Amidst speculation that recent weeks of being hammered by La Nina weather had ripped out a lot of the sand that makes Snapper Rocks the world-class break that it is, it appears that all is well as the Komunity Project Trials of the 2008 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast are set to get underway at Snapper. As of last night most of the Gold Coast was in the 4-6 ft. range with winds blowing offshore. If the pattern continues to hold it there will be some very rippable conditions.

Earlier in the week, ASP Tour President Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew voiced his concern over the havoc wreaked by the storms that have pounded the Gold Coast.

Two weeks ago I was still concerned, but desirable conditions have since cooperated in streaming sand back into Snapper and with another week’s pumping I think we’ll be okay.

It looks like Rabbit was right on and Snapper appears to be coming to form. With as stoked as we all are on this years tour, did we really think it would happen any other way?

The 16 trialists are Dale Richards (AUS), Clay Marzo (HAW), Chris Salisbury (AUS), Troy Brooks (AUS), Garrett Parkes (AUS), Alain Riou (PYF), Ry Craike (AUS), Shane Bevan (AUS), Tamaroa McComb (PYF), Jadson Andre (BRA), Trevor Tripcony (AUS), Corey Ziems (AUS), Jay Phillips (AUS), Mitch Coleburn (AUS) and Blake Ainsworth (AUS).

With the 2008 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast rapidly approaching to kick-off this year’s Mens ASP Tour, all attention will be squarely directed at Coolangata in anticipation of who will come out up on top and thus take the pole-position in the what is setting up to be one of the most highly-charged and competitive tours to date.

Just how crucial is it going to be to stand up on the podium and receive an over-sized cardboard check following this event? The last two world-champions(Slater ‘06/Fanning’07) have both started their title-runs with victories at the season-opener. Formerly an ASP WQS 6-star venue, Quiksilver launched their initial Quiksilver Pro ASP World Tour event at Snapper Rocks in 2002. In that time, Slater is the only event-winner to hail from outside of Australia. His victory came at nearby Duranbah after a finals battle with Taj Burrow in three-foot surf. With half of the top 10 seeded surfers on Tour residing in the land down under and the ‘Coolie Kids’ holding a solid ‘home-break’ advantage, it’s going to be super important for any surfer that holds high hopes of taking home surfings crown at years end to start their 2008 campaign off in impressive fashion.

Will a poor showing at the Pro Gold Coast kill the chances of title hopefuls? With the best ‘9 of 11′ results format that the ASP is using to decide this years champ, a bad result here certainly isn’t going to dash any visions of being carried up the beach and showered with goodies, flowers, and champagne. It will just put an unnecessary element of added pressure to let it fly at the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach which follows a few weeks later, which itself has shown the likelihood of an eventual top 5 finish at the end of the year for the events most recent winners.

With as deep and talented a pool as the ASP has ever fielded chomping at the bit and raring to go, anything less than a top 5 result in, at the very least, one of the two Aussie’ events may be prove to be just too big of a mountain to climb as the Tour moves on. For anyone, especially outside of Kelly, A.I.,and the Australian contingent, who plans on coming out of Australia with any dreams of capturing the title, this weekends Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast definitely needs to be the intended site of their coming-out party.

In what I view as a clear result of the endless buzz and hype that’s been building in anticipation of the 2008 ASP World Tour as well as the sport of surfing in general, U.S. bookmaker BetUs has arrived to be the first and only U.S. bookmaker to field for both the 2008 WCT, World title Futures market and this weekend’s Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast. Following suit are the South Africans and it’s pretty easy to see why the bookmakers at Black Pearl are also throwing out their own odds for the 2008 WCT. A quick way of checking out the different odds and find the best betting partner comes in the form of Surfing-Odds.com. It was quite interesting to take a look at the odds listed by the various bookkeepers and see where they had everyone set as the Tour approaches.

