The long waited arrival of the opportunity to get your mits on the world’s first powerheated wetsuit is almost over. Just days before the Quiksilver Pro France holding period is set to open, Rip Curl is officially launching their highly anticipated H-Bomb wetsuit in Hossegor at the Rip Curl Pro Store.

The H-Bomb has been in the works and has undergone heavy amounts of testing for quite some time now. It was actually slated to first drop in stores last fall but was put on hold in order for Rip Curl to make sure they had it just right. Rip Curl is using their revolutionary E3 neoprene for the suits which will have three different temperature settings that can be adjusted with a button located on its outer surface. The idea for the H-Bomb is simple; keep you warm and maintain flexibility even when surfing in the nastiest of cold-water conditions.

As is the case with most revolutionary products when first released, anyone wanting to snag one of these bad-boys in time for winter is looking at a pretty hefty price tag. The coming-out price for the H-Bomb is currently set at roughly $1400. It will definitely be interesting to see just how well these sell with such a large asking price from Rip Curl. I guess for some who have the money and regularly surf in bitter-cold conditions it might be worth it. I think for now though I’ll be sticking to my natural heater whenever I need that little burst of warmth.

In what was a spectacular event that was as full of surprises as it was epic surfing, Bruce Irons took down his Hawaiian counterpart Fred Patacchia to win the 2008 Rip Curl Pro Search ‘Somewhere in Indonesia.’ The victory is the first for Irons on the WCT, and undoubtedly extra rewarding for the surfer many consider to be the ‘best freesurfer on the planet,’ as he plans to step away from full-time participation on the Dream Tour next year. “One of my goals when I joined the Tour was to win an event and I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen since I’ll be stepping away after this season,” Irons said. “But the waves pumped this event! This is what the Dream Tour should be like all the time. I’m definitely stepping away from the ASP Tour at the end of this year, but I’m not retiring. I’m still planning on competing at Pipeline and Teahupoo and at venues that I can get into.”

Aside from Bruce heading home with a huge win under his belt, the Rip Curl Pro Search saw all of the top seeds fail to take advantage of Kelly Slater’s Rd. 3 upset loss to Tiago Pires. Andy Irons, Bede Durbidge, Mick Fanning, and Joel Parkinson all let golden opportunities to make up ground in the world title race slip through their hands, all suffering losses in the 4th round. The only other surfer on tour with even an outside chance of catching Slater, Taj Burrow, did make it through the gauntlet that was Rd. 4. However his run would end in the quarterfinals as an absolutely firing Chris Ward sent the Aussie title hopeful packing, and essentially ending any hope Taj had of winning it all this year.

All other title contenders aside, Irons winning is the story of the event. There has been so much made about his stepping away following the year that it was refreshing to see him put out a performance that everyone knew he was capable of. You even got the sense that his fellow competitors were pumped on Bruce winning one before he steps aside. “It feels great to come back after a slow start to the year,” Patacchia said. “The waves were so good for this event and I’m bummed I didn’t win, but to have Bruce there and since he’s stepping away, it feels good that we kept the title within Hawaii.”

Congratulations Bruce Irons, the 2008 Rip Curl Pro Search ‘Somewhere in Indonesia’ Champion!

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH FINAL RESULTS
1 – Bruce Irons (HAW) 17.66
2 – Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.16

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH SEMIFINAL RESULTS
SF 1: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 10.16 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 8.50
SF 2: Bruce Irons (HAW) 13.70 def. Chris Ward (USA) 13.50

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
QF 1: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 16.50 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 14.17
QF 2: Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.00 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.34
QF 3: Bruce Irons (HAW) 19.40 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 9.67
QF 4: Chris Ward (USA) 16.34 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.90

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH ROUND 4 RESULTS
Heat 1: Kai Otton (AUS) 11.67 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.67
Heat 2: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 19.50 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.40
Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 10.00 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 6.30
Heat 4: Tiago Pires (PRT) 13.77 def. Dayyan Neve (AUS) 5.06
Heat 5: Bruce Irons (HAW) 10.84 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 10.83
Heat 6: Ben Dunn (AUS) 15.97 def. Mikael Picon (FRA) 12.37
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.43 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.83
Heat 8: Chris Ward (USA) 18.17 def. Andy Irons (HAW) 11.33

We’ve criticized Rip Curl’s webcasts in the past, back at the Rip Curl Pro Bell’s Beach for being somewhat lackluster. Now, we’re sitting here trying to watch the best action we’ve seen on tour this year, and they can’t seem to keep the webcast up. It keeps freezing. You literally can’t watch any of the surfing happening right now at the Rip Curl Pro Search in perfect Indo.

