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.

The 2009 UK Pro Surf Tour is back, the first event scheduled over the Whitsun Bank holiday weekend, the Saltrock Open comes to Croyde Beach, and if the past events are anything to go by, we could be in for a treat.

The long Whitsun weekend of the 23rd / 24th / 25th May is later in the year for the event and therefore open to more surfers as they return from their winter training.

We will see surfers of all ages and abilities travel to Devon’s most celebrated break, possibly one of the best Beach Breaks in the country, to take part in what has traditionally become one of the most important stops on the tour.  This first tour pit-stop has grown in stature over the years thanks to epic conditions and some heroic performances from the best surfers in the country. 

Saltrock remain proud sponsors of this prominent leg of the tour, which will feature 4 main categories: Men’s Open, Pro-Juniors, Women’s Open and the Groms Tour. The Groms Tour includes 3 categories of its own; an Under-12s Open, an Under-16 Boys and Under-16 Girls.  Saltrock are keen to maintain their support of young surfers and invest in the future of British surfing.

Saltrock has been a prominent part of the North Devon surfing community for over 20 years, and is again proud to be hosting a showcase event in their spiritual home of Croyde.  This event will be the first of a nine event tour which spans the UK and Northern Ireland.
 
Last year there were many highlights and fantastic displays of contemporary surfing. With surf conditions varying from to two to four feet, the eventual winner of the Open was Mark Harris who narrowly defeated Matt Capel on a count-back. In the Women’s division it was Nicole Morgan who set the standard for the rest of the year, by taking out this event and then going on to win the tour title, only losing one heat in the process.

Relentless Energy drink will also be supporting the event giving £250 for the best Aerial of the contest and providing plenty of refreshment to keep the surfers going.

Merewether local Phillippa Anderson has become the first ever local surfer to win a final at Newcastle’s 24th annual Surfest competition.
 
The 17-year-old smashed a 23-year hoodoo that has never seen a local surfer win a main event at Newcastle when she edged out Sunshine Coast surfer Dimity Stoyle (Maroochydore) by less than one-and-a-half points.
 
In clean, one-metre waves at Merewether beach, the St Phillips Waratah High School student racked up a heat score of 15.10 to Stoyle’s 13.85 to have her name etched on the Maitland Toyota Open trophy.
 
Anderson, who came through the junior ranks of the Hunter Water Stars of the Future program at the Newcastle contest, will soon use her $US2500 prize money to buy a car.
 
And while she is yet to earn her P plates that will allow her to drive unaccompanied, she proved to the massive crowd of more than 5000 that she is no learner in the water.
 
The former Port Elizabeth, South African resident moved to Newcastle five years ago and has been a regular in the Merewether line-up ever since her arrival.
 
Today her knowledge of the Merewether break gave her confidence and assured her win.
 
“I was just sitting out the back going ‘please God don’t let her get a wave’ and she got one,” said Anderson.
 
“I saw her first big turn and I was like ‘no!’ but she didn’t get the score and I was just so stoked.”
 
“This is the biggest win for me ever and to top it off here at Merewether in front of my family is just so good.
 
“It’s such a great honour to have my name on the winner’s board - it’s just so good,” said Anderson.
 
And in the tightest men’s final at Newcastle for many years, former ASP Dream Tour surfer Travis Logie (17.50) defeated current ASP Dream Tour surfer Drew Courtney (16.45) from Umina on the New South Wales Central Coast.

With perfect 1.25m surf pouring through the idyllic point breaks at Noosa Heads today,  USA surfer Taylor Jensen (San Diego) and Australia’s Chelsea Williams (Tweed Heads/NSW) have won high scoring finals of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) events, the Golden Breed Pro and Banana Boat Women’s Pro.

It was Taylor Jensen’s first final at Noosa despite travelling to this event for the past five years and the former three time USA Longboard Champion won the final in convincing fashion posting three outstanding 9 point plus rides , finishing on a final score tally on his top two rides of 18.70  to Australia’s Josh Constable on 17.15 (out of a possible 20).

“ The waves out there today were unbelievable, just about as good as it possibly gets for surfing longboards and I pretty much knew before the final started that the winner would need to score a pair of 9 point plus rides – With waves like these that peel so perfect the scope to score big is just endless and it worked out perfectly for me today” said Jensen after his 30 minute final.

“I’ve had plenty of great battles with Constable over the years  and he beat me in the semi finals of the 2006 ASP World Titles which he went on and won so I feel I have just got one back on him today.”

Constable did all he could to chase down Jensen’s lead in the final and at the half way stage was in contention when he scored an excellent 8.5 ride but shortly after Jensen delivered a 9.6 ride and the chase was as good as over with all three opponents chasing a combination of two scoring rides to catch Jensen’s 18.70 tally.

