Kelly Slater (USA) has today claimed the Rip Curl Pro presented by Snickers and rung the bell for the third time. After launching a huge air to earn a last minute score and beat Bede Durbidge (AUS) in the final, Slater has further asserted that he is one of the best surfers on earth.

“It feels awesome; it feels really good, ” Slater said. “The Bell is arguably the best trophy you can win in surfing. I do have a couple, but to get there and have the chance and get a third one feels really good. I’ve just joined my good friend Sunny (Garcia) with three, and I think MR (Mark Richards) and MP (Michael Peterson) have four or five – those guys are crazy.”

Slater trailed Durbidge for the first 27 minutes of the 30-minute affair. Surfing his fourth heat of the day, the 8X ASP World Champion was tired and had all but given up.

“I thought Bede had me,” Slater said. “I wasn’t trying to worry too much or stress – I was happy just to be in the Final – but before the heat I heard Rabbit (ASP President) say something about going up to Rincon so I thought I would sneak up there to see what I could find.”
What he found was a ramp from which to launch a daring double-grab aerial. He was awarded an 8.83 (out of 10.00) for the massive maneuver and took the lead.

“I was really surprised Bede (Durbidge) let me paddle up to Rincon by myself,” Slater said. “I thought that when I looked back, he would be 10 yards behind me, but when I looked back, he was still in the Bowl. Then that wave came that let me do that big air.”

Slater retains the World No. 1 rating and fellow finalist Durbidge has moved to World No. 2 with the result.

“There are murmurs of Bede being a world title contender and I would say he’s up to that challenge,” Slater said.

Durbidge was disappointed with the loss but his performance at Bells Beach has positioned him as a clear contender.

“It’s pretty frustrating, but he’s the champ and freakish things happen to him,” Durbidge said of Slater. “I saw him paddle up to Rincon and I just let him go. He just got one and went pretty freakish, did a big air, rode it all the way through and got the score.”

Durbidge’s final berth today was the fourth of his four-year career. He finished World No. 5 last year after winning the last event of the year in Hawaii and started 2008 with a semifinal showing.

“I’ve just been getting through heats and I’ve been going all the way to the end so it’s been going pretty good for me,” Durbidge said.

Durbidge eliminated California’s Bobby Martinez (USA) in a one sided semifinal affair today.

“I would have liked to keep on going but Bede stopped me in my tracks, Martinez said. “He deserved it he’s surfing good. I kind of got wave starved and was never really in it. If you are not on the good waves you’ve got a good chance of losing just because everyone surfs so good. Like I’ve said over and over again, anyone can beat anybody.”

Taj Burrow (AUS) was also bummed out after his semifinal loss to Slater.

“It was pretty frustrating to lose like that,” Burrow said. “I just couldn’t get a wave, it was really choppy out there. It was pretty hard to pick a wave, I don’t even know if there were any decent ones out there. Kelly had the right approach taking a lot of waves and maybe one of them would form together but I was trying to wait for that one and I couldn’t really find a clean face.”

Burrow was runner-up to the World Title in 2007 and hopes to be a contender this year too.

“Third is a keeper for sure,” Burrow said. “I was hoping to make a bit more ground on the guys at the top but I am stoked to be there mixing it up with them. It’s just all about the next one.”

Dane Reynolds (USA) fell to Burrow in the Quarterfinals but still leaves the event with his best result in an ASP World Tour event. Sitting equal 11th, Reynolds is the highest rated rookie on tour and his performance in the Rip Curl Pro did not go unnoticed.

“I think Dane might arguably the best surfer in the world right now,” Slater said. Just everything from barrels to airs to carves, he’s really got the whole bag of tricks and power and everything. He’s so well rounded, and I think that’s got us all pretty fired up.”

