Slater builds an air section with Albee and Kerr

Kelly Slater is probably the most intelligent and most competitive surfer you will ever come across. He listens and watches stuff intensively. His recall of anything and everything that has happened in surf history is second to none. He is fallible though, and that is one of the things I like about him. That and how he responds to criticism or what he regards as competitive threats. It makes him interesting.

Negative remarks about the Ranch event and the launch of Waco would have hurt. It wouldn’t surprise me if Kelly had been out in the dead of night with a rusty teaspoon sculpting out imperfections of the banks of the Ranch. So when Wacos air section popped up and Seth Moniz flipped, so would have Kell…

So what did he do? He got two of the games best air guys on a private jet and got them fine tuning his banks… Sounds like the A Team , apart from drugging Mr T….

Albee posted on his Instagram…

“The other day @josh_kerr84 and I flew on a private jet to go surf a perfect man made wave then after each wave we had the ability to give @kellyslater and the rest of the @kswaveco crew feed back working on an air section, making it a little better and different every time. A couple sections we try’d out were starting to get pretty crazy and I had no idea the literally thousands of different settings this wave can offer. What a f**ken time to be a surfer and how the hell did I weasel my way right into the thick of this space race going on with the wave pool moment? Like when I was dreaming of a scenario like this as a kid it would of sounded pretty fricken outlandish, but here we are. Thank you”

It’s still a wave built for the elite ‘club’ though, and none of us will ever get to surf it, which is what all we want to do…So maybe it’s just another dial on a toy for the rich kids.

100 MILLION BOTTLES RECYCLED THROUGH QUIKSILVER X REPREVE® PROGRAM

Quiksilver’s recycling program — in collaboration with REPREVE® —hits the 100 million-bottle mark. Since its start in 2012, about 3500 tons of plastic has been repurposed into boardshorts, jackets and other garments.

Recycled polyester both gives a second life to used plastic and reduces the global footprint of a product significantly. Arguably the most environmentally impactful step of a production cycle is the creation of the raw material. Producing recycled polyester consumes significantly lower amounts of energy (45) and water (20%) than virgin polyester. Overall, the recycled fabric produces a third less greenhouse gases than conventional polyester ones.

The 100 million bottles recycled through the Quiksilver x REPREVE® program save close to 9 million litres of drinking water and provide the annual energy consumption of close to 1000 households. Each Quiksilver x REPREVE®boardshort contains about 10 recylced bottles.

Made from fossil fuels, plastic is a raw material that we encounter everyday. Only 10% of all plastic produced worldwide is currently recycled — the rest ends up in a landfill or worse, the ocean. Today, large amounts of plastic floating in the ocean are threatening both marine life and the global climate. For more information, please click here.

“We are very excited to contribute a part to the protection of something we genuinely care about — the ocean. As surfers and snowboarders we need to think about the future, so our grandchildren can enjoy the mountain and the wave we love so much. Up-cycling plastic waste into something that is useful for us, even today, is an important step”

Garry Wall

Global General Manager of Quiksilver.

Quiksilver and fellow Boardriders Inc. brands Roxy and DC shoes have been using REPREVE® yarn as an essential part of their product offering for more than 5 years.

REPREVE® starts the process by turning used plastic bottles into plastic flake, which is then converted into REPREVE® chips. The chips are then melted, extruded and converted into yarn that carries the same performance qualities as conventional polyester. On average, a Quiksilver boardshort using REPREVE® yarn contains about 11 recycled bottles. Currently about 50% of the range consists of REPREVE® products. Over the next few years, the brand is committed to using 100% REPREVE® yarn in all boardshorts. The snow collection will follow suit, increasing the adoption of both REPREVE® yarn and other sustainable materials.

Recycling is one thing, reducing another, 100 million bottles are a milestone, now we are working on a refined strategy to fight plastic waste through innovative products and actions. There are still many areas where we need to improve and we look forward to bringing green values into all areas of our business, a responsibility that our industry as a whole needs to assume.

Garry Wall

Global General Manager of Quiksilver.

On World Surfing Day (June 16th, 2018) 10$ of every Quiksilver boardshort containing Repreve fabric will be donated to 5 Gyres, a non-profit organisation empowering action against the global health crisis of plastic pollution through science, education, and adventure.

A word about micro-plastic…

Research has shown that all synthetic materials — based on recycled polyester or not — contain so-called microfibers. These tiny pieces of plastic lead to another severe form of ocean pollution that can make its way through the food chain and onto our plates. Despite multiple efforts to tackle the problem at its source, there are currently no alternatives to synthetics when it comes to producing high performance products such as boardshorts and swimwear. However, there are a few measures you can take to reduce the impact of these fibres:

· Wash your synthetic fabrics less and hand-wash if possible.
· If you’re buying a new washing machine, choose a front loader — a study found it releases less microfibers.
· If you already own a washing machine, consider installing a microfiber filter. It can’t catch everything, but it can help.
· Keep your lint filter clean so that the microfiber particles that it captures end up in the trash, not the air.
· More information can be found here.

