What would you give to be trading waves with a friend in the middle of nowhere? I know, it’s as insane as it sounds…
We Scream Alone is a surf short film by Igor Bellido. The adventure of two friends sharing tubes in the middle of the African desert. Is there anything better after that?
Surfers: Kepa Acero @kepaacero and Natxo González @natxogonzalez1
Made Adi Putra “Bol” put his years of Padang-Padang tube riding prowess on full display to top the leaderboard of the Rip Curl Cup Trials yesterday with an almost perfect two-wave score of 19.45 points (out of a possible 20 points), posting first a 9.95 in his first round heat and then backing it up with a 9.50 in his second heat to earn his spot in the Main Event where he’s hoping to come away with his third Rip Curl Cup win. He has won the Rip Curl Cup twice before, in 2004 and 2005, and is keenly looking forward to another victory in 2022.
“This was such a great day, I saw everybody getting big scores, 8’s and 9’s, everybody getting such good waves, getting barreled and having fun, it was beyond expectation’s really,” said Made Adi Putra. “I was surprised, to be honest, as I thought it wasn’t going to be on, but it was pumping! I’m stoked to be in the Main event, as I’m going to be 42 years old in August, so I hope to be the Rip Curl Cup champion as my birthday present,” he added.
Only 8 competitors out of the 32 that started out the competition in near perfect 4-5 foot Padang-Padang made it into the exclusive Main Event invitee list at the end of the day, and none in more dramatic fashion than 2014 Rip Curl Cup winner Made “Garut” Widiarta, who was in the last heat of the day having only two small scores from his first round heat, the odds truly against him.
“I had almost given up as there was a long lull with no waves for the first 20 minutes, so I was starting to think I should just paddle into the beach when some sets starting coming in so I changed my mind and said I gotta go for it” said Widiarta. Threading through an excellent barrel ride on his first wave, he was back in the game. “Getting that 8.5 score gave me confidence, then when I was paddling back out I got that 5.5, so it was my lucky day I guess. So happy to make the cut and can’t wait for the Main event!” he exclaimed.
Perennial favorite Mustofa Jeksen was a member of the exclusive “Perfect 10” club in the Trials yesterday, earning a perfect score in his first wave of his Round 1 heat to start his charge for a spot in the Main Event, and in the final of the day Nyoman “Blacky” Satria joined that club as well with a perfect 10 score, but unfortunately didn’t have a backup score with enough points to join into the Final 8.
When the final horn sounded the end of competition, Head Judge Wayan Pica was asked for his thoughts on the day, to which he replied, “It was a certainly a challenging day in the judging tower, but it was great to see all the amazing barrel riding going on. Differentiating between the surfer’s waves when on their backside and those on their forehand, how deep they were getting, how cleanly they got out of the barrel, keeping all those variables in mind required a lot of focus and concentration, but it was both exciting and rewarding and our panel did a great job today. Congratulations to all the surfers that are now in the Main Event!”
Rip Curl Cup Trials 2022 Results:
1. Made Adi Putra – 19.45 points
2. Mega Artana – 18.38 points
3. Mega Semadhi – 17.58 points
4. Raditya Rondi – 16.50 points
5. Mustofa Jeksen – 16.13 points
6. Agus Sumertayasa – 15.39 points
7. Tommy Sobry – 15.01 points
8. Made Garut Widiarta – 14.08 points
Congratulations to the top 8 who will be in the Main Event, and will join the other 8 international invitees that will be announced in the Opening Ceremony, to be held at Padang-Padang Beach on the 31st of July. The Rip Curl Cup Opening Ceremony marks the start of the one-month event holding period that runs the full month of August. The Opening Ceremony celebration will begin promptly at 3 PM, followed by a meet and greet with the surfers and contest organizers. The evening will conclude with a traditional Balinese Kecak dance performance.
All media wishing to attend the Opening Ceremony event may RSVP to Geby at +62 812 3727 7863 by Friday, 29th July 2022 before 3 PM to secure their credentials.
But before the Opening Ceremony, please join our Rip Curl Planet program starting out with the Rip Curl Beach Clean Up atPadang Padang Beach on Friday, July 29th at 8 am. The cleanup is open to anyone who would like to volunteer. Cleanup teams will collect trash from the beach, the car park, and the valley behind the beach. Trash bags and plastic gloves will be provided. Wear shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Come have some fun while cleaning up one of Bali’s most beautiful beaches and the home of the Rip Curl Cup.
The 2022 Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang will be webcast LIVE to the world at ripcurl.com and at worldsurfleague.com. Fans can also visit the Rip Curl website to check the official event swell forecast, real-time contest status, and video updates from Bali.
