Surfing America, the national governing body for surfing in the USA, is excited to announce the 2009 PacSun USA Surf Team travel roster that will compete at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador from March 28-April 5. After a grueling week of adverse conditions, PacSun USA Surf Team Head Coach Joey Buran made tough but calculated decisions as he trimmed his 30-man roster down to the 16 who will make up the travel squad and represent the United States.
 
The we week-long training camp, run in the rain, blustery wind and at times hail, saw standout performances in the three divisions in which the PacSun USA Surf Team will compete: Boys Under 16, Boys Under 18 and Girls Under 18.
 
The Under 18 Boys are led into battle by perhaps the hottest surfer on the national team, Santa Cruz’s Nat Young. A rising star whose breakthrough 2008 has thus far carried over nicely into ’09, Young’s style should be well suited to handle the left-hand point break at La FAE. Young is the United States’ best chance at a gold medal in the Under 18 division. Rounding out the rest of the 18s are Evan Thompson who was on the team two years ago and brings some solid ISA experience, Fisher Heverly and Chase Wilson who fought through a stomach virus and six back-to-back heats to claim the last spot.
 
“Our Under 18s look strong. We do have Nat Young and Chase Wilson returning as veterans from last year’s team,” Buran said. “And we’ve filled in with Fisher Heverly and Evan Thompson who’s had success in the WQS Juniors in North America, is an elite surfer, made finals at NSSA Nationals.”
 
For the Under 18 Girls, their leader is clear -- Courtney Conlogue. Last year’s third place finisher at the ISA World Juniors, Conlogue is one of the favorites to take top podium honors in Ecuador. “We have the veterans in Courtney, who’s obviously a gold medal favorite and Kaleigh [Gilchrist], who’s solid,” Buran said. “Lakey [Peterson]’s really young, Lani [Doherty]’s young. They’ve both made some finals at the USA Champs and NSSA Nationals.
 
Headlining the travel roster are the Under 16 Boys.  A deep and immensely talented group of budding superstars, Coach Buran made no attempt to hide his expectations for this group during the week. Time after time Buran referred to the Under 16s as the most talented group of 15-year-old surfers you’ll find on the planet. It goes without saying, Buran expects gold from these boys. “I would expect in Under 16 we’ll do damage,” Coach Buran said. Out of Kolohe Andino, Conner Coffin, Evan Geiselman, and Ian Crane, Buran thinks all of these kids have a legitimate shot at medaling.

From March 28 to April 5 the waves of the Playa de las FAE in Salinas, Ecuador, will host the greatest junior surfing event in the world: the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.

More than 200 of the best athletes of about 30 different countries will be competing for one of the greatest honors to which a junior surfer can aspire: a podium in an International Surfing Association (ISA) event. The ISA is the World Governing Authority of Surfing and all its disciplines, recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

The event will crown the world champions in the categories Boys Under 18, Boys Under 16 and Girls Under 18, as well as the World Junior Champion nation, after the results of all its participants have been added.  Each team will be represented by four members in each of the categories; therefore, a complete team will be composed of twelve athletes.

ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, commented on this upcoming event: I’m very happy that a major ISA event is going to be held in Ecuador, the host of the 2004 ISA World Surfing Games. It’s a great country with warm people, hot waves and weather - for sure a place to spend some extra days before or after the competition.

Regarding the fact that Ecuador is the first Hispanic American country to host an edition of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship, Aguerre said: This is proof that Surfing in that region is maturing in a great way, in countries that only 20 years ago would not be considered surfing countries like Ecuador and Costa Rica, host of the ISA World Surfing Games later this year. We’re looking forward to hot surfing, a substantial increase of junior surfing level.”

It will be the seventh edition of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.  The event started its history soon after ISA decided to separate the Junior category from the World Surfing Games, to offer the best Under 18 athletes their own event.  The decision proved a correct one and transformed itself in a mandatory stop for the best young athletes, since it became a talent incubator of the future leaders of world surfing.

The first competition happened in South Africa in 2003, continued in Tahiti (2004), California (2005), Brazil (2006), Portugal (2007) and France in 2008.  In this way, Ecuador becomes the first Hispanic-American country to host the WJSC.