To be honest, I’ve never really thought too much about betting on surfing. In fact, I’ve never really done any type of serious betting in general so this really made me curious. I lobbed a couple of inquiries in the direction of close friends that I knew who had done some betting to see what their thoughts on this were. They both replied that they had never really given it much thought and one replied that the lack of television coverage weakens his interest because it hampers his ability to watch his bet take place, and that is half the fun.

Is there a sizable group that regularly or occasionally puts bets down on surfing events? I’m really not sure, although I’m positive the bookmakers must think so. Now that bookmakers in the U.S. are fielding bets, will betting on surfing in increase in the States? Only time will tell.

A closer look at the DNA that makes up the sport of surfing reveals an immensely deep heritage of revolutionary characters and time-periods. There have been countless pioneers throughout the days before us whose style and innovation have paved the way to make this modern era of surfing the wonder that it is.

One of the most crucial and vital time periods for surfing and its evolution came during the 1940’s on the beach cities of Los Angeles. I was recently given the privilege of sitting down to chat with a man by the name of Chuck L. Riley. I’m sure there are few, if any, of our readers that are in anyway familiar with his name. What made me so intrigued to sit and pick his brain was his growing-up and experiencing life as a teenager while in the midst of one of surfings great revolutions.

His description of the vibrant atmosphere that surrounded the communities of Manhattan, Hermosa, and Redondo Beaches during the mid-1940’s almost took me right there as he described what it was like to see the rise of such influential giants as Greg Noll, Dale Velzy, and Bob & Bill Meistrell right before his very eyes.

Here are some of my favorite excerpts of my conversation with Chuck L. Riley-

5ones - Chuck, thank you so much for your time, we really appreciate this. So tell us, what was it like growing up in those towns during the ’40s?

Chuck Riley - Oh God, it was incredible… Hermosa, Redondo, and Manhattan Beach were wonderful communities to grow-up in, especially during that time. Each city had phenomenal beaches to surf at and piers to fish from. Spring through Fall brought fabulous runs of Halibut, Barracuda, and Bonita and kept the piers packed with a melting pot of personalities. There were men like Jim Thorpe, Oscar Bessonette, and a young kid by the name of Greg Noll.

5’s - Greg Noll? Da Bull? What was he like at the time?

C.R. - This skinny little tow-head was one of the cutest kids to ever grace the Manhattan Beach Pier. He had a tremendous energy about him and was all over the place. All who knew him really enjoyed him. He was given the nickname ‘Termite’ and there was no indication at the time that he world one day be referred to as ‘Da Bull’ and go on to pioneer big-wave surfing. Bobby Meistrell loves to tell the story of his having to pull Greg out of the surf when he got in a little over his head one day. Who would have ever known this little rascal would go on to ride the worlds biggest waves someday and become one of surfings greatest legends?

5’s - Unreal!, ‘Da Bull’ used to be the ‘Termite’? Now you mentioned the Meistrells, they are the founders of Body Glove, correct?

C.R. - Correct! Bobby and (the late)Billy Meistrell were some of my closest high-school buddies. They are absolutely fantastic people. They were members of the great El Segundo swim teams that ended up compromising most of the 1952 Olympic Water-Polo team. The Meistrells were world-class skin divers. They developed “Dive & Surf”(which still runs today) and ultimately went on to create Body Glove.

5’s - The surfing scene in the 40’s…..What was that like? What were guys riding on?

C.R. - I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was 11 yrs. old on the south of Manhattan Beach Pier and a man by the name of Al Holland brought down some of the 1st hollow, plywood boards. There was a puka in back you had to plug so it would stay afloat and they were around 7ft. in length. They were surfed by all until Velzy began making his first balsa boards. Dale Velzy was a fine natural athlete himself, an excellent surfer, and all of the girls sure loved Dale. You want to talk about passion for what they did, those days the guys surfed 12 months out of the year wearing only trunks!

5’s - It really sounds like it was an incredible era to grow up in and experience?

C.R. - It was, it really was.

