Entering the 2009 year on the ASP World Tour sans a major sponsor probably isn’t something Bobby Martinez ever anticipated taking place. However, when a well-publicized contract dispute with longtime sponsor Reef sent the two their separate ways, that’s exactly where the Santa Barbara, Ca. surfer found himself. Driven to once again prove himself as one of the top all-around surfers in the world, sponsored or not, Bobby Martinez claimed another WCT victory at Teahupo’o yesterday by beating out Taj Burrow to win the 2009 Billabong Pro Tahiti.

The win is the second for Martinez at Teahupo’o and his fourth world tour victory overall. From start to finish, Bobby surfed with as much poise, patience, style and confidence as I’ve seen him surf a ‘CT event in quite some time. While Taj was relentless in the final heat, Bobby Martinez was just way too in sync with the wave at Teahupo’o for Burrows to even have a shot. Even with the dominant performance, Martinez’ humble nature shined through in his post-victory comments. “I got lucky finding the good waves and things just seemed to work out for me today,” said Martinez. When GT asked him about the hefty cardboard check that was heading his way, Martinez was quick to let him know that today’s win at Teahupo’o was about much more than the financial reward. “I didn’t start surfing to make money. It’s about the feeling the feeling I feel right now. The money could never overcome the experience of having this feeling.”

A huge congratulations goes out to Bobby Martinez- winner of the 2009 Billabong Pro Tahiti.

*On a side note- I’d also like to thank Billabong for pairing up Joel Parkinson and Andy Irons in the commentary booth, even if it was for just one heat. The combo of A.I. and Parko was classic and made for some truly golden exchanges.

If it seems like it’s been forever since the Billabong Pro Tahiti first got underway…it pretty much has been. Between tricky winds and a crossed up swell pattern, Billabong’s contest director Luke Egan has had a hell of a time making the decision to pull the trigger on Rd. 2. Considering he had Billabong’s cash crop surfers Joel Parkinson and Andy Irons scheduled to surf the second and third heats once the call was made, you have to imagine Egan has had all the input he could possibly want or need. Nonetheless, the event is finally back on. Conditions at Teahupo’o aren’t exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Tahitian beast, however they are expected to improve as the day goes on.

While Mother Nature’s fickleness has wreaked havoc on the Billabong Pro, Tahiti itself hasn’t been without excitement. The crew at Surfline has some smooth, visually stimulating footage available of super-sessions that have taken place in the downtime. The clip of Kelly Slater and Manoa Drollet’s session at a dream-like right has already reached legendary status. That’s been folllowed up with footage of A.I., Parko, Occy, and Slater blowing up a left not far from the contest site at Teahupo’o. This includes a shot of Kelly dropping in and getting covered up while surfing goofy-footed.

The beauty of what was taking place in the water and the majesty of Tahiti was accompanied with a bit of drama on land. Apparently a semi-secret meeting was held between the ASP and top 45. A few of the guys on tour aren’t thrilled with the new format and wanted to share their feelings regarding this issue. A post on The Extreme Scene summed up that situation quite well.

Having said all that, the Billabong Pro Tahiti is indeed back up and running at Teahupo’o. If you can’t make it to the water yourself, it’s always entertaining to watch a few of the world’s best go to work. You can see all of the live action here

For those who have yet to witness, Da Hui has taken to YouTube to share their feelings regarding Billabong and the ASP. Their point of conflict lies with a trials format that only allows 1 local surfer into the main event of the Billabong Pro Tahiti; a far cry from the 16 spots allotted by the Pipeline Masters. In the letter addressed to “Tahitian surfers of the Tahitian Surfing Federation and all it may concern”, a spokesman for Da Hui eloquently refers to the ASP and Billabong as “money-hungry pig idiots” and informed the Tahitians that “its time to stick out your chests, not your asses.”

