Incredible Waves by Chris Power won British Sports Book Awards Illustrated Book of the Year last night beating Team Sky, Beckham, Murray and Wimbledon!
It is a fantastic accolade for Carve surf photographers including the UK’s Sharpy, Will Bailey Mickey Smith and Lucia Griggi, plus global legends of surf photography like Russ Ord, Tim Mckenna, Chris Burkard and Ray Collins. Chris Power and designers David Alcock and Jamin Lean. #teamcarve
When you read the books it was up against and think of the photographers and budgets behind them you begin to realise what an accomplishment it is. Incredible Waves was up against; David Beckham by David Beckham, Seventy Seven by Andy Murray, Wimbledon by The All England Club, The Pain and the Glory by Team Sky. and 8000 Metres – Climbing the World’s Highest Mountains by Alan Hinke
The book is now up for the The Times Sports Book of the Year. Please vote here. Voting closes at midnight on 9th June 2014.
www.britishsportsbookawards.co.uk/vote-for-the-times-sports-book-of-the-year
The sport of surfing has no man-made stadiums or racetracks. Its proving grounds are a small number of classic reef and point breaks scattered across the world’s oceans with names like Pipeline, Cloudbreak, The Superbank, Teahupoo, Uluwatu, Desert Point, Skeleton Bay and Apocalypse. Incredible Waves is a stunning coffee-table book of photographs that capture the beauty and majesty of these awesome aquatic arenas – waves which are as dangerous as they are enticing, for photographers as well as surfers
The British Sports Book Awards is the major annual promotion for Sports Writing & Publishing. The awards exist to highlight the most outstanding sports books of the previous calendar year, to showcase their merits and to enhance their reputation and profile.
As the much anticipated Splinter tour is about to kick off in the UK we thought we would catch up with the person responsible for bringing it over.
Andy Able is President of the Surfing Association of Papua New Guinea, President – PNG Tourism Industry Association (PNGTIA), Deputy President – PNG National Museum & Art Gallery Board Trustees (NMAG), Board Member – PNG Tourism Promotion Authority (PNGTPA). As such he has been a very influential in the development of surfing and surf tourism in the islands. He is on tour in the UK with the film Splinters and will be giving talks on his sustainable surfing models which help local indigenous people gain from their local natural asset i.e. the surf. As we all know in some parts of the world this just isn’t; the case, and many travellers have had the uneasy feeling of siting on a luxury boat while watching very poor local people. Andy calls the reefs “traditional resources” which when you look it they always have been, and he sees the locals as their custodians, which of course in this case they have been for thousands of years.
Tour dates are Porthtowan 27 May, London 28 May, Bristol 29 May. You can buy tickets here www.splintersmovie.org One attendee will win a once in a lifetime trip to PNG.
Carve; Can you tell us how long you’ve been surfing in PNG?
Andy; 30 years
What is the work you are doing around ensuring the local community gains benefits from visiting surfers? Is there a levy/tax on visiting surfers?
The Abel Reverse Spiral Model that I created some 27 years ago was born out of a unique situation taking into consideration the complex land and fringing reef ownership issues where the traditional resource custodian host communities own 97% of PNG land mass and out to three nautical mile of reefs.
The model was created to empower the resource custodian host communities so they do not end up like bystanders and beggers in their own land like in many parts of the world and they participate directly in all facets of the planning, development and management of their resource ( the surf) and generate a sustainable source of passive financial income through the SAPNG policy on the Surf Management Plan (SMP) of AUD$12/pax/day.
These levies are collected and reticulated down to the resource custodians and lieu of this levy, inbound surfers are guaranteed uncrowded waves working within the SAPNG SMP quota of no more than 20 surfers on any given day.
This SAPNG policy only comes into place where there is a “ commercial” surf tourism operation in place. If there is none, you can go surf where you like at your own risk. But be mindful of the protocols and respect for the traditional resource custodians as they are now advanced in how things can and should be done through our 27 years of education our people on the ground which I as the principal architect of the model do as a PNG’n and as a surfer understanding the crowding issues etc
How good are the waves in PNG. I’ve seen some pretty amazing pictures?
During the monsoon surf season, we have some of the best waves in the world complimented by our SAPNG policies that make it a surfers paradise! I will show more pictures on the slide show in UK.
Is it just for serious surfers or is it good for surfers of varying levels of ability?
All levels but surfing PNG is done on reef
What are you hoping the UK mini tour will achieve?
I hope to share my story and the evolution of SAPNG 27 year history from humble days 27 years ago and articulate the Abel Reverse Spiral Model and its equitable and sustainable benefits for our resource custodians. Also do the Q&A on Splinters in addressing core global issues effecting women on domestic violence and empowerment of women and how we have used surfing as a vehicle to bring about meaningful and positive change in the lives of our womenfolk.
Maybe I can help to share my experiences in empowering others nations and people around the world to being about change and opportunities based on the precedent model I have created and implemented first hand in PNG so that they too create a legacy and foundation for current and future generations.
With the winter wave season winding down in Hawaii, JOB heads south to Mexico. To keep himself amused, JOB imports Poopies for his first ever trip out of the country. Can Poopies make it to Mexico with less than $200? Will Poopies finally get to ride a bull? You’ll have to watch to find out, but for sure they got plenty of waves!
Since Carve was invented in 1994 we have seen radical changes in attitudes to board design and production methods. Once it was one board for everything apart from Indo and anything else life threatening, PU construction, hand shaped to order, and ready when it was ready… Today the whole industry has transcended to one of dynamics, minuscule tolerances and daily design tweaks. We even speak of volume in our specifications. In issue 151 we speak to some of Britains and indeed the worlds, top shapers to get their opinions on subjects on everything from where surfboard design has been and where it is heading featuring 70 models, tips, reviews, pitfalls, how to buy, and shaper interviews.
Of course with huge variety often comes confusion. The boards are there, but what is best for you? To answer this question we have enlisted the owner of one of Britain’s best surf shops, Trevor at Down the Line, to dish out timely and unbiased advice. Click here. And on top of that right here we have an endless supply of those most sought after objects of desire; surfboards. Well what are you waiting for? Dig in and check out over 70 surfboards
