Ottz Nails it in Portugal

Kai Otten has just nailed his maiden World Tour event at Supertubos in Portugal. He took on the newly crowned ASP Rookie of the Year Nat Young in a wave starved final and found enough scoring waves to secure the win of the  Rip Curl Pro.

Kai has been on the tour since 2007 and was actually Rookie of the Year in his first year but the results have not come easy. Over the past 12 months things has come together for the goofy footer, a new sponsorship with Reef and a new quiver of Al Merrick's under his feet. There have been a lot of close heats over the past 12 months too, very frustrating for Kai but last night in Portugal that was all forgotten  when he held the trophy above his head and was drenched in champagne.

“It’s the weirdest feeling ever, I just can’t comprehend it,” an ecstatic Otton said. “I really want to dedicate it to my Granddad, he passed away the year I qualified and never saw me on tour so this is for him. It seems like this event was a little bit of a grind, every heat the tide changed so dramatically you never really knew what was going to happen!”

Kai had forced the 2013 World Tilte race to hawaii when he kncoked out ratings laeader Mick Fanning in the quater finals.  The World Title could have been warpped up at the Rip Curl Pro but Kai's win and Mick's loss meant that for the second year running it's going to be a two horse race at Pipe with between kelly Slater , who is going for his 12th and Mick Fanning as ratings leader going for his 3rd. A nail biting finish is guaranteed.

The Billabong Pipeline Masters is final stop on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour, Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater remain in contention for the World Title. Following Fanning’s fifth place in Portugal, Slater must win the Pipe Masters to surpass Fanning for the ASP World Title. If Slater is to win the event, Fanning must place 3rd or better to claim the title for himself. 

Kai, who now sits at No. 7 on the ASP WCT rankings following the victory, has been one of the most consistent surfers in 2013 and his road to victory in Portugal saw the Australian take on the world’s best surfers. The goofy-footer was unstoppable on the final day of competition, defeating Hawaiian prodigy John John Florence  two-time ASP World Champion and current rankings leader Mick Fanning and reigning ASP World Champion Joel Parkinson en route to the final.

“One of the things that has changed for me this year is my girlfriend being pregnant, I’m pretty excited about that,” siad Kai after the win. “It’s unbelievable, it’s the next chapter I’m really looking forward to. It’s amazing to have all of the support, all my home town of Tathra, my Mom and Dad who supported me all of my career. To get here is kind of a pinnacle for me.”

The win has been a long time coming but it is fully deserved. 

Kai pulling in at Teahupoo earlier this year. photo: joliphotos.com

Big News from the new Association of Surfing Professionals

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Big news for pro surfing today with the new ASP making the first of what is probably many announcements about coverage of the 2014 professional surfing. Professional Surf League is the name that is covering the Men's and Women's ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) events plus the ASP Big Wave World Tour

Joel Parkinson cruises through a perfect wave at Teahupoo. Photo: joliphotos.com

Here's the Press release from the ASP:

LOS ANGELES, California/USA (Tuesday, October 15, 2013) – Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) International is pleased to announce media/distribution agreements with ESPN, YouTube and Facebook across the linear broadcast, digital and social media spectrums. Each agreement will commence in 2014 to help celebrate and grow the sport of surfing worldwide. Today’s announcements mark the first national and global media deals in the history of professional surfing.
ASP events enhanced by the media deals include the 26 elite tour events across men’s, women’s and big wave arenas in Australia, Brazil, Fiji, Indonesia, Tahiti, USA, France, Portugal, Chile, Peru, South Africa, Spain and Mexico. Since 1976, ASP has annually crowned the undisputed world surfing champions in a sport that hosts more than 120 million fans worldwide as well as the recently-identified number one sport fan for sponsor consideration and loyalty in the U.S., according to findings by global research firm Repucom.
“Professional surfing is a truly global sport which demands media distribution partners with significant reach. Our newly announced partners have tremendous presence in the innovative media arena and, together, they build the foundation for the ASP media platform,” Paul Speaker, ASP CEO, said. “I personally believe surfing is one of the most dramatic and dynamic sports on the planet and it’s an honor to work with tremendously inspirational athletes in bringing their feats and stories to the public.”
“I find it very fitting that the rebirth of professional surfing in 2014 will be broadcast within the ESPN family of networks and back on ABC as they were the first to support surfing on television back in 1962,” Speaker continued.
ESPN teams up with ASP as the exclusive U.S. domestic broadcaster for professional surfing in 2014 as part of a three-year agreement to showcase the sport’s elite events. The rights deal will allow surfing fans to see highlight shows immediately following the events.
“ESPN is thrilled to be working with the ASP as the U.S. domestic broadcast partner for professional surfing,” Tim Reed, ESPN Global X senior director, Content Strategy and Sports & Competition, said. “We look forward to showcasing the excitement, energy and incredible skills of professional surfers touring the world under the ASP banner. The talent and experience that is being aggregated at the ASP make this a very exciting time for professional surfing as well as a great opportunity for ESPN to extend its X Games brand into professional surfing.”

