The NSSA Interscholastic State Championships finished this past weekend in wet and unruly conditions caused by the El Nino storm patterns. However, the surf remained consistent and allowed the competitors a good opportunity to showcase their talents. Rusty’s Breyden Taylor participated in the contest, surfing for San Clemente High in the Junior Varsity Division. Breyden surfed a nail biting heat against Josh Giddings and ended up the claiming the division. Congratulations from all of us at Rusty!
Yesterday, Rusty’s Corey Howell placed 2nd in the Boys Under 16 Division at the Surfing America Prime held at Sebastian Inlet. Corey will also be competing in the Ron Jon’s Sebastian Inlet Jr. Pro starting Thursday. This will be Corey’s first Jr. Pro! Congratulations and good luck at the Jr. Pro!
The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast is the perfect ASP “Dream Tour” location. Warm water and white sand, sunshine and sun tans, people and parties, all combined with some of the best sand-bottom pointbreaks in the world, makes the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast the most eagerly anticipated of all events among both professional surfers and fans alike. This also marks team rider Nate Yeomans’ first ever event on the WCT - Good Luck Nate!
Josh Kerr is one of the most progressive free surfers on the planet, logging more flight time than a pilot in training… However, his talent is not strictly confined to the free surfing realm. Kerrzy is a force to be reckoned with in competition format as he posts huge scores in any wave conditions.
Below we see Kerr snag one of the highest scoring waves of the event, an 8.63, in the recent Kirra Teams Challenge where he was representing the Snapper Rocks Surf Club. The event was actually moved down to D’bah where it was a solid and messy six foot plus - a lot of duck diving and close out sections.
Kerr had a different approach than the rest of the competitors: he was the only one who was scaling the jetty rocks, hoping in on the harbor side, and then paddling out around the end of the jetty. He managed to sneak into one of the only barrels of the event and finished it off with a huge smash to free fall on the end section.
Burleigh Heads will host a four star WQS event from February 16th-21st.
The Breaka Burleigh Surf Pro is the first standalone professional surfing event to be staged at the iconic Burleigh Heads in almost 10 years.
You can expect to see many of the world’s best surfers competing in the event, from top Pro Juniors and WQS seeds to ASP Dream Tour superstars.
“Not since the early 2000’s of the Quiksilver Pro, and before that the days of ‘Rabbit’ [Wayne Bartholomew] and Mark Richards doing battle on the point has there been so much excitement surrounding a surfing contest based firmly at Burleigh Heads,” said Surfing Queensland Chief Executive Officer, Craig Harland.
A who’s who of Australian surfing identities have carved their careers through the ASP World Qualifying Series and with the nation boasting a huge talent pool of current and future world surfing stars, the Breaka Burleigh Surf Pro is expected to be a highlight of the Australian surfing calendar.
The 2010 Drug Aware Pro presented by Rusty will showcase not only the world’s top ranked surfers, but will launch the inaugural MASS festival, a six day lifestyle event encompassing Music, Arts, Surf and Style in the surf capital of Western Australia.
Headlining the six day event will be the Drug Aware Pro, a six star prime rated men’s and women’s world qualifying series event, sanctioned by the ASP and an important part of the new look World Surfing Tour with the now one tiered ranking system. The competition, running from March 16th – 21st will feature a huge swell of surfing talent, including Rusty’s Nate Yeomans and Josh Kerr, newly crowned world champ Mick Fanning, last year’s runner up Joel Parkinson, the Hobgoods, and more!
Monday March 15th
Men’s Round of 128 (AM)
Women’s Round of 64 (PM)
Tuesday March 16th
Men’s Round of 96 (AM/PM)
Wednesday March 17th
Women’s Round of 48 (AM/PM)
Thursday March 18th
Men’s Round of 64 (AM/PM)
Women’s Round of 24 (AM/PM)
Friday March 19th
Men’s Round of 48 (AM/PM)
Women’s Round of 16 (AM/PM)
Saturday March 20th
Men’s Round of 24 (AM/PM)
Women’s Finals (AM/PM)
Sunday March 21st
Men’s Finals (AM/PM)
MASS MUSIC
Following the Women’s Final on Saturday afternoon March 20, the first ever MASS Music Festival, presented by Sunset Events will launch in the heart of Margaret River. Whilst the finer details are being locked down, event management will deliver an on-stage line up to match that at The Point, with the concert set to be headlined by Perth rock stalwarts Gyroscope.
Joining them at the inaugural MASS Music Festival will be progressive rockers Cog, prominent Melbourne-based rock group Eddy Current Suppression Ring, psychedelic hypno-groovers Tame Impala, Sydney posse Philadelphia Grand Jury, hip-hop MC Urthboy, party spinners Yacht Club DJs and local indie band King George.
