This story comes from the Wall Street Journal:

As the sport of surfing swells, a battle is brewing between profits and waves.

Under pressure from corporate sponsors keen to sell board shorts and other surfing paraphernalia to the mass market, surfers are turning away from monster waves off remote islands to compete in coastal cities such as New York and San Francisco, where the waters are tamer. Leading surfers in the most recent tour event in late February vied to become Australian Open Champion on Sydney’s Manly beach—a playground for amateur surfers, but where waves rarely rise more than several feet high.

The shift is at odds with surfing’s rugged image of men and women defying 20-foot (six-meter) waves as depicted in documentaries, novels and even given a Hollywood gloss in movie blockbusters such as the 1991 film “Point Break.”

While sensitive to charges the sport is selling out, professional surfers say holding competitions in relatively benign waters near big cities is a necessary change. Surfing’s ability to attract the next generation of wave-riders is being challenged by the rise of other extreme sports. City events allow surfing to broaden its appeal by including skateboarding contests and musical acts such as performances by MGMT and Jimmy Eat World at last year’s U.S. Open of Surfing in California.

Money is also driving the change. Grand-prize purses are meager by the standards of professional sport, where even winning a tour event rarely brings in a paycheck of more than $75,000, leaving most tour surfers dependent on endorsements. That frequently means showing up at events on the doorstep of sponsors’ core customer base. And the most decorated surfer in history, Kelly Slater, with 30 major victories since 1991, has banked prize money of just $3 million. The total prize money for the Pipe Masters, one of the biggest tournaments of the year, is only $320,000.

“The sport should be about crowning champions, even if the industry is about selling board shorts. It’s a tough marriage to work out sometimes,” said Hall of Famer Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, the charismatic 55-year-old former World Surfing Champion immortalized in the award-winning documentary “Bustin Down the Door.”

read more at Wall Street Journal

The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, Event No. 5 of 11 on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, has been officially downgraded to an ASP 6-Star event for 2012.

In an official statement today, Billabong said: “The change in event status follows a broader review in which we are seeking to identify cost savings throughout the business. By retaining an event at Jeffreys Bay, it now provides two qualifying events back to back in the South African region. The move to an ASP 6-Star also opens the event up to South Africa’s aspiring pro surfers for the first time in 20 years and ensures continuity of the event for the local businesses in Jeffreys Bay.”

The downgrade drops the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour calendar from 11 events to 10, with surfers now counting their best 8 out of 10 results towards their ASP World Title ranking.

“We agreed as a Board that whilst very regrettable, the commercial realities are such that a pragmatic approach by ASP at this time seemed sensible,” Richard Grellman, ASP Executive Chairman, said. “Billabong have been long-time supporters of professional surfing and still sponsor three of the ten World Championship Tour events and we look forward to our deep relationship with them continuing.”

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Technical Overview: NanoTune is revolutionizing the surf industry by adding scientifically engineered, cutting edge nanotechnology to the board manufacturing process. NanoTune creates a super-hydrophobic barrier by forming a chemical bond with the rails and bottom deck of a surfboard, lowering the surface energy of the material, which in turn increases the surface tension. The combined effect is to create a clear coating that lessens drag, which leads to increased speed and manoeuvrability.

After being treated with NanoTune, tiny water droplets simply bead on the surface instead of grouping together. Surfaces that are not treated with NanoTune will allow water to spread over the surface rather than beading up, creating greater friction.

FIREWIRE factory-NanoTuned boards will arrive at retail over the next few months, featuring the NanoTune retail sticker prominently displayed on the deck of the tuned board explaining the benefits and properties of the product (see below). And FIREWIRE is not charging more for this added technology.

The super-hydrophobic NanoTune properties remain effective for approximately 2-3 months depending on usage, and the product can be reapplied in minutes in a simple 2-step application process. Over the course of the next few months NanoTune will make Re-Tuning Kits available at retail so that surfers who would like to keep their boards NanoTuned will be able to do so themselves.

read more at transworld