Respective international linear broadcast deals will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks.
The ASP YouTube channel, along with the rebuilt ASP website which will embed this content via the YouTube player, will exclusively provide fans with more than 3,000 hours of programming, including 26 live streamed events annually across the men’s ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), the women’s ASP WCT and the ASP Big Wave World Tour (BWWT). For the first time in the sport’s history, the ASP YouTube channel will enable fans around the world to go to one global destination to view surfing digitally.
“ASP is committed to putting the world’s best surfers on the world’s best waves,” said Claude Ruibal, Global Head of Sports Content, YouTube. "We're committed to delivering the world's best viewing and interactive experience to amplify these incredible performances, turning the ASP YouTube channel to a daily destination for a world of surfing fans.”
Facebook will serve as the primary social platform partner for ASP with the relationship focusing on fan engagement. Repucom research findings showed the number one sport fan using social media throughout the world are surfing fans, including a characteristic of being six times more likely to engage in social media than the general public. The ASP will use Facebook to engage its rapidly-growing global fan base around surfing, both via broadcasts and connecting fans to the athletes themselves.
"We will be working closely with Facebook and Instagram as the primary social platforms to enhance our broadcast programming – bringing the tribe of surfing fans from around the world closer to the action they love, the athletes they follow and the sponsor brands they support,” Speaker said.
With the start of the 2014 season, fans will experience the future of professional surfing with the convergence of the production, marketing, media, social and sponsorship initiatives under the ASP banner for the first time in the sport’s history. The 2013 season is serving as a transitional year, with new management building programs and partnerships for the rebirth of professional surfing in 2014 when a new look, tone and feel as well as consistent and top-of-class programming will showcase the world’s best surfers in the world’s best waves. To see a preview of the new ASP, go to www.aspworldtour.com/2014
The 2013 ASP World Championship Tour is currently in Portugal for the Rip Curl Pro which runs through October 20, 2013.
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

The Boys Get Busy.

Hi from Snapper Rocks,

Dane Reynolds blowing the tail out at Rainbow Bay. Photo by joliphotos.com

A lay day was called for the Quiksilver Pro and the Roxy Pro here on the Gold Coast today so it’s given me a chance to sit down at the computer and catch up with a bit of photo editing.

The first heats of the year are out of the way in both the Men’s and Women’s WCT with a few surprise results recorded. Parko finished a nail biting 0.03 points behind Matty Wilkinson in their first round heat yesterday while Kelly Slater, riding a tiny five fin board, struggled to get going early before finally getting the board to do what he wanted and nailing the win.

Jody Smith threw his big frame around for a convincing heat win while Gabriel Medina won his heat on a twisted ankle before rushing off to hospital for tests and x-rays.

We’ve got a cyclone (Sandra?) brewing off the mid north coast of Queensland which could send swell our way later this week. Hopefully this time around it will be waves and not the cyclonic weather that have smashed our sand banks, especially at Snapper, and giving us weeks of onshore winds and flooding rains.

I’ve loaded images into this Gallery from the last few days action and lifestyle and will continue to add images as the action unfolds. Tomorrow’s call is at 6.30 am and there is even a chance the heats could run at Kirra after three days at Rainbow Bay and Greenmount.

Dane’s about to rock them.

Dane Reynolds scores a wildcard entry into the 2013 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

Dane Reynolds and girlfriend Courtney before a heat at the Quiksilver Pro France where he finished 2nd behind Kelly Slater

The announcement yesterday of Dane Reynolds receiving a wild card entry into next month’s season opening Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast no doubt sent shivers through a lot of the ASP’s new Top 34.