Reigning world champ and Coolie-local Mick Fanning has been given a clean bill of health leading up to the commencement of his title defense this weekend at the season-opening Quiksilver Pro, starting at Snapper Rocks on Thursday.

As previously covered, Fanning suffered a hairline fracture while on a snowboarding voyage to Japan over the holidays. As expected, his arm has healed just fine and Fanning couldn’t be more stoked as his reign as champion will begin right in his own back yard.

The wrist’s fine - I’ve been surfing virtually since I got back from Japan, even with the cast on… I’m feeling fit and healthy, I’ve got some great boards and I’m just really excited to start competing again.

Fanning, and everyone else for that matter, is expecting Kelly Slater to come out firing from the opening horn. With that being said, he believes his biggest threats will come from fellow “Coolangatta Kids” Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison, who are both past winners of the event.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. With the the line-up of so many phenomenal surfers ready to go, the 2008 ASP Tour is certainly shaping up to be one of the most competitive and exciting tours ever. There will be a lot of pressure to start the season off with solid results at Snapper and the “Coolie Kids” wealth of knowledge when it comes to this break definitely has to be seen as an advantage.

In case you have somehow (in which case you’re probably not a surfer) not heard yet…This guy is pretty damn good. Jordy Smith racked up another honor for himself by being named the Surfer of the Year for the second consecutive year at the South African Surfing Awards at the International Convention Centre in Durban on Saturday night.

If Smith keeps heading in the direction he’s going, his record contract with O’Neill is most definitely going to come in handy when it comes time to shell out the dough for building a trophy case large enough to hold all of the accolades this young man is sure to amass throughout his career. I for one am eager to watch this kid write what will at least be a few pages of surfing history. Congratulations, once again, to Jordy Smith.

The arrival of new goods at our office always finds us more than willing to give the action sports industry’s latest creations a whirl. The crew over at Trunq recently sent us their surf utility-box to scope out, and scope we did…

What is the surf utility-box? Here are Trunqs own words describing their product -

Trunq’s first product the TRUNQ Surf Utility Box was created as a way to clean up the mess and clutter that accompanies a surfing lifestyle. To satisfy this need Trunq designed a product to make the trip to the local break more organized, secure and hassle free. The Trunq Surf Utility Box eliminates the mess in your car, keeps all your surf gear consolidated, and makes the overall surf experience more enjoyable. The convenience of TRUNQ products allows a surfer to focus on the search for great waves rather than wasting time searching for surf gear.

There is no better way of putting a product to the test then throwing it right into action. We at 5ones are pretty much open to any and every excuse to go surfing, and this seemed as worthy a cause as any. So after showing the Trunq off to some of the crew and gathering some initial feedback, we loaded it up and headed down for an always welcome Sunday afternoon session. Here are a few thoughts I had after putting the Trunq to use.

I can definitely see how having something designed specifically for the purpose of keeping your surf gear organized and together can be crucial to the surfing experience. Surf wax, board-combs, and fin-keys are constantly popping up in the most random places around my house and usually end up nowhere to be found when needed most. The Trunq is useful in the rounding up and storing of all the odds and ends around that go along with surfing. It made it really convenient to have one place to stash all of the little goodies that I usually end up cramming in my pockets and around my car when heading out.

The Trunq comes with a mat to use while changing in and out of your wetsuit. It’s lightweight and super easy to clean and sure beats having to throw a towel on the ground in order to avoid gravel and gnarly street grime getting all over your suit during the change before and after a paddle out.

The lock - This is where the Trunq lost me just a tad. To get the full effect, I planned on actually taking the trunk down to the beach with me and locking it up. The only problem was that there was absolutely nothing within site to lock it to once we got there. I can foresee this being somewhat of a common issue at most beaches. I will most likely just leave the Trunq in the back of my car, which I always keep locked anyway. I imagine it could be useful to have the lock for boat trips or camping trips when you’re not able to be right next to your gear and want to make sure no unwanted guests go rummaging through. Their site does also mention the option of using the lock on snowboards as well which I can see making sense.

