The Olympics, we don’t need it in my view. We have Jaws, Mavs, Nazare, Chopes, Pipe. We a lifestyle everyone is enviable of, we have very cool representatives, way way cooler than football players… So why do we need to constantly chase mainstream acceptance? Mo money? It’s not everything.
Anyway, if you are chasing an Olympic dream, fair play. BUT if you really want to engage the mainstream, it won’t be on a Ranch Type wave pool – mainstream don’t get subtle hand jives to increase tube time, they don’t get 15 half tags to the pool liner. What they get, and snowboarding proved, is air. Not a one foot oop that wouldn’t raise and eyebrow on a Brazilian beach. Proper air ala snowboard halfpipes.
Mainstream get aerial acrobatics. They can watch it with goldfish like attention spans. Spin to win. In one moment of sublime skill Seth Moniz just showed what they would get.
Most surfers of course would love to get barrels all day. But a mainstream TV audience… History has shown what works – big waves. And as you can’t put big waves in the Olympics, basically this it.
So as the diesel dust settles from the Surf Ranch wave train (hope it wasn’t built by VW) a new wave making tech was launched which looks like it just made the WSL Olympic dream wave obsolete.
The question you have to ask as a wavepool owner is what price surfers would pay to surf your wave, how many waves they expect in a session, and the gap between rides they are happy to wait. As a guide Surf Snowdonia works. It’s been fully booked for a long time, six surfers on the advanced wave – three per side, for an hour works. As we saw last night Surf Ranch.. well it takes a while between waves. And it’s one sided, so it will hold three surfers per hour. If you’re a businessman and you work that out on a return on investment you’re looking mega bucks per surfer per sessions to repay.
So when the Cove popped up you can see why surfers and business men took note. Now there’s this thing. A controllable, multi wave, variable concept.
As entertaining as brief moments of the Founders Cup were, it’s an elite wave only the rich, or fortunate, will get to surf. This thing offers more chance for more of us to join in the fun.
Quiksilver and Roxy two of the biggest surf brands in the industry are partnering with UKPSA Pro Surf Tour at this years first event.
These market leading surf brands are sponsoring the Surfaced Pro held at Watergate Bay, May 12th – 13th. Supporting an event that encourages gender equality in surfing and promoting environmental awareness, bringing equal prize money and big beach cleans. The event will have a unique format that is rarely seen in UK competitions, with a similar format to the WSL Big Wave tabulation system, which push’s surfers to perform at the highest level by having their top scoring wave doubled! The event and competition format will be made possible with Quiksilver & Roxy’s support.
Quiksilver & Roxy have supported the UKPSA Pro Surf Tour at numerous occasions from events in Scotland, Ireland and the East-coast and now Watergate Bay, Cornwall.
Ben Sousek from Quiksilver commented
“We are really pleased to be working with the UK Pro Surf Tour on this event to push UK grass roots competitive surfing. Especially with the focus on equality in surfing and highlighting environmental issues.”
Dave Reed Tour Director said
“The Tour is developing fast, providing a platform for the best British surfers to compete at the highest level and rewarding them financially for success. Quiksilver and Roxy’s support is not only recognised and appreciated by our organisation but by all the surfers who compete to advance their surfing career’s.”
Quiksilver and Roxy products are available locally to the event at Ann’s Cottage – www.annscottage.com
Alongside the best of New Zealand’s surfers, the competitors of the GromSearch International Final dominated Manu Bay during Day One of the Rip Curl Pro Raglan
New Zealand’s premiere surf event, The Rip Curl Pro Raglan, kicked off today in two-to-three-foot peelers at Manu Bay in Raglan, North Island – hosting the very best of New Zealand’s homegrown surfing talent, alongside the competitors of the GromSearch International Final.
The 16 junior surfers competing in the International Final opted in to also surf in the Rip Curl Pro Raglan, therefore having their seed for Rd 1 of the International Final determined by their score in Rd 1 of the Rip Curl Pro Raglan. A good move on behalf of the competitors it turns out, with 10 of the 16 groms making it through to the second and final day of competition.
In between heats, surfers snuck off to drive around the corner – which, in Raglan, is down a dirt road – searching for waves and finding stunning vistas. A part of the GromSearch experience is learning about the country and the land, and learning how to really “travel” while competing.
Tomorrow the groms will compete in the final day of the Rip Curl Pro Raglan, their last chance to get some practice surfs in on the long left of Manu Bay… before the show begins.
