Extremehorizon Surfing Blog

Volcome Pipeline Pro:

Conditions settled down at the Banzai Pipeline today and yesterday’s death-defying closeouts were replaced by long, hollow tubes at the Volcom Pipe Pro. California’s Chris Ward and Costa Rican Carlos Munoz put on incredible performances at Backdoor that saw them clearly emerge the pacesetters.

Pipeline!

A $130,000 5-star Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) event, the Volcom Pipe Pro still has two days of competition to run before crowning the 2012 champion. The defending champion is John John Florence (Hawaii), who will make his debut on the next day of surfing.

Carlos Munoz, 19, was the only surfer to post a perfect 10-point ride today, earning a bonus $1,000 for the ELECTRIC Pefect 10 award. He did it at Backdoor with an air-drop takeoff into a deep, long barrel that ran the full length of the break. The crowd erupted when he emerged through the curtain of water with fists pumping. His second high wave of 8.6 gave him a total of 18.6 points.

Organizers will assess the conditions at first light tomorrow to determine if there will be an 8am start. Two more days of competition remain.

The Volcom Pipeline pro was expected to kick off yesterday but stormy conditions delayed the competition. This didn’t stop Kelly Slater ripping it up at Pipe though, scoring some seemingly unmakeable barrels. Check out the video clip below:

The Volcom Pipe Pro is expected to get underway today at 8am local time with the opening rounds of action at Banzai Pipeline, North Shore, Oahu. Surfline.com, the official forecasters for the event, anticipate a new north-west swell to start filling in tonight and hold through tomorrow. More swell is on tap through the event window that extends to February 4, requiring three full days of competition.

The Volcom Pipe Pro, a $130,000 5-star Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) event, will feature 124 surfers from around the globe, including a host of local Pipeline specialists, respected big wave riders, and established pros. Defending event champion John John Florence will head the field, joined by top international talent Josh Kerr (Australia), Bruce Irons (Hawaii, wildcard), Kolohe Andino (California), Tanner & Dane Gudauskas (California), Wiggolly Dantas (Brazil), Joan Duru (France), Balaram Stack (New York), and Hawaii chargers Ian Walsh, Dusty Payne, and Jamie O’Brien.

Last year a European wax brand called Green Fix, commissioned a report to test the validity of all the surfboard waxes on the market which had claims to organic constituents and one of the brands which they cast doubt over was Matunas. The move was clearly a commercial sabotage attempt which Matunas have recently answered by engaging an independent Lab to test their wax, which came back proving that their wax was completely organic. Check out the press release from Matunas below:

Matunas Cold... mmm fruity

A number of surf wax brands including Matunas surf wax based in Santa Cruz, California we’re targeted this past year by a competitor who attempted to discredit their organic credentials as well as many others brands. Whereas this ploy was clearly an action based with commercial gains from the competitor as it presented Matunas with an opportunity to offer final proof to the surf industry that their products are of a natural and organic origin.

Independent testing was carried out by S&N LABS who placed Matunas wax through a rigorous series of chemical screening tests in order to verify the composition of the product. A Matunas wax sample was analyzed by S&N LABS who screened for the presence of petrochemical based products in the formulation. The Lab tests are designed to identify the major constituents of the waxes whether man made or bio-based.

The Test methods that were utilized by S&N were:
- Analysis of the wax by Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FTIR)
-Examining the organic components using Gas Chromatography.

Conclusions: The results of the tests were conclusive, scientifically proving that the components of Matunas surf wax are from natural origin.  Matunas, matunasco.com, have been making an organic surf wax from their 25 acre farm in Santa Cruz California since 1998. They use ingredients grown on the farm and everything is 100% natural, with fragrances from real strawberries, raspberries and jasmine flowers. Matunas have created a product which is superior to paraffin and chemical based surf waxes by manufacturing a non-toxic, biodegradable wax presented in 100% recycled paper, printed with recycled ink wrappers.

