Ben Mondy
"Look, it usually takes about four years to make the jump from the WQS to the WCT, even for the best guys." ASP International Head Judge Perry Hatchet, is explaining just how hard it is to make the jump from the world qualifying series (WQS) onto the top tier of the professional surfing, the WCT.

Clint Kimmins, on his first full-time year on the qualifying series, knows that all to well. "Well, there are probably 300 surfers doing the WQS full-time and at the end of the year only the top 15 ranked surfers will go up to replace the 15 surfers who will be relegated from the top tier. So that just shows how difficult it is to crack the elite level."

Merewether surfer Wes Bainbridge is the winner of the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters regional qualifying event in Newcastle. The popular local surfer was a crowd favourite all day and continued his commanding form in the final with some critical lip bashes and a series of swooping roundhouse cutbacks.

Bainbridge defeated one of his good mates, Merewether's Jesse Adam who also surfed amazingly in the tightly contested final. "I surf against Jesse all the time so it was great to come up against him today in the final. I think local knowledge helped us out there today. We knew where to sit and which waves to pick. It's been a big day. I'm tired but really stoked with the result."

Words By Ben Mondy
"This is crunch time, it really is make or break, when the surfers will either crumble, or step up and make it count." Red Bull Rising coach Andy King, was squinting into the sun, watching a heat late in the afternoon, as the sun sets, this time, into a swell ridden Atlantic Ocean. It was the first day of the 6-star prime rated Rip Curl Pro, held in the heaving beachbreaks of Europe's surfing capital, Hossegor, France. 

Click Here For Exclusive Night Rider Gallery

Story by EXPN.com's Jon Coen
Atlantic City is one of those places that exude bravado, sex, and money. It's the kind of place that makes rational people do things they might not otherwise, like indulge past their limits, bet the mortgage on a roll of the dice, head into the room "behind the black curtain," or get whipped at an oncoming wave at ridiculous speeds from behind a jet ski - in the dark.

28 of the best surfers in the Northeast decided to put it all on the line with the promise of the big payday under the Friday night lights on August 15th for Red Bull Night Riders.

Night Riders first came to AC in 2007, when tow surfers descended on this town of debauchery. An unexpected weather system created such chopped out conditions that the event became one more of survival than performance.

Life on the WQS ain't easy, but things go a hell of a lot smoother when you're winning. And for a guy like Wiggolly Dantes (who arguably has the coolest name on tour), his win this past weekend in England at the 2008 Rip Curl Boardmasters definitely eases the burden.

"I had a great time in England and people were so nice to me all week," Dantas said. "We had great waves at the start and tough ones today but it was always lots of fun. So stoked to get this first title, such a big thing. It is a great confidence boost for the upcoming events."

Check exclusive photos from the Lennox Head leg of the Red Bull Junior Masters

Local Suffolk Park surfer Nick Colbey is the winner of the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters qualifying event at Lennox Head. Colbey surfed intelligently in a testing final by selecting the best quality waves and surfing them to shore with flair and precision.

Yes folks, that's right, Portugal rookie and Red Bull family member Tiago Pires has eliminated Kelly Slater from the Rip Curl Search "somewhere in Indonesia." Kelly hasn't lost a heat to a surfer in the Top 45 all year long, but Tiago, being the rookie dark horse that he is, snuck past the eight-time world champ in absolutely throbbing conditions.

"There were two waves at the end of that heat and he went on the first one and I took the second and it turned out to be a really good wave," described Tiago. "When I came out of the barrel and into the channel, everyone was screaming. This is the biggest win of my career. I have won a few ASP WQS events, but to beat Slater here in these conditions is amazing."

Held at Uluwatu on the island of Bali, the win meant almost as much to everybody else on tour as it did to Tiago. "When I came up through the cave it felt like I won the event," he would say later. "There were so many people screaming and cheering. It felt really good. I guess it's a big deal that no one else had beat him this year, but I've been training hard and I hope to be going much further in this event."