We’ve just missed the majority of the Parko/Jordy heat and now we’re missing Kelly’s heat. Parko was on fire too! If Quiksilver, Billabong, and Globe can keep their webcasts running smoothly, there’s no reason that Rip Curl shouldn’t be able to either. Come on Rip Curl, throw a few more servers at it…

Hopes that the abandoned fishing trawler that was shipwrecked on the reef of Bali’s Padang Padang last Friday would be moved before the arrival of a solid incoming swell are quickly fading. A small group of local fishing boats failed on Thursday to pull the Taiwanese fishing boat off the Padang-Padang reef ahead of the expected big swell which was already showing pulses on Friday.

With the swell expected to reach 10 feet on Sunday, the fear that the ship will batter the reef and break apart could quickly become a reality. There is already a heavy amount of cable, knives, fish hooks, and all sorts of other waste that have found their way into the water at Padang Padang. None of that, however, will compare to the irreparable damage that could come from the ship being tossed around and breaking apart.

Aside from the obvious environmental issues this is causing, the heads at Rip Curl will have some interesting decisions to make as the upcoming Rip Curl Pro Search is scheduled to take place here July 30-Aug. 10. With the ASP having a choice between Uluwatu’s and Padang Padang for the contest, it’s looking more and more likely, barring some unforeseen miracle, that Uluwatu will be the call for this one.

A special thanks goes out to all those who have donated so much of their time, money , and hard work to minimize the damage at Padang Padang. Stay tuned for more info.

Kelly Slater has done it…. again! By taking a big risk in the final and making the paddle a few hundred yards down the beach to Rincon he showed us once again why he is “The King.” Boosting a huge air with just minutes left in the heat, Kelly got the score he was chasing the entire heat. Bede Durbidge surfed as well as you could expect leading pretty much the entire heat, but Slater just wouldn’t be denied.

Congratulations Kelly Slater on winning the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach! We look forward to watching you in Tahiti.

rip curlasp world tourwctkelly slaterbede durbidge

After watching many of the heats at this year’s Rip Curl Pro, I have to say I’m very unimpressed with the quality of the webcast coverage so far. It’s definitely not the same broadcast quality that we saw just a couple weeks ago at the Quik Pro. Here are some of the things that have stood out to me thus far.

Announcers - I’m sorry but the announcing is just awful. Nothing personal, but at times up to 10 minutes of on-air silence just doesn’t cut it. They also don’t do a good enough job of keeping us viewers up to date on heat scores, event status, etc… which leads me to my next point….

Heat Scores - When I’m watching the webcast on full-screen mode one thing that really annoys me is the lack of scoring information. At the Quik Pro there was always heat score displayed on the screen. Combine this with that lack of the announcers keeping us informed on heat status on you often have no idea who is leading the heat. I particularly noticed this when watching Taj Burrow’s heat yesterday - I logged on half way through the heat and basically had no idea who was leading until the heat was over.

Camera Work - Ok, so the actual surfing footage is pretty decent, that is if you don’t mention the other day’s heat where it was basically being filmed on the point by a hand-held and you couldn’t see what was happening on the wave past the second turn or so. What I’m talking about here more is what goes on when the surfing action pauses. Yesterday we had the pleasure of watching one of the announcers eat his lunch, hooray! Instead of showing the guys standing around with their hands down their pants or munching, why can’t they just replay the big waves for that current heat?

While I’m grateful to be watching the event period, it would be nice if they broadcast quality was improved on. I didn’t really have too many complaints about the Quik Pro and thought they did a much better job with their webcast.

Have you been watching the heats? What are your thoughts on the quality?

Update: Seems a little better today and I should mention that I do love the on-demand, something Quiksilver didn’t have.