Reynolds didn’t enjoy the grind of touring the world competing in WCT events when he was a member of the Top 34 but he does love competing and it shows when he turns up at an event, competing as a wildcard and goes about winning heats.

He cut a swath through the Quiksilver Pro in France last year, finishing second  to good friend and mentor Kelly Slater and all but ending any hopes that Mick Fanning had of a 2012 World Title along the way.

Dane getting shacked in the beach breaks of Hossegor France.

Reynolds was the Vans Wilds card for the whole of the Vans Triple Crown in Hawaii last season and while he didn’t get close to winning an event like he did in France he certainly caused a few headaches for his fellow competitors along the way. An equal ninth at the Billabong Pipe Masters in testimony to that.
With virtually no ratings points to his name Reynolds will likely draw either the new world champ and hometown hero, Joel Parkinson or the #2 seeded surfer, 11 times world champ Kelly Slater.

“As a wildcard you’re automatically the lowest seed in the contest so you get a really tough draw in the first three rounds which makes it really exciting but really difficult,” he said. “Joel would definitely be a fun heat but I like to surf against Kelly too.”

The draw for the Quiksilver Pro wont be worked out until the results of the Trials are known because the other wildcard will go to the winner who may or may not have a higher seeding points than Reynolds. The Quiksilver Pro Trials will run on March 1st, the day before the beginning of the waiting period for the Quiksilver Pro.

Reynolds is a crowd favorite partly for his enigmatic reputation and also for his devil may care attitude which results in some of the craziest moves ever attempted in contests. he sent the internet into melt down last November when he pulled off an amazing snap to reverse at Haleiwa during the Reef Hawaiian Pro. Fans will be watching via the webcast or flocking to Snapper Rocks to see what he can do this time around.

Dane smacking his way through a heat in the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa last November

John John Florence signs with Hurley

John John's  multi million dollar deal with Hurley:

John John Florence with a million dollar smile after signing a five year deal with Hurley

The rumour mill had been grinding for months, starting as far back as September, that there were going to be big changes in the O'Neill surf team for 2013. The base of the rumors was that both Jordy Smith's and John John Florence's contracts were up for renewal and the $ figures were resembling phone numbers that included the area codes.

One of the rumors was that Kelly Slater, looking for an heir apparent at Quiksilver, was pushing for John John to join Quik, another was that Vans were going to step up and sign a 100% deal while a late comer to the rumor mill was Hurley. On the Jordy Smith front his name was being linked to Oakley with talk of a 100% deal but that could have slowed when they signed Bruce Irons and a yet to be confirmed World Championship Tour event in Bali around mid June of this year.

Florence, who had been riding for his former sponsor, O'Neill, since he was six years old, rode Jaws on the last day of 2012 on a sticker-less board and just over a week later put an end to the rumors when Hurley announced he'd joined their team.

Maybe the writing was on the wall back in November during the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Hale'iwa when Hurley management, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Evan Slater and former pro surfer and current VP of Sports Marketing Pat O'Connell were set up in the stands with the Florence camp. A group that included Florence's Mum Alex, brothers Nathan and Ivan and his longtime shaper Jon Pyzel.

Jon Pyzel, Evan Slater, Alex Florence, Nathan Florence, Pat O'Connell and Sunny Garcia share a joke while watching John John in the final of the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, November 2012

2012 was Florence's first full year on the ASP World Tour. He defeated Parko in the final of the Billabong Pro Brazil to become the first Hawaiian to win a WCT event since Andy Irons and was in the running for a world title until the O'Neill Cold Water Classic, the second last event of the year, before finally finishing fourth in the world.

John John Florence smacking the top off one during the Reef Hawaiian Pro

Florence turned 20 in October 2012 and as a teenager he had already racked up a Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title, three wins at Pipe that included a Backdoor Shootout win and two Volcom Pro wins, an ASP world tour victory, a runner-up at the Surfer Poll awards and invites to two of the world's most prestigious big-wave events; the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau and the Redbull Jaws, Paddle at Pe'ahi on Maui.

The dollar value of his new sponsorship package with Hurley was not announced with his signing, but solid rumors puts it's worth around 3.5 million dollars annually, which would put him in the top one percent of earners in surf and a deal worth somewhere in the $18 million range over five years. Pretty cool for a 20-year-old.