Kai Otton

I was gutted when Kai dropped off tour. No one went harder than him and every heat was a joy to watch for various reasons, although maybe not for him to surf… Glad then to see he hasn’t put on the pounds and settled won with a pipe and slippers… He even seems to have got a little more new school…

Grom Heaven – Somewhere


Hugo Prins, 11 years old from Seignosse France was lucky enough to change his hooded 53 Rip Curl Flashbomb, his gloves and boots for a pair of boardshorts during a number of trips over the last 6 months. Searching perfect waves took him to some of the most beautiful places on our planet. The images were shot by Didier Piter Surfcoaching, Geni Larosa, photographer on the MV Addiction and Benjamin & Jean-Marc Boyer.

Antoine Delpero takes Longboard Pro Biarritz

Antoine Delpero (FRA) during Quarters of Longboard Pro Biarritz 2018

Antoine Delpero (FRA) and Justine Mauvin (REU) have won the Longboard Pro Biarritz in historic fashion today, claiming victory in the Finals against Edouard Delpero (FRA) and Justine Dupont (FRA) held in perfect three foot surf at Côte des Basques.

Shots by WSL / DAMIEN POULLENOT

Stop No. 3 of 4 on the 2018 World Surf League (WSL) European Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS), the Longboard Pro Biarritz has been treated to excellent surf for the past three days and incredible performances by some of the world’s best longboarders, culminating today with Delpero and Mauvin’s wins and the crowning of Justine Dupont as the 2018 European Longboard Women Champion.

In an all Delpero final, Edouard the youngest, started early with an excellent 8.00 in the opening seconds. But Antoine came back firing with an incredible four waves in a row, first a high-7, then a 9.47, 9.83 and finally a 9.67 to put his brother in a combination situation he could never climb out of.

“It was just a dream scenario to surf that final with my brother in front of all our friends and family,” Antoine said. “I tried to stay focused but honestly this day was absolutely exhilarating, I’m over the moon.”

Antoine scored a perfect 10 yesterday in very similar conditions and continued to surf the long rights of the North bank with near-perfect execution, mixing long nose rides and radical rail turns to take his second win of the season. With this result, the 5-time European longboard champion takes the lead in the 2018 title race before the final stop in England this summer.

“I had the best two waves with priority and just surfed them like I could, everything went my way,” he added. “I didn’t event think of the title to be honest. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to go to Boardmasters, Edouard and I have a business together and that’s the busiest time of year, so we’ll probably play rock-paper-scissors to decide if one of us goes.”

Ben Skinner finished in third place in both this comp and the BTZ BELZA CLASSIC, Ben Howey, Jack Unsworth in fifth in the Biarritz classic.. British surfers now occupy three of the top five ranks.

In the women’s final, it was an all-French, all-Justine battle between Justine Dupont and Justine Mauvin. Dupont came in as the current leader in the 2018 European title race, and Mauvin, absent from competition this season, entered the event at the very last moment and started in Round 1.

The next and final stop of the 2018 Longboard Qualifying Series will be at Boardmasters this summer from August 10-12.

The current European Top 5 is as follows:

European LQS Men’s Top 5:
1 – Antoine Delpero (FRA)
2 – Edouard Delpero (FRA)
3 – Ben Skinner (GBR)
4 – Jack Unsworth (GBR)
5 – Ben Howey (GBR)

European LQS Women’s Top 5:
1 – Justine Dupont (FRA) ***European Champion***
2 – Nienke Duinmeijer (NLD)
3 – Francesca Rubegni (ITA)
4 – Alice Lemoigne (FRA)
5 – Kathleen Barrigao (PRT)
5 – Valentina Marconi (ITA)

The Longboard Pro Biarritz and BTZ Belza Classic are scheduled from June 7-10, 2018 at Côte des Basques in Biarritz – France. For all photos, videos, news releases and results, visit worldsurfleague.com and the WSL app.

The Longboard Pro Biarritz is supported by the city Council of Biarritz, Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Côte des Basques Surf Club, BTZ, Segafredo, Carlsberg and Virgin Radio.

LONGBOARD PRO BIARRITZ MEN’S FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Antoine Delpero (FRA) 19.50
2 – Edouard Delpero (FRA) 16.57

LONGBOARD PRO BIARRITZ WOMEN’S FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Justine Mauvin (REU) 15.63
2 – Justine Dupont (FRA) 15.20

LONGBOARD PRO BIARRITZ MEN’S SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Antoine Delpero (FRA) 18.56 def. Augusto Olinto (BRA) 15.23
SF 2: Edouard Delpero (FRA) 17.06 def. Ben Skinner (GBR) 16.17

LONGBOARD PRO BIARRITZ WOMEN’S SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 17.06 def. Mason Schremmer (USA) 11.27
SF 2: Justine Mauvin (REU) 17.67 def. Alice Lemoigne (FRA) 17.54