Congratulations John John Florence the World Surf League World Champion 2016!

John Florence Crowned World Champion At The Meo Rip Curl Pro Peniche

Congratulations @johnjohnflorenc, 2016 World Champion!! Well deserved kid! 2016 MEO #RipCurlPro winner & @wsl World Champ. Obrigado Portugal,

http://www.worldsurfleague.com

In an absolutely insane day, 22-year-old John John Florence (HAW) clinched the 2016 World Surf League (WSL) Title with a victory at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal in Peniche. This is the first time a Hawaiian has held the world surfing crown since the late Andy Irons (HAW) in 2004.

“I honestly can’t believe it right now, it’s obviously not sunk in just yet,” Florence said. “I know my mom and family are watching online right now and I really wish they were here with me. I’m so stoked. I’ve worked my whole life towards this and I have so many people to thank for this.”

Florence’s season started out slowly with mediocre results across the Australian leg, including the Rip Curl Pro Bells, before posting a victory in Brazil in May. He carried the momentum of his Rio de Janeiro win to strong showings in Jeffreys Bay (2nd), Tahiti (2nd) and France (3rd) while challengers Gabriel Medina (BRA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Jordy Smith (ZAF) and 11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater (USA) were unable to maintain consistency, eventually falling out of reach in Portugal. It was a tight win, with his success coming from both Medina and Wilkinson’s early round losses.

“It’s been a long year, but one of the best years in my life, so many fun events and just having a really good time all together and I’ve learned so much,” he continued. “I was expecting it to go to Hawaii and I was just trying to keep surfing through heats.

“My whole life has gone into this, everything I’ve done but just this year especially, learning so much about competitive surfing, focusing completely on it and having so much help and support, it’s been amazing.” Florence added. “The title was my goal this year so at this point I’m just going to go out and have fun.”

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FLORENCE 2016 WSL CT RESULTS –
Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast: 5th
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach: 13th
Drug Aware Margaret River Pro: 13th
Oi Rio Pro: WINNER
Fiji Pro: 5th
J-Bay Open: 2nd
Billabong Pro Tahiti: 2nd
Hurley Pro at Trestles: 13th
Quiksilver Pro France: 3rd
Meo Rip Curl Pro Portugal: WINNER
Billabong Pipe Masters: TBD

FLORENCE CAREER WSL CT FINISHES:
2011: 34th
2012: 4th
2013: 10th
2014: 3rd
2015: 14th
2016: WSL CHAMPION

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Photos: WSL / Poullenot/Aquashot

Boardmasters is confirmed as a World Surf League Qualifying event

Boardmasters03©Sharpy

After a few years’ sabbatical we’re stoked to announce Boardmasters is confirmed as a World Surf League Qualifying event.

Boardmasters had a proud history as, for many years, the UK’s only World Tour event. For a few golden years England and Scotland hosted the tour but in recent times it’s been sparse. Sure BM HAS been a stop for the WSL longboard crew the last few years but it’s not quite the same.

So it’s with great joy we share the news from Boardmasters that the event is once again part of the World Surf League qualifying series.

It’ll be a QS1000 event, but as QS events worldwide are getting rare they’re all vitally important for points and for seedings the following year.

Boardmasters will host the Men’s Open, the Women’s Open and the Boardmasters Men’s and Women’s Longboard contests,  cementing Boardmasters as the high-profile event in the UK’s surf calendar.

Boardmasters will be stop #29 on the WSL international qualifying series tour, giving surfing professionals the opportunity to come to Cornwall and be in with the chance of gaining valuable points in their quest to reach the elite platform of professional surfing.

The highly anticipated Boardmasters QS1000 will run from Wednesday 10 until Sunday 14 August 2016 at Fistral. The action will kick off with the Men’s Open. Britain’s best professional surfers, such as Ben Skinner, Luke Dillon, Jobe Harris and Lucy Campbell will once again have the chance to compete at an international level in home waters. 

Registration for entry for the WSL Open and Longboard events is via the WSL website.

It doesn’t stop there, as the festival continues at Watergate Bay for a weekend of the biggest and best names in live music performing from Friday 12 – Sunday 14 August 2016. Confirmed headline acts so far include Chase & Status, James Bay and Deadmau5, with other performances across the weekend from Catfish and the Bottlemen, Craig David, Primal Scream, Kano, Lianne La Havas, Kaiser Chiefs, Sigma, Wolf Alice, Example and Eats Everything, with further acts still to be announced. Can’t wait!