Joel Tudor - a fan of Matunas wax

Matunas Organic eco-surf wax has been tested and proven by some of the world’s best surfers from Kelly Slater to Joel Tudor. Matunas also received the honor of winning the Green Product of the year 2007-08 by Surfers Path and enjoy continuing support from the Surfrider Foundation.

Wavegarden are working on a new location for one of their artificial wave “pools” in Northern Spain. Expect to see a lot more on these kinds of man made waves in years to come- paying to surf is the future for many. Heres a snippet of the Wavegarden press release and a nice little video below:

“Rapid progress is being made with the construction works of the new public use surfing facility in the Basque Country. Wavegarden will pump high-quality man-made waves in the Spring of 2012. This facility will be the first in the world focused on surfing at all levels, from beginner to competition. After nearly six years of intense R&D focused on energy efficiency and customisable waves, this wave generation technology allows for the first ever economically-viable inland wave-sport and lifestyle facilities.

It will mark the first human-generated wave that breaks in natural surroundings with a low environmental impact and an energy consumption average of only 350kwh. The Wavegarden will be both a centre of high performance training for elite surfers, as well as a research site for wave-generating technology. This new facility will also be in Spain’s Basque Country, in the same location as the Wavegarden prototype.”

Judging by the quiver of balsa surfboards behind him in this shot, it looks as though the pope might well surf!

A surfing Pope?

We’ve been discussing artificial wavepools and reefs on the Extremehorizon blog for a number of years now and with the (unfortunate failed) reef in Bournemouth and now the Wavegarden, planned to be installed in Bristol, UK, the concepts are becoming a reality. I personally feel that as these wavepools are built, developed, become better and work through the inevitable teething problems, they will become a common addition to inland cities the world over. Everyone will be able to try surfing and it will hopefully allow beginners to learn basic skills before entering the ocean for the first time

Mock Up of the Wavegarden- Bristol

Bristol will get the first installment of the man-made surfing wave park, in a £5 million investment. Wavegarden will make its debut in a 4,000 m2 area in Shirehampton, along the portway, near Sea Mills.

A lot of things in life go in cycles and it looks as though big wave riding is one of them. From what I’ve seen recently big wave riders are returning more and more to a pure surfing experience and paddling into monster swells on 10′ + gun surfboards. This was a recent session as Peahi (Jaws) which saw a number of riders paddling in, which kept the tow surfers off the wave (as is the unwritten law- if it can be paddled into dont tow).  Shane Dorian may have showed the way with his unbelievable paddle into a huge Peahi wave last year which most thought would have been impossible to catch. Prediction for 2012…. more big wave guns and less jet skis!

Peahi- Jaws Dec 2011

Monday 12th Dec 2011 saw a recording breaking wave recorded on a wave buoy in the Atlantic off the west coast of Ireland in Donegal. It was tracked at 20.4m which in terms of face size equates to around 70-80ft! The monster wave was generated by a Force 10 storm tracking westerly across the UK and Ireland, which saw gusts of 87mph recorded in Ireland and even stronger in Scotland.

Richie Fitzgerald on a previous tow session at Mullaghmore

The huge waves were immediately jumped on by local surf tow in crews which included Richie Fitzgerald, Northcore team rider, who towed into the monster swell off the Mullaghmore headland in Sligo. With more heavy storms heading our way theres a strong chance of more massive waves and tow in surf sessions this winter.

For more insane Irish waves, check out the film Waveriders which includes a massive tow session in Donegal and stars The Malloys, Kelly Slater and Richie Fitzgerald

The 2011 Billabong Pro Pipemasters event, one of the Triple Crown Surf comps on Oahu’s North Shore Hawaii, kicked off yesterday with an absolute classic day of surfing.

Pipeline was firing with a 10-15ft west swell hitting all three reefs and producing some stunning barrels, rides and wipeouts. It was all time and it’ll hopefully be repeated today as the swell is due to hold until the weekend. Check the highlights below!