Surfing News
RIP CURL CANADA PREPARES TO DISH OUT SOME “STEW”…
TOFINO, BC – Attention all west coast surfers! Rip Curl Canada is proud to present “The Rip Curl Stew” a two-day judged surf contest, open to all ages - June 16th & 17th 2007 - held at Cox Bay in the heart of Tofino, B.C.
For over 40 years, Rip Curl has played a leading role in the surf industry and continues to move forward in Canada by gaining the rights to hold the only surf contest this summer in Tofino, BC. Looking into the future they feel strongly that this event will bring the surf culture of Vancouver Island’s past, back to life with a realistic goal - to continue to develop homegrown athletes to compete at a world-class level. “The purpose of this event is to give back to the surf community while developing the home-grown talent,” states National Sales Manager, Drew Hawkshaw. “we are stoked to be able to hold this competition and give back to the surf industry.” says Hawkshaw. The contest will feature seven categories – including open categories for men, women & children, a long board category, as well as a masters over forty category - allowing surfers at all levels & ages to showcase their talent!
With the estimated number of competitors in attendance being close to one hundred, it is lining up to be an unforgettable weekend. Along with the opportunity for up & coming surfers to showcase their talent, some of the well known athletes invited to compete include Peter Devries, the Bruhwiler brothers, Reid Jackson, Mike Stupka, Bastien Lanusse, Noah Cohen, Christian Moutinho and Brian Greig.
These guys are sure to take this competition to a whole other unexpected & exciting level. “I am confident this will be Canada’s premiere surf event for years to come.” states Hawkshaw.
Along with free admission for spectators, there will be over $10, 000 dollars worth of great give-aways from Rip Curl & the event sponsors, to be handed out all weekend. For the competitors there will be prize packs filled with amazing goods & winners will each receive a Barracuda Surfboard, Spy Sunglasses, Rip Curl wetsuit, Reef Sandals, Arbor Skateboard & much more! (To entertain the kids there will also be games held on the beach all day long.)
Matching the event theme, stew will be readily available on the beach to feed the masses, with all proceeds going to a Tofino based non-profit organization.
Anyone interested in competing can sign up at one of the following locations:
Long Beach Surf Shop – Tofino, BC
Sitka Surf Shop – Victoria, BC
Pacific Boarder – Vancouver, BC
Second Wave – North Vancouver, BC
Sponsors include: Rock Star Energy Drink, Spy Eyewear, SBC Surf Magazine, Reef, Inner Rhythm, Storm, Live to Surf, Long Beach Surf Shop, Coastline, Alternative Groove, HTO, Sitka, Pacific Boarder, Second Wave, La Nina, North Hill, Red Nik, Red Truck Brewery, Arbor Long boards, Harrison Beach Jewelry, Barracuda Surfboards, Santa Cruz Surfboards, Channel Island Surfboards, Sticky Bumps & Creatures Accessories.
Tofino, location TBA $80.00 cash June 15, 6:30pm
To pre-register contact Barbie Mayor Canadian Judging Manager
sbmayor@seaviewcable.net ISA Certified Judging Instructor
Improve your capacity to discriminate between surfers who
perform closest to the judging criteria from those who don't
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A WELSH designer has come up with an ingenious tracking device to help stop surfboards being stolen or counterfeited.
Andrew Smith, from the city of Newport, came up with the idea for a unique chip linked to an international database after thieves took his board on holiday in France.
Now his invention has won the backing of the International Surfing Association, and is being sold to manufacturers in Australia, Brazil, the US and Europe.
The individually-numbered chip, which is embedded in the surfboard, contains details of the board’s specifications and its owner, helping to prove its authenticity and deter theft.
This is the equivalent of a football manufacturer gaining the support of governing-body Fifa, says Mr Smith, and is something which he hopes will cement the success of his business.
He said, “It’s gathering pace on a day to day basis. I work a 24-hour day because I’m working across four time zones. I’ve surfed all my life. I eat it, breathe it and live it.
“About two years ago my wife and I and my three kids went down to south-west France for a holiday and we stopped off in Bordeaux and I had all my surf boards stolen, mine and my kids’ – everything.
“I was smarting because my experience with insurance companies was pretty poor and my experience with the French police was worse and I wanted to do something about it.
“Some times you get your hands on a precious board that you really value and you want to protect it.”
New boards can cost anything up to £1,000, while some antique boards can change hands for more than £12,000.
With a background in IT and telecommunications Mr Smith, who has been surfing since he was 12, was familiar with databases and well placed to set up a system for tracking surf boards.