Gabriel Medina Looks Forward to Bells

 

Wonder Kid has a contest he’d rather forget:

Last year at just 18 years of age Brazilian Gabriel Medina split open a huge hole in the ASP world tour. As a teenage giant killer, Medina went from young grommet to full-fledged world title contender in the blink of an eye with two World Tour wins from four contests.

At 15 years old Medina is the youngest surfer to win a WQS event and amazingly had only begun competing in pro surfing events at 14. Last years ASP mid-year rotation made it possible for him to jump straight from the WQS and into the 2011 ASP Top 34.

2012 should be shaping up as a big year for him but an =25^th place at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast is not what was expected by him or his fans. What went wrong? Snapper Rocks can be a tricky place to surf at times especially in less than ideal conditions. Medina couldn’t find any rhythm in either of his heats and paid a heavy price being knocked out in Round Two by fellow rookie, Aussie Yadin Nichol. But there is one thing for certain about the year ahead, Medina wont be down for long. The Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach is just around the corner.

Ace Buchan Fires Up

 

 A lions roar from Ace:

Adrian Ace Buchan, the goofy footer with the gnarlest backhand snap on the tour today always greets you with a smile. When Ace came up against Tour Rookie and fellow Hurley team rider Brazilian Miguel Pupo in the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast there weren’t too many smiles going around in or out of the water.

In the battle of the goofy footers Ace came out on top and moved into the quarterfinals on the very last wave of the heat. He was wadding to the beach as the final scores were read out from the judges. Ace’s reaction to his wining ride was far from the usual smile, more like a lion’s roar and an emotional fist pumping. Ace was very happy but his normal smile was missing.

Stephanie Gilmore wins Roxy Pro Gold Coast

Roxy Pro Gold Coast 2012 - Images by Peter 'Joli' Wilson

Steph is Back:
The first Women’s World Tour event for 2012, the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, is all wrapped up with Aussie girls filling the top four spots. Four times world champ Stephanie Gilmore was back on the podium holding the winners trophy and lighting up the crowd with her infectious smile.
Steph, the local heroine, defeated North Narrabeen’s Laura Enever who was surfing in her first tour final, with a excellent nine point plus wave right on the siren.
Fellow Aussies Tyler Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons bowed out in the semi finals. The tour rookies put in solid performances and it looks like it will be an exciting year ahead for women’s surfing.
Check out all the action in this Gallery. Also check out the latest issue of www.18seconds.com.au for a cool multi media interview with yours truly.
The next big event is the Women’s Six Star rated Telstra Drug Aware Pro at Margaret River in Western Australia. I’ll be covering all the action so keep an eye on this blog.
Cheers
Joli

