French Professional Surfer Jeremy Flores, rated 9 in the world, has donated his contest earnings from the first ASP World Tour event of 2009, the Quiksilver Gold Coast Pro, to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund.  Having watched the devastation, caused by the worst disaster in Australian History, from his home in New Caledonia, Jeremy realised how fortunate he was.  He had to act.  He said, “I would like to give a donation to the Victoria Bushfire Appeal Fund.  I think it’s important to help in these difficult moments while we can.”  Jeremy spent his teenage years living in Newport Beach Sydney and so has very close ties with Australia. (more…)

What a way to work up an appetite for Christmas dinner! Nike 6.0 rider Ben Haworth shreds the waves down in Cornwall last weekend.

HONOLUA BAY, Maui (Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007) – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) has just made ASP History as the first-ever surfer to claim the ASP World Title in their rookie season, having bested fellow contenders Sofia Mulanovich (PER) and Silvana Lima (BRA) in Round 3 competition today at the Billabong Pro Maui at Honolua Bay.

The 19-year old from Coolangatta, Australia, blitzed past opponent Rochelle Ballard (HAW) with a stunning performance to advance through to the Quarterfinals of the Billabong Pro Maui after rival Mulanovich went down to wildcard Keala Kennelly (HAW) in a surprise Round 3 elimination.

“Surprisingly, I did quite well to not watch Sofia’s heat at all, and I didn’t even know that Keala (Kennelly) had won until right before my heat was about to start,” Gilmore said.  “That was interesting.  I guess it was awesome for me.  I was stoked.  It pretty much just fired me up when I heard that, and then the next wave I got barreled.”
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A five-year £75,000 sponsorship of the British Junior Surfing Team by children’s drinks company, Calypso, is set to end years in which Britain’s best young surfers have been starved of the funding they need to compete at the peak of their ability in international events.

“This is a massive boost for Britain’s elite young surfers at a time when they are on the verge of long, professional careers in what has become one of the country’s fastest growing sports,” said Karen Walton, director of the British Surfing Association (BSA), the sport’s governing body in Great Britain and the Channel Islands.

“Their talent has never been in any doubt, now this deal with Calypso means they can concentrate on structured training and receive the very best coaching and support without having to worry about where the money is coming from.”

As a ‘warm up’ before the main sponsorship begins in 2008, Calypso has joined some of the biggest brands in the sport as a Gold Sponsor of the BSA, a move which will help the association to continue its vital role in developing the sport at all levels.
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Staff at a Watergate Bay extreme sports business are celebrating triple success with two champion surfers and a prestigious tourism award.

Surfers Harry Timson and Chris Thomson, both sponsored by the Extreme Academy, have won their divisions on the 2007 UK Pro Surfing Tour following the final event of the season earlier this month.

This success was further boosted last week when the Extreme Academy won a Gold award in the Cornwall Tourism Awards 2007.

“We would like to congratulate both Harry and Chris on becoming the UK Pro Surf Tour champions for 2007,” said Will Ashworth, Managing Director of The Hotel & Extreme Academy, Watergate Bay. “Then for the Extreme Academy to win gold at the Cornwall Tourism Awards is just fantastic. We have had an incredible year on the beach, and to cap it all with success on three fronts is excellent.”
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As you might have noticed, that time of year has arrived where you have to put your flip flops away in the back of your wardrobe.

So if you’re looking for something cool to wear this winter you could do a lot worse than considering a pair of trainers from Kustom’s new range. With a variety of trainers designed to suit any style, they have a wide range of colours, styles and materials to suit any personality.

The pair they’ve sent through for us to have a gander at are called the Edison! They’re a well built, fairly traditional white trainer style that have a very comfortable bright green cushioning interior with a solid rubber sole and the magic eight ball design on the side definitely sets them apart. Life will never be dull in those winter months when you’re sporting your own luck! For further information go to www.kustomfootwear.com

IMBITUBA, Brazil (Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007) Australian Mick Fanning clinched his maiden Foster’s ASP World Title after winning the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil today. Fanning was in the water about to surf a semifinal heat against childhood friend Joel Parkinson (AUS) when Taj Burrow (AUS) was eliminated by Tom Whitaker (AUS) and his lifelong dream was realized.

“I woke up this morning and I just had a good feeling that it was going to happen today,” Fanning said. “It was so amazing to be out there with Joel. When I realized I’d won I went, ‘What do we do Joel?’ and he was like, ‘I don’t know!’ I was just so stoked to share my first ever heat as the World Champion with him. It was amazing.”