I’m not going to pretend to know the inner-workings of the ASP and Billabong’s arrangement with Tahiti or their apparent monopoly of Teahupo’o. And no one would argue that there isn’t more than just 1 local surfer capable of hanging with and beating anyone on the Dream Tour. All you need to do is look at Manoa Drollet’s brilliant 2008 performance as evidence of how talented and dialed in the native surfers are when it comes to their wave. Over the years, Billabong has no doubt reaped a hefty reward from the natural wonder that is Teahupo’o. Opening the door for a few more local surfers to prove themselves under the bright lights of the ASP World Tour would certainly go a long way to further show their appreciation.

Where the stance taken by Da Hui gets confusing is their citing of the 16 wildcard spots allowed at the Pipeline Masters. They say that “all Polynesians should be allowed to have their talent shine and not have it blemished by foreigners”. Yet if you look at the list of the 14 wildcards who have already been confirmed for the 2009 event, it would be a stretch to say that even 50% would qualify as native Hawaiians or Polynesians. Considering it’s a system that’s left out past Pipeline Masters Rob Machado and Bruce Irons for this year’s event, it might not be a bad idea to re-evaluate the format being used at Pipeline as well. The ‘peer poll’ method used to select 6 of the final 16 especially leaves a lot to be desired. When Jamie O’Brien barely squeaks in at number 6 for the Pipe Masters, it might be time to go back to the drawing board.

While there’s no question changes could be made to allow more of the top native talent into the main event at Teahupo’o, I’m not exactly sure the Pipeline Masters has proven itself to be the gold standard on this matter.

Looks like it’s just about time for Billabong to start shelling out again. The nominees for the 9th version of the Billabong XXL awards were recently announced and the talent is as stacked as ever. With their press release reference to being known as surfing’s version of the academy awards, Billabong obviously sees this show as head and shoulders above the other award shows currently featured in the industry.

“The winners will be announced on Friday, April 17, 2009 at the ninth-annual invitation-only awards gala at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California before 2,250 surf world VIPs. The entire night’s festivities will be webcast live on the event website and will also be the focus of a one-hour television special airing on the ESPN2 network on the evening of May 29.”

The grand poobah of the XXL is the Ride Of The Year award. With top honors pulling down a smooth $55,000 between surfer and filmer, the winning team will no doubt be able to finance plenty of post-XXL awards show debauchery for all of the contestants nominated. Our pick? It appears it will once again come down to rides from Teahupoo or Shipstern’s Bluff. Shane Dorian’s 2008 winner at Teahupoo bodes well for Garrett McNamara’s 2009 entry. However, based on the opinions of a focus group that consisted of some of Nicaragua’s top up and coming rippers, we’re going to make the call that Ryan Hipwood’s bit of madness at Shipstern’s Bluff will indeed win top honors this year.

On a side note, If Mark Healey’s wave at Yeti doesn’t end up pulling in the win for Monster Tube, there could very well be rioting in the streets. To grab a look at all of the finalists, just head over to Billabong XXL’s home site.

The boys over at Billabong have created a new wetsuit technology that uses solar energy, yes solar energy, that uses the sun’s heat to warm the suit. It is said to be 30% warmer than any other suit, except of course the Rip Curl H-Bomb. The MeSurf team is the first I’ve seen to break the news of this wetsuit and they are said to be getting one soon for a full review, so stay tuned.

The r+d team at Billabong have come up with a great new way to keep you warm during the season that matters most as a surfer…winter. Having a suit that blocks the wind and holds out water is one thing, having a suit that will heat you up using the solar energy, that is another!

From what I can tell, the suit will be available in Australia in a couple months and be priced in the $500-$600 range. No word yet on if, or when, this suit will make it’s way to the US.

There’s just one problem. What happens when the sun isn’t shining?

The bru’s over at Stab Magazine just released these juicy little nugget’s of industry information.

- Andy Irons will take next year off to chill and do some surf trips. He will aim for a wildcard in 2010. Billabong is backing him all the way, and has just given him a new five-year deal. (Parko’s just signed up for another five, too.)

