Rip Curl Pro Search Round 1 Starts at 10am with Epic Surf ‘Somewhere’ in Indo

SOMEWHERE, Indonesia (Wednesday, July 30, 2008) The swell has arrived and Round 1 of the Rip Curl Pro Search will begin at 10am local time.

Stop No. 6 of 11 on the 2008 ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Search awoke to solid six-to-eight foot (2 metre) swell this morning and event organizers will look to run Round 1 in its entirety before the day is through.

Weve relocated to our secondary site today because the surf is absolutely macking at the primary site, Neil Ridgway, Rip Curl Pro Search Event Director, said. Our secondary site somewhere in Indo is cooking right now with waves coming through in the six-to-eight foot (2 metre) range and when the tide s, were all expecting some amazing waves to start coming through.

Today will see eight-time ASP World Champion and current No. 1 on the ASP World Tour Kelly Slater (USA) face off against Timmy Reyes (USA) and winner of the Rip Curl ISC Padang Cup Komang Gogo Suijaya (IDN), as well as reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) battle Taylor Knox (USA) and wildcard Owen Wright (AUS).

2007 ASP World Tour Rookie of the Year Jeremy Flores (FRA), Jay Thompson (AUS) and Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) will be first up when competition commences.

The event will be webcast LIVE via http://live.ripcurl.com/

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS
Heat 1: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Jay Thompson (AUS), Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA)
Heat 2: Bobby Martinez (USA), Damien Hobgood (USA), Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Pancho Sullivan (HAW), Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 4: C.J. Hobgood (USA), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Jihad Khodr (BRA)
Heat 5: Andy Irons (HAW), Dane Reynolds (USA), Daniel Ross (AUS)
Heat 6: Bede Durbidge (AUS), Roy Powers (HAW), Ricky Basnett(ZAF)
Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Jordy Smith (ZAF), Bruno Santos (BRA)
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA), Tim Reyes (USA), Komang Gogo Suijaya(IDN)
Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS), Taylor Knox (USA), Owen Wright (AUS)
Heat 10: Taj Burrow (AUS), Bruce Irons (HAW), I Made Garut Widiart (IDN)
Heat 11: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Chris Ward (USA), Ben Bourgeois (USA)
Heat 12: Kai Otton (AUS), Ben Dunn (AUS), Royden Bryson (ZAF)
Heat 13: Luke Stedman (AUS), Luke Munro (AUS), Daniel Wills (AUS)
Heat 14: Dean Morrison (AUS), Mick Campbell (AUS), Leonardo Neves (BRA)
Heat 15: Tom Whitaker (AUS), Kieren Perrow (AUS), Neco Padaratz (BRA)
Heat 16: Dayyan Neve (AUS), Heitor Alves (BRA), Mikael Picon (FRA)

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 5210 points
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3948 points
3. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 3782 points
4. Mick Fanning (AUS) 3753 points
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 3638 points
6. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3540 points
7. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3460 points
8. Andy Irons (HAW) 3338 points
9. Bobby Martinez (USA) 3028 points
10. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 2884 points

Well the kids are now off school and we’ve even got some sunshine, but how long for who knows. Its the time of year when we can expect hoards of holiday makers on the beaches and a less chance of good waves, so we might have to take to sunbathing for a while and join in the fun on the beach.

There’s plenty of awareness about the suns harmful UV rays and we should all know by now to take care and make sure we cream up, cover up and primarily avoid being out in the sun between 12 and 3pm.

A good form of protection is to wear a rash vest offering UV protection, kids in particular love the sea and never know when enough is enough so a kids wetsuit or sunsuit are great ideas.

More information info about the Sun and protection is available here http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2005/07/26/coast05_summer_safety_feature.shtml

Rip Curl Pro Search in mythical surfer’s paradise of Uluwatu, Bali
Exclusive daily coverage of this ASP World Tour event on Eurosport 2 from July 30 – August 10
Eurosport 2 and Rip Curl are delighted to announce that the Rip Curl Pro Search will have exclusive daily coverage on Eurosport 2 from 30th July to 10th August.
This coverage continues the historical partnership between the two brands. Eurosport 2 was the first TV channel in Europe to broadcast a top surfing event LIVE - the 2006 Rip Curl Pro Hossegor. The New Generation Sports Channel was also the first to offer daily coverage of the 2006 Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters in Hawaii and the 2007 Rip Curl Pro Search in Chile.

