If the ‘08 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast was any indication of how the rest of this years ASP tour will go, there is much to look forward to. The conditions all week at Snapper Rocks and D-bah were average at best. The competition itself however, was exceptional.

THE KING - When it was all said and done, it was a familiar face on the podium. With so much focus on many of the other surfers, he decided to give us all a reminder of what it is that makes him so great. The man has ice-water in his veins. In almost every heat he surfed at the Quik Pro he seemed to pull out huge scores right when he needed them most. He seems to be leaning toward not going to Bell’s, or so he says, but here’s to hoping he shows up. It is a completely different tour without Kelly, and we’ll all be better off if his lead-off victory at Snapper will fuel his fire to continue on in search for his 9th world championship.

THE OTHERS - Although I’m sure its of no consolation to Mick Fanning, Slaters uncommitted stance on surfing a full schedule in ‘08 combined with his runner-up finish at Snapper leave him in a solid position as he starts off his campaign to defend his title. In fact, if the ASP judges continue to reward Mick’s mechanical surfing as much as they did in the Quik Pro, Slater may be the only surfer capable of taking his crown. There is no denying the judges are quite taken with Fanning’s style.

Last years rookie of the year Jeremy Flores picked up right where he left off and has made it known that he deserves to be considered among the title for this year and years to come. He surfs like a young Kelly Slater and will start seeing more and more of the winners circle as he polishes his game. We all know he wants that world title more than anything and it’s only a matter of when he wins it, not if.

Both Parko and Taj came into this year with added pressure and while they killed it early on, both were looking for better results from their Snapper runs. The way they respond at Bells will tell us just how serious they are at making a legitimate title-run.

THE JUDGING - Slater won yesterday, but had Mick pulled off the 8.61 he needed to come out on top at Snapper there would have been a lot more made of the questionable judging. While I’m not sure it’s intentional, there seems to be some real issues with how each judge is scoring a wave. Slater opened his bag of tricks and was surfing creatively while Manning stayed with his conventional massive bottom turns and snaps. Mick’s conventional style scored very well and go towards demonstrating the issue that surfing is facing. Even the judges themselves seem to be at a crossroad when it comes to how they score each maneuver. It will be impossible for the style of surfing on tour to progress if the progression isn’t rewarded. Surfing is headed for a revolution of progression and innovation, and hopefully the ASP judges will begin to see that.

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Leading up to the 2008 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast all of the talk and hype was centered around the ‘Coolie-kids’ as well as Jordy and Dane’s first full year on tour. That was just fine with Kelly as it took much of the focus and pressure off of him.

Eight-time world champion Kelly Slater started of this years ASP world tour on top with an unbelievably impressive performance at Snapper Rocks. Making this victory all the more impressive is the fact that Slater had to face 3-time world champ Andy Irons and then follow that match-up with a semifinal battle with last years rookie of the year Jeremy Flores just to make it to the final.

In the final, Slater overcame hometown favorite (as well as some hometown judging, but more on that later) Mick Fanning 17.94 to 15.23 to claim his second Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast title and position himself atop the ratings for the first time since claiming his last ASP World Crown in 2006.

Where does that leave the future of Slater as far as the tour goes? That seemed to be the question on everyones minds following his triumph. The way it’s looking, with it apparent that not even Slates knows if he’s going to be at the next stop at Bells, that question won’t be answered until the last few days leading up to the event.

So will he continue on to number 9? Who knows. But for now, Congratulations Kelly Slater, the 2008 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Champion!

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Snapper Rocks is definitely heating up. Round 3 of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast came to an end yesterday and saw all of surfing’s heavyweights aligning themselves for a winning run at the WCT’s opening event. Misdirected swells and swinging tide have kept the conditions at Snapper fluctuating and was the motive for an extra five minutes tacked on to every heat. For surfers like Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, and Andy Irons who came out absolutely firing, five minutes was all they needed to seal their spot in the 4th round. For others like Bruce Irons and Bobby Martinez, even with the extra five they could just not get their game going.