«It is an historic day for surfing. I am very proud as I think TAP [Portuguese Airline Company] will offer better services to an heavy travellers class and to a key sport in Portugal», said Joao Capunho, president of the Portuguese Surfers Association (ANS), as TAP announced new rules on boards carriage.

The decision was taken after several requests and negotiations with ANS. Although not a perfect solution, TAP will apply fee to bags, not boards; moreover, bags weighting less than 10kg will have a 50% discount; finally, keep in mind that a responsibility waiver is also necessary.

TAP's new boards-on-plane regulation are visionary, when we think of what happened with British Airways, once considered the surfer friendly airline company.

In October 2007, BA simply banned boards on flights.

The British Surfing Association then issued a global petition in order to try reversing BA's ban regulation.

Australia’s top Boardriding Clubs have converged onto the Gold Coast for the 25th anniversary year of Australia’s most prestigious, largest and longest running Boardriding Club national event – The Rip Curl Kirra Teams Challenge.

Right on time these clubs have fallen into the Gold Coast seasons first official cyclone swell with Tropical Cyclone Innis pushing in a near perfect 4ft easterly swell onto the Gold Coast points and beaches and the surfers are simply loving the warm up conditions before tomorrow’s official start.

Defending champions and host club Kirra will again be the team to beat, particularly with the current swell conditions but like every year, the depth and talent from the visiting clubs who come in from all over Australia is super strong and whoever takes the title will join a long list of outstanding clubs - The past three years have seen different champions with Le-Ba (Lennox/Ballina) successful in 2007 and Byron Bay the champions of 2006.

This years event encompasses thirty six  Boardriding clubs which includes one boardriding club from Bali with a competitive total of 288 surfers across all clubs.

Just a small sample of the  outstanding talents expected to line up for their beloved clubs this weekend include Adam Melling, Stuart Kennedy, James Wood (Le-Ba), Asher Pacey, Corey Ziems, Clancy Dawson, Jesse Allen, Mitch Hayes, Jack Freestone and  Dale Richards (Kirra) along with numerous others from across Australia.

After the huge success of the 2008 Fantastic Cup Pro Junior Surfing event at Waitpinga Beach in South Australia, Fantastic Snacks have committed to supporting the junior state surfing titles through most parts of Australia.

The national surfing state titles series are the breeding ground for the next generation of professional surfers in Australia, with current two times world champion Stephanie Gilmore and 2007 mens world champion Mick Fanning both making their way to the top by first surfing in the state titles

The sponsorship covers 10 events in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, 14 regional junior surfing titles events in NSW, plus the re-signing of a even bigger South Australian Pro Junior event in July.

Surfing South Australia, Chief Executive Officer Steve Reddy views the sponsorship as a win for surfing nation wide, and a big step forward for South Australia brokering a national deal, considering it is a smaller surfing state.

"Surfing South Australia is extremely proud to have developed a partnership with Fantastic Snacks that will have far reaching positive effects on the Australian junior surfing scene".  said Mr Reddy.

"With foresight commitment  Fantastic Snacks  are backing junior surfing to a whole new level demonstrating the mainstream popularity and high standing of the surfing within the youth market.

Fantastic Snacks Managing Director, Mr Maurice Crotti, is also thrilled to align his brand with surfing.

"Fantastic is privileged to lend its support to the State Junior Surfing Titles," he said.

Surfing in Dubai has not been banned but surfers found in the swimming area of Umm Suquiem 2 beach, near Jumeirah Beach Hotel, may be fined.

The newly cordoned off swimming area is at the centre of the surfing hot-spot frequented by hundreds of surfers.

Dubai Municipality's Coastal Management Section confirmed to Gulf News that no official ban has been issued on surfing at the popular beach.

"I have not issued any ban because there are surfers already there, we know they are there," said Alia Al Harmoudi, head of the coastal zone and waterways management section at the environment department of Dubai Municipality.

However surfers found in the new swimming zone may face fines. "A lot of people are swimming there and it is a safety issue," she said.

Surfers are hoping to co-exist with swimmers on the beach during the few winter months, from November to March, as the swell is suitable for surfing.