- Wonder why Bobby Martinez has been shredding Pipe with no stickers on the nose of his board? He’s no longer riding for Reef. Despite the tough economic times (and his management persuading him to put ink on paper), Bobby walked away from an offer that was three-quarters of what he’d asked for. When he simmered down, Bobby went back to Reef, saying okay, I’ll take the deal, but Reef had withdrawn. It’s gonna be tough trying to find a company with $500k kicking round in its marketing budget right now. But Bob has signed some of the smarter deals in surfing. Remember seeing huge Monster energy drink green and black “M” on the bottom and deck of his board? Rumors suggest this nets him around $US300k.

- As always, Dane’s endorsements are the subject of constant speculation. The latest has it that the golden child is going to break his deal with Quik to join Analog. With Burton’s backing, Analog’s certainly got the cash. But Dane has not suggested he’s even thinking about moving, so the rumour remains unfounded.

The Andy Irons info actually makes a lot of sense. Time away from the Dream Tour has worked out well for past champions Curren, Occy, and Slater. And if Billabong is backing this, chances are there will be unreal amounts of fresh footage of Irons freesurfing to look forward to next year.

As for the industry as a whole, especially regarding sponsorships, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming month with the economy being what it is. Everyone is re-evaluating their financial strategies and chances are we’ll be hearing more stories similar to the Bobby Martinez/Reef situation.

What more can you say? Kelly Slater continued his re-writing of the record books with an unheard of 6th Pipeline Masters victory today at the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii. Slater took out San Clemente, Ca. surfer Chris Ward in a rainy and slow final heat on his way to another incredible victory.

With the final being prefaced with an expression session that included Gerry Lopez, Rory Russell, Bonga Perkins, and Garrett McNamara, it was only fitting that the celebrations of legendary surfers continued with Slater taking home another win at Pipeline.

Congratulations Kelly Slater, winner of the 2008 Billabong Pipeline Masters.

Check back for a full Pipe Masters Recap-

Winners of the Pipeline Masters
2008 Kelly Slater 2007 Bede Durbidge 2006 Andy Irons 2005 Andy Irons 2004 Jamie O’Brien 2003 Andy Irons Hawaii 2002 Andy Irons Hawaii 2001 Bruce Irons Hawaii 2000 Rob Machado California 1999 Kelly Slater Florida 1998 Jake Paterson Australia 1997 John Gomes Hawaii 1996 Kelly Slater Florida 1995 Kelly Slater Florida 1994 Kelly Slater Florida 1993 Derek Ho Hawaii 1992 Kelly Slater Florida 1991 Tom Carroll Australia 1990 Tom Carroll Australia 1989 Gary Elkerton Australia 1988 Robby Page Australia 1987 Tom Carroll Australia 1986 Derek Ho Hawaii 1985 Mark Occhilupo Australia 1984 Joey Buran USA 1983 Dane Kealoha Hawaii 1982 Michael Ho Hawaii 1981 Simon Anderson Australia 1980 Mark Richards Australia 1979 Larry Blair Australia 1978 Larry Blair Australia 1977 Rory Russel Hawaii 1976 Rory Russel Hawaii 1975 Shaun Tomson South Africa 1974 Jeff Crawford USA 1973 Gerry Lopez Hawaii 1972 Gerry Lopez Hawaii 1971 Jeff Hakman Hawaii

As expected, the rain and Kona winds have kept the 2008 Billabong Pipeline Masters from running it’s final day of action today. Conditions at Pipe are a sloppy, wind-blown 2-3 ft; nothing even close to being worthy of crowning a champion for the prestigious event.

Fresh off chasing swell in the Caroline Islands, 9x world champion Kelly Slater showed up just in time for his 3rd Round heat against wildcard Ezra Sitt. He promptly busted out his 5′10″ and proceeded to cruise to an easy heat win. A victory at Pipeline for a record 6th time would be icing on the cake for Slater, but he doesn’t appear to be too concerned about the event, and that could be trouble for the rest of the Pipe Masters hopefuls. “A win at Pipe would be great, but to be honest with you, it doesn’t really matter at this point,” Slater said. “Not that Pipe doesn’t matter, but I’m just enjoying not having the constant contest stress. If I win it is definitely a huge bonus, but in a way, I’d like to see somebody else win, someone who hasn’t won it before. I’ve got a couple, Andy’s got a couple, Bede won one last year. Maybe it’s Parko’s year or maybe Brucey will pull off another win here to finish his year off.”