Taj Burrow-Back On Top

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2012 - Images by Peter 'Joli' Wilson
Happy Vegemites Aussie surfers scored a double victory at Snapper Rocks with Taj Burrow winning the Quiksilver Pro and (former world champion) Stephanie Gilmore winning the Roxy Pro. “I’m feeling great mate!” said Burrow after defeating Brazilian Adriano de Souza in what was a tense see sawing 35 minute heat battle in front of a packed Snapper Rocks beach. “I felt like I was in Rio [Rio de Janeiro],” said Burrow about the massive crowd that spilled into the water. “There were so many Brazilians here chanting for Adriano and I was a bit unnerved at first but it got me revved up, and I heard the Aussies bounce back with a really good roar on a couple of my waves, I could actually hear them as I was going through my turns. That’s a pretty special feeling.” Burrow’s definitely needed some local support after de Souza had opened the final with an eight point ride nailing an air reverse on his very first turn. “I was freaking after Adriano’s first ride, it’s quite an exclamation mark to come out on the first wave and try an air on your first turn,” explained Burrow later. “He did a sick turn and got eight (points) for just that one turn which is quite intimidating for sure but I knew I could get those scores too, if not better, if I could pick the right waves, but he (de Souza) sure makes it hard for you.” Adriano de Souza, who had avoided a lot of the contest hype that focused on Joel Parkinson, Kelly Slater and Jordy Smith has come second in this event and would have dearly liked to have won, but Burrow got the better of him again today. “We’ve met about 10 times now and Taj has won about six times,” said de Souza as he watched Burrow being mobbed by a massive media scrum. “I had the heat of my life against Taj last year and I would have really liked to have had a win today. What can I say, he belongs in the top three or four in the world and he has been knocking on the door (of a world title) for pretty much like 10 years. I’m sure we’ll met again and maybe next time it will be different.” Both third place getters, Josh Kerr and Jordy Smith would have liked to have the results go differently too. “If you’d told me a week ago I was going to get a third I would have told you I’d be stoked, “ said Kerr as he watched Burrow and de Souza battle out the final. “I really wish I was out in the final right now,” he continued with a shrug. “I had that heat this morning against Adriano and I really wanted to get through so I’m really disappointed right now, but I’ll take a third.” Jordy Smith had his own reasons for wanting a win at Snapper Rocks after the news last week of the downgrading of the World Tour event at Jeffreys Bay (to a six star); Smith would have been the defending champion. “I had an added incentive to win here because they’ve taken JBay (Jeffreys Bay, South Africa) away and I wanted to win one of the right hand point breaks this year.” Smith was runner up two years ago at the Quik Pro and made the semis twice in the last three years so he was more than a little disappointed about his result. “@#%*, I’m just really bummed, I wanted to make the final so bad. If you want to win a world title you’ve got to win finals,” he said. “I guess it’s a really good start to the year and now I hope to go and do really well at Bells, hopefully win or make the final at least.” When asked about the conditions today he answered with a smile, “It wasn’t perfect Snapper but I’m happy to have beaten Parko out here (Joel Parkinson’s home break). He’s probably beaten me 10 times and I’ve only beaten him three, so I don’t think I’ve got it over him yet, (laughing) but those three times are all out here at Snapper.” The 2012 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast didn’t have perfect waves and for a lot of the Top 34 surfers it was a nervous start to the year. The tour rookies didn’t really get a chance to shine with the seasoned pros filling the final top eight spots. Taj Burrow has led the world tour ratings at this stage of the year before, but it’s another long year ahead. He just laughed when asked how he felt about his World Title chances this year? “Right now, it’s all about rating points and having a few beers with my mates.”

Parko heads to the pointy end

Well we’re half way through the year and Parko is the runaway leader on the ASP World Tour. This is probably stating the obvious and if you applied the same scenario to Kelly Slater this time last year then Parko’s first world title would be a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’.

Bounce this around the number crunches who follow the ASP world tour and the word is that Parko’s title is not necessarily a certainty. Basically there are five World tour events to go, four back to back over the next eight weeks and ‘anything could happen’.

When Joel won in J-Bay one of the first guys to congratulate him after all the media had disappeared was his good mate Mick Fanning. Mick had been in a similar position to Joel two years earlier and he just gave his friend a big hug and said. “Just one step closer mate.”
It was almost as if Mick had conceded that this was going to be another of the ‘Cooly Kids’ chance to hold up the World Title trophy even though Mick, who is rated at #7, is still in the mix for this years title race.

The main contenders are probably the Hobgood twins, Taj Burrow and Adriano de Souza. Bobby Martinez would have to be considered an outsider and Kelly who is in the Top 10, but I his own words figures he could be still in the race with a ‘…. mathematical outside chance.’, but not a lot of people are giving him this chance. Beware of the underdog you ask? Well he’s definitely that but the wheels would really have to fall off a few guys’ campaigns ahead of him to even give him a sniff.

Will this be Parko’s year? There was an injury scare out of Bali with Parko hurting his ankle. Team Parko have down played the injury via Twitter and blogs on his website but there haven’t been many sightings for the past few weeks. Could have a lot to do with the lack of surf on the Gold Coast. We’ve been getting summer Northerlies in winter. It’s a few days into Spring but the surf hasn’t improved much. There have been almost no waves since the end of July on the Gold Coast. Other Ct surfers have been around but they have also been going stir crazy because of the conditions.

The Hurly Pro, Event #6 on this years tour, is only four days away and you can bet a lot of the Gold Coast crew are already in California trying to get a few waves at Trestles because they haven’t been getting any at home.
Will this be Parko’s year? It certainly seems like it at the moment. He’s being in such consistent form since late last year. The 2008 Triple Crown is testament to that and three wins out of five events is nothing to be sneezed at.
I’m hitting the road in a few days time with six weeks of contests through Europe on the itinerary. Will I get a shot of Parko holding that world title trophy above his head in the next six weeks… I certainly hope so.