Recently in ASP World Tour Category
“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!.
It's not easy being the face of South American surfing, but Sofia's pulling it off. A series of May issue magazine covers and newspaper stories feature the 2004 world champ as not only an ambassador for surfing in Latin American, but also the new face of its youth culture. The current world leader on the women’s World Championship Tour is using the time off between WCT events to train in her native Peru, travel with friends and as evident in the recent coverage, handle interview and photo requests.This month Mulanovich graces the cover of LA’s Tu Ciudad, is featured heavily in Sunday’s New York Times’ travel feature on Peru and will be the cover model for Ocean Drive Español this summer.
“It feels good to not only represent surfing, but also my country,” says Sofia. “These articles are encouraging because they show the youth how to be healthy, have fun and try new things, while giving the general public more reasons to check out Latin America and especially Peru.”
From Sofia's Blog: The past few months I have been traveling to competitions, juggling media appearances and training. I have to admit, sometimes it is hard to fly 14 hours after a competition then get on another plane and participate in photo shoots. Thank god for business class and upgrades. But the cool part is what comes out of the photo shoots and interviews...read the rest of Sofia's blog.
Julian Wilson has once again proved you most certainly can believe the hype, as yesterday he broke through for his first
win of 2008. Crushing 128 of the Australia's best U/20 surfers at D-Bah, Julian showed up at the Brothers Neilsen Pro Junior and did what he does best...surf better than everybody else. Living up to his reputation as one of the world’s most electrifying
performers the 18 year-old was in sizzling form from his opening ride
in the small but perfect right-hand waves.
Continue reading Julian Reigns at Brothers Neilsen Pro.
Jamie O’Brien has done it again. The 2006 Pipeline Master has added another prestigious title
to his list of achievements by winning the Air Tahiti Nui – Von Zipper
Trials in heaving 6-8ft slabs at Teahupoo in Tahiti. In the precurser to the Billabong Pro, he
defeated talented Brazilian goofy footer Bruno Santos in an epic final
that saw the Hawaiian steal the lead in the dying minute with a perfect
ten point ride. He was the standout performer of the day,
scoring two 10-point rides on the way to the final and a near perfect
19.93 out of 20.00 in his Quarter Final.And if that wasn't enough, the swell only got bigger, and as you can see by the photos, there were some especially heavy moments.
Get Your own 10-point ride Inside Tahiti right here.
Think Jamie's nuts? Check out Red Bull USA to meet all the other lunatics.
Looking forward to the madness that is the Billabong Pro Teahupoo, the Red Bull crew is more than eager to get their feet wet in the South Pacific. Timmy Patterson recently finished a brand new tow-board for Andy Irons with the intention of getting Andy into “some mean ones.” At the time Andy was enjoying a brief respite in mainland Mexico, and after the respite, he’s more than ready to throw himself into the fray. Bruce on the other hand has been enjoying his down days in Bali, surfing and filming for one movie part or another. Will he be ready for Tahiti? As long as it’s pumping, count on it.And what about our defending world champ and runner-up in Tahiti in 2007? Well, old Mick Fanning's more than a month into his marriage and life is good. With wedding madness behind him he's been back on point, surfing on the Gold Coast when it's on, an enjoying the down days between Bells and Tahiti. Considering how much effort he put into Teahupoo last year, one has to figure going back this year will be a lot like riding a bike and he probably didn't forget the feeling.
Continue reading Exclusive: Billabong Pro Teahupoo Preview.
What's not to like about hanging in Torquay? OK, besides the cold ass weather? But even if it has been a bit stormy, who cares, it hasn't been flat. And the talent level in the water? Lets just say you gotta be at the top of your game if you want to roll with these boys. Mick and Andy have been surfing especially precise as of late. Both have just been quietly going about their business, leaving the hype for Kelly Slater and Dane Reynolds to deal with. The waves at both Bells and Winkipop, where the rest of the Rip Curl Pro's Round Three was moved yesterday, suit both of their styles perfectly. Mick's surfing like a rubber band these days, and Andy, well, the world better look out when the surf comes up. There's a bit more swell in the forecast, so that should help is cause. And then after this, after a couple weeks back in Kauai cruising and running his kids' contest, Andy's off to the South Pacific where he can really flex. And speaking of flexing, considering how much time Mick put in at Teahupoo last year, he'll be fun to watch too. But for now the boys have to get through the rest of blustery Bells. Organizers have five days to run two days of competition, stay tuned.
Check out video highlights from Round One of the Rip Curl Pro......And while you're at it, take a look at a few of the photos.
For the most part, the Red Bull crew's survived Round Two of the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach. Held in tricky four-foot conditions, it was by no means an easy day of competition, but it was interesting. Ben Dunn proved he's definitely back from last year's injury and returning to fine form. A methodical, strategic surfer, he took out South African Travis Logie early in the day. And then in a match-up brother that had a somewhat brother-vs-brother feel, Adriano De Souza knocked out fellow Bull rider Tiago Pires. Unfortunately there have to be a could of losers, and besides Tiago who's still adapting to life on the WCT, Royden Bryson and Bruce Irons were knocked out of competition today. For now the swell's on the decline, so it's not looking like they're be running today, but there's a new pulse in the forecast, so stay tuned.
The first, stormy round of the Rip Curl Pro is in the books, and after a wild, victory-at-sea day at Bells, Andy Irons is looking increasingly meaner and hungrier. He breezed through his much hyped heat against Jordy Smith like it was just another stormy day at Pine Trees. While some people struggled with their equipment, Andy’s board looked like it was working well. For the first time in 15 events Mick Fanning lost his Round One heat. He would get back on the horse later in the day and survive the dregs of the elimination round. But mind you, last year nobody that surfed Round 2 heat won the contest. That's not to say Mick can't crush everybody, he can, it's just that he's got a lot of work ahead of him.
Continue reading Bells Starts Ringing.
