Florence, currently in his rookie year on the ASP WCT, proved unstoppable on the final day of Billabong Rio Pro competition, topping prodigious Australian Julian Wilson (AUS), 23, and Josh Kerr (AUS), 27, on his way to triumph over Parkinson.

“This is the best feeling in the world,” Florence said. “I had that bad heat at Arpoador to start and we had a couple of lay days and I had to just sit and think about it. I can’t even believe this right now. I’m in shock. I was just sticking to my game plan and not thinking about the other guys. I’m so happy right now.” Florence, who now sits at No. 6 on the ASP WCT, will look to carry the momentum from today’s massive victory to the upcoming ASP WCT events in Fiji and Tahiti.

Mick Fanning (AUS), 30, two-time ASP World Champion, is entering the Billabong Rio Pro fresh off of a win at Bells Beach and with current frontrunner Kelly Slater (USA), 40, withdrawn from the event, Fanning will look to capitalize on the reigning 11-time ASP World Champion’s absence to take a lead over the field. While Fanning admits that Slater’s withdrawal could work to his advantage, he still has a tall task ahead in tackling the rest of the ASP Top 34.

“I love Trestles so much,” Medina said. “It’s just such a good wave and it’s one of my favorites, I just don’t even have words to explain how I’m feeling right now. I’m stoked.”

“Through The Whisky Barrel” is the much anticipated debut film by Allyn Harper.  An innovate film providing an insight into the history and the culture that surrounds surfing in Scotland. The film showcases an array of epic waves which are unleashed onto the undulating Scottish coastline, whilst telling the stories of Scottish surfing’s pioneers and the waves, which form their coldwater playground. The film aims bring the surfing community in Scotland together and raise funds for the Scottish Surf Federation.  Soundtrack by the incredible 65 Days of Static.

More information can be found at www.throughthewhiskybarrel.com

Steamer Lane and the surf museum

Santa Cruz received its approval as a World Surfing Reserve in February 2011. Its application ranked highly on all World Surfing Reserve criteria: wave quality and consistency, unique environmental characteristics, surf culture and history, and community support. More than 23 surf spots dot the region’s coastline, with a handful of iconic locations such as Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point.

The cold-water marine environment not only provides a playground for surfers, but also provides habitat for one of the most robust coastal and marine ecosystems on the planet. Santa Cruz’s importance in the history of surfing is undeniable, as it was the birthplace of surfing on the North American continent and played a pivotal role in the creation and development of the surfing wetsuit, which opened up surfing to new regions around the world.

The stuff of nightmares

“A 20-year-old body boarder was killed Thursday when a giant shark estimated at up to five metres long bit off his leg in a Cape Town bay, in South Africa’s second deadly mauling this year. ‘The deceased man sustained complete amputation of his right leg, below the hip, while body boarding with his brother and friends,’ said National Sea Rescue Institute spokesman Craig Lambinon.

“There are no other bite marks or lacerations on the deceased man’s body — only the complete amputation of the right leg and the leg has not been recovered.”

Witnesses reported a single shark, thought to be a Great White and measuring four to five metres, attacked the man. They said up to six sharks were spotted after the incident at a popular surfing and body boarding site in False Bay. The South African man’s body was recovered off rocks on the shore after he was hauled to shore by others in the water and bystanders, said Lambinon.

Officials are mulling a trial shark net for Fish Hoek, a popular swimming beach where three attacks, two deadly, have taken place. To counter attacks due to regular shark presence, the city also uses a unique shark spotting programme which monitors for sightings of the apex predators.

Last week, coastal authorities warned beachgoers around the tourist town of Knysna that sharks were moving into the area, feeding on the remains of a whale that had run ashore about 400 kilometres east of Cape Town.

and has anyone noticed that Fanning has morphed into comedian Lee Evans- separated at birth?

Event No. 2 of 10 on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach will recommence the race for the ASP World Title and the elite ASP Top 34 will do surf for the honor of ‘ringing the bell’ by event’s end.