The annual Rip Curl Pro Search is part of the Men’s ASP World Tour, the World Surfing Championship, and has a special place in the season as it holds what is officially called an ASP Floating License. This gives Rip Curl the right to set up wherever they want, depending on where the best waves are. The Rip Curl Pro Search has been the most exciting and highly anticipated contest on the Mens ASP World Tour since its inception in 2005. Andy Irons won in 2006 and 2007 while the 2005 inaugural edition was won by Mick Fanning, the reigning ASP World Champion who will fight to get the title back.

This year, the “Search” for the perfect wave leads the event to be hosted in Uluwatu, Bali where the perfect weather and wave conditions at this time of the year promise a great show.

The Worlds Top 45 ranked surfers will compete in what is regarded as a mythical spot in the surfing world. The legendary Uluwatu surf break is situated in a truly breathtaking location just below one of Bali’s most spectacular temples. Uluwatu was first discovered by Australian surfers in the 70’s, and has become over the years a mythical wave in the surfing world. The world is a much smaller place now and there have been many new discoveries, but Uluwatu is still as magical and mysterious for surfers today as it was then.

Jean-Patrick Mothes, former YOZ presenter, will be on site and will host an exclusive 15 minutes daily show featuring action highlights of the day, backstage ambiances, riders’ profiles and the latest interviews. First airing of the show at 20:00 every day of the contest and repeated several times during the night.

In 2008 Eurosport 2 confirms its status as the Surfing Channel with the best ever surfing offer you can watch on TV in Europe: 11 top events from the ASP and WQS Tour, covered daily or LIVE, including the 2008 Rip Curl Pro in Hossegor between 18 to 24 of August.

Here’s an abreviated version of the program run on the BBC about a couple of surfers who live in St Ives.
They’ve got two kids and spent first 4 years as a family living in a VW!

They now have themselves a nice little place and a product to sell, the hotpod, made from recycle materials (Volkswagens!), its a stove, but no just any old stove, its a piece of art. They still find time to put on their wetsuits and hit the surf!

[youtube YCex0aefeQw]

[youtube lF7JFHg1kYs]

I don’t know about you guys but I normally check out the waves before I put my wetsuit on and get my surfboard off the roof!

Somewhere… The Movie, out soon and previewing across Europe!

The latest production from the Search… series gets its release in Europe at last. Following in the tradition of Search Movies like Tripping the Planet, Searching for Tom Curren and Feral Kingdom, this latest super-production from Rip Curl revisits the surf film genre, whilst avoiding the usual cliches. It offers us the very essence of the Rip Curl philosophy through the lens of 11 international film makers.

After previewing at the Surf Film Festivals at St Jean de Luz and San Sebastian, the film will continue its European tour during the Rip Curl Surf and Music Festivals this summer.

Anglet (France) / Glisseimages – July 22nd
Newquay (UK) / Rip Curl Boardmasters – August 9th
Hossegor (France) / Rip Curl Pro – August 24th
Zarautz (Spain) / Rip Curl Pro – September 12th

Somewhere... is without doubt one of the most eclectic films of this collection. Rip Curl has given carte-blanche to these film makers to express their own search, through 10 surf trips with the best surfers from team Rip Curl, as well as a snow trip to Chile with American snowboarder Andy Finch.
Led by Mick Fanning, Taylor Knox, Pancho Sullivan, Stephanie Gilmore, Jessi Miley-Dyer and Bethany Hamilton, the 10 segments offer up the best waves, at the best spots on the planet, all brought to the big screen through the talented hands of the film makers involved in the film.

