The Rip Curl Pro Search Portugal wrapped up on Tuesday at the world famous Supertubes, and we all know how it ended. Mick won the event in steadily degrading conditions (especially considering the epic, mega barrels of the previous day), topping a charging Bede Durbidge, and officially turning the title race into a two-man show - Fanning vs. Parkinson. Now let's take a look at how we got there and what it all means. For starters, lets consider the other potential title hopefuls as of the start … [Read more...]
Rip Curl Pro Search Portugal – Fanning takes another, blah, blah, blah…
October 29, 2009 By 1 Comment
Rip Curl Pro Search Portugal – envious observations from afar
October 27, 2009 By 1 Comment
After several lay days, the Rip Curl Search Portugal finally went live, and has now run through all of rounds one and two. Let’s take a look at who’s making waves and who's already on the flight to Hawaii. Big winners: Owen Wright – cut his teeth on Kekoa Bacalso in round one, then killed Slater’s 2009 title hopes in round two with an exciting aerial performance. Mick Fanning – I don’t have to like him, but it’s hard to knock his ability to perform. He fought a close battle … [Read more...]
Product Review – Hydro Swim Fins
October 20, 2009 By 6 Comments
As I patiently wait for the bigger swell to arrive I have been doing more training. I have found body surfing and swimming to be great cross-training methods and they are way more fun than going for a run! Fins and trunks are all you need and it will keep you fit and wave ready for when the surfable swell comes in. The boys over at Hydro heard about my new obsession and sent some of their Tech Fins over for us to try out. These two models have quickly moved up to the top of my favorites list and … [Read more...]
World Title possibilities following Mundaka
October 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
My brain is still numb from trying to crunch the numbers on requalifiers and new qualifiers for the world tour around this time last season, so this time, I'm smart enough to defer to one of the guys who is paid to crunch these numbers. I present for your reading pleasure, the world title hopefuls, broken down by the ASP World Tour Manager, Renato Hickel. Read below, and click the link to ASPWorldTour.com for the full story. Renato Hickel, ASP World Tour Manager, has run the scenarios of what … [Read more...]
2009 Billabong Pro Mundaka – Parko out, Slater dominates
October 13, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The 2009 Billabong Pro Mundaka finally went live again on Monday. After a truncated start way back on the 5th of October, where the event only ran through the first eight heats of round 1, the nod was finally given to resume the event during what appears to be one of the best of the remaining days in the event window. Roughly translated - Mundaka isn't really putting out, but the boys decided to give her a go anyways. The biggest news on Monday was Joel Parkinson's early exit. Parko took home … [Read more...]
Mick Fanning – Aussie for bland?
October 6, 2009 By 1 Comment
ASP Addict's thoughts on Mick Fanning are up at ESPN. Check it out here. It's getting some comments over there, but you should weigh in. … [Read more...]
They’re still just your average pro.
October 1, 2009 By 2 Comments
While watching the recent ASP World Tour event at Trestles on the interweb (Gosh, when are they ever gonna get on t.v.!), I started to notice one trait that pro-surfers possess that has seemingly drifted past the majority of us "mortals": Pro surfers are actually human. Yes, it's shocking, but true. The curtain of movies, highlights, magazines spreads, and youtube clips that has been drawn over our eyes actually hide the truth that surfing is hard - even for pros. It's sorta like how Hollywood … [Read more...]