MASS ART
Further enhancing the festival concept, MASS Art will be displayed across the event week, with painters, photographers, sculptures, and live installation artists interpreting the theme “Children of the R.evolution”. Their works will be exhibited at a number of Margaret River venues including Wino’s, Must Bar, Gnarabar and The Settlers Tavern. Information on featured artists will be released closer to the event.
MASS STYLE
One of the hottest tickets for the week will be for MASS Style, the “Fashion for Fascists” event to be held on Friday March 19 at The Settlers Tavern. To be attended by members of the surf, art and music industries, the presentation will include a style preview and “walk off”, featuring outfits and themes from the Rusty 2010 Summer Collection along with a live performance from the Sneaky Weasel Gang.
Entry to the Drug Aware Pro is free. The MASS Music Festival tickets will be on sale from February 15 and are $59.00 + BF. Tickets available from Moshtix outlets, www.moshtix.com.au or 1800 GET TIX (438 849). For more details on the Drug Aware Pro and the MASS Festival please visit www.drugawarepro.com
Josh Kerr and Jayke Sharpe will be surfing in the Kirra Teams Challenge starting tomorrow and going through the weekend. The Rhythm Kirra Teams Challenge, to be held over the 5th, 6th and 7th of February will see 36 clubs from across Australia compete for the prestigious title of Australia’s best board riders club.
2010 will see the iconic event run for its 26th consecutive year and is again scheduled to coincide with the east coast’s best swell window…
(January 31, 2010 - Coolangatta, Queensland) A champion was crowned today on the final day of the Rip Curl MP Classic presented by Air Asia X at Duranbah Beach. There was no shortage of action on and off the beach as the Rip Curl Surfboard Festival kicked off at Marine Parade Coolangatta in conjunction with the MP Classic.
As swell increased for day two of competition so did the surfing performances with competitors raising the level as Australian surfing icon Michael Peterson looked on. Gold Coast surfers continued to dominate in the tricky 1 metre (3 feet) ENE conditions demonstrating local knowledge at their home break highlighting the importance of a win at the most prestigious regional event in Queensland.
The final was a star studded affair, leading the charge for the MP Classic crown was 2009 ASP Men’s World Tour surfer Josh Kerr (Tweed Heads, NSW) who threw massive aerial manoeuvres which gave him an early lead in the twenty minute final.
The final heat of competition was tightly contested with local ripper Jay Phillips (Fingal Heads, NSW) nipping at Kerr’s heels, although with the ocean not cooperating Phillip’s failed to find a back up score after a massive opening 9.00 point ride. Kerr was to be rewarded the MP Classic Crown for 2010 after nailing another high wave score of 7.90 points which gave him a combined heat score of 16.40 points (8.50 and a 7.90).
“I am so happy with this win and the final was really tough….I thought Jay was going to get me after his first ride but I was lucky enough to get a good second score and hold on.” “This is such a prestigious event and I am thrilled to be a part of it,” said Kerr.
After the crowning of the 2010 MP Classic champion all the action turned to the Rip Curl Surfboard festival with special activities including talks and shaping demonstrations from World famous surfboard shapers including Darren Handley and Wade Tokoro and an exclusive up close and personal with Rip Curl’s elite team of surfers.
The crowd flocked to get a chance to rub shoulders with their surfing idols which included; 2009 ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (Coolangatta, QLD), 2009 ASP Men’s World Champion Mick Fanning (Coolangatta, QLD), 2010 ASP World Tour rookie Owen Wright (Lennox Head, NSW), Sunshine Coast sensation Dean Brady and up and coming shredder Stuart Kennedy (Lennox Head, NSW).
The MP Classic and Surfboard Festival presented by Air Asia x and proudly supported by Waeco, XXXX Summer Bright and Connecting Southern Gold Coast was the first event of four on the Queensland Championship Circuit(QCC).
2010 Rip Curl MP Classic Final Results 1. Josh Kerr (Tweed Heads, NSW) – 16.40 points
2. Jay Phillips (Fingal Heads, NSW) – 15.75 points
3. Yerin Brown (Byron Bay, NSW) – 11.60 points
4. Brent Dorrington (Coolangatta , QLD) – 9.60 points
Other Results Highest Wave score of the competition – Josh Kerr (Tweed Heads, NSW) – 9.5 points
Expression Session winner – Asher Pacey (Tweed Heads, NSW)
In the end it was Lakey Peterson with a fourth in the Women’s Final and Jake Halstead with a second in the U16 Men’s Final. With those results America finished with the bronze medal closely behind Hawaii and Australia. Click here to check out the more photos from the event and the full story on Surfline.com…
Congratulations to 15 year old Rusty Team Rider, Jake Halstead, for taking home the Silver Medal at the ISA World Juniors Surfing Championships in New Zealand! Click the image below to check out the video highlights from the final day on Surfline.com …
