Day two of the 2009 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) six star PRIME rated SriLankan Airlines Pro in the Maldives saw excellent clean small waves at Pasta Point providing ideal conditions for high scoring heats as the final round one heats were completed and then straight into round two which introduced all the highest seeded surfers.

Hawaiian surfers have dominated this event over recent years and there’s a solid contingent here this year clearly intent on trying to emulate last years all Hawaiian final.

Mason Ho lead the charge today and the extravagant young Hawaiian pulled some extremely high risk and unique moves on his way to an entertaining heat win over Joao Guedes from Portugal.

“I try not to think about the moves I go for but rather just do what feels right once I catch a wave” said Ho.

“I’ve been practicing aerial rides and landing them in the classic hang five position and it sometimes works and feels right and that’s what I went for today” added Ho.

As the event moved into round two, Hawaii’s Casey Brown continued his great form from yesterday winning the opening round two heat ahead of Aritz Aranburu (Spain) who also progressed in second place.

Makuakai Rothman joined his Hawaiian mates through to round three when he scored a required 5.6 ride in the final seconds of his heat to jump from 3rd to 2nd place to advance behind Wigolly Dantas (Brazil).

The events best performance to date undoubtedly belonged to Pat Gudauskas (USA/CAL/San Clemente). Gudauskas posted two excellent scores with an 8.43 and an 8.33 to notch up the events highest heat tally to date of 16.76 to easily account for fellow USA surfer Eric Geiselman who also advanced in 2nd place with Masotoshi Ohno (Japan) a surprise elimination in 3rd place.

“That was a great start for me and I was really surprised!” said Gudauskas.

My warm up surfs yesterday and this morning were really ordinary and I was concerned with my surfing but then right on time I had a fantastic heat” added Gudauskas.

“It’s my third year here and we always get great waves here, it’s just an ideal contest venue.”

Australian surfers also performed well today lead by Adam Robertson who took out a blockbuster round two heat defeating former ASP World Tour surfers Cory Lopez (USA) and Jay Thompson (Australia).

Robertson was later joined into round three by fellow Aussies Yadin Nichol, Luke Munro and Brent Dorrington.

Just eight heats of round two were completed today and with an optimistic forecast ahead organizers will meet early tomorrow morning confident of a full day of action tomorrow.

SriLankan Airlines Pro 2009 is made possible thanks to the following sponsors: SriLankan Airlines, John Keells Group, Chaaya Island – Dhonveli, Atoll Travel, Atoll Adventures, Ocean & Earth International, Dhiraagu, Maldives Tourism & Promotions Board, ASP Australasia.

story via

Rip Curl Girls Tour
Stop No 4 of 10 on 2009 UK PST
Bournemouth UK
28 June 2009

Rip Curl Sponsor the biggest Women’s Event on the 2009

The Rip Curl Girls Tour will this year feature a series of Women’s surfing contests in England and Wales. Three of these events; Bournemouth, Croyde and St Ives will combine to make a two star event on the Women’s UK Pro Surf Tour, with £1,000 prize money available. The surfer who accumulates the most points over these three competitions will win the only two star women’s event on the UK Pro Surf tour

In addition to the Pro events each venue will host a Newbie event. If the girls have not competed in a surf contest before they will have the opportunity to compete for the first time against surfers with the same experience as themselves. The finalists of these events will be put in the draw against the top Pro Surfers in the UK along with winning prizes from Rip Curl and the other sponsors.

The first event will take place at Bournemouth 28th June, at the location of the UK’s first artificial reef. There will be many activities taking place throughout the day to entertain the competitors. World Champion Stephanie Gilmore of Australia will be in attendance giving advice and supporting the development of the sport for Women.

The second stop on the Rip Curl Girls Tour will be Llanglennith on the Gower Peninsula, 23rd July. This event will not be part of the Pro Tour Series, due to the expected number of Newbie entries for the first timer’s competition. For the last 3 years over 200 female surfers have taken the opportunity to attend this event.

Stop three is at Croyde Beach, North Devon. Widely recognised as one of the best beach breaks in the country. It will give the best surfers a good opportunity to show their skills in quality surf.

The final stop is Porthmeor Beach in St Ives, situated below the Tate Gallery; Porthmeor is possibly one of the most popular beaches in Cornwall. In addition to the First time and Pro Event there will be a Women’s Longboard Event, the only Women’s Longboard event on the UK Pro Surf Tour. At this event we will crown the winner of the Rip Curl Girls Tour and give away £1,000 prize money.

• Bournemouth   28th June
  Llanglennith Wales  23rd July
  Croyde Devon   26th July
  St Ives Cornwall   28th 29th July

story via

Andrew Kidman chose six of his favorite surfing filmmakers to create short films that were inspired by the sea. The filmmakers include Albert Falzon (Morning Of The Earth), Jon Frank (Litmus), Monty Webber, Michelle Lockwood (Kids) and American underground surf filmmakers Patrick Trefz (Thread) and Richard Kenvin (Hydrodynamica). Kidman also provides four special cuts of his own.

The filmmakers created their short films to music selected by Aaron Curnow from some of the greatest independent contemporary artists; Smog, Sufjan Stevens, Mogwai, My Morning Jacket, Dirty Three, Holly Throsby, Vetiver, Bonnie Prince Billy , The Brown Birds From Windy Hill and Machine Translations.

The quality of songs by these recording artists combined with the infinite beauty of the sea is something breathtaking, to say the least. Add to this the unique style of each filmmaker, their stories brought to life with these wonderful songs, and the result is at times emotional, sometimes harrowing, often funny and heartfelt, but always incredibly thoughtful.

The viewer is left stunned by the vastness of the ocean and the depth of emotion in the music. Says Kidman: “One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a filmmaker is the process of bringing scenes, emotions and stories to life with music. It’s kind of a filmmakers dream to have access to great music and the freedom to make whatever you want without the constraints of trying to make a full length feature or editors wreaking havoc with your work.

This is what I was thinking about when Aaron Curnow and I first had a conversation about this project. I thought something special could come from just letting the filmmakers make what ever they wanted. I hope the project has kept a pure line and that these original thoughts transcend in the viewing”

Last Hope is a film for anyone with a love for the ocean. With the film’s collage approach, mixed with the quiet musical stylings, it presents a side of the life that is often forgotten in these modern times.

Initially the Last Hope DVD is being released with a bonus CD of the films soundtrack. Plus a 24 page booklet with thoughts, interviews and images from the filmmakers in some damn fancy one off packaging.

Andrew Kidman is taking the film on the road this July and his band Brown Birds From Windy Hill will be providing a live score for the film at each show. Special guests (including Machine Translations) will also be appearing along the way.

Tickets for all shows available from oztix.com.au (unless otherwise stated) from tomorrow.

‘Last Hope’ JULY TOUR

• July 2nd Noosa Bowls, Noosa Heads
• July 3rd Old Museum, Brisbane
• July 4th Byron Community Centre, Byron
• July 10th Neverland Bar, Coolangatta
• July 12th Mullumbimby RSL, Mullumbimby
• July 16th Waverly Bowling Club, Bondi
• July 17th Palm Beach RSL, Palm Beach
• July 18th Manly Boat Shed, Manly
• July 19th Heritage Hotel, Wollongong (Tickets from venue)
• July 20th Brass Monkey, Cronulla (Tickets from venue)
• July 21st Royal Exchange, Newcastle

story via