The Brucey that Slater referred to would be the one and only Bruce Irons. Bruce looked completely in form in his first heat, but lost a very close heat to Tom Whitaker in Round 3. While he won’t be leaving full-time tour duties on a winning note, he has made it clear he’ll be back to compete soon enough. “I’m sick of people saying this is going to be my last event. I’m not going to be on tour officially, but I am still going to surf the Tahiti and Pipe events. You can’t get rid of me that easy.”

With only one full day needed to crown a champion, Randy Rarrick is hoping for a classic Pipeline finish. The swell forecast is showing a possible swell for Friday and another for early next week. Stay tuned to 5ones updates, and check out the vids below for some of the top 2008 Pipeline Masters footage so far.

Billabong Pipeline Masters Round 3 Results:
Heat 1: Marcus Hickman (HAW) 14.56 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.83
Heat 2: Luke Stedman (AUS) 7.34 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 5.50
Heat 3: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 20.00 def. Dusty Payne (USA) 15.16
Heat 4: Tim Reyes (USA) 14.83 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 10.56
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.77 def. Ezra Sitt (HAW) 7.90
Heat 6: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 14.83 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 10.50
Heat 7: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.50 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 6.60
Heat 8: Jamie O’Brien (HAW) 16.50 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.86
Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 18.26 def. Daniel Wills (AUS) 17.94
Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.83 def. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.16
Heat 11: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 16.24 def. Bruce Irons (HAW) 16.10
Heat 12: Kamalei Alexander (HAW) 12.56 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 9.00
Heat 13: Chris Ward (USA) 17.27 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 13.83
Heat 14: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.93 def. Shane Dorian (HAW) 12.63
Heat 15: Evan Valiere (HAW) 18.13 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.60
Heat 16: Andy Irons (HAW) 14.37 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 13.17

Billabong Pipeline Masters Round 4 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Marcus Hickman (HAW) vs. Luke Stedman (AUS)
Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Tim Reyes (USA)
Heat 3: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 4: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) vs. Jamie O’Brien (HAW)
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Tom Whitaker (AUS)
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Kamalei Alexander (HAW)
Heat 7: Chris Ward (USA) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
Heat 8: Evan Valiere (HAW) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)

The greatest of all surf contests is officially underway. As expected, Daniel Ross and Kamalei Alexander took to the water at Pipe this morning at 8 a.m. Hawaii time; kicking off the 2008 Billabong Pipeline Masters.

As with the previous two events in this year’s Vans Triple Crown, our friends at Wetsand will be handling the webcast duties. Especially with some of the webcast adventures we’ve experienced this year, Wetsand is doing a hell of a job enhancing our viewing pleasure.

The Billabong Pipeline Masters will utilize the ASP Dual Heats Format from Round 1 through the Quarterfinals. It will be man-on-man from the Semis onwards. Surfers are seeded into the first three rounds, with top seeds not competing until Round 3.

Billabong Pipeline Masters Round 1 Match-Ups:
Heat 1: Royden Bryson (ZAF) vs. Shane Dorian (HAW)
Heat 2: Mark Occhilupo (AUS) vs. Daniel Jones (HAW)
Heat 3: T.J Barron (HAW) vs. Nathan Carroll (HAW)
Heat 4: Daniel Wills (AUS) vs. Kamalei Alexander (HAW)
Heat 5: Jihad Khodr (BRA) vs. David Wassell (HAW)
Heat 6: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 7: Dustin Barca (HAW) vs. Ian Walsh (HAW)
Heat 8: Jay Thompson (AUS) vs. Torrey Meister (HAW)
Heat 9: Ben Bourgeois (USA) vs. Laurie Towner (AUS)
Heat 10: Makuakai Rothman (HAW) vs. Ola Eleogram (HAW)
Heat 11: Luke Munro (AUS) vs. Kalani Chapman (HAW)
Heat 12: Ricky Basnett (ZAF) vs. Marcus Hickman (HAW)
Heat 13: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) vs. Tory Barron (HAW)
Heat 14: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) vs. Jamie O’Brien (HAW)
Heat 15: Daniel Ross (AUS) vs. Mark Healey (HAW)
Heat 16: Manoa Drollet (PYF) vs. Jesse Merle-Jones (HAW)

