ASP World Tour: July 2008 Archives

The forth incarnation of the Rip Curl Search is off and running..."somewhere in Indo" they're saying...and while it ain't hard to figure out where they are, it also ain't hard to argue with the quality of surf thus far. The waves "somewhere in Indo" have been absolutely bombing, and the performances the boys are putting in have been mind-boggling to say the least.

 

So I'd always wanted to a pro surfer. I mean, who doesn't? And you know I could have been a contender. If I only had the talent, and the looks, and the drive, and the balance, and the stickers. Did I mention talent? And yet I thought I'd dealt with those demons. Thought I'd driven a sharp arsenic laced stake through the heart of the divide between what I wanted and what I am. And then I came to Huntington, for the Honda US Open. A place built, designed, refined, and aligned with the Godification of the the pro surfer. Here these mini-gods are able to walk around with shiny white new sticks, their brown skin and their glittering futures, right through the adoring Californian mass disciples. Knee tremblingly beautiful girls want to be with you, mohawked nipple pierced 40-somethings want to be you and every one from fat Montana mums, to 17th street bums to young surfie groms want to know you.

And well I figured if you can't beat em, join em. My simple plan was to tag along with a pro surfer for a day, just to try and soak up the adulation, share the pressure (heck, maybe even the prize money) and live the dream. I knew what it doesn't take, I wanted to find out what it does take, to make it, especially in this joint, this pro surfing high church.

Well I've been thinking about the heat for a while, I mean I've traveled along way for this event, so you know it's there. But I suppose it was yesterday I really started focusing on in it. We went out for a surf in the competition area last night before dark, in some of the worst conditions you'll ever come across, and I was checking out how my board feels and getting ready and so its only human to go over what might happen in the heat the next day.

And then I went out for dinner with the rest of the Red Bull guys to a sushi place up near Seal Beach - I may have ordered the biggest plate of food I've ever seen, the leftovers could feed an army, so anyway that was that, I went to sleep, trying not to think about it too much.

In the morning I just got up and got my boards ready and tried not to eat too much - just an orange and some water and then went down the to the comp. I was in the third heat, so I didn't have that long to wait, so I had a little 20 minute free surf on the other side of the pier. I actually felt pretty good in the free surf, I finally have a good board and I've been feeling pretty good in the last few days, so it was a confidence booster. I've had a some pretty bad results in the last few comps which affects your confidence, so it felt good to be surfing like that.

Check Out The Photos
Words by Ben Mondy
"I swear on my mother's grave, that's what I saw, why would I make that up? I couldn't even begin to make that up." I'm in the passenger seat being driven down from LAX to Huntington by Red Bull Rising coach Andy King. And I'm incredulous. Kingy had just told me that only an hour ago, in a mall, he had watched slack jawed, widemouthed and freaked out, as a dog came walking through carrying a cat. Now that, possibly, is weird enough, but not only was the dog carrying a cat, but the cat was carrying a rat. He was too stupefied to even take a photo. The dog, the cat, and the rat just walked by, no owner (or owners) in sight, off into the fluro lit distance.

"I love coming to California, I really do. You know it's a good place to prove yourself and even if the waves are sloppy, it's still such a good place to do well. To me, down here, it feels like a real sport. There's the infrastructure and the hype and just the interest, so I'm always excited to come to California and try and win.

Before here I'd been home back in Kauai for a little while, I went home to work on my boards and my surfing and gather my marbles and just get ready for this event, the Honda US Open. I came in about a week and a half ago - I came early as there was no waves in Hawaii and I heard there was swell here, so I got here as quickly as I could.

Well folks, we're off and running. The U.S. Open is back for another go and we've got ourselves a week's worth of mayhem, parties, and even a bit of surfing...and if this last weekend's warm-up was even a hint of what we're in for as the main event gets cracking, it's going to be a hell of a ride. Julian Wilson, who's been in the States for over a month now and recently won the Nike 6.0 Pier Pressure, is in blistering form. From Round One of the Honda Junior Pro all the way through the semis, Julian's proven to be the man to beat. The final is coming up this weekend. And as for the main event, well, considering it's the only six-star WQS on the U.S. Mainland, it's safe to say everybody's amped out of their gourd. The Red Bull Rising crew just moved into their temporary digs up on 15th Street. "The house is sick," noted Hawaiian representative Gavin Gillette. "The surf's been pumping, it's definitely summertime in California." That being said, the first Red Bull Rising installment's coming up tomorrow, so tune back in for fresh videos, photos, and the ever-classic blog by Rising's own Ben Mondy, as well as the surfers themselves.

