I’m not sure there’s anything that needs to said here. He blew away the field, winning 6 contests and 5 of the first 7 contests. It was never a contest, there was no race in points, it was just a matter of when he would close the deal, which he did in Mundaka, Spain. Unless the top 10 on the tour step up huge next year, there doesn’t look like anything is getting in the way of Kelly winning his 10th world title next year. Final ASP Rankings.
2) AI implodes on tour, takes 2009 off.
Photo: ASP/Cestari
Andy Irons put up a disappointing performance on WCT tour in 2008. He highest finish was 5th place. He failed to show up for his heat at the Quicksilver Pro France and skipped the Brazil contest leading to speculation about his troubles. Andy announced that he was taking 2009 off from the tour, and may be following the path of free surfer of his brother, Bruce Irons.While I respect any athletes decision to do what he pleases with his career, A.I. has shown to be the best competitor to Kelly Slater (no disrepect to Taj, Mick, Parko, Bede, and others in the top 10). When he’s on top form, he’s one of the most exciting surfers to watch on tour. So while a year free surfing the best barrels of the world will no doubt be the time of his life, he will be missed on the 2009 WCT tour and his absence removes one more hurdle to Kelly Slater clinching his 10th world title.
Kelly looked unstoppable all year and the Pipeline Masters was no exception. He beat Chris Ward in the final heat while riding a 5′11″ in 8-10 ft Pipeline. Adding a final flourish to his epic year. Well done, Kelly. Looking forward to see what you can do next year.
The future of the big-wave Mavericks Surf Competition (Half Moon Bay, CA) was in doubt when previous sponsors pulled out this year (article SFGate). Jim Beam bourbon and benefactors Moose Guen and Jane Sutherland of the private equity firm MVision couldn’t pass on the opportunity to support the chance of the best big wave surfers in the world hucking themselves over 50 ft. ledges at the famed Northern California big wave surf spot. The total purse is $75,000 with $30,000 going to the winner. More at the official website Maverickssurf.com, including the list of invitees.
The surfboard industry produces over 750,000 surfboards a year (link), the vast majority of which are discarded into landfills at the end of their short life. Surfboards are made with toxic petro chemicals (yes, made from the same source of other environmental and energy problems–crude oil) and release VOC (volatile organic compounds) throughout production and their lifetime. Obviously, there is a high hidden environmental cost for your retro twin fin or Kelly Slater Merrick Model.
San Diego, one of the best surf cities in the country and home of a large population of surfers, is now offering free surfboard recycling to keep old boards out of landfills.
Boards are now accepted at the Miramar Recycling Center and the Solana Beach Lifeguard Station. Those in usable condition will be donated to Los Angeles nonprofit organizations, while broken boards will be ground up and used in mixing concrete.
So consider alternatives to standard polystyrene boards (like epoxy or balsa) and recycle your old boards.
Ghost Trees, one of the biggest waves in the world and situated in Pebble Beach in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, is now off limits to personal watercraft (PWC). The ruling by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) was expected as the protected sanctuary has become increasingly crowded with personal watercraft over the past few years. In an effort to protect the environment and the surrounding marine life, the decision was made to close off the entire sanctuary to personal watercraft, meaning there will be no more tow-in surfing at Ghost Trees or Moss Landing (Story DailyStoke). Ghost Trees, a relative new comer in the big wave world, put on a display of big wave might as well as a couple of XXL contenders last year on January 4th (Video surfline).
Two stand-up paddle surfers paddle down the coast from Malibu to Santa Monica on Saturday, November 15, 2008 during the Sayre wildfires in San Fernando Valley, coloring the sunset and sky.
Very cool video of a kitesurfer riding between a pack of whales, filmed from a video camera mounted in his kite. It was filmed at Waddell Creek, CA, a popular kitesurfing spot north of Santa Cruz.
Winter arrived last week in California with the first serious swell, which resulted in giant waves at Ocean Beach, San Francisco, and Mavericks rearing it ugly green head. The northwest swell linked up well with a southwest swell which put out some great waves in Southern California as well. Surfline has a good slideshow of the swell.
