Alaïa Bay Champs Crowned

Alaïa Bay Champs Crowned

Open men’s Finalists. Lukas Skinner also won the the Junior mens Photos: © Maxime Schmid

Alaïa Bay, Sion – It was an action-packed final day at Alaïa Bay for the second edition of the Alaïa Open Winter Cup. Despite the frigid 10-degree water, the surfing was red-hot and a testament to the amazing wave quality that Alaïa Bay produces.
The Open Men’s Final was an incredibly close affair, with the lead changing a few times. Yago Dominguez from Basque Country has been the on-form Open Men’s surfer throughout the event. Still, in this final display, the powerful Brazilian goofy-footer Michel Roque put on an amazing show of aerial surfing and lightning-fast lip hits to snatch victory.

Roque opened up with a full air rotation and a series of powerful whips off the top for an opening ride of 8.73. he backed this up with an incredible left-hand, where he performed a series of fast and powerful turns of the top with speed, power, flow and variety for a 9-point ride and victory with a 17.73 tally. Dominguez was the runner-up with 16.50 points to his name.
Surfing in his second final, 14 year old Lukas Skinner came in a respectable third place and German surfer Dylan Groen in fourth place.

The Open Women’s Final was one of the closest heats of the entire event, with the lead changing hands throughout the final.
The Basque Country surfers, Janire and Annette Gonzalez Extbarri were going toe-to-toe throughout the final, both surfing with skill and precision. However, Anat Lelior from Israel was fighting hard and was also in the game for a possible win. It all went down to the final exchange. At the end of the final, it was Janire Gonzalez Etxbarri with the win, with Anat Lelior in second. The scores were incredibly close, and Janire took victory by a mere .07 of a point against the Israeli surfer. Annette Gonzalez Extbarri was third, and Noah Klapp was fourth.

Janire Gonzalez Etxbarri 

The Junior Girls’ final was an exciting affair. Maria Salgado from Portugal was on fire and was the clear winner with 15.33 points in her tally. She had all the other surfers in the final in a combo situation, with all three needing two waves to get in the game. At the final siren, it was Salgado in first with Lila Skinner (UK) in second place. Fabiana Klein (SUI) and Vera Oliveira from Portugal finished third and fourth, respectively.  

Junior Girls Finalists

One of the most competitive divisions in the entire event was the Junior Boys division. The final was action-packed, with the juniors going all out to win the contest.

In the end, Lukas Skinner (UK) emerged victorious with an excellent display of high-performance surfing for a heat total of 18.33. His rides consisted of an incredible 10-point ride with a clean rotation followed by two powerful hits for the perfect score. Combined with a follow-up 8.33 ride and he had the decisive win. Runner-up was Rivan Rock Rosskopf, with Killian Rosskopf and Antione Habashi in third and fourth positions. All three of these surfers are from Switzerland.

Lukas Skinner.

“It was super cool to come to Alaïa Bay in Switzerland to compete, and it was such a great atmosphere here in Alaïa Bay,“ said Skinner after the results were announced. “It was also great to see the progression of the Swiss surfers. It was good to surf against surfers like Michel and Yago, and I think I was getting such high scores because I was getting pushed by them.”

In the Swiss Wave Pool ratings, it was Rivan Rosskopf who was crowned the Junior Swiss Wavepool Champion. Olman Morales was awarded the Men’s Swiss Wavepool Champion, and Rachel Bonhote-Mead Swiss was declared the Women’s Swiss Wavepool Champion.

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Griffin Colapinto Signs To Quik

Griffin Colapinto Signs To Quik

Quiksilver, the original boardshort company, is proud to introduce Griffin Colapinto to its global surf team. The San Clemente, California–based professional surfer is currently ranked No. 7 in the world and is the leading American on the World Surf League (WSL) Men’s Championship Tour. Quiksilver has entered into a multi-year contract with Colapinto, with the ultimate goal of supporting him on his quest to become a world champion.

Colapinto has been commanding the lineup from an early age, competing in numerous surf competitions and championships, winning notable titles and consistently progressing his career. Following his successful Hail Mary aerial reverse in the 2016 Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, Colapinto finished the 2017 season as the WSL Men’s Qualifying Series champion and has since won numerous additional titles. Colapinto also became the first Californian to win the prestigious Triple Crown in 2017. Today, Colapinto has positioned himself as a potential candidate to compete for Team USA at the Paris 2024 Olympic games.