Get tickets at www.boardmasters.com

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photo: Sharpy

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photo: Alex Rawson / Boardmasters Festival

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Boardmasters Confirmed As WSL Qualifying Series Event

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BOARDMASTERS CONFIRMED AS WORLD SURF LEAGUE QUALIFYING SERIES EVENT

MEN’S & WOMEN’S OPEN TO BE WSL SANCTIONED

WSL LONGBOARD QUALIFICATION BACK AGAIN

-FISTRAL BEACH, CORNWALL-
10 – 14 AUGUST 2016

TICKETS ON SALE NOW 

www.boardmasters.co.uk/surfing

#Boardmasters
f: @Boardmasters i: @Boardmasters t: @Boardmasters81
 

Boardmasters has today announced its world famous international surf competition will this year be included as part of the World Surf League qualifying series. Featuring as a QS1000 event, Boardmasters will host the Boardmasters Men’s Open, the Boardmasters Women’s Open and the Boardmasters Men’s and Women’s Longboard contests.  This cements Boardmasters as the most high-profile event in the UK’s surf calendar.

Boardmasters will feature as stop #29 on the WSL international qualifying series tour, giving surfing professionals the opportunity to come to Cornwall to be in with the chance of gaining valuable points in their quest to reach the elite platform of professional surfing, the Championship Tour (CT).

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Fistral Beach, the UK’s premier surfing destination, will again host Boardmasters, with professional surfers travelling from around the globe we will get to see who will become this years Boardmasters champion.  The highly anticipated Boardmasters QS1000 will then run from Wednesday 10th until Sunday 14th August 2016 and the action will kick off with the Boardmasters Men’s Open.  Boardmasters will offer Britain’s best professional surfers, such as Ben Skinner, Luke Dillon, Jobe Harris and Lucy Campbell the chance to compete at an international level whilst in home waters.

Boardmasters promises to deliver five days of exhilarating surf action at one of Cornwall’s must stunning beach settings. Fans and festival goers alike are expected to descend on the UK’s surf capital to check out and support both the British pro surfers and the travelling international surfing professionals.  We cannot wait to see who will lift the coveted Boardmasters title this year and their portion of the $30,500 prize purse.

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Andrew Topham, Boardmasters Festival Director said, “We are so stoked to see the return of World Surf League (WSL) sanctioning across all disciplines of our event (Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Men’s Longboard and Women’s Longboard). This really drives the level of surfing within the UK and will inspire the next generation of British surfers towards competing at the highest level.  Since 1981, Boardmasters has always been the pinnacle of British surfing and this once again takes us to another level.  We are really excited to see another huge crowd on the beach cheering some of the best surfing that will be witnessed on Cornish shores this year.”

Rob Gunning WSL Europe Tour Manager commented, “WSL is very pleased to be returning once again to the Boardmasters and it is great to see our involvement grow with the addition of a men’s and women’s Qualifying Series event. As we expand across Europe the Boardmasters is for us a key event as it is one of our longest running and most high profile events. The on-site activities, crowds plus the music festival make the Boardmasters very special. It will be great for not only International and visiting European surfers but also for the local Brits who will get a chance to compete on the international stage. The women’s QS event will be a first for the Boardmasters and it is fantastic to see women’s professional surfing included in the schedule.”

Hugo Tagholm, Chief Executive at Surfers Against Sewage said, “Surfers Against Sewage is proud to have been Boardmasters nominated charity for over a decade. We look forward to continuing to work together to promote the protection of waves, oceans and beaches well into the future. We’re stoked to see the WSL sanctioning of the Boardmasters surf competition this year. It’s a fantastic reflection of the amazing contest and to new heights that UK surfing is reaching. The UK has world-class surfers and waves, and we’re stoked to be at the forefront of protecting the surf environments they rely on!”

Boardmasters International Surf Competition 2015 Champions:

Men’s Open                Hodei Collazo (ESP)

Women’s Open          Peony Knight (GBR)

Men’s Longboard       Edouard Delpero (FRA)

Women’s Longboard Alice Lemoigne (REU)

Whipper Snappers      Stanley Norman (GBR)

Entry registration for the WSL Open and Longboard events is via the WSL website

Click this link for information on the Boardmasters International Surf Competition

It doesn’t stop there, as the festival continues at Watergate Bay for a weekend of the biggest and best names in live music performing from Friday 12 – Sunday 14 August 2016. Confirmed headline acts so far include Chase & Status, James Bay and Deadmau5, with other performances across the weekend from Catfish and the Bottlemen, Craig David, Primal Scream, Kano, Lianne La Havas, Kaiser Chiefs, Sigma, Wolf Alice, Example, Eats Everything and more, with further acts still to be announced.

Boardmasters 2016 will take place along the glorious Cornish coastline from Wednesday 10 August to Sunday 14 August. Tickets are available NOW from the website.