Extremehorizon Surfing Blog

The surf world will mourn the loss of one its most naturally gifted surfers ever, Michael Peterson aka “MP”, who died today 29th March 2012 on the Australian Gold Coast. MP lead a flawed but brilliant surfing career and equally unstable life outside of surfing, he was one of a kind and our thoughts go out to his family and friends. RIP

MP in his heyday

Press release: Three-time winner of the Bells Beach Easter surfing classic and one of Australia’s greatest surfers, has died at the age of 59 after a heart attack. Peterson will be remembered for being virtually unbeatable in competition in the early 1970s and for providing the defining image of the iconic surfing movie, Morning of the Earth, in 1971.

The greatest tribute to the reclusive rebel from Coolangatta was delivered to his face by the world’s greatest surfer, Kelly Slater, who once told him: “You are better than me, MP.”

Michael Peterson at Kirra

Tall, athletic and long-haired, Peterson was an undiagnosed schizophrenic, who retreated from his celebrity status into a world of hard drugs, fast cars and seclusion before a period in jail and in psychiatric hospitals. He later found peace, living with his mother Joan Watt in South Tweed Heads and occasionally attending surfing functions.

His extraordinary life was chronicled in Sean Doherty’s biography, MP, The Life of Michael Peterson and inspired the novel The Life, by Malcolm Knox.

A 35ft long Sperm whale which is approximated to weigh around 30 tonnes, washed up on Skegness, Lincolnshire beach on Saturday. Sadly the animal had visible injuries which looked to be caused by a boat propeller.

Sperm whale Skegness beach

Sperm whales are deep water animals so it’s likely it died in deeper waters further North and drifted down over a number of days.

As the body decomposed it began to smell so the local council covered it with sand as a temporary measure and plan to remove it from the beach today.

The final day of the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast culminated on Sunday with Taj Burrow & Stephanie Gilmore taking the respective wins in clean two-to-three foot waves at Snapper Rocks. A capacity crowd was on hand for the final day of competition, with the world’s best surfers putting on a spectacular display of high-performance surfing.

Kelly Slater was knocked out in the Quarter finals which has cast a doubt over him attending the next event at Bells beach. Is this the end of the Tour for kelly?

Burrow defeated dangerous Adriano De Souza in a Final that came down to the wire. De Souza caught a wave in the dying minutes and launched into a massive air-reverse, requiring a 7.87 out of a possible 10 to take the lead. The judges deliberated until after the siren sounded and when it was announced that De Souza came a mere 0.27 short, Burrow was chaired up the beach and declared the 2012 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast champion.

OK, so Mr Slater isn’t talking about acid, spliffs or whatever drugs non-surfers seem to still stereotype surfers with using. In the press release below he is referring to the ASPs introduction of drug testing for sports performance enhancing drugs in pro-surfing. I agree with Kelly as it’s doubtful that pumping yourself with horse growth hormones or whatever sh*t they use will enhance surfing performance. Heres what KS has to say:

Slater at a press conference

Kelly Slater is happy to abide by new doping regulations being implemented, but he doubts whether performance-enhancing drugs would make anyone surf better. Surfing’s image has sometimes been clouded by images of wild lifestyles, of cashed-up athletes treading a fine line between partying and performing.

Today’s pro surfer is super-fit, however the ASP still wants to clean up the sport for good. Slater, speaking at the launch of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast said he had no problem with the tests. The world Tour will have its first series of formalised drug testing this year involving standards prescribed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). “Doesn’t bother me,” Slater said.

“I actually don’t know that the performance-enhancing issue applies to us so much. Surfing is a lot of decision making and skill. It’s not just based on speed and it’s not just based on strength. “I don’t know that if someone takes a drug it’s going to make them win a heat, whereas if a guy is running round a track and he wants to go as fast as he possibly can, a drug probably can make him go faster. I think he probably can cheat.

“Surfing is a little different.”

The new ASP Anti-Doping Policy will test for both illicit and performance-enhancing substances. Offenders face a minimum one-year ban from the tour. Slater also commented on marijuana being regarded as performance enhancing. “Anyone going to get busted on tour? Maybe, it would be kind of funny. I mean, it would be a bummer for that person, it would be embarrassing.

“Obviously there has been no shortage of drug insinuations in surfing, the lifestyle and travel and everything, but as far as affecting competition, I can’t say with any authority that it does. But there are standards we are expected to rise to as a professional sport so the drug testing, it’s totally viable for us to have it.

Slater is undecided about whether he will compete full-time this year. He hopes his longevity inspires other elite athletes to ignore the notion they should retire in their early-to-mid 30s. “Maybe some of the best athletes we’ve ever seen have quit too early,” he said.

We’ve recently launched a brand new tail pad deck grip for surfboards. The brief was function over form- bright colours, signatures and funky grip patterns don’t necessarily make a traction pad any better, so we kept it simple and in short it works. We sent a few for Richie Fitzgerald to try out over in Ireland as he’s a man to give them a proper workout and offer genuine feedback. Here’s what he had to say:

Northcore 2012 Deck Grip ... Ultimate traction

Richie Fitzgerald, “I haven’t used a tail pad on any of my boards since 1998, I got sick of how they would lose their grip and inhibit my foot placement. So I was skeptical to say the least when I got a sample of the new ‘Northcore’ tail pad for a new board of mine. To say I was pleasantly surprised at how it worked is an understatement, I didn’t think I could get excited with a new tail pad but the solid block construction, tacky grip and foot placement comfort is fantastic, so good Ive just ordered another 4!”

Richie's new board complete with traction pad

Keith Malloy recently visited the Wavegarden in Spain and gave it a thumbs up. However I’m not sure if i was more impressed by Keith’s surfing or his beard- the latter of which seems to have taken on a life of its own! Wavegarden continues to impress, the prototype wave still looks small and I can’t imagine it’s overly punchy but it’s early days and as this wave technology develops the potential is clear:

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.