The Rip Curl Pro is presented by Snickers and webcast LIVE via www.ripcurl.com

Final Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.63 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.16

Semi-finales Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.50 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 4.50
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.33 def. Taj Burrow (BRA) 7.96

1/4 finale Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.00 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.33
Heat 2: Bobby Martinez (USA) 17.33 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 10.67
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.33 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 10.67
Heat 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.34 def. Andy Irons (HAW) 2.80

Rating after Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach – No. 2 de l’ASP World Tour
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 2400 points
2. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 1908 points
3. Mick Fanning (AUS) 1764 points
4. Taj Burrow (AUS) 1476 points
4. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 1476 points
6. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 1464 points
6. Andy Irons (HAW) 1464 points
8. Bobby Martinez (USA) 1286 points
9. Kai Otton (AUS) 1200 points
9. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 1200 points

SAS (Surfers Against Sewage) campaigners and over 60 volunteers turned up to Porthtowan on Saturday the 23rd of February to give the beach a spring clean. It was really shocking what the winter seas have deposited on the beach and in just 2 hours we collected more than 150kg of litter.The vast majority of this 152.2kg of litter was plastic. Plastics float and the predominant South Westerly winds push the litter onto our beaches all year round. However, over winter, stronger winds can bring in more litter and also big storms can churn up litter from the seabed. This is made worse with the high number of shipping accidents that have occurred this winter resulting in cargo being lost overboard. Plastics, and other types of marine litter are not only unsightly but can cause the death of dolphins, whales, turtles and other marine animals and injury humans.

Volunteers found hundreds of cotton bud sticks on the beach, these are plastic and, as with all sanitary related debris, is a good sign that water quality might not be great. So please remember to support SAS’s Think Before You Flush campaign, don’t use the toilet as a wet.

From the 152.2kg of litter collected, we separated all the identifiable litter and we’re sending it back to the manufacture. This is part of SAS’s ongoing Return To Offender campaign calling on the manufacturers to increase their anti litter message and reduce their packaging or at least look at introducing lower impact packaging.

Andy Cummins, SAS Campaign Officer: We were blown away with the amount of people who turned up to clean the beach in the middle of February. It just goes to show how many people out there really care for our beaches. SAS owes everyone who turned up a huge thank you! Unfortunately, even with over 60 volunteers we could take all the litter of the beach, that would have taken us weeks. But we should all be very proud of the 152kg we did pick up.

SAS would also like to thank the Blue Bar who provided free coffees and hot chocolates to everyone who took part and Freakfish Surf Shop who donated £80 of prizes.

Easter arrives early in 2008 and the world’s longest running and most prestigious surfing event – the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach – has also moved its dates forward to March 18-29.

The Rip Curl Pro is Stop 2 of 11 on the 2008 ASP Men’s World Tour and Stop 2 of 8 on the 2008 ASP Women’s World Tour.2007 ASP World Champion Mick Fanning

Professional surfing’s elite competitors will be onsite to compete for this year’s Bell trophies, including current ASP World Champions Mick Fanning (Gold Coast, Australia) and Stephanie Gilmore (Gold Coast, Australia).

Fanning won the 2001 Rip Curl Pro and Gilmore will return to Australia’s Surf Coast as the defending Rip Curl Women’s Pro champion after defeating Sofia Mulanovich (Peru) in the final last year.

“I’m really excited to get back to Bells Beach this year,” said 20-year-old Gilmore. “The Rip Curl Pro is really prestigious and it was a honour to win last year. To have my name on that Bell trophy, with all of those surfing legends is great. It’s a huge honour!”

“The Rip Curl Pro started it all,” adds 26-year-old Fanning. “Everyone that has won a Bell has gone on to do something pretty huge in surfing. The champions list is pretty much the who’s who of professional surfing.”

Sharing the spotlight with the world’s best male and female surfers this year will be a host of Australia’s best young musicians, set to crank up the volume on the Bells Beach Music Stage on Easter Saturday and Sunday.

Adelaide rockers Wolf & Cub, Melbourne funk band Dé Jah Groove and famed AC/DC coverband ACCA/DACCA will headline the festival, with a host of other local artists also playing onsite at Bells over the two days.

Bells Beach is one of the world’s most awesome natural amphitheatres to watch high performance surfing and with two reigning Australian world champions, event organisers expect record crowds for Easter this year.

For those unable to visit Australia’s Great Ocean Road for the event, Rip Curl will be broadcasting the entire Rip Curl Pro live via internet webcast. The webcast will be streamed full screen on ripcurl.com by Vividas.