RISERS - There were several heats in round 3 that were over just as quickly as they started. Within minutes of making it out to the line-up for their respective heats, Jordy Smith, Fanning, Burrow, and Irons, and many of the other favorites found themselves with nearly insurmountable leads. This early aggressiveness was key in round 3 as the surfers who fell behind early spent the rest of their heats searching for waves that could produce the massive scores needed to compete. With Snapper breaking like it has been, it has made it quite difficult to tell which waves will set up for big rides and which will simply fade. Smith, Burrow, and Irons in particular really unleashed incredible performances in their heats. Taj’s 9.87 was wave of the day as he unleashed an assault of 15 or so brutal turns and snaps on an unsuspecting wave. This guy really looks to be in top form as we move into the 4th round. Slater, Parko, and Dean Morrison all looked as solid as ever in Rd. 3 as well.

DROPPERS - The struggles of Julian Wilson against Fanning was understandable. Before he even knew what hit him, Wilson was facing a combo situation as judges had heavily rewarded the world champ for his series of trademark ‘Fanning swoops’. Possibly cracking under the hype that has surrounded Jordy as well as surfing a break that does not favor goofies, Bobby Martinez really struggled to get anything going whatsoever while Jordy simply did what Jordy does and blew minds. With that being said, Bruce Irons gave what had to be the most disappointing as well as uninspired performance of the round. Paddling out into deteriorating conditions in what was the last heat of the day, Irons look disinterested from the outset. Adrian Buchan put together a solid, but not amazing combination of waves and held an early lead that someone of the caliber of Irons should have easily been able to overtake. But Bruce just sat and sat. It wasn’t until around the 12 minute mark that he finally took off on a wave. Even once up and riding for the first time in the heat, the disinterest was apparent and his body language screamed he would rather be someplace else. Irons finished his Quiksilver Pro bid with a meager score of 6.44 in his outgoing heat. The 3rd round also saw rookie Dane Reynolds get taken out by local Dean Morrison. Reynolds had one wave that scored very solidly, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Morrison’s knowledge of a break he has surfed thousands of times before.

KEY MOMENT - I’m not sure how many who were watching the webcast caught this, but the scoring of Andy Irons top wave in heat 15 surely has to raise the eyebrows of the ASP as well as everyone on the ‘CT. Iron’s wave was definitely on the more ‘unconventional’ side as he followed some vicious snaps with a straight-air and closed the wave off with a 360 off of the lip. He ended up with a 9.17 on the wave which seemed about right. It was how the judges ended up with that score that shows that even they are confused on how to score progressive surfing. Three of the judges gave Irons scores that ranged from 9.6-9.7, and the other two had it at 8.0. How is that possible? In all my life I don’t think I have ever witnessed a range of scoring that large while watching sports that use human judging to decide their winners. There is a clear philosophical difference on the criteria that is being used to score waves as evidenced by a nearly 2 pt. swing in scoring. Obviously there is confusion amongst surfings hierarchy on which direction the sport is moving and what constitutes a championship surfer.

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From the tireless efforts of organizations like Surfrider to individuals like Dave Rastovich who put their livelihood at risk in order to have their voices be heard, I have always believed that surfing is as much about giving back as it is taking that which the ocean gives us. Confirming that belief even more, I recently came across a post from the All Men Are Liars blog that brought to my attention yet another example of the surfing community coming together and making a difference.

The Disabled Surfers Association of Australia has been in existence since 1986. The DSA was founded by surfer Gary Blaschke after he lost a kneecap in a motorcycle accident and he realized how difficult it was for people with disabilities to get into the water. Now with 12 branches around Australia and still growing, the DSA uses voluntary forces to provide those with disabilities an opportunity they would otherwise never have, a chance to ride waves.

Included in the blog post was a video of the Sydney Branch’s recent “Let’s Go Surfing Day” that saw more than 100 disabled people take to the waves at a beach in Australia. Among the participants were over 100 surfers with conditions that would have most of us asking,”Why me?” With the aid and assistance of countless volunteers, they took to the ocean and rode waves as if to say,”Why not me?”