“ Taylor has been the form surfer all week and he deserved today’s win” said Constable.

“I’m stoked to have made the final and placed second – The last six weeks I’ve spent recovering from pneumonia so I am pleased with my result, it’s early in the year and getting a good result here sets me up for a good year ahead.”

Today’s Banana Boat final was just as exciting with Chelsea Williams displaying enormous competitive spirit requiring a 9.3 ride late in the final and posting a 9.5 ride to take the lead with five minutes remaining.

A definitive history of surfing in Australia, Bombora tells the story of Australian beach culture through our surfing champions, writers, pioneers, entrepreneurs, mavericks, legends, drop-outs and drop-ins.

The two-part series follows the rise of surfing and its culture in Australia, using archival footage and classic Australian music to illustrate its growing importance in Australian society in the 20th century and beyond.

From the time we learnt to bodysurf, to our first attempts on boards, to Duke Kahanamoku’s 1914 visit which kicked off surfing’s roll to popularity, Australians have taken the surf and made it our own, spawning international legends such as Midget Farrelly, Nat Young and seven-time world champion Layne Beachley, along with global surfwear brands.

Set against a changing world, Bombora follows the history of surfing from its maverick early days, through three significant wars and a depression, the development of surf clubs and the ensuing battles between lifesavers and surfers, the sea-change seeking drug culture of the 1970s and its shift to a cleaner, more professional sport in the late 1980s.

Bombora interviews a rich seam of Australian characters, including our first surf champion Isabel Letham, author and surfer Tim Winton, legendary surfboard shaper Bob McTavish, accidental entrepreneur and Rip Curl founder Doug Warbrick and former world champion surfers Barton Lynch and Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew.

It looks at the rise of women surfers and the explosion of Australian labels including Billabong, Rip Curl and Quiksilver, which helped to cement Australia’s position as a global force in international surfing.

A Screen Australia/Bombora Film and Music production. Developed and produced in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. A National Interest Program.

Episode 1, Thursday 26 March, 8:30pm on ABC1

Global surfing culture is a mix of wildness, grace and cool that is utterly Australian, but how did a nation of people, who mostly couldn't swim, turn a Polynesian pastime into a national obsession and international cultural force? Episode one looks at the early years of Australian surf history from 1830 to 1964.

Episode 2, Thursday 2 April, 8:30pm on ABC1

In the early days of Australia's surf history, young people found a place to live out their dreams of innocence and freedom in the surf, but it wasn't to last. Episode two looks at the later years of Australian surf history from 1967 to the present.

First point at Noosa is pulsing with a super clean small swell today creating ideal and fun small waves for the amateur divisions at the GSI Noosa Festival of Surfing.

A feature of the today’s surfing is the GSI One Design division which this year features the unique new GSI Meyerhoffer designs.

These boards are a radical with an hour glass shape outline, but clearly they are a functional new design, created by Thomas Meyerhoffer (San Francisco/USA)  who is here at the Noosa Festival of Surf to promote the design.

The concept of the design is based around delivering a combination of the very best features of modern longboards along with the performance characteristics of modern shortboards.

With multiple excellent 8 and 9 point rides being posted throughout the early rounds of the one design heats, it’s clear that these boards definitely go!

Today’s waves at Noosa are the perfect testing ground for these boards.

A design display of the boards along with Thomas Meyerhoffer on hand to answer questions  and explain these boards will take place on the deck of the Noosa Surf Club between 12 and 3pm today.

Three of the world’s most exciting aerial surfers have unloaded a late assault on the US$50,000 Kustom Air Strike, the eight-month search for the planet’s most innovative above-the-wave manoeuvre.

Hawaii’s Clay Marzo and Dusty Payne, and Australia’s Ry Craike, have each entered the battle by dropping incredible moves that are so smooth they demand viewing in slow motion to appreciate the degree of difficulty.

Marzo, already recognised as one of the world’s most creative surfers, launches high into an explosive air reverse that was caught on film by Adam Kelvin. Not to be outdone, Dusty Payne has countered with his own air reverse, that is certainly one of the most committed and radical moves that the event has seen so far, this time captured by Matt Shuster.

Craike was filmed by Tom Jennings doing a huge Front Side Loop, one of the biggest that has ever been caught on film.

The new entries, which have each landed on the Kustom Air Strike website (www.kustomairstrike.com), come just two weeks before the close of the event.

In another major boost to the event, the final judging panel has been selected and is headlined by current World #1 Joel Parkinson. He is joined by Kustom’s Harry Truscott and Stab Magazine’s Sam McIntosh representing the Australasian region; Kustom’s Julian Vergnes and Bruce Boal from Surfersvillage and The Surfing Yearbook representing Europe; Evan Slater from Surfing Magazine and one of surfing’s emerging stars, Kolohe Andino, representing the USA.

