History created on day five at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME 6-star rated with USA surfer Pat Gudauskas successfully executing one of surfing’s most difficult manoeuvres, the aerial “rodeo clown”, the first time ever at a high level ASP event.

Under extreme pressure Gudauskas was in third place and looking at elimination with 30 seconds remaining in his heat when he found a reasonable wave and chasing a 7.23 score completed some good turns but still required something special toward the final stages of the ride.

The powerful 23 year old Californian surfer then went for broke and launched into the air, rotating the 540 degree inverted flip and riding out of the manoeuvre.

Smooth and precise in execution, the ride was awarded a perfect 10 points and Gudauskas moved from 3rd to 1st to advance to the final 16 surfers remaining in the event.

“I knew I needed a very solid score on that wave and as that final section approached I could see it lining up ideally so I focused on going for the rodeo, it was there to be done and I had to do it” said Gudauskas.

“Riding out of it I was nervous as there were bumps to deal with and while the aerial rodeo was complete I had to ride free of the white water, it was a relief when I had realised the move was complete” added Gudauskas.

“It’s a move I regularly practice and I’m really excited to be the first to achieve it at ASP level.”

In excellent 4feet (1.5m) waves most of the final 24 surfers combined power surfing with aerials in a day of memorable performances.

Exciting 19 year old emerging surfers Owen Wright (AUS) and Jadson Andre (Brazil) were again dominant in their winning performances.

Andre continues to successfully perform multiple aerial moves on every wave while Wright focuses on power on face moves but is always ready to include aerials when the opportunity looks right.

“These waves are really ideal to drive powerful turns from start to finish and I’m trying to blend power turns and aerials to maximise my scores” said Wright.

“It’s exciting to see all the surfers really pushing the levels up and you enter every heat knowing that excellent scores are essential to progress.”

Veteran ASP World Tour surfers Cory Lopez (USA) and Travis Logie (South Africa) continued their charge and both surfers progressed to the final 16.

Other impressive heat winners today included Jonathon Gonzales (Canary Islands), Drew Courtney (AUS) and Daniel Ross (AUS).

With good clean waves forecast throughout the weekend organizers stopped the event today after round four was completed, leaving 16 surfers remaining in the event.

An early start is expected tomorrow and finals at this stage likely to run on Sunday.

Follow this event live at http://www.srilankanairlinespro.com/

Round five draw when event resumes tomorrow:

Heat 1: Pat Gudauskas (USA), Cory Lopez (USA),
Heat 2: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA), Wiggolly Dantas (BRA)
Heat 3: Shaun Gossman (AUS), Romaine Cloitre (FRA),
Heat 4: Travis Logie (ZAF), Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 5: Owen Wright (AUS), Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 6: Heitor Alves (BRA) ,Daniel Ross (AUS)
Heat 7: Leigh Sedley (AUS), Jonathon Gonzales (CNY)
Heat 8: Austin Ware (USA) Drew Courtney (AUS)

story via

Not sure which one I like more. I love Chado’ and he is rockin’ it on these waves, but Bob is good as well even though he does not make it ….

Rob Machado Surfing Tubes

Sponge Bob Surfing Tubes

1. The first story comes from Surfer Mag on Electrical Powered Jet Skis.
2. The second story is an announcement from Northcore Boardriders, “Trees for Jet Skis: Big Wave Tow-in Jet Ski Goes Carbon Neutral”

STORY 1

Barrett Taylor and the crew at ECO have developed an environmentally friendly PWC that has zero emissions and no sound. On the surface this seems like a no-brainer. Surfers have been leading the enviro-conscious movement for decades. We thought we should check into the Eco Watercraft and talk with Barrett Taylor to find out more about this exciting environmental PWC improvement.

Barrett, the concept of an environmentally friendly PWC seems like something that makes a ton of sense. You have a YouTube video making the rounds, which is interesting, but for those that haven’t seen it, give us a quick overview of the Eco Watercraft.

This is the first of its kind, a fully electric PWC that runs on a few hundred pounds of lithium-ion batteries. They are fully sealed, waterproof, airtight, and destruction proof. We think it is the future of PWC. It has zero emissions. It is completely silent. When you are done using it, you pull it up to the dock and plug it into a solar-powered generator.

check out the rest of the interview here

STORY 2

Northcore Boardriders made the announcement today that they are extending their annual CO2 offsetting program to cover the Jet ski (Personal Watercraft- PWC) used by their brand Ambassador Richie Fitzgerald, by neutralising its annual Carbon emissions by investing in a tree adoption and re-forestation scheme.

Northcore spokesman said of the Jet ski- initiative “Richie Fitzgerald and his tow-in partner, Gabe Davies have a Jet-ski on permenant standby on Ireland’s West coast which they use for charging some of the biggest waves on the planet at places like Aileens in Co Clare.

However the use of Jet Skis can pose a moral environmental dilema for tow-in teams worldwide. Its no secret that the use of Jet Skis isn’t the most eco-friendly addition to the surfing way of life, so until a viable “green” alternative to internal combustion for PWC’s is available these vehicles and the emissions they create will remain in the line ups as essential equipment for chasing down monster waves. So Northcore in conjunction with Richie have taken the decision to offset the annual CO2 emmissions of his and Gabe’s PWC by extending our tree planting scheme administered by the Dutch based organisation, Climate Neutral Group.

The CO2 offsetting is based upon the annual fuel usage for Richie’s Jet ski which creates approximately 1.28 tonnes of CO2 and it requires 64 mature rainforest trees to offset this emmission. These trees are growing in a re-forestation scheme in Malaysia and through the adoption programme both offset the PWC’s CO2 and allow continued investment in the scheme with the planting of new trees extending the project”

Richie Fitzgerald says of his Jet ski going Carbon neutral “Jet Skis are a ‘necessary evil’ in the pursuits of big waves, so I am really delighted to be working with Northcore on their initiative to offset the annual emissions of our ski .”

The Climate Neutral group are in permanent partnership with the FACE foundation who manage the reforestation project in the forests of Sabah in the Malaysian part of Borneo. Here the forests are being seriously damaged by intensive and large-scale logging. The area has become overgrown with lianas, preventing the natural re-growth of most trees. The FACE foundation set up a project to recover the damaged tropical rainforest by planting trees and through sustainable management. Left to its own devices the rainforest would not be able to return to its original state. Besides extracting a volume of CO2 from the atmosphere each year, this project is preserving the outstanding biodiversity of the area. Moreover, the project provides jobs for local people in tourism, research and nature management.

For more information visit:

www.northcore-europe.com