Upon learning that the DSA is without a major sponsor from the surfing community/industry and relies heavily upon individual donations as well as funds raised from cook-outs, I decided to contact them and get more information and find out what assistance was needed. Within a couple of days I received the following letter…

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It’s official, there will be no Eddie. The 23rd annual Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau officially came to a close this weekend. In a year that will go down as the worst ever for waves on the North Shore, it never really had a chance.

The Eddie has always been more than just a big-wave contest. Aside from giving surfers from around the world a chance to prove themselves against the original “big-wave”, it provides a yearly opportunity for the surfing community to honor the legend that is Eddie Aikau.

Since it’s inaugural running in 1985, the Eddie has only actually ran seven times. Event organizers are as strict as any when it comes to making the call to hold the contest, as evidenced by the words of contest director George Downing;

Of course, we would love to have had the contest this year, but the one thing we’ll never do is compromise the standards we have set. It’s that 20-foot-plus standard that sets Waimea apart from other big-wave venues and that made the place special to Eddie.

I guess when you are honoring a man whose countless acts of heroism and big-wave prowess inspired the most famous three words in surfing, “Eddie would go”, compromising your standards is simply not an option. And that is what gives the Eddie the prestige that it holds. It’s more than just a big-wave event, it’s a tribute to a legend.

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I’m not exactly sure why new apparel startup Amph (short for amphibian) was quietly going along with their business while planning for a stealth launch. Just as the ASR Blog mentioned, I was just recently alerted to Amph through a press release.

It doesn’t really make sense to me that a new company, who has obvious ties to O’neill, would sit out the two biggest trade shows our industry has to offer. None-the-less, Amph is here and after digging around a bit it seems like a fairly interesting model that is poised to progress the sport of surfing.

Pushing the sport of surfing in the name of Amph are Charly Martin, Christophe Allary, Hugo Savalli and Justin Mujica. The four surfers form part of The Amph Program – dedicated to breaking the boundaries of surfing with radical and progressive tricks. With no rules or limitations, the riders will be pushing themselves on the best waves around the world in order to bring something fresh to the sport.

Now here is what I really like about the Amph model, and it’s really a whole other post in itself but I’ll touch on it briefly here. Sponsoring progressive surfers and putting no rules or limitations on them. This is a good move as I see this as the obvious direction that surfing is headed.

I hate to say it because I love surfing for what it is, but you can’t deny that the sport is evolving rapidly. In the last 10 years it’s happened to other sports in our industry, such as skiing and motocross. They both took on serious freestyle movements that refreshed these sports. Surfing is now poised to take on a similar progressive transformation.

With the anticipation of what surfers such as Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith (not to mention the countless others who aren’t in quite the big spotlight like Jamie O’Brien) are bringing to the table, one can’t help but notice the difference in surfing between the new generation and the old. It’s way more exciting and progressive and you can tell which style the kids prefer. I’m getting ahead of myself though…

Back on the topic of Amph. They are set to launch and should be in stores this coming month. No word yet on which stores will carry this line but I’d imagine they will come out in force as they have O’neill backing them. Will Amph play a role in progressing the sport of surfing? Not really, but it sounds like they’ll be right there to support it.

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The concept being used in the Ultimate Boarder competition is a unique one, but will it excite and attract the full attention of the action sports industry as it has set out to do? Judging by the caliber of athletes they’ve already attracted and a prize purse of $50,000, they just might.

Opening its field to both amateur and professional athletes, the Ultimate Boarder, held from April 13-19, gives unknown riders a chance to shine alongside the pros and compete for the first-ever Ultimate Boarder championship and a first place prize of $30,000. At the completion of each event competitors will be ranked 1st through 50th place. The contestant who consistently places the highest in all three sports and has the lowest number of ranking points overall will be crowned the Ultimate Boarder. Athletes must compete in all three sports in order to be included in the final event results and be eligible for the prize purse.

