Autumn is here, winter is on the way, it’s been a helluva year with a pandemic grounded most of the planet. Thankfully we've been blessed with waves across the globe to ease some of the Covid madness. Check out this short film by Tanner Gudauskas and Alex Kilauano, and lets be thankful that summer wasn’t a total right off, there was still some good vibes and will continue to be.
A stunning beach house in the affluent blue-flagged area of Wittering, Sussex, that is being raffled off for just £2.50 a ticket, has partnered up with one of the UK's leading marine conservation and campaigning charities, ‘Surfers Against Sewage’. The partnership hopes to raise vital cash and awareness to the 8 million pieces of plastic that end up in our oceans every day.
Owner, Jan Michaelis, who is a two-time Olympian snowboarder, and wife Alina, are enthusiastic surfers and passionate about marine conservation after experiencing pollution in the ocean first-hand. The announcement has been made during Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) Plastic Process campaign, which runs from the 5th September to the 18th October to highlight the explosion of plastic pollution from PPE on our beaches and rivers following lockdown.
*With over 2 million tonnes of plastic packaging used in the UK each year, between 8 to 14 million tonnes enter our seas every 12 months. This leaves more than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals dying from plastic pollution each year, as well 100% of baby sea turtles living a life with plastic in their stomachs. *Supermarkets create an estimated 59 billion pieces of packaging totalling over 800,000 tonnes per year.
It was during lockdown when the couple decided they would raffle their stunning £475,000 beach house with the hope of raising £50,000 as well as awareness for two charities that are close to their hearts, whilst giving someone the opportunity to live a mortgage-free idyllic beach life.
The three-bedroom property comes complete with an additional one-bedroom Airbnb cabin and is walking distance of the sandy West Wittering and East Head beach, graded among Britain's most beautiful within a National Trust Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Not only will the lucky winner win a mortgage free beach-house and potential Air B&B business, but the couple are also paying the conveyancing fees up to a maximum of £1500, Stamp Duty to a maximum of £15,000. As well as the first year of running expenses and council tax that is due after the date of completion, up to a maximum of £2,000.
Entries cost just £2.50 and people can buy their ticket here:
The competition was launched on 6 August 2020 and runs until 6 February 2020. The couple need to sell 240,000 tickets to reach their target. Otherwise the winner will receive a cash prize instead while a proportional donation will be made to charity.
Surfers Against Sewage is a national marine conservation and campaigning charity that inspires, unites and empowers communities to take action to protect oceans beaches, waves and wildlife.
The money raised will help contribute towards initiatives the charity runs, such as the Plastic Free school education programme, where it hopes to increase the volume of schools it serves over the next three years. As one of the largest networks of volunteers undertaking regular beach cleans in Europe, the money would also contribute to regular beach clean programmes as well as build up its Plastic Free Communities programme that works to rid communities from unnecessary single-use plastics.
Pete Lewis, Director of Fundraising at Surfers Against Sewage, says: “We’re delighted that Jan and Alina have chosen to support Surfers Against Sewage and our work protecting the UK’s marine environment. Their support will have a huge impact on our work around the UK.”
Speaking from the property, Jan says: “We love the sea and believe it’s important to protect it, not only for our own benefit but primarily because it is an essential component of our planet’s ecosystem. Surfer’s against Sewage are a community dedicated to the protection of oceans, waves, beaches and wildlife. Therefore, it was just natural for us to choose them as a charity that we want to support.”
The second charity will be announced in the coming weeks. You can enter the raffle by visiting here: you will be asked a simple competition question when entering.
Rip Curl has today announced the results of its GromSearch 2020 series, alongside the news that the final, planned to take place in October 2020, will be postponed, due to the on-going Covid-19 pandemic in Europe developments.
Instead of neon jerseys speckled across its usual GromSearch series, competitors were given the opportunity to showcase their talent via a digital online voting platform.
The event was an open and free invitation for any groms across Europe, to submit their best two clips to be judged by a world-class judging panel. The waves were scored 0.1 - 10.0, and then a two-wave heat total was calculated. Between four countries (UK, Portugal, France and Spain and the “other European countries” category) over 300 clips were submitted. In the end the deserving winners of each division would earn the coveted invitation to compete in the Rip Curl GromSearch Euro Final at The Wave in Bristol.
The perfect peaks of a wave pool are a dream for many surfers. The opportunity to compete at The Wave encouraged groms, grom-parents and friends to keep their camcorders glued to the lineup, in hopes of nailing a winning clip!
The event had a tight capacity highlighting the elite winners that earned 1st place scores; 16/U Boy’s, 16/U Girl’s, as well as the 2 boys and 2 girls in the categories “Deepest Barrel” presented by SMITH and “Biggest Air” presented by FCS! The category “Biggest Air” presented by FCS was nothing short of a spectacular highlight reel and the Deepest Barrel” presented by SMITH,featured an array of jaw dropping clips that would score enough for the groms to advance through a few Rip Curl Pro heats at Supertubos! To add some fun, Rip Curl assigned world-renowned aerial enthusiast Kylian Guérin to judge the competition
In the end after over 300 surfers’ talents were reviewed and the following surfers won their respective divisions.
