Many of the worlds greatest 16 and under surfers competed in 1m clean surf today to decide the Rip Curl GromSearch Champion for 2008 at Bells Beach in Australia. The results are in. Thousands of spectators were on hand and Dale Staples (St Francis Bay/Sth Africa/16 years) didn’t disappoint becoming the second South African surfer to make the Rip Curl GromSearch international 16 Boys and under final. The other was Jordy Smith who placed second in the event three years ago, but this time Staples claimed top prize.
“It’s my biggest win ever and I can’t believe I’ve won. To do one better than Jordy is unbelievable and I only hope I can do what Jordy’s doing now and eventually make ASP World Tour – He’s an amazing surfer!”
Checked in on the action at Bells Beach and it looks like ground breaking surfer Dane Reynolds is making his presence felt. The 22 year old World Tour rookie from California led the pack in the second round nailing the highest wave score (9.73 out of 10) and a best heat total of 18.73 out of twenty.
“That (9.73) was just a perfect clean face,” Reynolds said. “I would have had to really blow it to not get a score. I basically connected the dots, I didn’t do anything too ridiculous, but that is all it took.
For more info on the Rip Curl Pro presented by Snickers check it out at Surfers Village
I caught the results for rounds one and two at the Rip Curl Women’s Pro presented by Ford Fiesta at Bell’s Beach.
No surprise that reigning ASP Women’s World Champion and defending event champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) netted the day’s highest heat total of a 17.40 out of a possible 20.
“It takes a fair bit of hard work (defending your title),” Gilmore said. “Everyone is surfing so well this season and everyone’s hungry for the win. It’s definitely going to be a bit harder than last year. However, I’m just taking it heat by heat. I was focusing on that last heat, and now I’m just looking ahead and focusing on my Round 3 heat.”
For a look at the standings after the first two rounds check out
I was surfing the internet this morning and came across an article on surfersvillage about a new small wave hybrid board coming out of Australia called the Mini-Mini…
At first glance the Mini looks simple enough but move closer and you will soon discover the science of the cathedral hull which gives the board paddle way beyond its length and would also encourage anyone still alive from that era to pull a Paul Strauch cheater five when no one is looking. Rockers, widths, thicknesses and plan shape are all designed to give the best paddle performance (for a short board) without once interfering with any facet of performance.
Bourton Shapes designer, and partner in Australia’s BASE Surfboards, Murray Bourton has been creating specialty boards for some 38 years. Sniffing around his site, I think he may have just designed a board that could make those tiny spring sets that plague our waters on the east coast of Canada a bit more fun.
It’s 2:30 on Sunday afternoon and I’ve just pulled up to a wood and brick building, address 121 Portland St. The sign reads Oceanic Art, a tattoo parlour owned and operated by Scott Forbes, a surfer from the east coast of Canada. I walk in and Scott is finishing his lunch, Chinese food. He asks me to hold off on the photographs. I oblige and we catch up.
Hey everyone, we’ve also got a group on facebook, under the group breakingice.ca. Check it out! For the three of you who have yet to sign up for facebook, we’ve supplied the link to our first video post by Daniel Maria Bartlett on youtube titled ‘March break surfing preview’. Enjoy the video, and thanks again Daniel.
I’m up late again, neglecting my usual four hours of solid sack time. My coffee consumption is hitting an all time high and my eyes occasionally lose focus. Not a good thing when your main source of income comes from looking through a camera lens. Then again any project worth doing is at least worth driving yourself to the brink of insanity in the process. And there is a light at the end of the tunnel, the extended version of “Breaking Ice”.
We’re aiming at a forty-four minute version of what began as an eighteen and a half minute short documentary. And I can’t wait for you all to see some of the great treasures we came across on our journey. I know there are still quite a few of you who haven’t seen the original, and there will be opportunity to see it again. But the extended version will be stacked! More insight on this unique culture of ours told by those people who’ve shaped it, more great music by local surfers and more surf footage that will knock your booties off! Stay tuned and thanks to all of you that have taken an interest in preserving and growing our culture. I hope you’re as excited as I am.
Be sure to look for these upcoming stories on breakingice.ca:
1. Nova Scotia’s next big surf band Andrew Hunter & the Gatherers
2. Scott Forbes, one of Nova Scotia’s most versatile surf artists
3. Announcements about the Canadian ISA world surf teams
and if you have any story ideas, let me know. I’ll try and make them happen
The end of winter, and the beginning of spring usually means only two things to surfers in Nova Scotia. Terrible wave conditions and the NorEaster Surf Classic. And this year the lineup for the annual will be stacked with talented locals looking for spots on the ISA world games teams.
Click on the link below to see a rundown of this years contestants, last years winners and a few people to look out for. Our thanks to SANS for publishing the list!