We are running a product review competition, its really simple, just write a review about any of the products we sell, and you’ll be entered into the draw on the 14th May. You don’t even have to be a Freakfish customer, it doesn’t matter where you bought your products.

Our aim is encourage a sense of community amongst Freakfish customers, sharing views on products to help each other make better buying choices.

The more reviews you write the more entries into the draw you’ll get, just make them fair and honest.

To write a review all you have to do is browse our website, find the product you wish to review, and click on “write a review for this product”. If you aren’t already registered with Freakfish you’ll be asked to do so before you can proceed.

Tips on writing your review.

Bare in mind others may not know what you know about the product so include as much detail as you can

Include pro’s & con’s as appropriate

Try to use plain simple words that everyone will understand

Small paragraphs are easy to read, sometimes bullet points help

Read your review when you’ve finished, remove any unnecessary waffle, and correct errors before submitting.

What you waiting for? Whether its a wetsuit, rash vest, or surf clothing, share your knowledge and experiences.

Don’t forget next time you’re looking for a particular product, come back and see what other guys are saying about it.

We reserve the right to disallow inappropriate entries.

We have stocked a good range of board shorts for this summer. You will find via our website board shorts from brands like Billabong, Lost and Rip Curl.

More Board Shorts are arriving Daily. To view our board shorts click on the links below.

Men’s Board Shorts
Women’s Board Shorts

All our Rip Curl summer wetsuits come with a free gift vouchers worth up to £15.00. The gift vouchers can be redeemed for all our products via the website, including, hardware and surf wear.

The following stock is now available

Men’s Wetsuits
E Bomb Back Zip
E Bomb Chest Zip
Core
Classic Steamer
Classic Shorty

Women’s Wetsuits
E Bomb Womens
Classic Womens Steamer
Classic Womens Shorty

Mark Ochillupo, otherwise known as OCCY bowed out of professional surfing at last years Pipeline Masters. Occy was a well known surfer who is still sponsored by wetsuit and surf clothing company billabong. Occy made a successful career in the 1980’s battling the likes of Rip Curl sponsored Tom Curren. It was in the 1990’s which saw Occy make a comback which gave him more credibility as a all time great of the surfing world.

O’Neill wetsuits are set to release a brand new addition to their wetsuit range,  the Psycho Freak. This latest wetsuit from O’Neill is a follow on from their massively popular and successful Psycho 2 wetsuit. The new Psycho Freaks neoprene functions a bit like how a duck keeps its body warm. The inner down of the ducks feathers traps little pockets of air close to the body, which help hold in the body’s heat. O’Neill’s new neoprene has pocketed air chambers like a ducks down which helps keep in more warmth. The drying time is also massively reduced.

Near the time of release we will release more specifications, so keep your eyes peeled. Freakfish Surf Shop can’t wait to stock the new Psycho Freak as we know for sure this wetsuit will be one of 2008 falls fastest selling winter wetsuits. O’Neill have yet again set the standards in wetsuit construction and innovation.

We are currently taking pre orders on these wetsuits for the release in August 2008, the Psycho Freak, so if you want to get your hands on one please contact us.

We now stock XCEL wetsuits, our summer stock will be arriving very soon. Below you will find some information regarding the hype surrounding Xcel Wetsuits
Wetsuit of the Year, which was included in this year´s award categories for the first time ever, was given, according to SIMA, “to the wetsuit at retail in 2006 that featured the most exciting design, appeal, or innovation.”

The Infiniti Series represents Xcel´s commitment to designing and producing high-quality performance wetsuits. Since first introducing the X-ZIP front horizontal zipper system in 1997, Xcel continues to raise wetsuit industry standards with multiple innovations as part of the complete Infiniti System.

Xcel´s Infiniti Series was chosen from fellow Wetsuit of the Year nominees O´Neill Psycho 2 & the Rip Curl F Bomb

“As a Hawaii-based company celebrating our 25th anniversary, it´s especially rewarding that the surf industry has recognized our Infiniti Series as the wetsuit of the year,” says Ed D´Ascoli, president and founder of Xcel. “I´m proud of the Xcel staff dedicated to designing, producing, and delivering high-quality products that work, and our retailers who have supported us through the years. It is that dedication and our ability to stay focused on our core products which gives us the advantage over our larger competitors.”

