Red Bull Surfing

Should you be online right now we'd like to highly recommend you click on over to the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro website and watch Adriano De Souza and Kelly Slater battle it out in the final. Time is of the essence, so tune in quick! This is Adriano's second final of the year, and he's never won a Dream Tour event. Will he win in front of the home crowd today? Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Full wrap up later today.

"We've been scoring an array of Chile's finest waves in the south. We have surfed Buchupureo, a long left point. It's in region where Ox carts still roam the streets, very old world style. Yesterday I surfed Infernillo with Ramon Navarro. Ramon drove his Red Bull ski and I reaped the benefits of his local knowledge." Read More on Jamie's Blog...

Jordy Smith is having the best year of his career.  Currently sitting in sixth place on the tour rankings and making his first ever podium on the WCT with a third at Bells Beach.  The demand for the South African superstar is at an all time high.  We caught up with him in the freezing blustery conditions of Cape Town, during the O'Neill Cold Water Classic to get the low down on surfing at his hometown in Durban.

Tell us about surfing in New Pier?
Yeah New Pier, all my friends and family are down there so its kind of fun going back there and getting some great waves. The spot is an amazing wave, there's a little jetty going out which produces perfect rights, and there is also another perfect bowl that has lefts where you can get a couple of little barrels every now and then. You can go out there on any given day and see all groms pushing and shoving to get a wave, its great to see I love it.

Lets cut straight to the chase here, two huge pieces of news from the land of lady's surfing:

1. Maya Gabriel has been nominated for a 2009 ESPY Award. Arguably the best big wave female surfer on the planet. This Brazilian beauty has braved massive waves from Alaska to Tahiti and won the 2009 Billabong XXL Women's Overall Performance Award for the third straight year. The good folks at ESPN have taken notice, and now it's up to you to vote. Click here to see the hottest charger on the planet take the stage at the 2009 ESPYs.

The 2009 ESPY Awards will air Sunday, July 19th at 9pm on ESPN, with Samuel L. Jackson as host.

2. Carissa Moore has been nominated for a 2009 Teen Choice Award, and again, we need your help to put her at the podium. She was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the Action Sports Athlete: Female category. In order for her to win, everybody between the ages of 13 and 19 has to do their part and vote. If you're a teenager, clicker here to vote...and remember, you can vote once per day, so get in the habit of clicking back every day.

The Teen Choice Awards airs Monday, Aug. 10 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. So tell your teens and their friends....

"You only win Nationals once," said Kolohe Andino, boarding Red Bull's double decker bus, reserved for the soon-to-be-anointed NSSA Open Men's National Champ. "It's kind of embarrassing having this bus pull up at T Street where I surf every day, but it feels pretty good to celebrate."

Sporting a sharp tie and jacket combo for the occassion, Kolohe and a couple dozen of his closest friends jumped on the double decker to cruise up to the NSSA banquet in Huntington Beach. After a tough week of hottly contested heats down at the NSSA Nationals it was feeling good to kick back and enjoy the ride.

"You may have to paddle out in your heat alone," he philosophized, "but I hardly did this by myself. My family is always there, supporting me and cheering me on. And my friends, they push me and make me want to surf better all the time. I feel pretty lucky to be able to achieve something like this, and couldn't have done it without everybody around me...we're partying tonight."

Left to their own devises once the double decker rolled away from the curb, the new National champ and his entorage of surf rats and affectionate admirers spent the rest of the night cruising Orange County and celebrating a well-earned national title.

 

The Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro ran Round 2, the elimination round, yesterday, and proving that our boys stand straight up when their backs are against the wall, Jordy Smith, Adriano De Souza and Tiago Pires, who trounced Dane Reynolds, all lit their respective heats up. For the first time this year we're looking at everybody on the Red Bull squad seeded into Round 3...which is nice.

Apparently Jordy "was devastating against Ben Bourgeois." Most notably, he racked up the highest single wave score of the day, a 9.00 out of a possible 10.

"It's still pretty tough out there and it's difficult to find a spot to line up," Jordy would say "There are some pretty good waves coming through the bowl though and if you can get on them, you can open up a bit. I just got lucky with my wave ion and was able to put up a couple of scores."

Day 2 of the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro, Stop No. 4 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, has awoken to another morning of clean four-to-six foot (2 metre) waves on offer at Praia Vila, prompting event organizers to call the elimination Round 2 on starting at 8am.

"We have similar conditions to yesterday in terms of swell but the sun is shining and the conditions are projected to be a bit cleaner today," Perry Hatchett, ASP Head Judge said. "We'll be starting Round 2 at 8am and looking to complete the round by day's end."

The Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro is underway, and with one day in the books the drama's on hot and heavy. Mick Fanning continued to terrorize the world's best surfers this morning, employing his lightning-fast forehand approach to navigate the thumping beach breaks. Although slow to start, the powerful natural-footer picked up momentum throughout the heat, netting the day's highest heat total of a 16.43 out of a possible 20, including a 9.50 for a blistering assault on a roping righthander.

"I couldn't find a rhythm towards the start and Aritz (Aranburu) came out with a 5, I came out with a 6, Aritz got a 7 and we went back and forth," Fanning said. "Towards the end, I was able to find a wave that stood up across the bank and it allowed me to really open up. I got one good turn off the top to start and just tried to stay on rail throughout the rest of the wave."

Despite being absent from last season's event with an injury, Fanning remains one of the most dangerous surfers in Brazil, with back-to-back wins in 2006 and 2007. Sitting within striking distance of an ASP World Tour ratings jump, the Australian is focused on capitalizing at the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro.

"I've won the event the last two times I've been here so hopefully I can make it a three-peat," Fanning said. "It's still early days, but I'm feeling fit and focused and looking to put some results together over the course of these next events. I'm confident in my abilities in Brazil."

The final day of the Cold Water Classic was absolutely awesome. It was not quite as big as we thought it would be, and maybe a little inconsistent, but still the waves were super fun when they came through. By the time the spray finally settled it was 24-year-old Maroubra regular Blake Thornton that upended local favorite Royden Bryson to take victory. All contest Royden had been in splendid form, and is still kicking himself because of a wave he caught in the final that could have carried him to a win. He scored a wave with huge potential, but right on take off a seal jumped out of the water in front of him. He flinched and got pitched over the falls.
 

Lay day at the Cold Water Classic today. To date Jordy hasn't free-surfed at all, as he showed up, surfed his heat, a crazy storm hit Cape Town. The rumor was 20-30ft howling onshore's for Wednesday on the Atlantic side of the coast, but on the eastern side of the Cape they're saying it could be anywhere from 6-15 ft and perfect offshore barrels at Cork Bay Reef, for the final day. Until then munch on some photos.