“We were lucky to work with an incredible group of film makers. For them, it was a unique opportunity to have total freedom, as well as all the tools necessary to come up with their own take on the Search.”, said Neil Ridgway, Marketing Director for Rip Curl International. With cinematographers like Jon Frank, Matt Beauchesne and Matt Gye, we were sure to come up with a great film.”

Check out the trailers on www.ripcurl.tv now.

And join us at Europe’s best Surf and Music Festivals to see a preview of our latest production.

AVAILABLE IN ALL THE BEST SURF SHOPS FROM AUGUST 25th

THE RIP CURL GIRLS TEAM CLAIMS THE PODIUM IN PORTUGAL

Canelle Bulard (FRA), 16, claimed the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Europe Grade-1 Womens Buondi Pro Junior, her maiden Pro Junior title. Bulard, who defeated reigning ASP European Womens Junior Champion Pauline Ado (FRA) in the final took the best out of the three foot (one meter) waves to win the opening event of the 2008 season and take the lead of the regional ratings.

Bulard, who faced Ado, Marie Dejean (FRA) and Mariana Macedo (FRA) posted a solid 13.17 point heat tally (out of a possible 20) to take the win after getting through two rounds today.

“I am so stoked to win the first event of the year , Bulard said. “The waves were a bit messy and we all had a chance to get the title but it ends up well for me.”

Pauline Ado, who just came back from South Africa were she posted her best result ever by placing second in the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) Womens 5-Star Mr Price Pro, was todays best perfomer but finished overall third.

“I am very happy with this result in South Africa , Ado said. I was very confident today but Marie (Dejean) and Canelle had the best waves and there was nothing I could do.”

Our Rip Curl Girls finish respectively 1st, 2nd and 3rd!
Congratulations Canelle, Marie and Pauline!

WOMENS RESULTS
Final
Canelle Bulard (FRA) 13.17 pts, Marie Dejean (FRA) 12.24 pts, Pauline Ado (FRA) 11.23 pts, Mariana Macedo (FRA) 3.50 pts

Semi-Finals
Heat#1 : Pauline Ado (FRA) 15.10 pts, Mariana Macedo (FRA) 5.93 pts, Lea Mengual (GLP) 5.74 pts, Laetitia Sudre (FRA) 5.63 pts
Heat#2 : Canelle Bulard (FRA) 12.34 pts, Marie Dejean (FRA) 7.97 pts, Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 7.23 pts, Joahnne Defay (FRA) , 4.33 pts

Quarters-Finals
Heat#1 : Pauline Ado (FRA) 18.17 pts, Laetitia Sudre (FRA) 8.13 pts, Francisca Souza (PRT) 7.13 pts, Camille Davila (FRA) 6.00 pts
Heat#2 : Lea Mengual (GLP) 10.13 pts, Mariana Macedo (FRA) 7.33 pts, Carina Duarte (PRT) 6.50 pts, Maud Lecar (FRA) 6.17 pts
Heat#3 : Marie Dejean (FRA) 13.83 pts, Joahnne Defay (FRA) , 9.76 pts, Fanny Brice (FRA) 7.87 pts, Merril Delanne (FRA) 6.24 pts
Heat#4 : Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 12.23 pts, Canelle Bulard (FRA) 9.17 pts, Anabel Tallouarne (FRA) 7.40 pts, Francesca de Santos (PRT) 2.33 pts

The french surfer Pauline Ado finished 2nd in an important WQS 6 Stars in Durban!

Ado finished with her career best result, placing runner-up in her second ever WQS competition, to earn R14 000 and jump to 42nd on the WQS ratings.

Im so happy I made the final, Ado said. When I came here I wasnt expecting such a good result, I just wanted to get some experience so that I can try to qualify on the WQS next year.
The final was amazing, I knew it would be tough to beat Silvana who was just amazing, she was just ripping the whole event, Ado said.

Ado defeated European Champion Lee Ann Curren (Fra) in the Semifinals and South African Roseanne Hodge (EL) in the Quarterfinals, making a big impression in Durban.

Pauline made a really good performance. Now, it’s time to train for the European Pro Juniors.

Congratulations Pauline!