The snowboarding portion of the event will be held at Squaw Valley, the surfing will be done at “C” Street in Ventura, and they will wrap it up with skateboarding and the awards ceremony at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

I’ve seen variations of this format attempted before, but obviously none that have made enough noise to stick around. Take a look at some of the contestants who have already thrown their names in the hat to be the first Ultimate Boarder and you’ll see why this is a contest you’ll want to keep your eyes on. Omar Hassan, Andy Finch, John John Florence, Todd Richards, Tosh Townend, and many more have already confirmed their attendance at the competition. Follow that line-up with judges like Jim Rippey, Shaun Thomson, and Christian Hosoi, and the Ultimate Boarder has sufficient star-power to become a mainstay in the action sports industry.

With athletes more than likely dominating in their specific sport, it’s going to come down to whoever has polished their game enough in the other two categories. We all know what John John can do on a surfboard, but how will he fare on the mountain? Being from Hawaii I can’t imagine he gets too much time on the snow. This is where a contest of this nature will really get interesting.

No word yet on if Shaun White has decided to enter. If the ‘flying-tomato’ does decide that he’s in, the Ultimate Boarder may as well have a check already printed up with his name on it.

In between sessions of highly contested ping-pong battles at the 5ones office last night, I decided to take advantage of the break in action and flip open the April 2008 edition of Surfing Magazine. Particularly stoked on finding the ‘North Shore In Black and White’ section, I found myself thumbing through the pages and making my way to my intended destination. No sooner than my mag-browsing sixth sense alerts me that I’m only pages away from said section do I end up face to face with an advertisement for Affliction Clothing.

Did I miss the boat on this one? Is there something that I just am not seeing when it comes to Affliction and surfing? To be clear, my issue isn’t at all with Affliction. Clearly they are doing something right when it comes to marketing and their bottom line. It’s everywhere and continues to spread like wildfire. It was just surprising to find myself toe-to-toe with an ad for skull-patch laden black leather boots while trying to lose myself in the North Shore ‘07/’08 season recap.

Where is this connection between surfing and Affliction coming from? I’m fully aware of the crossover made by many wave-riders into the blossoming sport of Mixed Martial-Arts and have all of the respect in the world equally for those who have been passionate about the sport for years as those who have just recently taken up training. However, this is different than the connection between RVCA and BJ Penn. It’s nearly impossible for me to see anything positive whatsoever brought to the surfing community/industry by the infiltration of a brand like Affliction that thrives on the ‘tough-guy’ image into our sport.

I realize Affliction is just doing it’s job by seeking to capitalize on the growth and expansion of MMA into other markets. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I guess I never expected the decision-makers at Surfing to open their publication to a brand that in my opinion doesn’t have any business, other than business, being there. Hopefully Surfing Magazine realizes that surfing is about setting trends, not following them.

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The second round of the Quiksilver Pro found Snapper Rocks coming back to form following several days of small-surf and uncooperative conditions. Snapper wasn’t alone in returning to it’s form as 2 time world-champ Andy Irons opened up and let loose in the opening heat of the day to put a quick end to 16 yr. old trials winner Tamaroa McCombs run and avoid what would have been an absolutely disastrous T-33rd finish for A.I. in the inaugural event of the ASP Tour. In a stark contrast to his demeanor in and out of the water during the opening round, the former world-champ sounded quite pleased with the way he surfed Tuesday, and after posting a 9.70 to seal his spot in the 3rd round he has every reason to be.

I haven’t gotten a 9 in about six months so it felt unreal. I haven’t made heats in a while and I guess I just haven’t been into it. In the offseason I really had to think about that and now I’m really psyched. I want to be here and I want to do well. I like to win heats and it feels good. It’s my new buzz.

ROOKIE WATCH - The frosh class pulled off some very impressive victories Tuesday, setting up some interesting match-ups in the upcoming 3rd round. Jordy Smith surfed a flawless heat and Dane Reynolds fired away and both move on to face Bobby Martinez and Dean Morrison respectively. Julian Wilson narrowly edged out Pancho Sullivan to move onto the 3rd round as well. This was a particularly surprising result to me as I really expected Pancho to do well with the way he had been surfing as of late.

