The 5th annual London Surf / Film Festival presented by Reef went down in a blaze of stoke. Hosted across the capital, across two weekends the festival brought to the UK the very best surf films from across the globe for a celebration of the cream of international surf culture. Bringing together waveriders from all four corners of the UK, the festival really has become a must attend for anyone with even a passing interest in surf culture.
2015 saw packed out screenings at iconic cinematic venues, an intimate gathering at east London’s 71a Gallery, the world’s best sausage sizzle and surf session hosted by Allpress Espresso, a gallery show of works from the UK’s leading artists presented by POW as well as talks from some of the planet’s most inspiring waveriders and filmmakers.
After 6 nights of screenings in the heart of the capital including 3 World Premieres, 3 European Premieres, 7 UK Premieres, 2 XXL winning big wave riders in the house – Chris Bertish and Paige Alms, our favourite adventure traveller Kepa Acero, surf photographer extraordinaire Tim Nunn, a special intro from Ben Weiland, a host of filmmaker Q+A’s, musicians, artisans, writers and the very best in art and culture lubricated by hundreds of pints of Sharp’s award winning ales, the results are in and the winners are:
LS/FF 2015 Panel’s Honourable Mention: Sean Collins – TheRipple Effect Dir. Peter Hamblin. “A unique and quality way of documenting a story of a brilliant pioneer. An informative, fascinating insight into something we all take for-granted and into a man who was clearly very respected. Fast-paced and factual, a very emotive ending. Fresh for the genre.” Lauren Davies
For a taster of what went down on the first weekend:
Supertubos awakens on Day 4 of the event’s waiting period. Image: WSL / Poullenot
SUPERTUBOS, Peniche/Portugal (Friday, October 23, 2015): Stop No.10 of 11 on the 2015 Samsung Galaxy World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT), the Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal has been called ON this morning.
Round 1 has kicked off in building three-to-four foot surf at the iconic beach break of Supertubos.
“Waves have improved substantially since this morning, so we’re underway with round 1,” said WSL Deputy Commissioner, Travis Logie. “Round 2 is definitely on Standby, we’re going to monitor the conditions throughout the day, the winds should be light and variable so hopefully it holds and we can get round 2 underway too.”
Filipe Toledo of Brasil winning his Round 1 heat to advance into Round 3 of the Moche Ripcurl Pro Portugal. IMAGE: WSL / Poullenot Gabriel Medina of Brasil winning his Round 1 heat to advance into Round 3 of the Moche Ripcurl Pro Portugal. IMAGE: WSL / Poullenot
Surfline, official forecaster for the WSL, are calling for:
Strong low pressure that moved into the North Atlantic earlier in the week sets up WNW swell for Friday that eases some on Saturday. A developing storm over the North Atlantic today and tomorrow will set up a reinforcing pulse of WNW swell Sunday and into Monday. Solid swell expected for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week but onshore winds look likely. NW/WNW swell continues for the back half of next week and into next Saturday but local winds remain dicey.
The Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal will be webcast LIVE on worldsurfleague.com and via the WSL app.
Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal Round 1 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Jadson Andre (BRA), Tomas Hermes (BRA)
Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA), Miguel Pupo (BRA), Mason Ho (HAW)
Heat 3: Julian Wilson (AUS), Keanu Asing (HAW), Caio Ibelli (BRA)
Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS), Michel Bourez (PYF), Vasco Ribeiro (PRT)
Heat 5: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Kolohe Andino (USA), Frederico Morais (PRT)
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS), Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 7: Kelly Slater (USA), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Aritz Aranburu (ESP)
Heat 8: Italo Ferreira (BRA), Joel Parkinson (AUS), Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 9: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Ricardo Christie (NZL)
Heat 10: Nat Young (USA), Kai Otton (AUS), Glenn Hall (IRL)
Heat 11: Bede Durbidge (AUS), John John Florence (HAW), C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 12: Josh Kerr (AUS), Wiggolly Dantas (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS)
Keanu Asing of Hawaii winning his Round 1 heat to advance into Round 3 of the Moche Ripcurl Pro Portugal. IMAGE: WSL / Poullenot
No Breakfast – A surf clip by a snowboarder Bryan Fox. Featuring Dane Reynolds, Mikey Wright, Steph Gilmore, Koa Rothman and Michael Dunphy. Editor Bryan Fox explains: “This is a movie I made for Quiksilver. They flew me to France for the Quiksilver Pro and while I was there I asked them if I could edit a couple clips together from the week. They obliged and here it is. It’s titled “No Breakfast” because, with all due respect, the French suck at making breakfast. They are like the soup nazi in that Seinfeld episode…”No breakfast for you!”
Bryan, you should have gone to the Deli at Estagnots. That’s all I’m saying…
Hurricanes have had names for ages. The US change their list each year and we’re lumbered with it. Now for this winter our Met Office and Ireland’s Met Eireann have teamed up to agree on naming winter storms that aren’t from the tropical storm nurseries (they’ll still be ex-hurricane Whatever). So we finally get our own go. Following the NOAA tradition the names alternate from boy to girl.