Fanning surfed a signature heat to beat Parkinson 18.70 to 12.84 in Semifinal 1 before defending his Brazilian title by beating rookie Kai Otton (AUS) in the final to win the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro. The win marks his 9th Foster’s ASP World Tour event win.

Americans Kelly Slater and Andy Irons have monopolized the World Title for the last five years but Fanning’s win today makes him the first Australian to clinch a men’s ASP World Title since Mark ‘Occy” Occhilupo did so in Brazil in 1999.

“To take the reins over from Oc is incredible,” Fanning said. “He is pretty much the legend of the sport. He’s such a character and such a cool guy. Even when I’ve been on tour with Andy, he’s such a determined guy as well and I was there for his first world title. And then there’s Kelly – the guy who gave inspiration to every kid who surfs today, he’s amazing.”
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Sam Lamiroy wins 2007 UK Pro Surf Tour at the Gul Newquay Open, on Fistral Beach last weekend, 10/11 November.

Sam defeated Llewellyn Whittaker by only 12points, the narrowest margin for victory in tour history. The title on the final day of the Gul Newquay Open could have gone either way, but because of Sam’s marginal lead going into the final event on the tour he had the advantage and used all his experience to achieve his goal.
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Newquays Alan Stokes beat of a highly talented field to clinch victory at the final event of the UK Pro Surf Tour

Alan Stokes won the hotly contested Gul Newquay Open, the final event on the UK Pro Surf Tour 2007, ahead of Matt Capel, Russell Winter and Johnny Fryer. Fistral beach provided testing conditions for the UK Pro Tour title decider on the 10th and 11th of November. The Open event was a high-tension affair with all six of the top seeds on the tour still in with a chance of taking the tour title coming into the final event.
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MUNDAKA, Spain (Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007) –What started as a dream became reality when defending champion Bobby Martinez (USA) became the first surfer in the history of the Billabong Pro Mundaka to post back to back victories at the reeling lefthander today.

“I had a dream that I won the event about a week ago,” Martinez said. “I didn’t even tell my fiancé Cleo, but I didn’t want to wake up from the dream. It felt so real and now it has come true, it’s just so weird how it all ended up. It’s good to win an event wherever it is, but winning here last year and then winning here now… it’s just brought back so many great memories.”

Martinez beat Foster’s ASP World No. 3 Taj Burrow (AUS) in a closely fought Final to defend his Billabong Pro Mundaka title and post best result of the season. Burrow lost the final by less than three-tenths of a point, despite posting an excellent 9.33 (out of 10) wave score toward the end of the heat. Martinez bettered his low score by catching the set wave after Burrow’s and the Australian was unable to answer back.

“Taj surfed really well, he got the best wave of the heat,” Martinez said. “Thank goodness there was that wave that I caught right after his because it ended up being one of my better waves. When the announcers said he got a 9.0 something, I knew he had to have gone into the lead, but then my score was an 8.27 and the situation didn’t change. I was just thinking the whole time, ‘How much more time is left, let’s get this thing over with!’

Martinez jumped from 13th to 6th on the Foster’s ASP World Tour ratings with the win. Previous to his win today, the Californian had posted one 3rd, one 5th and five 17th place results on the 2007 tour. He finished World No. 5 last year to become the 2006 ASP Rookie of the Year.
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La Caja De Canarias / Ocean & Earth Pro
ASP Men’s 4 STAR World Qualifying Series (WQS) event
ASP Men’s European Pro Surf Tour Stop # 11 of 13
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria – Canary Islands
Prizemoney US$ 75,000
8 – 14 October 2007

NIC MUSCROFT (AUS) WINS OCEAN & EARTH PRO 4 STAR WQS IN CANARY ISLANDS !

Nic Muscroft (Victoria,AUS) won the Caja De Canarias / Ocean & Earth Pro 4 Star World Qualifying Series event today at El Confital. Pocketing a US$ 10 000 prize for his first place and valuable 1500 points counting for the WQS ratings, Muscroft clinches his first title of the year and keeps all his hopes alive towards a possible Foster’s ASP World Tour qualification.

“I’m just over the moon… My goal when i decided to come over was to make a second or a first and I got this title today in some of the best waves on tour. It’s just perfect. I’ve chasing this improtant result since the start of the european leg and managed to be pretty consistent so I know this gets me closer to the qualification.”
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