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With the ASP Tour making the transition from Snapper Rocks to Bell’s Beach we have seen a big part of what makes the tour so great year after year. Each stop provides unique conditions that pose new challenges.

In the early rounds at Bell’s we have seen a stark contrast in conditions with those that presented themselves for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. We have gone from endless 2-4ft. waves giving competitors unlimited opportunities (Taj Burrow’s mind-blowing 13 turn wave at Snapper for example) to score, to thick, unruly, doubled up 6-8ft. walls with limited sections to open up on. Each wave at Bell’s may present only 2 or 3 opportunities to let it fly. The surfers that have taken advantage of that by placing themselves in the right section at the right time have found themselves with massive scores. As we await the completion of Round 3 at Bell’s, here are some of the story lines to keep an eye on-

Mick Fanning - By having to surf in the second round, the reigning world-champion found himself in a very unusual position. By posting a meager 7.24 score in Rd. 1, Fanning found himself in a spot he hasn’t been in for 15 events- Rd. 2. I was curious to see how he would perform as he spent the weekend leading up to Bell’s strapping on the proverbial ball and chain. He righted the ship in Rd. 2 however, and now faces a tough third round match-up with Bell’s local Troy Brooks.

Kelly Slater - This really goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway - Kelly put on a clinic. The amount of speed he generated from his bottom turn on his 9.5 is almost unfathomable. “I didn’t do a whole lot on that wave,” Slater said. “I did one turn to start off with and then this section loomed up ahead of me that was crazy - it was so smooth, especially for what’s out there. I had a ton of speed and I held the bottom turn as long as I could and was able to get that carve in. It reminded me of the turn I had in the final against Parko (Joel Parkinson) that one year.” The 35 yr old 8-timer is aging like wine and showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Dane Reynolds - Dane’s putting up a 9.73 in Rd. 2 was amazing. His humility and attitude when talking about the score even more so. “I got pretty lucky,” Reynolds said of his heat against Alves. “I went out there with a good, positive attitude feeling like the waves were going to come my way and they did. I didn’t see another wave out there that looked like the ones I got, so I was pretty fortunate.” With Jordy going out, this leaves Reynolds as the feature rookie at Bell’s and it will be intriguing to see if he can keep this level of performance going.

Bruce Irons - It’s hard to say what’s going on with Bruce. The bottom line is he is way too talented of a surfer to consistently be going out in the early rounds. He seemed particularly disinterested in his third round loss to Adrian Buchan at Snapper. How sick would it be to see him go the path of Jamie O’brien and just completely dedicate himself to the freestyle thing? Those two alone are surfing as progressively as any, and would serve as worthy pioneers for a new freestyle movement for surfing.

Here are the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Round 3 Match-Ups:

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 2: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Dayyan Neve (AUS)
Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Neco Padaratz (BRA)
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Daniel Wills (AUS)
Heat 5: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs.Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 6: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Troy Brooks (AUS)
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)
Heat 10: Luke Stedman (AUS) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 11: Pancho Sullivan (HAW) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 12: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Jihad Khodr (BRA)
Heat 14: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Tim Reyes (USA)
Heat 15: Andy Irons (HAW) vs. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA)
Heat 16: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Luke Munro (AUS)

asp world tourkelly slaterdane reynoldsbruce ironsrip curlmick fanning

As I watched Tiger Woods pull off yet another amazing victory on the PGA Tour yesterday, I started thinking about what the tournaments are like when he isn’t playing. There are still great players playing great golf, but it just isn’t the same and everyone knows it.

As Tiger is to golf, Kelly is to surfing. As long as he is performing at his peak level, any victory by other surfers in an event that Slater doesn’t show up to will be followed with a “that’s great,but….”

It is for this reason that Kelly’s recent decision to participate in the 2008 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach should bring smiles to the faces of the surfing world and fellow competitors alike.

Despite winning the first event of the year at Snapper Rocks, Slater remained uncertain as to whether or not he would attend the Rip Curl Pro. After 14 years on tour, the 8-time ASP World Champion has been adamant that he will compete selectively in 2008 in order to pursue other interests. Slater even went as far as to call and officially withdraw his name from the event. Thats when Mother Nature came through. When told of the stellar forecast for the event Slater reconsidered. He stated the combination of world-class waves and pleas of many helped in his decision to show up, and we are all better off for that.

