Hana contest last week end

... And Imai Devault won the 12-14 and open man division... Sweet.

Some pics from Lucio Ricca, from Bali

Hookipa yesterday, shitty waves, but Matt rips anyway !!!

Mike with his new toys at Vland, Oahu

Baker at Hookipa today.

Melanie Bartel is now 4th world tour rating after the Beachley Classic contest.

Melanie Bartels (HAW), 27, was a standout performer throughout the event’s entirety, ousting an international field of competitors including Rebecca Woods (AUS), 25, and Rosanne Hodge (ZAF), 22, on the way to her Semifinals berth. The talented Hawaiian struggled to find a solid score in her battle against Gilmore, bowing out of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic with a third place finish.

“I just wasn’t in rhythm out there and I couldn’t find anything,” Bartels said. “It’s tough out there, but I’m stoked that I made the Semifinals, it’s a good result, but I just wanted to surf well, I wanted to put on a good performance and I don’t feel like I did that, but that’s how it goes.”

ASP Women’s World Tour Ratings After Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic:
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 3241 points
2 – Silvana Lima (BRA) 2880
3 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 2139
4 – Melanie Bartels (HAW) 1983
5 – Coco Ho (HAW) 1723
6 – Rebecca Woods (AUS) 1711
7 – Paige Hareb (NZL) 1704
8 – Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 1519
8 – Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 1519
10 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 1512

Bartels and Gilmore Lead Opening Day of Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic

DEE WHY, New South Wales (Wednesday, September 30, 2009) – The opening day of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic saw current ASP World No. 5 Melanie Bartels (HAW), 27, and reigning two-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, lead the world’s best women’s surfers through Round 1 in two-to-three foot (1 metre) surf at Dee Why.

Bartels surfed impressively throughout her entire opening round heat, but found her two best waves in the back half of her bout to claim the highest heat total of the day, an impressive 15.25 out of 20, while capitalizing on a rare barrel, leaving fellow competitors Rosanne Hodge (ZAF), 22, and Amee Donohe (AUS), 28, needing a combination of scores to top the Hawaiian standout.

“I’d been eyeing that little barrel out there,” Bartels said. “I was just waiting and that wave came to me and I was able to find that little barrel which gave me the good score. It’s been such a long time between events that I forgot I was surfing in a contest out there. I just tried to get a wave and surf.”

The explosive Hawaiian veteran started her year off strong with a runner up finish at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast before suffering a 17th place finish at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Bartels was elated to advance directly through to Round 3 at Dee Why and get the second half of her season off in the right direction.

“Bells is a very hard wave and it was really small when we surfed it, so it was tough for me,” Bartels said. “The waves out here are offshore and bigger than two-foot, so it’s perfect, I’m stoked.”

The Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic holds a waiting period from September 30 through October 5, 2009. Event officials will reconvene at Dee Why at 7am local time tomorrow to assess conditions for the potential start of Round 2 at 8am.

Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Rebecca Woods (AUS) 10.45, Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 9.15, Layne Beachley (AUS) 8.25
Heat 2: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 15.25, Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 11.05, Amee Donohoe (AUS) 10.85
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.00, Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.40, Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 12.05
Heat 4: Silvana Lima (BRA) 8.60, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 8.60, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 4.70
Heat 5: Coco Ho (HAW) 10.65, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.35, Alana Blanchard (HAW) 10.25
Heat 6: Samantha Cornish (AUS) 9.55, Paige Hareb (NZL) 7.85, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 6.40

Teiva joyeux with his SHIBI at Teahupoo.

Thanks to Tim for the pic.

Beautiful art work from our artist Nano.

Monyca Byrne-Wickey in LA with her new Gatorade billboard

Here is Monyca Byrne-Wickey on a rooftop in LA with her new Gatorade billboard.

Beautiful morning

Small waves this morning at Noriegas. Loch was already in the water at 6am when i reached him. I took the Shibi 9.0 x 30 x 4 with a beautiful orange flame painting job... A nice guy i met last week surfing came by and tried it. he bought it after 5 minutes!
Easy, stable and radical at the same time he says... I'm pretty happy, Noriegas is my new office !
Francky

Loch Eggers excited about his new Milkman SUP

The swell is still up today, I woke up early and saw Loch riding Noriegas.
Yesterday he received his new Milkman SUP (dimensions are 10.0 x 27.5 x 4.125, squash tail, 2+1 fins), and already surfed it 5 hours between last night and this morning !
Loch's feedback about last night session at Hookipa:

"The board works unreal. For how rough it was condition wise the board paddled really well. The surfing part is a whole another story. The board is the best sup surfing board that I have ever used. When I went to the beach at Hookipa people were checking out the board. Enough said."

A lot of fun to be around the Kazuma kids yesterday !

I took my camera and went for a quick swim at Pavil, it was a lot of fun being around the little Kazuma Army ! So many kids are riding our boards, the new generation of champions is coming, for sure.
Francky