It’s been brewing since the vicious winter of two years back when storms picked up names like Bawbag, Hercules and the St Judes storm (see proof of how we benefit from these megastorms below) and the media ran with them. Social media has made planning and alerting people to severe weather events that much easier. So it makes a bunch of sense. The list has been voted on by the public and here they are. We all know a stormy Abigail. And we’ve got high hopes for the Steve storm. The full list of names for 2015-16:
• Abigail
• Barney
• Clodagh
• Desmond
• Eva
• Frank
• Gertrude
• Henry
• Imogen
• Jake
• Katie
• Lawrence
• Mary
• Nigel
• Orla
• Phil
• Rhonda
• Steve
• Tegan
• Vera
• Wendy
St Jude’s storm swell…
Hercules in Cornwall…
The Met Office release:
Last month, the Met Office together with Met Eireann announced a pilot project to name wind storms that have the potential to affect the UK and/or Ireland. We received thousands of responses by email, through the Met Office Facebook pages and @metoffice on Twitter and can now announce the list of storm names chosen by you for autumn and winter 2015/16. The names will be used by both the Met Office and Met Éireann.
To ensure we are in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention, we are not going to include names which begin with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z. This will maintain consistency for official storm naming in the North Atlantic.
As the UK and Ireland’s National Met Services, the Met Office and Met Éireann operate to maintain public safety through severe weather warnings and forecasts. Working together, it is hoped that naming storms will help raise awareness of severe weather and ensure greater safety of the public.
The Met Office and Met Éireann will continue to issue weather warnings in the normal way using the Met Office National Severe Weather Warning Service and Met Éireann Weather Warnings. A storm will then be named when it is deemed to have the potential to cause substantial impacts in the UK and/or Ireland.
To avoid any confusion over naming, if a storm is the remnants of a tropical storm or hurricane that has moved across the Atlantic, the already established method of referring to it as, e.g. ‘Ex-hurricane X’ will continue.
After a quick break one of the surf worlds most iconic and inspirational stories (and marketing campaign) is back and heading into your mag and onto your screens. RipCurl are relaunching The Search. Press release below…Insiders have told us there will be a few places you will recognise and a lot you won’t. Should be interesting!
“The Search is the driving force that lead to the creation of Rip Curl. It’s the one true thing that Rip Curl has that no one else does and it lives in the spirit of everything the Rip Curl crew do. It’s what makes Rip Curl unique. It defines who we are.
“In recent times The Search has bubbled away in the background of our brand. You can find it here and there in trips like Secret Search in the Marshall Islands with Martin Daly on the original Search boat Indies Trader 1, in the six month voyage of the Quest 1 in Tip 2 Tip covering Indonesia from end-to-end, or surfing the tidal bore of Big Bono in Indonesia and Mick Fanning’s movie Missing. But we are back better than ever and there are some exciting times ahead.
“Launching in line with the Rip Curl Pro in Portugal on October 20, 2015 and using that platform to broadcast to a large global audience, viewers will initially see some great content, which describes The Search and what makes it so great.
“Throughout November 2015, a weekly drop of new “Search Stories” will let surfers in on The Search even more and give way to the type of surf exploration they can expect in the months ahead. Then on December 1, 2015 a full launch of our global website will drop with the first two chapters of our recent Search missions coming out in full around the world.
From there we will deliver a new chapter every month, showing the likes of Mick Fanning, Gabriel Medina, Alana Blanchard, Tyler and Owen Wright, Nikki Van Dijk and Matty Wilko all on the road to adventure. Our top WSL surfers have been out there Searching between heats for the past six months and it really feels like they have been ready to go anytime, anywhere.
Meanwhile, guys like Dillon Perillo, Luke Hynd and Tom and Pat Curren – free from the constraints of competition – have discovered some great new waves in some sneaky corners of the planet and are enjoying the journey every single day…
So if you’re sick of school and work and want to be inspired to pack up and live the dream, visit ripcurl.com/thesearch to join us on The Search in the months ahead.
RAFAEL TEIXEIRA STEAMROLLS FINAL TO WIN O’NEILL COLDWATER CLASSIC
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Oct. 18, 2015 – The 2015 O’Neill Coldwater Classic, stop #30 on the World Surf League (WSL) Men’s Qualification Series (QS), belongs to the event’s lone Brazilian competitor Rafael Teixeira (BRA). His first time at Steamer Lane is one he will never forget, earning his inaugural QS win over a stacked field of international competitors, taking home $8,000 USD and 1,500 rankings points.
Leaving nothing in the tank, Teixeira cracked a 9.00 on his opening ride, but struggled to back it up until finally acquiring a 7.10 to seal the win in a huge way – comboing third and fourth place.
“I’m really, really stoked – this is the best day of my life,” Teixeira said. “This is my first QS win and I just thank God, my family and friends, and just everyone who supported me both here and at home. I’ve loved my first time here and to win, I just don’t know the words for this moment. It was great dropping those two good waves and I just wanted to try my best in the final so this is incredible.”