There were some pretty strong responses about wanting to see me there. So that, the swell, and some changes in my personal life and suddenly it was perfect timing for me to get away. All the signs pointed this direction so it seemed like the thing to do.

asp world tourrip curlkelly slaterwct

The more things change the more they stay the same…

As the 2008 ASP Tour moves from Snapper Rocks to Bells Beach there is an all too familiar name atop the standings. With the much of the build-up to the Quiksilver Pro heavily centered around so many others, Kelly Slater decided to remind us that as long as he decides to show up he is the favorite for any event. Again, that is as long as he decides to show up. There is still no confirmation of Kelly’s decision and we may just have to wait until the opening horn of his 1st round heat to find out if he will be among those looking to ring the famed bell when the 2008 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach comes to an end.

In a normal year on tour, average results through these first two Australia stops would still leave the top surfers with plenty of opportunities to make up ground throughout the rest of the year. 2008, however, is by no means an average year. With the number of surfers with legitimate title hopes as high as ever, there is an element of added pressure to finish well at Bells and hopefully come out on top.

This is currently the position that defending Bells champ and last years overall #2 Taj Burrow finds himself in. He was surfing as well as ever at Snapper until his perplexing round 4 ousting at the hands of goofy-footer Adrian Buchan. Taj made it very clear at the beginning of the year that it is world-title or bust for him. With that being the case, he is going to need to come out firing at Bells and hope for a repeat performance of last years victory.

So what can we expect to see at Bells this year? 6 out of the last 7 Bells winners have come from the Slater, Burrow, Andy Irons, Joel Parkinson, and Mick Fanning group. This is a trend that is likely to continue as these are the surfers with the best shot at winning it all in this ultra-competitive year. Mick just got married over the weekend so it will be interesting to see how well he is able to stay focused following his tying of the knot. Parko and A.I. held their own at Snapper with 5th place finishes, but they will both be looking to improve on those results at Bells.

Outside of the ‘usual suspects’ there is no one on tour who has experienced the taste of victory at Bells. That doesn’t mean we won’t have a 1st time winner, but given what is at stake I don’t see it happening. Bede Durbidge and Jeremy Flores seem to be the two with the best chance of ringing the bell for their first time. From the last half of 2007 until now, there are few who have surfed as impressively as Durbidge has. Flores went down to Slater in the semi’s at Snapper, and reportedly went straight to Bells to prepare for the contest. I would be surprised, but not shocked if either of those two found their way into a Bells Final.

The forecast for Bells has event organizers licking their lips. However, we heard the same thing over at Snapper, but not a whole lot ever materialized in the form of swell. It was good, but by no means great. Hopefully higher quality surf will make its way to Bells Beach as we move throughout the week. As incredible of a competition as Snapper was, the added pressure of producing a solid result at Bells is only going to raise the bar that much higher.

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rip curl

Up until now, the only heaters we have had in wetsuits have been the natural type that are dependent upon the amount of coffee or water slammed down before paddling out to each session. Rip Curl and their soon to be released H-Bomb wetsuit are looking to drastically change that. The suit is the first of its kind and is slated to be made available by Fall of this year.

This has been a product in the makings for a long time by Rip Curl. They have pushed the release date back after it was scheduled to be available in the Fall of last year and it appears they have it dialed now as evidenced of their video of surfers charging Arctic conditions while sporting the H-Bomb. The wetsuit will have three different temperature settings that can be adjusted with a button located on its outer surface. The H-Bomb is the world’s first power heated wetsuit, designed to keep a surfer super-warm (despite the chilly temperature of the water they’re surfing in) by positioning two fiber-heating elements, which conduct electricity that generate heat and warm the blood.

The only draw-back is Rip Curls projected price tag of $600-700 for the suit. At first glance that seems a little steep, however with the ability to adjust the temperature it may just eliminate the needed to own multiple suits of different thickness. Until more information on the suit is released it is difficult to make a conclusion on the impact this will have on the industry. So for now it looks like the best we can do is throw down a few more glasses of liquid before heading out for those chilly winter sessions

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