RIP CURL CUP PADANG PADANG 2022 EVENT SCHEDULE:
Event Waiting Period
August 1st – 31st
Rip Curl Planet Beach Cleanup
Friday, July 29th at 8 AM, Padang Padang Beach, Bali
Opening Ceremony
Sunday, July 31st at 3 PM, Padang Padang Beach, Bali
1. Meet the surfers
2. Press conference
3. Traditional Balinese Kecak Dance
Official Rip Curl Cup Party
Friday, August 26th 2PM – Midnight.
Live performance by special guest at Ulu Cliff House
The Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang 2022 is sponsored by:
SAMUDERA INDONESIA SPORTS, ISLAND BREWING and ULU CLIFFHOUSE.
Official Resort Partner: Anantara Uluwatu Bali Resort.
Official Internet Provider: Biznet
The Rip Curl Cup is Padang Padang 2022 is suppported by: Yamaha & Persatuan Selancar Ombak Indonesia (PSOI).
Media partners: BaliBelly.com and The Asian Surf Cooperative (ASC).
Mick Fanning meets up with the Ho family for a fun day of surf in Hawaii! This morning had some nice swell at Rocky Point located on the North Shore of Oahu.
Surfers: Mason Ho, Michael Ho, Coco Ho, Mick Fanning & Dave Rastavich.
Kelly heads to Teahupo’o, Tahiti, a place he’s won five events at in his legendary career. Though he reconnects with the amazing people, the idyllic setting, and the perfect but dangerous wave, he has trouble finding success in the contest.
Kelly Slater: Lost Tapes gives fans the rare opportunity to witness never-before-seen footage of the best surfer on the planet. From free surfs to travel to adventures around the world, these are uncut and unfiltered moments from before, after, and outside competition. Follow 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater as he navigates another transformative season of his legendary career.
We’ve all been there. Uncertain, comparing forecasts, interpreting reports hoping to find promising patterns. Optimistically taking our chance, you get to the spot and will eventually get rewarded. Or not?
In this episode, ION surf athlete Andy illustrates the invisible feelings the ocean can evoke in us. The joy and frustration. But also, the healing solitude of this place where you can leave all concerns on the shore. All you think about is the next wave. Whether you scored or not. You’ll be back. Just like sets, you see the next opportunity on the horizon. The ocean is a healing place.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word ‘surfable’ as, quite simply, ‘being suitable for surfing’. Here at the BLU, our much more empirical definition is to chuck the frothy groms in to see if they can catch waves, before deciding whether to bin the whole thing and go to the pub. Thanks to the youthful dedication of the U16 Cadets, and in spite of all the laws of physics, man and the heavens and a blind refusal to accept defeat, we had us a Porthmeor Longboard Classic 2022!
The weather was scorchio, the surf a much less exuberant 1ft-with-an-occasional-thigh-high-set, and a lively cross-shore wind. But we made a contest of it. Boy, did we make a contest of it. The aforementioned U16s got straight to it, with Sylvie Puddiphatt and Kaz Phillips taking out their respective semi-finals in some style and Kaz squeaking past Sylvie to win in the final by a mere 0.1 points. A small entry, but a high quality one for sure.
The Single Fin produced a MUCH healthier number of competitors. Possibly wave size had something to do with that, but enough utterly baseless conjecture from me. The big points in the early rounds came courtesy of a brace of nose rides, spinners and drop-knees from Elliot Dudley, Sam Bleakley, Mike Lay, Andy Teasdale, Izzy Henshall (fresh from the Duct Tape SA) and repatriated expat Sam Crookshanks (semi-fresh from Straya)
In the two U18 divisions, it was another disappointingly small field. With a couple of the groms on international duties maybe it was to be expected, but it’s starting to look like a pattern that the free and massively discounted entries for the junior divisions does not seem to be fixing. Something for the committee to ponder in the off season, for sure. Despite that, the quality of the competition was sublime. In the U18 Girls final, Lola Bleakley, Sylvie Puddiphatt and Mali Harbour traded waves like their lives depended on it, and building on her recent win at Porthcawl it was Lola and her goofyfoot magic who carried the day. The U18 Boys was another straight final and this time mega-frother Ted Pearson – seemingly a little off his game earlier in the U16s – utterly smashed it with textbook drop knee turns and confident nose riding to set up a possible mouth-watering winner-takes-all finale against Blake Jones at Fistral later in the year. Great to welcome Tobias Gwennap to his first final, too.
The second day gave us similar – dare I say ever-so-slightly bigger – size surf but with a much more useful light offshore breeze to smooth out the wrinkles. Armed with the knowledge that the high tide was likely to kill the surf, and with the impending arrival of one of the biggest holiday crowds of the year so far, the race was well and truly on. 15 minute heats and finals, no stopping for lunch, toilet breaks or catastrophes (man-made or natural). We MAY have paused briefly for a cheeky pasty – we’re not totally without standards, you know.