“The global nature of the event dictated that we had to have a diverse group of international judges,” said Kustom’s general manager Harry Truscott.

“But the real coup is getting current world #1, Joel Parkinson, and then one of the world’s most talented up and coming surfers, Kolohe Andino. They will bring tremendous technical insight and perspective to the judging panel and be a great support to the team.”

The Kustom Air Strike event window, which opened in August 2008, closes on 31 March 2009.

The Backbeach Noosa Stand Up Paddle Pro handled the tiny waves on Tuesday late afternoon superbly and local Noosa surfer Dane Wilson (16.25), who recently relocated from Cronulla in NSW, took a high scoring win over Burleigh Heads rider James Watson (15.35).

Dane has been living at Perigian for the past 6 months relocating from Cronulla and it was this move that has inspired him into Stand Up Paddle – After his win on Tuesday the former pro longboard surfer said “ Since I’ve been here on the Sunshine Coast I have really dedicated myself to Stand Up Paddling .“

“It’s such a perfect location to be a stand up paddling surfer and I’m now right into it! To win this event is unbelievable, the whole festival is held in the highest regard worldwide and for Stand Up Paddling in Australia this is the biggest and best event – It’s a special feeling to have won.”

Final placings in the Backbeach Noosa Stand Up Paddle Pro were, in order from 1st to 6th:

Dane Wilson, James Watson (Qld), Keahi De Aboitiz (Qld), Matt Lumley (Vic), Eugene"Woogie"Marsh(Qld/Perigian) and Noel Graham (NSW).

The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) North America Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) saw three-time ASP World Longboard Champion Colin McPhillips (San Clemente, CA), 33, claim the ASP LQS 1-Star Costa Del Mar Pro this afternoon in peaky three-to-four foot (1 metre) surf at Ninth Street in Huntington Beach over Hawaiian talent Kai Sallas (Honolulu, HI), 27.

The ASP LQS North American regional series allows the nation’s top two performers to qualify for the prestigious ASP World Longboard Tour (WLT) the following year where each surfer strives to earn the title of ASP World Longboard Champion.

McPhillips claimed the event by smashing the Final’s highest single wave score of an 8.33 out of a possible 10 with three massive backside carves on a steep Huntington Beach lefthander. The former champ followed up with a second solid score, which proved to be enough to take out the win over Sallas.

“That one wave was the best wave I caught all day,” McPhillips said. “I caught one wave and got a low score and decided I was going to wait until I got a good one and luckily that set came through, it was the only good wave in the heat.”

Although bumpy afternoon conditions were not ideal for longboarding, McPhillips was able to capitalize on the best waves over his tough competitor.

“I haven’t surfed that many heats in a long time,” McPhillips said. “It was really bumpy and tough and there was tons of current, so I’m beat, but I’m happy with the win and it’s a great start to the year.”

Sallas smashed some of the day’s highest scores in earlier heats, but was unable to find a rhythm in the Final and could not uncover the scores needed to overtake McPhillips.

“I didn’t have to wait more than two-minutes to catch a wave all day and in the Final I just felt like it shut off,” Sallas said. “I just could not get into rhythm out there.”

Sallas is now looking to utilize the joint ratings between ASP North America and ASP Hawaii in the longboarding division to keep a top Hawaiian seed.

The Estoril Quiksilver Pro, an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star event, announced the increase of the event's overall prizepurse from US$ 145 000 to US$ 150 000 with an extra US$ 5000 going for to the 2009 winner who will pocket an unprecedent US$ 25 000, the biggest prizemoney ever awarded on an ASP WQS event in Europe.

The event, which will be the second of this year's ASP WQS European Tour, will be crucial for both ASP WQS international and regional ratings with 2500 ratings' points going to the winner, a significant reward towards a possible end-of-the-year ASP World Tour qualification.

"The comitment and efforts of the organisers to put up such a big event and add a bonus for the winner is great for the sport and its athletes," ASP Europe Manager Julie Audibert said. "After almost a decade of support to the sport of surfing, event organisers at Alfarroba have once again stepped up and the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Europe is grateful for all the work, even more grateful knowing the current global financial context."

The Estoril Quiksilver Pro, which will hold its third edition from April 21 to 26 at Carcavelos renowned beachbreaks, is expected to deliver world class action when the 144 men attending the crucial event paddle out next month. After running the event in late october the last couple of years, event organisers decided to change dates in 2009 to increase the chances of better wave and wind conditions, usualyy favorable at this time of the year.

“The idea behind it was to concentrate a series of international events at the beginning of the season," Estoril Quiksilver Pro contest director Antonio Pdro said. "Moreover, April can also be a better time for waves and wind at Carcavelos, where we will put together the main structure."