Held each year at their annual industry conference, SIMA´s Image Awards “identify the surf industry´s most influential companies and recognize them for their efforts to advance and grow the industry over the past year.” It is the only awards program giving the surf industry the opportunity to recognize fellow surf companies for their outstanding contributions to the industry. Manufacturer´s products are nominated in specific award categories, which are then reviewed by a panel of industry experts and followed by a formal vote by SIMA members, who determine the ultimate winners.

“Having SIMA officially recognize Xcel´s Infiniti Series as the leading wetsuit design just validates what surfers in the industry using the Infiniti Series have been telling me all along,” adds Greg Wade, Xcel´s vice president of sales and marketing. “This model has been the mainstay of our line since 1997 and has always been a winner at retail. The 2006 Infiniti Series has evolved in design, comfort, performance and durability to a level that will only be topped by our 2007 Infiniti Series. I am really excited about what we have coming out this year – it keeps getting better!”

In 2006, Xcel expanded the Fusion Seam throughout the full Infiniti line, a lightweight sealed seam developed exclusively by Xcel for the Infiniti System and tested for maximum stretch and durability. Available in a variety of thicknesses for men, women, and kids, the Infiniti Series is as close to a thermal second skin as possible, while still maintaining exceptional performance.

All Infiniti wetsuits include ultra-flexible, ultra-light neoprene balancing warmth and comfort, and either X-ZIP front zipper or OS-ZIP off-set back zipper systems for greater vertical stretch.

From lighter springsuits to hooded fullsuits, Xcel continues to evolve the INFINITI Series towards the ultimate engineered fit.

About Xcel Wetsuits
Founded in 1982, Xcel Wetsuits (Xcel) is a global independent wetsuit brand distributed throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim. Headquartered on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawai´i, Xcel´s core wetsuit business focuses on the cutting edge of material and design development. Since 1986, Xcel has produced the annual Xcel Pro surf contest, a 4-Star Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) event.

In addition to its North Shore office, Xcel operates two retail stores on Oahu and a warehouse/repair facility in California. Xcel´s primary markets include surf, UV protection, dive, wakeboard, and paddle. To learn more about Xcel, please visit www.xcelwetsuits.com.

Kelly Slater wins the Quiksilver Pro

Eight times World Champion Kelly Slater has once again proven he is the man to beat by winning the Quiksilver Pro on Australia’s Gold Coast. Kelly defeated the reigning World Champion Mick Fanning in the final that produced high scoring rides and an impressive display of modern day performance surfing.  Kelly’s equipment played a major role in capturing the win. In a move that proved to be advantageous Kelly rode a board slightly shorter and wider than his normal 6’1 shortboard. Complimented by his signature K2.1 fins, the set up proved to be a winning combination.Showing no signs of slowing down Kelly looked in complete control producing effortless speed and some spectacular maneuvers on the high performance waves of Snapper Rocks.  “My boards were going really well throughout the event. I was riding an Al Merrick Flyer with my K2.1 set up; the combo was perfect for the waves on offer. I had the speed and drive when I needed it, and instantaneous response in the tight sections”.  

While most of the focus and attention was on Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow and Joel Parkinson, Kelly steadily made his way to the final. Along the way he was forced to produce some explosive performances as he came up against fellow teammates Adriano De Souza and Jeremy Flores. Each match-up was a close and high scoring affair with all surfers pushing themselves to the limit. FCS Brand Ambassador Richie Lovett was on hand at the event and remarked, “It was amazing to watch, Kelly was producing so much speed and he simply attacked every section on every wave he rode.He looked explosive and fast and that’s what the judges want to see”. The win marks yet another milestone for Kelly who has never won the Quicksilver Pro while the event has run at Snapper Rocks.  “I’ve never won the Quicksilver Pro while it’s been at Snapper Rocks, I won a few years back when it was at Duranbar but I’ve always wanted to win it here. It’s been in the back of my mind for a while so the win is pretty satisfying”. Kelly has placed himself firmly in the box seat to challenge for World Title number 9. With 35 WCT event wins under his belt and nothing more to prove he now has everyone guessing if he will turn up to the next event at Bells Beach.