First up to bat, the Men’s Open and big hitters in the shape of Sam Bleakley, Elliot Dudley, Mike Lay, Ben Howey, Jack Unsworth (sporting a very natty hat) and Ashley Braunton. It’s fair to say that what Ash really, REALLY wants for an early Christmas present is a 6ft swell for the last BLU event at Fistral (#bigboyproblems). He still managed to pull off the second highest score of the 1/4 finals before falling at the semi-final stage.
The Grandmasters final, once they’d all stopped going on about how things were better in the old days when everything cost a penny, was a game of cat and mouse between current champ Adam Chell, Alan Reed, indestructible Surfbot Colin Bright and Nick Lethbridge. The tide managed to push the swell off a lovely little bank and into a small lagoon of non-breaking despair, which made for some very tactical exchanges. Riding what can best be described as a gigantic neon orange Cadillac of a longboard, it was Alan ‘Still Punk To The Core’ Reed who prevailed with a late charge to take the honours back to the Isle of Wight, assuming Toby the German Shepard didn’t rag the honours to pieces on the van ride back. Geddon, Toby. Good boy.
The Women’s Open is rapidly becoming one of the most competitive divisions on the tour, and with the average age of the entrants being in the late teens / early 20s it’s shaping up to be an exciting prospect for the next few years. It was also great to see some new faces at St Ives, and long may that continue. The final, however, consisted of some very familiar names and pitted current champion Emily Currie against Mali Harbour, Izzy Henshall and Lola Bleakley – a thrilling two regular/two goofy contest. The conditions seemed less suited to Emily’s more powerful style, but with a very clinical and professional performance she found and gracefully obliterated the longer and more consistent right-handers in one of the best small wave heats I’ve seen her surf, and thoroughly deserved the win.
With the Single Fin tapering down to the sharp end, and the brave and bold cast to the wayside by the bucket load, it was left for Elliot Dudley, Sam Bleakley, last year’s winner Mike Lay and Sam Crookshanks to battle for the final honours. In a desperately close finish between himself and Elliot, Mike found one of the most manoeuvre-filled waves of the weekend to put the result beyond any doubt.
Time for the Masters. This is another division which, and with no disrespect to the surfers who have gone before, is going to get mightily interesting in the next few years now that Chris Thomson and Sam Bleakley have arrived as the first wave of a number of excellent Open surfers who are approaching the big four-oh. Sam set his stall out early in the semi-finals with a bone-crushing 13.17, almost doubling the score of every other surfer in the round. Destiny, however, has an interesting way of interjecting in proceedings, and as the old saying goes ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man’. The man in question being Chris Thomson, and the outcome being a win by 0.16 over Sam to claim the overall Masters title after two events. Solid stuff from Chris, and it gives him the chance to put a gold-leaf covered cherry on the cake at Fistral in the autumn.
To round things off, and in a genuine race to the death between the contest and the tide, the Men’s Open final saw the Sam Bleakley take the win in some style over Elliot Dudley, Ben Howey and a slightly wave-weary (and sunburnt) looking Mike Lay to give him a 1-2-3 finish across the weekend. Given the number of waves he rode across 3 divisions, I am mildly in perplexed awe of Sam’s fitness. I suspect he actually ran home to Gwenver and went in for another 3 hour session….
Fantastic support as always from our wonderful sponsors – Tregenna Castle, St Ives BID and O&E, and a huge thanks to Saints Boardriders for hosting us at their amazing clubhouse and feeding and watering the judges and support staff. A massive shout out also to the off duty lifeguards who gave it their all to keep the holiday crowd out of the contest area – a difficult task and much appreciated.
A special thank you from me and video jockey Chris Levi to Ben Hartley (@benhartley8) and Nathan Benham (@dawnpatrolphotography) for the additional media coverage, watershooting and drone work. Legends, the pair of you.
We look forward to doing this all again – hopefully with a bit more swell – at The Stable, Fistral Longboard Classic later in the year. Thanks again, Porthmeor. You were a true sweetheart.
Results
Men’s Open: 1st Sam Bleakley, 2nd Elliot Dudley, 3rd Ben Howey, 4th Mike Lay
Women’s Open: 1st Emily Currie, 2nd Izzy Henshall, 3rd Lola Bleakley, 4th Mali Harbour
Masters: 1st Chris Thomson, 2nd Sam Bleakley, 3rd Adam Chell, 4th Colin Bright
Grandmasters: 1st Alan Reed, 2nd Adam Chell, 3rd Colin Bright, 4th Nick Lethbridge
U16 Cadets: 1st Kaz Phillips, 2nd Sylvie Puddiphatt, 3rd Ted Pearson, 4th Lola Bleakley
U18 Girls: 1st Lola Bleakley, 2nd Sylvie Puddiphatt, 3rd Mali Harbour
U18 Boys: 1st Ted Pearson, 2nd Blake Jones, 3rd Tobias Gwennap, 4th Joel Mew
Single Fin: 1st Mike Lay, 2nd Elliot Dudley, 3rd Sam Bleakley, 4th Samuel Crookshanks