Dubai resident and surfer Scott Chambers, 25, head of surf school Surf Dubai, received a Dh200 fine last week by Dubai Municipality for surfing in a newly demarcated swimming zone - also the only surf spot in the emirate. "There is a real community of surfers here and this is the only place we can come. After speaking to the authorities I hope that we can share the beach with swimmers in the safest way possible," he said. "I would really like to work with the municipality to have a dedicated area for surfers."

Brazilian Bruno Santos is the new 2009 Hang Loose Pro Contest Champion.

Santos paddled out in two-to-four foot (1 metre) barreling waves at Cacimba do Padre Beach three times today, beating the defending champion of the event Brazilian Raoni Monteiro 15.40 to 8.67 in the great Final. Santos, who is one of the best barrel riders in the world, finished the day with the title and the lead of 2009 ASP WQS ratings.

In the Final, Monteiro opened the heat with an excellent score of 8.67 points, then Santos emerged from a deep left-hand barrel to earn a near-perfect 9.90 and with fifteen minutes to go. Santos was in second with the priority.

With a set approaching, Santos took the first wave in an effort to get the lead, but Monteiro also paddle for the wave and committed a paddle interference, losing his second best wave and his chances to win the Final. After that, Monteiro also scored a 7.67 and a 7.07. In the last 10 minutes, Santos snuck into a small barrel on the wave, earned a 5.50 and won the heat.

"The way I like, I always pray to get barreling waves in the contests, and we had perfect waves in five days of surfing," Santos said.

Before the Final, Santos won the second Semifinal against Brazilian Marcelo Trekinho (who got the second and last 10 point ride of the event) and the Quarterfinal No. 3 against the young surfer Ian Gouveia (16).

"I think I had luck too," Santos said. "The waves came to me and Monteiro made some mistakes today. Noronha is my favorite event of the year and this is the place that I most like to go back every year and win here was great, I really happy with that."

With the result today, Monteiro moves to ASP WQS No. 3. The Final was Monteiro’s second Final in the Hang Loose Pro Contest in a row, he won the event in 2008.

Despite having an amazingly consistent campaign in the event, Monteiro was unable to claim the victory, but started the year with a great result at Cacimba do Padre. Monteiro was gracious in defeat – giving credit to Santos for his impressive surfing throughout the event.

Raoni began the day winning the opening heat of this Sunday against his good friend Leonardo Neves, then we took out of the event Brazilian Marco Polo, who surfed the first 10 point ride of the 2009 Hang Loose Pro Contest.

Reigning and nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 37, will begin his campaign for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title at the Quiksilver Pro presented by LG Mobile.

Event No. 1 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Quiksilver Pro will be held at the Gold Coast’s Snapper Rocks from February 28 through March 11, 2009. The Quiksilver Trials and Roxy Trials will take place on February 27, 2009.

Slater, who in past seasons has been reluctant to commit to a full year of competition, has announced his intentions for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and has acknowledged the allure of a possible 10th ASP World Title.

“I commit to where I am,” Slater said. “I’ll be on the Gold Coast for sure. I’m pretty excited about some new equipment and am ready to surf, I think. No. 10 is alluring and is there for the attempt, but I’ll let everyone else worry about the pressure of it as well as I can.”

Despite the Floridian’s dominance on last year’s ASP Dream Tour, Slater admits that the acquisition of ASP World Title No. 10 will be no easy feat, especially considering the hunger and talent of returning ASP Top 45 rippers.

“I’m not sure whether Dane (Reynolds) and Jordy (Smith) will pull straight up to that level to start this year or not, but I know that Parko’s always hungry and Mick (Fanning) goes without saying,” Slater said. “C.J. (Hobgood) got a taste of it last year again and will come out firing for sure. Taj (Burrow) will be hungry, but I wonder how his focus will be after a couple of really great seasons and not quite the results that his surfing shows all the time – he’s always one of the best at Snapper. Bede (Durbidge) will quietly execute more people and Bobby (Martinez) is going to be the hungriest, starting the year without a main sponsor.”

In addition to the returning stars on this year’s ASP World Tour, a new crop of fresh faces will be joining the best surfers on the planet as they traverse the globe tearing apart the best waves in the world.