The trick was to find a way of making each one unique and so he came up with the idea of a chip which is built into the board during the manufacturing process.
Later it can be read by means of scanning, and a registration card will be provided to the buyer who can then register their details online.
The system has a number of benefits for both surfer and manufacturer, according to Mr Smith.
Not only is it a theft deterrent, but it also enables fakes to be more easily identified.
“The board carries a kitemark saying that it is electronically protected and you can use a scanner to buzz the chip and identify the board,” he said.
“If you went into the board to take the chip out you would seriously damage it.
“A customer can register his board and if he loses that board he can report it to the database as lost or stolen. If someone else has stolen it that person could possibly walk into a shop and say they want to sell it but the retailer will recognise the kitemark and ask for the registration card.
“So anybody that’s walking about with a stolen board is automatically going to find it more difficult to sell.
“It opens up a whole market with insurance companies because any item like a surf board is very difficult to insure because they don’t have any identification.
“So what we do is provide identification of ownership which makes them insurable.”
He added, “Then it became apparent that companies’s labels, their brands, were being ripped off. Boards were being manufactured and sold as ‘made in Australia’ when they had actually been made in China or somewhere. So we had an opportunity with branding because the serial numbers of the board is hidden in the chip but they’re unique and can’t be copied. The customer knows the board is absolutely 100% authentic.”
As well as surf boards the tracker system can be used in other extreme sports boards including snowboards, windsurfers and kite surfers. Second-hand boards can be re-registered to allow legitimate resale while still preventing stolen boards from being circulated.
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Ray Call, a lifelong surfer, rides wave after wave, achieving effortless balance on his short board. Not so easy on a yoga mat. Standing heel to toe, eyes closed, spine straight, Call's legs wobble.
"I have a lot less balance than I thought I did," says Call, a 46-year-old engineer from Mission Viejo, Calif.
Instructor Peggy Hall explains the importance of balance postures to a class of eight, dressed mostly in surf T-shirts. "There are times you slip on your wax," Hall says. "Even just pulling on your wetsuit you have to balance on one leg so it doesn't get all sandy."
Hall leads the class in stretches to strengthen their shoulders for paddling, core work to more quickly pop up on the board, and how to relax with visualization of a favorite beach. One student describes the session as "yoga on surf steroids." It's also an accidental connection Hall discovered a decade ago that swelled, like the perfect wave, into a $100,000 a year business.
Her company, Yoga for Surfers, coincides with record numbers of women surfers and an overall explosion in the popularity of yoga. An estimated 2.3 million Americans surf, 30 percent of them women, according to Board Trac, a market research company. Out of 16.5 million yoga enthusiasts, 77 percent are women.
"It's such a perfect combination," Hall says. "We just got on the wave, and we've been riding it."
She's expanding into yoga for board sports, including snowboarding, wake boarding and skateboarding. "I think it's a clever marketing concept," says Corb Donahue, a San Clemente, Calif., action-sports marketer. "You could do [yoga] for circus acrobats. It works for anyone who needs continuing conditioning and strengthening."
Back at the yoga workshop in Laguna Beach, Calif., Hall begins the practice with a warm-up that she says can be done while scoping out waves. "Pretend like you're at the beach," she advises the class, which isn't too hard in the studio right off Pacific Coast Highway where an ocean breeze blows in through a door propped open with a yoga block.
During a foot stretch, she says, "You can imagine how good this feels in the sand." Hall demonstrates how to modify poses in the water, where to hold the surf board. She focuses on reducing tightness in hips and shoulders. She emphasizes posture and breathing. The benefits aren't just strength and flexibility. Hall says the yoga zone is similar to the surfing zone -- a place without distraction, a place without time.
"You are in complete immersion. It's so freeing for the rest of your mind," Hall says. "Surfing is also considered a very spiritual endeavor. People will say 'I feel like my soul was cleansed.' The same thing in yoga."
James Ruiz, 31, isn't naturally flexible, so he sought out Hall after reading about her in a surfing magazine. He has incorporated her DVDs into his weekly fitness schedule. He says he has experienced physical and mental benefits from the workouts.
"I'm not as stiff," says Ruiz of Laguna Niguel, Calif. "I see it physically from the aspect of being a lot looser on the wave, which is super important because you want to be fluid while you're going down the line on the face of the wave. Mentally, it's helped me get in control."
Ruiz, who works in real estate finance, incorporates poses in the water by sitting up straight and stretching his legs on the side of the board. The stillness and patience of the practice also helps him let go and be "more focused on simply being."