“Griffin Colapinto’s incredible determination, character and talent is inspiring,” states Quiksilver Global General Manager Brad Blankinship. “He’s an essential part of the team that will help lead Quiksilver into the future.” Drawn to his ambition in and out of the water, Quiksilver is honored to support Colapinto’s endeavors and is excited to partner with him on notable content projects and signature products. In addition to his incredible talent on the board, creativity comes naturally to Colapinto; he and his brother, Crosby Colapinto, have a production company, Cola Bros., where they document their sibling bond behind the scenes of competitive surfing.

“When you evolve your personality, you evolve your reality and Quiksilver is now a part of my personality,” says Griffin Colapinto.

Colapinto’s consistent forward momentum is a welcome addition to the Quiksilver team and aligns with the brand’s commitment to support determined and genuine athletes. “Since 1969, Quiksilver has been supporting the most talented surfers in the world. However, talent doesn’t measure itself solely in the water, but also through action off the board,” says Quiksilver VP of Global Marketing Bobby Gascon. “Griffin’s unique and honest personality provides a truly relatable approach that we trust will inspire fans for many years to come. We are truly honored to have him join our brand, and we look forward to our partnership.”

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Wild Days

Wild Days

Wednesday the 2nd of November a new swell hits Hossegor… as most of our best surfers were in Brazil. Competing in the Saquarema Pro the rest were scoring huge caves at home.

Not an easy task to find the right spot, a clean swell but not quite doing its thing until the end of the morning when the stars aligned. Witness a full on tube fest right till dark plus La Nord in its element.

The Alaïa Open Winter Cup

The Alaïa Open Winter Cup

The Alaïa Open Winter Cup, the final stage of the Edelweiss Surf Tour, will take place on November 5 and 6. For this 2nd edition of the competition, more than 80 surfers will compete in the only wave pool in continental Europe. The athletes will compete for CHF 4000 in prize money and the title of Swiss Wavepool Champion. The weekend promises a quality show in the water and out, with 2 massive parties lighting up Alaïa Bay.
More information about the event here.

The 2nd edition of the Alaïa Open Winter Cup will take place on the weekend of November 5th and 6th.
For the first time, the competition will also accommodate the final stage of the Edelweiss Surf Tour, a national surfing tour in collaboration with Swiss Surfing. After proving their talent on standing waves in Lucerne (Oana) and Zurich (Urbnsurf), as well as river waves on the river Aare in Thun, it is now time for the Swiss surfers to prove their talent in the Alaïa Bay wavepool.

The new Swiss wavepool champions will be announced at the end of the competition, and the Edelweiss Surf Tour champions will be crowned for the first time. For this final competition, announced as the coldest of the tour, 80 Swiss and international participants will be competing in four categories: Open Women and Men and Junior Girls and Junior Boys. Registration is now closed.

This year, the field of athletes consists of skilled and talented surfers. Among the competitors are the Swiss Durbi Castillo and Alena Gubler. After three contests, they are in first place in the Men and Women’s categories and have a good chance of winning the tour.

In the Junior Girls and Boys category, the young Swiss Fabiana Klein and Rivan Rock Rosskopf have a good chance of winning the tour. Among the locals, Rachel Mead-Bonhôte, resident of Verbier (VS) and winner of the Swiss Surfing Championships in Spain, will be competing. Another top-rated surfer is Carlos Gerber, a resident of Ovronnaz who swapped his snowboard for a surfboard. However, the competition will be tough with the presence of many international athletes.

There is also a delegation of Basque surfers with Bitor Garitaonandia and Janire Gonzalez Etxabarri, both recent Junior European Champions in the Azores, and Yago Dominguez Annette Gonzalez Etxabarri.

The Germans Noah Klapp and Dylan Groen, the Israeli Anat Lelior, the Italian Francesco Lazzarini, the young Portuguese Maria Salgado, and the British powerhouse Lukas Skinner will also be competing for the win.

Top Class Surfing and other festivities at Alaïa Bay.

The Alaïa Open Winter Cup will begin on Saturday, November 5, with the qualification rounds. It will continue on Sunday, November 6, with the finals, and the winners will be crowned at the end of the weekend. Spectators are welcome to watch the show up close, and cheer on the athletes from the terrace of the Twin Fin restaurant.

