Surfing may have been born in Hawaii and raised in Malibu, but it grew up on the golden shores of Orange County. From the breaks at Sunset to the beaches fronting “Surf City” in Huntington Beach south to the legendary line-up at Trestles on the southern border, Orange County has been the spawning ground for generations of great board riders.

The Register salutes the best each year with the annual Orange County Surfer of the Year Awards. The online poll plugs into fans who vote for the best male and female professional rider – maybe a contestant in the worldwide Association of Surfing Professionals circuit or a lone wolf seeking out the biggest waves wherever they form in the oceans of the earth. A prize goes to the best of the longboarders who cruise the waves in their big boards, keeping alive the “hang ten” tradition of their zinc-nose slathered forefathers and mothers.

The awards also honor the next wave of top surfers – the up and coming boys and girls who surf for the fun of it or for their high school or surf team spirit, with perhaps an eye to one day taking on the Kelly Slaters, Andy Irons and Layne Beachleys of the world.

Fans, vote early and often. The last waves of votes will hit the ballot at midnight on July 9. Then the horn blows. The excitement peaks during the U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach, where the awards ceremony will be held at the Walk of Fame at Jack’s Surfboards on July 23.

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Despite small surf, day one of the Chill Pro Junior at Trigg Point WA had plenty of action.

Some of Owen’s competitors say those claws help him stick moves like this.

Number one seed Owen Wright, stamped his authority with a convincing win. Wright opened his campaign with the typical flair and style that has him currently holding down first place on the ASP Pro Junior ratings. His wave selection and devastating forehand attack was enough to see him rewarded with the morning’s highest scoring wave, an 8.55. He went on to back that up with a 7.25 ride to finish with a combined total of 15.80.

“The waves were pretty fun, although they were sort of slow at the start of the heat, I managed to pick off a few good ones and get a few turns in so I’m pretty happy” said Wright.

Owen joined current ISA under 18 World Junior Champion Dean Bowen to take some time out to have a chat and sign some autographs for admiring fans and students attending learn surf classes at Trigg beach.

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Best of the best, a way to ignite passion for board shorts from design to retail.

Quiksilver Europe has been designing unique, limited edition boardshorts in conjunction with nine of the best surf retailers in Europe. This truly collaborative and industry leading project, entitled Quiksilver Union, combines the very best surf retailers, branding and innovation. Every summer will see newly released collaborations with the best surf retailers across Europe.

For this summer Quiksilver worked with 9 stores who are leaders in surf retailing working together to create their own board short inspired by their own unique surf culture, history including symbols of their nation while Quikislver integrated into each board shorts new revolutionary designs and materials.

The first retailers to launch are Northshore and Troggs (United Kingdom), Tubes (Ireland), Blue Tomato (Austria), Secret Spot (Germany), Point Break and Rainbow (France) and Tactic and Pukas (Spain).

The team at North Shore is true to their rugged Cornish roots and has created a boardshort that represents Kernow pride. We have geometric lines inspired by the Quiksilver logo in white on black representing St Piran, the patron saint of Tin Miners. The inspiration comes from the classic Quiksilver chequer print, with fine red and black lines on a white background.

The Irish heritage is represented in the Troggs boardshort by the depiction of a mythical Celtic Troll character in the barrel, which has long been the logo of this once underground surf shop.

The Tubes shop took their inspiration in the leaf of the lucky shamrock; the boardshort has the emblem printed in monogram. Made in polyester, the Tubes boardshort has a back pocket. Any surfer wearing the Tubes boardshort must surely be taking with them the luck of the Irish.

Blue Tomato used an innovative photo printing; the piece is printed with an image of traditional attire called the Lederhosen. The Lederhosen is a Bavarian short made from leather, which has matching shoulder straps and was worn in the Alps back in the XVIII century.

Secret Spot has chosen a bold, clear design inspired by the wave form itself. The graphic uses chocolate brown in contrast with a tropical blue to represent the dreamy locations of Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands where surfing, the sport of Kings, was born.

Going for the highest level of innovation, Quiksilver collaborated with Point Break to produce a contemporary boardshort both in terms of design and style. Using a modern Matrix graphic, Point Break also matched its look with innovative materials (dobby diamond stretch).

The boardshort imagined by the Rainbow surf shop is a flashback to the original boardshort styles of the Seventies, being shorter in length at 16 inches and made of nylon.

The Spanish shop Pukas conceived their boardshort with a picture which reminds them of their first activity of the shop: a surfboard manufacturing. The image printed on the fabric is of a quiver of Pukas surfboards standing to attention on a beach as if waiting for their owner to paddle them out to the waves beyond.

The emblems on the Tactic boardshorts are various depictions of the Tactic logo from crests to medallions and the surfing camper van. Eye-catching and stylish, these monogram boardshorts are tactically perfect.

Jeff Hakman, co-founder of Quiksilver said; “the strength of this project is the collaboration of like minded companies coming together to strengthen the UNION between board short designs and boardshort retailing, creating passion into surf and products alike.”

All these boardshorts will be exclusively available in the Union shops from May.

About Quiksilver Union: Quiksilver Union represents 40 of Europe’s best core and independent surf retailers. The vision is to provide them with customer excellence from sales, marketing and service support ensuring success for both companies. Every year special products on a limited nature will develop and marketed exclusively for the Quiksilver Union clients.

About Quiksilver: “Quiksilver is committed to providing tools for uncovering, expressing and expanding your personal style. Our aim is to foster the sense of individual expression and excitement – the stoke that is the essence of boardriding*. We’re also here to spread the word because the only thing better than finding stoke is sharing it.

* Boardriding is about timing and style. It’s youthful, active, casual, and free flowing. There is no wrong way to ride a board. The goal is simply to learn, progress, improve, and give it your own interpretation.”

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