Round 2 Seeds;
1 Mikael Picon (Fra)
2 Dean Morrison (Aus)
3 Mick Cambpell (Aus)
4 Chris Ward (EUA)
5 Damien Hobgood (EUA)
6 Heitor Alves (Bra)
7 Pancho Sullivan (Haw)
8 Dayyan Neve (Aus)
9 Kieren Perrow (Aus)
10 Tiago Pires (Por)
11 Tim Reyes (EUA)
12 Jordy Smith (Afr)
13 Ben Bourgeois (EUA)
14 Roy Powers (Haw)
15 Dane Reynolds (EUA)
16 Ben Dunn (Aus)

Round 3 Seeds
1 Mick Fanning (Aus)
2 Luke Stedman (Aus)
3 Fred Patacchia (Haw)
4 Joel Parkinson (Aus)
5 Jeremy Flores (Fra)
6 Bobby Martinez (EUA)
7 Taylor Knox (EUA)
8 Kelly Slater (EUA)
9 Taj Burrow (Aus)
10 Tom Whitaker (Aus)
11 Adriano de Souza (Bra)
12 Adrian Buchan (Aus)
13 Bede Durbidge (Aus)
14 Kai Otton (Aus)
15 CJ Hobgood (EUA)
16 Andy Irons (Haw)

While the freesurfing vs. competitive surfing debate has been going on as long as I can remember, 2008 has seen the ongoing contrast of ideas and views on the issue reach a fevered pitch. Bruce Irons deciding to bail on the ASP World Tour, Kelly Slater continuing to establish his unimaginable legacy on that same tour, and Dane Reynolds having a debate with Dane Reynolds on his future with the Dream Tour are just some of the examples of why the freesurfing vs. competitive surfing debate has been especially fresh on our minds in ‘08.

In my eyes this debate has always been an easy one. There’s plenty of room in this world for both to thrive. A healthy freesurfing movement allows guy like Dave Rastovich, the Malloy brothers, Jamie O’Brien, and Donavon Frankenreiter to continually blow our minds, each in their own respective way. I really dig the fact that it is becoming more common for the big boys like Billabong and Volcom to sponsor guys and just let them do their thing. I have the sneaking suspicion that we’re going to see truly incredible things from Bruce Irons as the gates of the WCT pen open up and he’s able to roam about the globe and single-handedly progress the sport in ways that only he can.

While Bruce goes about his business, the ‘CT will continue on without him. As it does, the storylines and the rich history it produces year after year will go on right with it. This is what makes competitive surfing such a beautiful thing. In fact, the whole motive for this post came as a result of 22 yr. old Michel Bourez’ victory at the first leg of this year’s Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. The Tahitian not only claimed victory with his inspired performance at the Reef Hawaiian Pro, but he also secured a coveted spot on the 2009 Dream Tour with his win at Haleiwa.

When you follow surfing, it can be easy to forget the real life aspects that take place with the surfers who have battled to get to where they are at today. Competitive surfing is full of inspiring stories of hard work, dedication, perseverance, broken hearts, and the realization of dreams. In the euphoric days following the Reef Hawaiian Pro, Michel Bourez told his story in his own words. In doing so, he once again reminded myself, as well as thousands of others, what it is that makes the world tour and competitive surfing so special.

“I still have that picture in my mind of coming in from the water and seeing the crowd and seeing all my good friends running down to see me and that was such a good feeling and something I’ll never ever forget. To win an event in Hawaii under that pressure was just incredible. I keep repeating myself here, as I still can’t really believe it.” -Michel Bourez-

So as far as the competitive surfing vs. freesurfing debate goes, it’s pretty simple….there’s plenty of room in my world for both. Hopefully this is the case for you as well. Both aspects of surfing are full of stories, images, history and so much more, all of which you don’t want to miss.