There will also be plenty of entertainment outside the pool! The official AOWC party will take place on Saturday night at the Twin Fin restaurant with a DJ and a live band. Throughout the weekend, Twin Fin will also serve delicious food from around the world. Those who want to get in the water can book a surf session between rounds of competition. Despite the cool temperatures, the weekend promises to be hot, with spectacular surfing performances from national and international athletes.

More information here. 

Junior Surf Series

Junior Surf Series

Our first ever Junior Surf Series came to a celebratory conclusion last week at England’s only inland surf destination, the Wave in Bristol. We were stoked to welcome some of the best of English U12 and U14 girls and boys for the grand finale of the series, “The Day of Champions”, pushing the performance of our top junior surfers. This year’s brand-new series of grassroot contests, sponsored by Eola and Animal, had seen 3 stops throughout the year – Croyde in March, Praa Sands in September, and Widemouth Bay in October.

In the spirit of celebrating the surfing community, Surfing England reached out to their affiliated clubs to help run the events, one stop at the time. Surfing England have provided some financial and practical support to get the series off the ground, as part of our wider goals to see more contests running in 2023 and beyond.

‘’We wanted the junior surf series to give groms their first taste of competitive surfing in a really friendly and welcoming environment, and working alongside our surf clubs the series has done just that. To run the finals in a team format, bringing in some of our awesome pro’s as team captains and delivering a super fun day full of camaraderie was the perfect way to finish the series’’ Ben Powis, CEO of Surfing England

The idea to wrap the series up as a Grand Finale has always been there, and the final format of the day offered our surfers a less traditional day of competition, featuring a team element and coaching input from England’s finest. The day brought together 4 professional English surfers, 19 of the best young grommets, all invited to enjoy 4 hours of world class clean waves at The Wave, Bristol.

The aim of the day was set – to push the limits and come out from the pool performing the best manoeuvres to date. Our 19 surfers were divided between 4 team captains, Luke Dillon, Barnaby Cox, Lucy Campbell and Liam Murray-Strout. Teams were getting judged alternatively a set at the time, for commitment and effort dedicated to 1 critical manoeuvre per wave, accumulating points throughout the day.

At lunchtime, every team got an opportunity to review and analyse their waves from their first wave pool session with their captains and refuel from The Wave’s café.
In the second session teams, captains and competitors showed their true colours and gaps amongst the team’s performances started to show.

Luke Dillon and his TEAM WHITE snapped up the champion titles, 4 points ahead of Barnaby Cox’s TEAM BLUE. TEAM RED lead by Lucy Campbell and TEAM YELLOW with their captain Liam Murray-Strout, were both hanging closely behind.

‘’Surfing England Junior surf series Co-ordinator Phil Williams said ‘ Working with the five surf clubs, sponsors and of course Surfing England and the Wave was a real privilege, and yesterdays finale was a reminder, of what the series was aimed at, investing in the next generation of competitive surfers without losing the fun of the sport we all love, excited to see how the tour develops in 2023, a huge thanks to all the competitors and support crew that were involved, and of course sponsors Eola & Animal UK ’’ Phil Williams, Junior Series Contest Director

“What a marvellous way to end this incredible series! 2022’s Day of Champions, the finale of the SE Junior Surf Series, was unforgettable. So much talent was on display on the waves. Everyone’s enthusiasm for the sport was inspiring and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be co-sponsoring the series this year with Animal. Seeing such successful pro surfers using their years of experience to share with the industry’s future stars has been wonderful. This series is an opportunity for young people to not only showcase their skills and compete, but to also immerse themselves in the world of surfing with fellow enthusiasts and have fun. We can’t wait to see how they continue to thrive as they keep learning and taking part.” Callum Hemsley CEO & Founder  of EOLA
A huge thanks to series sponsors Animal UK and EOLA, and of course all the competitors and their support teams. A huge thank you to all the surf clubs and volunteers who have helped us deliver a fantastic series of events for the juniors.

Welcome to the Interlusion.

Welcome to the Interlusion.

What happens when the best surf trip of former world champ Joel Parkinson’s life happens years after his retirement? He enjoys it even more.

Starring Joel Parkinson, Creed McTaggart, Eithan Osborne, Jai Glindeman, Dakoda Walters and Kian Martin, shot in the Mentawai Islands earlier this year and created by Mikey Mallalieu and Tom Jennings. Special thanks to Captain Ricky and the crew at Sibon Charters, best boats in the Ments.