"If there are no waves, you can do yoga," Ruiz says. "I'm closing my eyes. In my mind, I'm catching wave after wave."
May 25, 2007
Running From June 1st to the 3rd, 2007 the beaches of Westport Washington will once again play host to the annual Clean Water Classic Surf Competition. The event, in its sixth year now, is the premiere surfing competition in the Pacific Northwest. Put on by the Surfrider Foundation in partnership with Global Surf Industries, this competition and three-day festival aims at not only promoting local surfing talent but raising awareness of local environmental issues that face our beaches and oceans.
The competition brings surfers from all around the world, including, Brazil, Mexico, Hawaii, Canada, and the United States all competing for cash and prizes. Surfers compete in a variety of heats including both men's and women's shortboard and longboard, junior shortboard, and masters short and longboard. Celebrity judges will be on hand this year to determine the winners. In attendance this year will be; Bonga Perkins, ex world champion longboarder and currently ranked 4th in the world; Carl Schaper, renowned Hawaiian surfboard designer; Steve Walden, world class longboard designer; Sonny Owens, 70's Huntington Beach surf legend and; Drew Kampion, former editor of Surfer, and Surfing magazine, and current editor of Surfers Path
Saturday night the festival will play host to a sneak peak of 20th Century Fox's new film The Silver Surfer. As well as several local and international surf films, and live bands that will rock the night away. Throughout the three days, the Surfrider Foundation and Washington Water Trails will be on hand educating attendees on good environmental practices as well as Leave No Trace principles. All proceeds raised from the festival go directly to supporting the surfrider foundation chapters in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
More information and a schedule of events are posted at www.cleanwaterclassic.com
SYB presentation brochure cover Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 25 May, 2007 : - - The first ever Surfing Year Book will make its debut in late February with a complete coverage of the world of surfing in 2007, publisher Surfersvillage revealed this week.
Surfersvillage chief executive Bruce Boal said that support for the Year Book had been phenomenal, with world and national governing bodies now behind the project. “There is a groundswell of support and anticipation for the Year Book,” Mr Boal said from SV headquarters in Biarritz, France. “The sport and culture of surfing has really come of age and people want a detailed record of events they can feel and touch.
At Surfersvillage we’ve recognized that there’s something very special about old school media, and while continuing to provide the best website coverage of surfing news in the world, we’re leading the charge backwards into book publishing.”
The stylish coffee table book compendium will feature articles and photos by the world’s leading surf media personalities, including former world champions Peter Townend, Shaun Tomson and Nat Young, and will be edited by veteran surf journalist and author Phil Jarratt. It will also feature results from every recognized surfing contest in the world in 2007, with photos and event reports.
“This book is going to be a first in many ways,” said editor Jarratt. “Bruce and I are putting together a global team of contributors to ensure that we cover the news from the smallest outposts of surfing as well as the meccas. We’re also striving to create a balance between the lifestyle and sport of surfing, with articles covering competitive and non-competitive aspects. It will be a book for everyone who loves surfing.”
The Surfing Year Book will be distributed globally and will retail for $US50. Advance discount purchases will be available on-line at surfersvillage.com and surfingyearbook.com
For more information contact … info@surfingyearbook.com
The Surfing Year Book
www.surfingyearbook.com
May 21, 2007
Date: Sunday June 3rd. 2007
Time: 11:00 Am to 5:00 Pm
Location: Pier Plaza 315 Pacific coast Hwy, Huntington Beach 92648
Admission to the concert is "FREE"
Pier Plaza Bands:
Deep Sea from Rancho Cucamonga with Jon Henderson and special guests Travis & Marcus Barton formerly with Pacific Headhunters.
Insect Surfers with David Arnson is considered one of L A's hottest psycho-surf bands.
Sand Devils with Ran Mossessco originally from Israel now out of
San Diego return after a one-year hiatus adding to his family.
Surf Kings with Tom Stanton from Oceanside return by popular demand to Pier Plaza after many setbacks of unforeseen circumstances last year.
Abdel Kineche will be playing a solo medley of Shadows tunes such as the world famous Apache.
Detonators are blessed to return to the big stage this year after a near fatal accident with Rob Woolsey's car rolling down the Santa Monica Mountains.
Abdel will be joining the Detonators as guest with more Shadows tunes you might remember.
***Many of the bands have produced CD's for sale at this year's concerts***
Don't forget to bring your own chairs or blankets, hats, sunscreen & water.
HBISM Phone: 714-960-3483
Check out our website www.surfingmuseum.org
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