Where does that leave us on the Trunq? Everyone that had the chance to peep it pretty much agreed it would be something useful and convenient to have, especially in the case of those who regularly make the direct surf-work/school or work/school-surf commutes. Will it be something that we’ll all go out and plunk $60 on? This is where opinions took somewhat separate paths. It all comes down to the increase an individual surfer feels the Trunq will bring to the quality of their surfing life.

While taking my daily news-cruise I came upon another story of surfers putting themselves on the front line against the all-out assault on our environment. This time it was 15 Aussie surfers and kayakers that went as far as to put their lives at risk in order to protest the dredging of a channel off of Port Phillip Bay. They paddled out right through the ships exclusion zone and came within yards of the massive ship and it’s dredging equipment. They all ended up with a $176 fine and a scolding from the local police, but were successful in making sure that their voices were heard.

Did they take it to far by risking their lives to make their point? There are points to be made on either side. What is clear is that the surfing community is as in touch, if not more so, with what is going on with the environment as any other. After recently receiving tickets to Jack Johnson’s Kokua Festival I checked out their site was extremely impressed with the measure’s they have taken to be ‘green’. Some of the methods they have implemented in order to be bio-friendly include offering eco-friendly merchandise such as reusable tote bags, bottles, and organic cotton clothing, as well as a $2 option used to offset emissions from their personal travel to and from the show. More and more surf contests are being fueled with bio-diesel and clothing companies are making a point of using recycled materials in the production of clothing and shoes.

The success of The Surfrider Foundation and local communities coming together and stopping the proposed Trestles toll-road has been a well-documented example of how closely knit and well-informed the surfing community as well as its industry really is. Surfers continue to rise up for cause after cause and I imagine this trend will only continue to grow as more awareness is risen in regard to the damage being done against the environment.

Charged by plenty of waves and aloha for all, the QuiksilverEdition Ku Ikaika Challenge went off on Valentine’s day and ended up producing Aaron Napoleon as the winner of the first-ever big wave stand-up paddleboard competition. On a classic, typical Makaha day, Napoleon surfed through five rounds of the contest, charging hard and getting shacked while posting one of the event’s two ten-point rides in the process. There are few settings in the world that combine surfing heritage with natural beauty and world-class waves the way Makaha does, and all you had to do was listen to Napoleon talk about his day to know how stoked everyone was with how well the contest went down. “If you could have been out there and seen how the water and the waves looked from where I was, it was so beautiful, man, I was in heaven.”

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that stand-up paddleboarding is here to stay and spreading like crazy. A short walk up to the beach for my daily surf-check today revealed as many paddleboarders as I’ve ever seen out at one time and their numbers will surely continue to grow. As it does, we will continue to witness more events like the Ku Ikaika as well as stand-up paddleboarders worldwide continuing to push the limit on what is possible for this blossoming sport.

With just 16 days of the three-month holding period for the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational In Memory of Eddie Aikau remaining, the mighty Pacific Ocean is bouncing back to life after what has been, to up until this point of the year anyway, an overall disappointing season on the North Shore. The new swell lifted hopes that the event would be able to run today, however it was called off this morning once organizers realized that although the surf was big, it just wasn’t big enough for Eddie. However, with the new found energy being seen in the ocean and large swells forecast for the next week or so, there are still hopes and realistic chances that one of the premier big-wave surfing events in the world will still be able to run this year.

Although the swell didn’t materialize to the level that many had hoped for, it did carry enough size and was in the right direction to give the the one-day Quiksilver Edition Ku Ikaika Challenge it’s chance to get going and heats began earlier today. The world’s first big-wave international stand-up paddle surfing competition is being held over at Makaha and will give those jonesing for a big-wave surf contest at the very least something to hold them over until the size is up to par for Eddie’s standards. With over 15,000 big ones at stake and the chance to see some of the worlds best paddle-boarders go at it in heavy surf, the Ku Ikaika presents a great opportunity to those able to make the trek out to the west side of Oahu.