The WSL called in Kolohe Andino Felipe Toledo half way through the second semi-final due to a salmon and tuna feeding frenzy.
“The whole bay’s pretty full of salmon and tuna and everything’s feeding, so in amongst all that is a few smaller sharks and we’re just checking for larger sharks at the moment,” WSL head judge Rich Porta said during the wait.
“It’s turned into a full feeding frenzy in the middle of the bay. Safety first, we’ll bring the guys in for a 20-minute hold until the fish move out.”
“We saw all these splashes,; said Andino “And I don’t think either of us could really surf after that,” Andino told Fox Sports.
“I paddled over and said ‘I think there’s sharks out here’. I saw so many fish swimming under me and I know the big fish follow the small fish. They said we could go on hold and I said ‘OK’, because I couldn’t really think.”
John John went on to win the event using his trademark snap to dominate the event.
RVCA have launched their Spring ’17 line trunks. In line with the #balanceofopposites, they’ve created the Industry, Balance and Nature categories to represent the technical features and aesthetics of this season’s offering. With inputs from the creative minds of our Artist Network Program (ANP) along the latest innovations for comfort and performance, the new RVCA Trunks will fit your every-surf & beach day mixing style and comfort.
RVCA swim is without boundaries, without limits. Equally at home in the water and nowhere near it at all, our swim collection is designed for ANY girl ANYWEAR. Our classic fits get a fresh treatment in this latest colection of Women’s swim. From tried-and-true trianges with strap details to bralettes with sporty cross-backs, it’s all in store and perfect for poolside lounging, beach days and Anywear at all.
So here it is, the wave we heard about and have been harassing the lovely Spaniards to have go on since word got out they had cracked ‘The Cove’ – a barreling man made WaveGarden capable of delivering 1,000 barreling waves per hour.
At this point we are still not sure if that is 1,000 waves of this quality, or even if they could crank up the size a little, but it looks pretty sweet!
1,000 waves an hour is a lot, and that is the crucial part of the deal. Because at the moment, as far as we are aware, the most oft overlooked point from a punters point of view but most crucial aspect of any man made wave is how quickly they can subdue the wash created by the sled and set the wave back up for another rider. More rides equal happy customers and a better commercial model. Why? Because although you would pay £100 for a wave like Slaters right now, you wouldn’t want to pay £100 bucks for one wave an hour forever, right?
Currently due to the enormous amount of wash (check out the background in the videos) we estimate Slaters wave – which pretty much looks like the same tech as the Wavegarden with different bathymetry – can only produce one quality wave at period of around 14 minutes. Of course things may have changed since the last video, and as we aren’t on the guest list we have to guesstimate – Kelly?!! Anyway that is about four waves an hour, and the reason why you don’t see long videos featuring lots of pros rip slash tearing between tee offs.
The Wavegarden, as is, produces a softer wave (due to the sled and bathymetry) once every minute. It is a fun (as those who have ridden it will testify) ride, that doesn’t keep you waiting too long, but more importantly is commercial. As far as surfers and accountants are concerned this works. Sure it isn’t mini Snapper, but no one claimed it was. Just FYI A perfect, glassy WG wave at Snowdonia takes a period of three minutes in between waves to set up due to wash at the moment.
So the Holy Grail, or silvery cup of non specific religious origin, is a perfect wave with no wash. Rumours are that this is what ‘The Cove’ delivers. And if it does, it’s coming to a facility near you soon!
As soon as we get our tickets, we will let you know!
UK Pro Surf Tour and Cornwall College are delighted to announce Personnel Solutions as their title sponsor for the Surfaced Pro – the first event on the 2017 UK PRO Surf Tour.
Personnel Solutions, a South West based recruitment agency for Chefs, catering and hospitality are delighted to be supporting surfing, the UKPS tour and Cornwall College Surf Science and Technology students to run this event which will see equal prize money for both male and female categories in the competition.
Running at Watergate Bay over two days, the event will attract competitors from both the UK and Europe in categories ranging from U12’s to Open Men’s and Women’s. It’s already attracting great social media interest with its focus on new and innovative surfing and parity in prize money.
Brender Willmott, course manager for the FdSc Surf Science & Technology and BSc Hons Marine Sports Science courses, run at Cornwall College Newquay said: “We are delighted to be working with the UKPST again this year and particularly keen to promote interest and development in women’s surfing”.
Zoe Gascoyne – project manager for the event, a marine sports science student, welcomed the opportunity to gain real world experience and said: “This is a fantastic chance to work with the very best professional surfers and network with sponsors and potential employers.”
Managing Director of Personnel Solutions Matthew Sherratt, said: “It is great to be the headline sponsor for this year’s Surfaced Pro supporting surfing, Cornwall College, the UKPSA Tour and Equality in sport. This is a new marketing direction for the company, however with all the hard work the College students put in we know our investment will achieve a great return.”
UK Pro Surf Tour Director Dave Reed commented: “This is the second year running the Surfaced Pro, promoting fairness in surfing. We are working again with Cornwall College students to organise and run this ground-breaking event. Many thanks need to go to Personnel Solutions for becoming this year’s title sponsor.
Without their backing and the support from the other sponsor the event would not be such a success. This year, apart from the best Brits in the line-up, we are attracting a number of international surfers from Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Australia and South Africa.”
The Scottish Surfing Federation has launched a Crowdfunder hoping to send a Scotland team to the ISA World Surfing Games in France in May and the team need your help in order to help cover the costs of getting there to fly the flag for Scotland.
The team have to cover competition entry fees (£1000), accommodation (£2000) and airfares (£1500) as a minimum plus all the other associated expenses from travelling to the event. Any unused funds will be rolled over to the Scotland team travelling to EuroSurf 2017
“With this Crowdfunder we hope to meet our target to help subsidise and make the trip affordable for our athletes. Pledgers get great rewards in exchange for donations to the team and if any companies would be interested in becoming a main sponsor for the Scottish National Team please get in touch. Also if any companies would like to donate product as rewards for the crowdfunder please also get in touch as these would be greatly appreciated.”
The team were unable to attend the ISA World Games 2016 due to a lack of funding therefore we really hope to be able to support the team and get them there this time to represent Scotland particularly with surfing’s recent announcement as an Olympic Sport this WSG is likely to be the highest profile ever.
When you are in deepest darkest Morocco what better too do than fix some up some lights so you can make the most of the swell getting kegged? Which is exactly what Aritz Aranburu and friends did. Filmed by Igor Bellido