Words and Photos by Greg Weatherall

Check out Final Day photos right here...

...and don't miss the video highlights either.

Another epic day in South Africa, for the Billabong Pro at Jefferys Bay, with Super Tubes providing an amazing playground for the surfers to battle it out in front of a huge local crowd.  The swell was around for another day, and with light offshore winds for the majority of the heats, those watching on the beach and around the world on the web cast were treated to a truly world class show. The Red Bull crew were a huge part of the final day of competition, with Bruce, Andy, Fanning and Adriano all still in contention at the beginning of the day.  Brucey got to surf the first heat of the day and got some of the biggest waves seen at J-Bay in quite some time, but Fanning the eventual runner-up, got the better of him. Andy boosted some huge airs, showcasing more of his free surfing prowess, than his usual competition style surfing.  He rounded out the event in fifth place, not quite what the 3x world champion was looking for, but still a solid result.  Adriano De Souza continues with his best season on the World Championship Tour. The rising star of the of the 2008 season, put his current 6th place ranking, down to consistently making it to the quarters and semi's, his fast, smooth style is getting solid recognition from the judges, the crowds and his fellow surfers.

Last season Fanning had a stare of confidence and determination that saw him take out the world title. The event in J Bay, along with the Quiky Pro at Snapper, are the only two times this season, Mick's had that same look in his eye and the result followed. Fanning was the man to watch throughout the contest, posting high score after high score, crushing the majority of his opponents on the way to the finals. He faced off against eight time world champ, Kelly Slater in the finals.  Slater has been untouchable all season, not loosing a single heat to a WCT competitor.  Mick Fanning, gave it his best shot, but struggled to get the waves that converted into high scores rounding out the event at J-Bay in second place.

Red Bull Surfers & The Current 2008 ASP World Tour Rankings
1 Kelly Slater
2 Joel Pakinson
3 Bede Durbidge
4 Mick Fanning
5 Taj Burrow
6 Adriano de Souza
7 C.J Hobgood
8 Andy Irons
19 Bruce Irons
26 Ben Dunn
34 Royden Bryson
39 Tiago Pires

Update and photos by Greg Weatherall

Super Tubes is living up to its name. A full day of round three and several heats of round 4 went down today, with perfect 4-5 foot offshore walls peeling down the line. The South African locals turned up to support and watch the heats go down, as well as enjoy some beautiful mid winter sun. Adriano is killing it, and will not be surprised to see him make the semi's or finals, Brucey had a slow heat, but showed moments of brilliants to scrape through.  Fanning is Fanning, 'White Lightening' and with this wave being the closest resemblance to his home break of snapper rocks, he tore it apart.  Andy also made it through to round four, but was not looking his best. The swell is meant to hang around tomorrow although the winds will be onshore.  Hopefully just lightly, and if all goes well, the event will wrap up, tomorrow afternoon. See BillabongPro.com for further details.

The Billabong Pro's coming to J-Bay here in just a couple of days, and after a nice little rest since the South Pacific leg the boys are fired up and ready to get back at it. Andy Irons is an obvious favorite, and after a slew of quarterfinal results he's more than eager to go a bit further...and by that I mean win the whole damn thing. Mick Fanning's in a similar boat. After making the final at Snapper at the start of the year he's intent on getting back in the saddle. And then there's the surging Adriano De Souza, it'll be interesting to see if he can keep his streak alive. He lit everybody up in Tahiti and Fiji, and now it's time for some quality point-surf. And of course you can't for get about local boy Royden Bryson. Royden, along with the entire South African contingent, have a good chance of knocking anybody out in any given round. And rounding out the crew is rookie sensation Tiago Pires. Stay tuned, shit's going down on the Dark Continent.