“I think Kerr could show some big things, but he was never able to capitalize on a great start the other year and never really backed it up when the time came,” Slater said. “I don’t expect him to make the same mistakes this time. Nathaniel Curran could quietly take a few people out. I’m really interested to see Barca and what he will do. He’s finally made the tour and I don’t know if people outside of Hawaii know how good he is yet, especially guys on the World Tour. For all of them, it’s a transition from four-man to two-man, and it’s a different field with more experience. Rookies need a good start to get out of tough seeding position as well – the first three events are key to a guy requalifying.”

The ASP Grade-3 Billabong Pro Junior Coffs Harbour was run and won today in epic conditions, as Owen Wright (Lennox Head, NSW) claimed his third straight event on the 2009 ASP Australasian Pro Junior Series.

As conditions rapidly increased overnight with the arrival of a fresh 3-4m swell, competitors were greeted with solid, rugged, storm-like peaks as they battled at Coffs Harbour Jetty.

However, as the swell, rainsqualls and wind abated, what was left was near-perfect four-to-five foot (1.5 metre) waves­ which were welcomed with open arms by competitors and officials alike.

None moreso than Wright, who dominated the Final defeating, Garrett Parkes(Lennox Head, NSW), Perth Standlick (Bondi, NSW) and Davey Cathels (North Narrabeen, NSW), who finished second, third and fourth respectively.

Wright, who now holds a massive lead on the ASP Australasian Pro Junior ratings after three straight victories, was in super-human form once again, accruing a combined heat total of 17.00 (out of a possible 20).

“It feels great,” Wright said. “To win again is a dream. I’ve just got some really good momentum at the moment and hopefully it can continue onwards.”

High scores dominated the day’s competition as the finest junior surfers in Australasia pushed the boundaries of competitive surfing.

Wright locked in a virtually perfect 9.90 (out of a possible 10) in his Semifinal, Standlick followed suit with a 9-point ride, whilst Dean Bowen (Gerroa, NSW) added an 8.00 (out of a possible 10) only to be eliminated.

While the second Semifinal saw event standout Parkes awarded the highest accolade in surfing ­ a perfect 10 after combining a mind-blowing barrel with a radical combination of turns. Only to be followed up by a 8.65 (out of a possible 10) to Cathels a mere two minutes later.

“The standard of surfing was so high throughout the Final and the Semis, all the guys were ripping,” Wright said. “To beat guys like Davey, Perth and Garrett is awesome. Having grown-up with these guys, to finally get a result over them is a good feeling.”

The project is part of the Surf Science and Technology degree at the University of Plymouth, UK and involves looking into the performance of an environmental surfboard in comparison to an industry standard Polyurethane Fibreglass board, which has been the dominant materials for surfboard construction for far too long.

The production of its materials and the production itself has a huge environmental impact; surfing guilty secret, which has been kept very quiet. However in this age of carbon footprints and rising oil prices, it makes sense to adopt ‘greener’ materials.

They are many surfboards currently available that market themselves as being greener than the PU/fibreglass, however this isn’t hard considering the environmental damage of the petrochemicals and styrene involved in the production of surfboards, whereas the ‘green’ board will be manufactured using 40% plant based foam blank, 98% UV Bio resin and Bamboo weave matting, even the leash is 50% recycled, I am using a bio-plastic leash plug and hand shaped Bamboo fins, which will be waxed with one of the many environmental waxes.

For a 6’, 18” ½, 2’ ¼ board it will be 50% plant or recycled based, far higher than most if not all on the market, for a glassed foam core surfboard.

Both boards will be machine shaped to ensure regularity and I will ask a selection of local surfers and team riders to test boards without knowing which is which and with analysis and the answering of an in-depth questionnaire on handling, turning, executed manoeuvres and flex etc, to allow me to compare the performance and see if it is comparable.

This will allow me to say whether an environmental surfboard could withstand the stresses and strains of modern surfing and still perform to the level of PU boards. I will also look into the economic viability of such a board, as Gary Young’s bamboo boards are $150 (AUS) per foot, which is a greater expensive than a PU board.