Red Bull Surfing

He's Number One in the program, now make him Number One in your hearts. We're talking about current World Tour rating's leader Jordy Smith, of course. And while he's done all the hard work in the water, with the 2010 Surfer Poll coming up, you can now show some gratitude by voting for him.

"Surfer Poll? There are less Surfer Poll winners than world champions if that tells you how hard it is to win one," says Jordy. "It means a lot because it's voted on by the fans, and it's not just about how many heats you win, but everything else that you do too. Just to be recognized at the Surfer Poll is an honor, I was really proud of that last year, and hopefully I can climb a few spots this year."

Moving to Hawaii this December for the first time in the Surfer Poll's storied 40 years, you don't have to be a pro surfer to be involved. All you have to do is go to Surferpoll.com, pick your ten favorite male surfers and your ten favorite female surfers, click "Submit," and you're well on your way to altering the course of surfing as we know it. So, what are you waiting for? Get yourself online and help Jordy and the Red Bull Surfing crew out!

A lot's been said about the upcoming ASP restructuring and the cutoff that's about to hit the Top 45, but one person that's not saying a word is Brazil's Wiggolly Dantes. He's letting his surfing do all the talking these days. After bagging a win this weekend at the Lacanau Pro, Dantes currently sits as the highest rated non-World Tour surfer on the ASP's new World Ranking. Simply put, when the field goes from 45 to 32 surfers at the end of the Billabong Pro Tahiti -- which started today -- in all probability Dantes will graduate to the World Tour and be part of the most distinguished group of surfers on the planet.

Big waves are Jamie Sterling's life. It's what he does. From Hawaii in the winter to South America and Tahiti in the summer, the man's on a mission to tackle the biggest surf he can find. Last week he was rewarded for the effort, taking out the Billabong Pico Alto Invitational. Held in massive 20-foot conditions, the famed Peruvian big-wave surf spot most definitely lived up to its name.

"I've been living the dream for 15 years now, and to win something like this is amazing," told an obviously stoked Sterling.
 

In front of a record crowd, with a record prize purse on the line, Carissa Moore and Sally Fitzgibbons paddled out under the shadow of the Huntington Beach pier. And as the tide quickly rose, in what turned out to be a relatively wave-starved final, Carissa struck first. After that, the way momentum goes, Carissa was squarely in the driver's seat.

Unfortunately, Sally never quite found the waves she needed to make it a heat. Carissa sat on two four-point rides until the dying seconds, when she took the best wave in a two-wave exchanged and clinched the biggest contest win of her short career.

"I couldn't sleep last night," she said the morning after accepting the $50,000 first place check. "It's very surreal, I don't feel like a U.S. Open champion really. I guess my only wish is that we had more waves in the final so Sally and I really could have surfed it out. She's such a good surfer, and she's such a good competitor. We really have been pushing each other lately. But yeah, I'm stoked. This is beyond belief."

And it would appear they're going to be pushing each other for years to come, as Carissa celebrates her 18th birthday soon, and Sally's still under 20. The two young ladies are well on their way to changing women's surfing as we know it.

Jordy Smith has claimed his maiden ASP elite victory, taking out the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay over Adam Melling (AUS), 25, in front of a capacity hometown crowd. Event No. 4 of 10 on the 2010 ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay was nothing but blaring Vuvuzelas and roars from the bluff as these two titans went tit-for-tat in an incredible Final exchange. The young South African proved the victor, dominating from the outset and securing an emotional first win.

"This is the best day of my life," Smith said. "The crowd on the beach has been supporting me the last few days and hearing the cheers and the Vuvuzelas just gets me fired up to perform. It feels like they're pushing me along. I couldn't have done it without them."

Arugam Bay Sri Lanka: Julian Wilson  has won the 6 star rated Association of Surfing Professionals SriLankan Airlines Pro  in flawless 4 to 6 feet surf on an epic final day.

Wilson came into this event courtesy of a wild-card from the sponsor and throughout the event he dominated,  continually posting the day's highest scoring rides and took a deserved win over 19 year-old  USA surfer Nat Young.

Wilson and Young were unquestionably the worthy finalists here as both verified their status as two of the most exciting emerging  ASP surfers.

Wilson controlled the final from start to finish and capitalised early by taking wave priority when Young took off on a poor opening wave.

TAHITI, French Polynesia (Tuesday, June 22, 2010) - While enjoying a break from the ASP World Tour after three events, Tahiti native Michel Bourez (PYF), 23, sat down to give us some news and insights about the tour, his training and his goals as the second part of the year starts.

Bourez, who equaled his best result ever in Brazil during the Santa Catarina Pro finishing equal 5th overall, remains in excellent position to "make the cut" when the ASP elite contingent changes from a 45-man field to thirty-two members, after the Billabong Pro Tahiti where he expects to shine in front of his home crowd.

In the middle of a new project called the Michel Bourez Invitational put-up by his main sponsor Nike 6.0, Bourez gives a look back on his 2010 start and how he feels about life on tour. Check out the words from the Spartan...

"Things have been good since the new year started and I am sitting No. 12 on the ASP World title race at the moment so I am pretty satisfied. I had a good run in Brazil and made the Quarterfinals and right now, I have the feeling I can make the cut after the event in Tahiti next August. I've been enjoying some time at home since the event finished in Brazil, spent a month surfing and seeing my friends. These moments are very important to find your balance and recharge batteries. Next for me is a trip with my sponsor Nike 6.0 and I can't wait to be there. The team is great, I have an excellent relationship with my sponsors and am very proud to represent them wherever I go.

It was game on down at the Movistar Peru Classic, as Brazil's Silvana Lima tallied the third win of her career, but more importantly, our own Sally Fitzgibbons finished in the runner-up slot and moved herself to withing 500 points of the top ranking on the ASP Women's World Tour.

"Another bridesmaid finish," Fitzgibbons said, as this comes as her third second-place result in as many tries. "It's a good result all the same and great for my rating, but I want to win one really bad. Silvana (Lima) was ripping though. I couldn't really get into a good rhythm in that heat. I felt good all day, but she got the jump on me and I was never able to answer back. It's all good though. We've had amazing support here in Peru and I'm looking forward to the next one. Ironically I got the wave I needed to take the win moments after the siren but that's surfing."

World tour rookie Carissa Moore,17, celebrated the end of high school with the ultimate graduation party. The class of 2010 and the South Shore of Oahu's most-talented surfers, like Ezekiel Lau, Kelia and Isiah Moniz, and Kaulana Apo, danced their faces off at Fresh Café to celebrate a milestone in Moore's life.

She was completely surprised by the 400-plus people that packed Fresh Café for the party, and Moore was adorned with leis upon exiting the limousine and entering the grand event. Party people packed kept the dance floor constantly packed and sweaty making the Honolulu club look like a scene you would expect to find in Ibiza, Spain.

Professional surfers Sofía Mulanovich, Sally Fitzgibbons, Maya Gabeira and Nadja de Col prepared a Peruvian ceviche while learning about nutrition at the Red Bull Girls Surfing Only camp.

Keeping a healthy and balanced diet is a key part of achieving a top athletic performance, and the coaches at Red Bull Girls Surfing Only camp know this well. A significant part of the third day of the camp was spent discussing nutrition with lady surfers "It's very important to teach the girls to eat correctly so they can replace all the energy spent at sea", states Andy Walshe, director of high performance programs for Red Bull. For Dan Ross, Sofía and Sally's coach, "fish is an excellent source of protein, which we tend to figure prominently in our diet because it's readily available as we are usually working close to the sea."