Rip Curl has again created a technological world-first by capturing full-tilt surfing action using a “30 camera Array” – a line of cameras firing consistently as surfers ride towards and past it. The results are unique “frozen moments of time” – that can be viewed in a combination of angles for a true in the round perspective.

Three years ago Rip Curl took a similar concept to the Sun Way Lagoon Wavepool in Malaysia using Canon SLR cameras, linking 50 individual shots to freeze a single moving moment. Effective, but a hell of a lot of work (and risk) for the slim chance at one particular point in time.

This year Rip Curl and TimeSlice, our partners in the overall development, used GoPro HD video cameras to freeze an infinite number of moments that could be viewed. The major benefit being a better way of catching all the performance surfing the Rip Curl team riders were doing, rather than just a fraction of it.

The freeze frame concept all started with a desire to showcase the MIRAGE Series of Ultimate Boardshorts. MIRAGE are the most technically advanced boardshort on the planet, so to do them justice we needed the right leadership and technology from our photographic equipment. Combining our world class surf team of Mick Fanning, Owen Wright, Matt Wilkinson, Dillon Perillo and Dean Brady with the multi-frame array of cameras, gave us a Matrix style suite of “Mirage Moments”, which pull the viewer in to the image, stalling there for long enough to enjoy a great move, before travelling down the line through the footage to the next Mirage Moment, the viewing metaphor for surfing in itself.

It was 2X ASP world champion, Fanning, who used his knowledge of the world’s best breaks to help pick the ideal location. When asked where he would go to try something so ambitious Fanning replied simply… “Namotu Island in Fiji. The waves, the light, the location. It’s built for it. Scott and Mandy who own the place will look after us.”

Of course, we took Mick’s advice and the dice were rolled.

Along the way things developed rapidly. A 10 camera hand held water rig was pieced together in the makeshift workshop, a 30 camera rig which attached to a jet ski buzzed the lineup with the surfers following down the line, and a bigger 30 camera hand-held rig were all developed on the fly to great effect.

We invite you to experience MIRAGE to the fullest effect here: www.ripcurl.com/mirage

I don’t really like the ocean. Let me clarify: I don’t really like the idea of the ocean. Who knows what’s down there? Not me. So you might not think of me as a prime candidate for a surfing class. Luckily, a surfing class on dry land is no longer a myth, for I have seen it.

Not on the beaches of Long Island in the middle of summer, but in the depths of winter on the hardwood floor of a Manhattan dance studio, where SurfSET Fitness recently organized a string of introductory pop-up workouts. The sessions were so successful that organizers decided to offer classes at the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers through March 4.

SurfSET Fitness Promo – The Rip Surfer X from SurfSET Fitness on Vimeo.

The goal is not necessarily to teach participants how to surf but to simulate the exercise of surfing for 40 minutes without a little thing like an ocean bothering you.

This is made possible by an apparatus called the RipSurfer X. Imagine a surfboard less than two feet off the floor and sitting on top of a handful of miniature body balls that shift and displace air as you perform moves that cause the muscles in your legs, stomach and arms to work hard to maintain your balance. This alone is enough to break a sweat.

read more at nytimes.com

Fixed skateboard trucks, no matter how loose, just can’t flex enough to match the carving ability and dynamic movement of a surfboard. The SurfSkate’s specially-designed front truck, however, lets you carve tarmac like swells in the Pacific.

The SurfSkate features a 360-degree rotating front truck that’s significantly more narrow than the fixed rear. The free-rotating truck reportedly allows a greater degree of movement and allows you to pump for speed. The SurfSkate comes in two varieties: the 42-inch Premiere, which retails for $259 and the 36-inch Stunner, which goes for $239. Both are constructed from seven-ply Canadian maple and available through SurfSkates online store. I’m not sold on it really matching the ride of a surfboard—though it looks damn close—but it certainly beats replacing the front wheels with office chair casters.

read original at gizmodo.com