INJURY WATCH - Fred Patacchia was unable to get the his ankle back into good enough condition and Jay “Bottle” Thompson moved on as a result. Aritz Aranburu also wasn’t able to go, giving Neco Padaratz (my dark-horse contestant) an easy pass into the next round of action.

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While Luke Munro, Dane Reynolds, and Damien Hobgood were laying it down at Duranbah during the 15th heat of the 1st round at the Quiksilver Pro, Tom Carroll and Kelly Slater joined Todd Kline and were on the call at the announcers booth over at Snapper Rocks.

I wrote the other day about how intriguing it was to listen to Carroll and Slater and the unique perspective that two legends with a combined 10 world championships between them brought to the webcast. Given the fact that Slater is still active (for now anyway) on the tour it was interesting to hear his thoughts on this years ‘CT. What struck me the most, however, was a question he raised as the conversation became more directed to Dane Reynolds and his potential as a pro-surfer.

Carroll and Kline were calling the current wave when out of nowhere Slater let loose the question, “Is Dane Reynolds the next Martin Potter?” Kline seemed fairly taken back by the question and somewhat surprised, even asking if that was one of the questions that had been submitted by online viewers for the booth to answer. It wasn’t. Slater threw that question out there to the universe and seemed genuinely interested in finding out the answer. He isn’t the only one either.

Is Dane Reynolds the next Martin Potter? Growing up my two favorite surfers were my father and Martin Potter. Aside from being the first person to put me on a board (Fact:coming in slightly behind giving birth, that is second on the list of greatest things a parent can do for their child), my dad could really charge. And Potter, he was to my gromhood what I suspect Jordy Smith and Dane are to most of surfings newest generation. He was ‘the next big thing’ in surfing. He was the surfer who many in the era of A.P.E. gloves and “North Shore” wanted to surf like. In fact, the 8-time world champ himself even patterned his style after Potter’s, plastering his walls with shots of Potter putting his trademark green-and-yellow explosion boards in positions that no one had ever seen before. That is part of what makes Slaters putting this question out into the universe all the more interesting.

The line on Potter as he made his way up the ranks is the same one that Dane is facing today. Potter was explosive, innovative, and unleashed on waves in ways that were never before imagined, much like the way that Reynolds is currently surfing. With the intense 25-stop tours that were held in those days, Potters style simply wasn’t conducive to winning a world-title. It was renowned conservatives and contest machines like Damien Hardman and Barton Lynch that persevered throughout the tour and stayed consistent enough to win it all. Once Potter admittedly decided to rein in his aggressive, all-out style, he blew away the field in the ‘89 season in a way like no one else had before.

Here we are at the beginning of the 2008 ASP Tour and the world of surfing is watching closely, waiting to find out. Will Dane Reynolds be willing to rein it in enough to produce the consistent results needed to win it all? Slater said himself that “Dane surfing at 70% is better than most greats surfing at 100%.”

Facing top contest machines like Mick Fanning, Andy Irons, and the fellow rookie Smith, that may be the only way Reynolds will ever finish the year on top. It all comes down to where winning a world championship falls on Dane’s list of priorities and right now, it seems that Dane himself isn’t even sure where that is. When asked about Smith and his future on the ‘CT, Dane said…

He lives to win heats and he loves winning, and I just know that he’s going onto be world champion, and that’s not where I’m headed. I don’t like to be compared to him, because I feel like I’m being put on this big disappointing sort of thing where I’m going to let people down, but I’m just not headed there.

With this only being Dane’s inaugural year as a full-timer on the tour, it’s still too early to tell what direction he’s headed. One thing is certain, he is an absolutely phenomenal surfing talent and whether he decides to be a ‘tour-surfer’ or not he will undoubtedly have as big an influence on what goes on in the water as any we’ve ever seen. He is that good and beyond. Will winning championships become imperative enough to surf at 70% as ‘The King’ suggested? Only time will tell, but I have a feeling it will. Right now, Dane is at the very beginning of a long career in surfing. And years from now, after it’s all said and done, Slater, myself, and the rest of the surfing community will have their answer to the question, “Is Dane Reynolds the next Martin Potter?”

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