• Biggest Air Boys: Lukas Skinner (UK) - 7,95 points
• Biggest Air Girls: Aelan Vaast (Tahiti) - 3,50 points
• Deepest Barrel Boys: Noa Dupouy (Fr) – 8,75 points
• Deepest Barrel Girls: Aelan Vaast – 8,50 points
• Other European countries Boys: Dylan Donegant Dos Santos (Ireland) – 14,25 points
• Other European Countries Girls: Jessy Van Wijk (Netherlands)- 7,42 points
• Portugal Boys: Francisco Queimado – 14,38
• Portugal Girls: Gabriela Dinis – 15,42 points
• Spain Boys : Kai Odriozola – 15,50 points
• Spain Girls: Janire Gonzalez Etxabarri – 17,08 points
• UK Boys: Sam Hearn – 14,53 points
• UK Girls: Alis Barton 13,70 points
• France Boys: Noa Dupouy – 17,30
• France Girls: Aelan Vaast – 15,88 points
Due to the ongoing pandemic Rip Curl and The Wave have decided to postpone the European Final to a later date. The event was originally slated to take place on 2nd October. Allowing an additional time will ensure a much safer and welcoming environment to host the European top talent.
“The health and safety of our GromSearch competitors, families, sponsors, and staff is absolutely paramount. Looking at the travel challenges due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, especially for those going to the UK, it is in the best interest of the event and Rip Curl to postpone the Euro GromSearch until a later date,” explained Yann Martin, Rip Curl Team & Events Manager. “This is the best option to accommodate our dedicated competitors and ensure our rich tradition of GromSearch competition lives on.”
With the event postponed, Rip Curl will honor the qualifying surfer’s ages from 2020 to stay in the same age division heading into the rescheduled European Final if it happens in 2021.
GromSearch wouldn’t be possible without the support of our incredible event sponsors and partner. Their dedication to the youth and future of surfing helps make GromSearch the elite platform that it is today. Shout out to 2020 sponsors; SMITH, Fatboys, Hydroflask and FCS and The Wave!
ALL Billabong men’s and women’s wetsuits are now made with recycled jerseys, liners and foam, repurposing and saving millions of plastic bottles from oceans and landfills.
“We’ve found some new ways to incorporate even more recycled materials including recycled plastics, scrap lycra and upcycled car tyres.” says Global Wetsuit Director Scott Boot “This is the first time that our entire line reaches a minimum threshold of 80% recycled materials, with some suits as high as 100% recycled materials.”
In addition to Billabong’s commitment to making its entire range of wetsuits with recycled materials, it is also doubling down on the superpower-like properties of Graphene – the lightest, strongest and most heat-conductive material in the world that won a Nobel Prize in 2010. Infused it into the linings of Billabong’s wetsuits it’s been proven in independent studies to heat up faster and retain heat for up to twice as long as traditional thermal liners.
“It seriously feels like you’re surfing in flannel pajamas,” says Billabong team rider and World Surf League star Griffin Colapinto. “I was literally sweating in Alaska even though I was surrounded by icebergs.”
The Billabong Wetsuit Furnace is their warmest, most premium suit with full Graphene lining and Furnace Carbon 5/4mm – Hooded Wetsuit to give away. It is worth £430!
To win this wetsuit hit up our Instagram post here
like the post, tag a friend, follow @billabong_europe + share it as a story
We will pick a winner early next week and you will have your suit for winter!
Check out the wetties here > www.billabong.com/wetsuit-guide
Seb Smart surfing over two sessions in Sennen Cove
Billabong Adventure division head north to test out the new Graphene wetsuit.
Starting today, 100% of Billabong wetsuits are made from recycled materials.
Billabong proudly offers its new line of premium Graphene-infused wetsuits with a sustainable twist. For the first time ever, ALL Billabong men’s and women’s wetsuits are made with recycled jerseys, liners and foam, repurposing millions of plastic bottles from our oceans and landfills. This is yet another giant leap for the brand whose entire line of boardshorts is made from recycled P.E.T. plastics.
“We’ve been making a lot of progress on this front over the past couple of years,” says Global Wetsuit Director Scott Boot, “but we’ve found some new ways to incorporate even more recycled materials into every style of suit we make. This includes recycled plastics, scrap lycra and upcycled car tires. This is the first time that our entire line reaches a minimum threshold of 80% recycled materials, with some suits as high as 100% recycled materials.”
In addition to Billabong’s commitment to making its entire range of wetsuits with recycled materials, it is also doubling down on the superpower-like properties of Graphene. The lightest, strongest and most heat- conductive material in the world won a Nobel Prize in 2010 and has had a dramatic effect on a wide range of industries, from aeronautics to consumer electronics to apparel. Infused into the linings of Billabong’s wetsuits exclusively for the first time in 2019, it’s been proven in independent studies to heat up faster and retain heat for up to twice as long as traditional thermal liners. “It seriously feels like you’re surfing in flannel pajamas,” says Billabong team rider and World Surf League star Griffin Colapinto. “I was literally sweating in Alaska even though I was surrounded by icebergs.”
The Billabong Wetsuit key styles include the Furnace (their warmest, most premium suit with full Graphene lining), the Revolution/Surf Capsule (a Graphene-paneled suit maximising style, warmth and performance) and the Absolute/Synergy (a Graphene-paneled suit maximizing value and warmth). Each suit offers a variety of thicknesses and built-in hood options, but regardless of what suit you choose, you are guaranteed to pick a suit made from recycled materials. Even better, this is just the beginning of Billabong’s commitment to making a more sustainable, high-performing wetsuit.
Griffin Cola, Tyler Warren, Becca Speak and Eithan Osborne, put their new Billabong Recycler Wetsuits featuring
Graphene to the ultimate test.
Check out the wetties here > www.billabong.com/wetsuit-guide