The 22-year-old has no major sponsor, a reason that the O’Neill Coldwater Classic is such an important event for surfers like Teixeira who are looking for support. Heading back to his home country tonight for the upcoming QS6000 in Florianopolis, the Brazilian kept advancing through each round, winning his Semifinal over Derek Peters (USA) and besting the Californian once more in the Final.
“I don’t even know what was going on, I was just feeling really good this whole event,” Teixeira said. “I love my backhand surfing and this right has been so fun. When waves came, I wanted to give it my all and earn some good scores off my turns. I’m excited to return home, but to win here has been amazing after training so hard for this contest. My mom and grandma support me a lot, and with that support I can travel and now just want to do well for my family going forward.”
Earning runner-up after an incredible campaign at Steamer Lane, including the highest heat total of the event with a 16.67 during Round 3 earlier this morning, Derek Peters (USA) went toe-to-toe with Teixeira in three different heats. Despite not getting the best of the Brazilian when it mattered most, the Huntington Beach local was all smiles after his best efforts to track down first place.
“It was a really fun event and I’m definitely feeling good,” Peters said. “I didn’t want to go to Brazil early and miss this event. I’ve always watched as a kid, grew up competing here, and just love this place – thrilled to have come up and made second. I knew he had the 9.00 ride, but there’s been countless times when guys get big scores and don’t back them up, so I knew there was still a chance. I got that 7.00 under priority, but then he used his priority wisely for his back-up score, I didn’t get another chance after that.”
Like Teixeira and a number of fellow competitors still on site at Santa Cruz, Peters will be heading to Florianopolis for the next stop on the QS in hopes of breaking into the Top 100 – and now has plenty of momentum to do so.
“The waves here were really fun, I was up here all week getting prepared,” Peters said. “There were some good size waves before the contest window, early in the week, so I knew the board I wanted to ride and I was ready. It’s a bit of a pinch for time, but hopefully I can make it down to Brazil in time for my heat Tuesday.”
Peters currently sits at no.122 with a runner-up finish here and will need to continue his incredible form into Brazil in order to clinch a full time position in next year’s crucial QS10000 events.
Representing Santa Cruz in phenomenal fashion all the way into the Final, Randy “The Kid” Bonds put up a fight in each heat starting with Round 1. Posting a massive 15.93 in the Quarterfinals and advancing behind Chris Waring (USA) in the Semifinals, Bonds looked ready to take this event by storm with a lot of noise behind him, competing as the event wildcard.
“The Quarters definitely felt better than the heat before, since it was such a nail biter, so it felt good to get a couple waves,” Bonds said. “My body felt better and didn’t have too many jitters – the waves just kept coming to me so that really helped as well.”
Bonds had the full backing of his community on the cliffs of Steamer Lane and couldn’t be more thankful for them. Though his drive overtakes other senses, “The Kid” knew they were there.
“I kind of get tunnel vision out there and don’t really hear anything, it’s pretty weird,” Bonds said. “I barely hear the scores and time, but to get all the support I did was amazing. I owe everything to my friends and family that came out every day – it’s a little bit of pressure, but it’s worth it when you do well.”
Wrapping up his stellar campaign with a respectable fourth-place finish, former runner-up Chris Waring (USA) had a disappointing finish. However, the 28-year-old looked in fine form throughout, as he charged his way from Round 1 all the way to the Final – including a buzzer beater heat win in the Semifinals to clinch a spot in the Final.
“I was already preparing myself for the Semifinal loss knowing I needed a small score and the ocean just went completely flat,” Waring said. “I was so nervous on that wave needing a tiny score and just tried to stay over my board – the wave ended up being pretty good, so it was hard to not really try and surf it. I lucked out so hard, I was totally shocked to advance into the Final.”
“I just wanted to figure it out when I got in the water for the Final,” Waring added about the final heat. “The waves were pretty tricky so it was really just a lot of adjusting and a little bit of luck. I would’ve liked to get a good rhythm going with a great Final on hand, but they’re all so talented and I couldn’t get things moving in that heat.”
Special thanks to title sponsor O’Neill as well as co-sponsors and event partners Red Bull, Futures Fins, Watermans Sunscreen, Banzai Bowls, SURFER Magazine, Surfline, Hotel Paradox, Cruzio Internet and East Side Eatery for supporting the 2015 O’Neill Coldwater Classic.
O’Neill Coldwater Classic – Final Results:
1st – Rafael Teixeira (BRA) 16.10, $8,000.00USD
2nd – Derek Peters (USA) 13.90, $4,000.00USD
3rd – Randy Bonds (USA) 5.97, $2,400.00USD
4th – Chris Waring (USA) 4.00, $2,200.00USD
O’Neill Coldwater Classic – Semifinal Results:
Heat 1: Rafael Teixeira (BRA) 14.24, Derek Peters (USA) 13.26, Kilian Garland (USA) 9.04, Brogie Panesi (USA) 9.00
Heat 2: Chris Waring (USA) 12.37, Randy Bonds (USA) 12.00, Tyler Morris (USA) 7.97, Keoni Yan (HAW) 7.60
