Rusty

I just finished a week long adventure in the Midwest. I was flying all over the Great Lakes doing recon for a Red project called "New Wave". We utilized John Shoffner's Gunmen Albatross Red Bull branded Sea plane. I never knew the Great Lakes had waves. After flying  25.2hrs, and 3528 nautical miles I've come to the conclusion that the mid west has some nice setups for surfing. I've always been curious about the Great Lakes of North America. Some of the setups out on the vast Lakes looked like Tahitian reef passes. No the waves were not tubing like Teahupo'o but the water was crystal clear and the waves were rolling in with uniformity. We didn't expect to get waves on this trip. This first expedition purpose was to only look around and plot GPS coordinates. We did plenty of searching and scored a little out of season swell that I stand up paddled. The locals greeted us with open arms and welcomed us back anytime. The private flights on the Red Bull Albatross were mind blowing. Talk about a high end adventure. VIP….Thank you RED BULL!

I'll be coming back to the Great Lakes in the middle of winter on the next big Northeastern storm. Yes parts of the lake will be frozen and I'll be bundled up in snow gear. Why, because I live for the adventure and the water is fresh.

P.S. Water landing's rule! Its so smooth to land on a silky lake…John Shoffner thanks for flying the plane and making it a smooth flight!

Aloha,

Jamie Sterling

Amazing Photography by: Brian Nevins

Fly weight mega grom, Ryland Rubens, just returned from his first stint in Indo and rumor has it he was stepping it up with the big boys and surfing well beyond his years. Go get 'em grom...

Photos: Paul Rubens

Click above to check out Holly Beck's green lifestyle and surplus of tubes...

Super aerialist Josh Kerr will introduce his “Kerrazy Airshow Invitational” to this year’s Rusty Gromfest which begins in less than one weeks time at Lennox Head on NSW’s surf rich far north coast.

Who better than Josh Kerr to hand pick a group of surfers from the competition and free surfing sessions to surf in this specialized Kerrazy Airshow Invitational session?

The session will include Nixon prizes to the value of $3000 so expect to see massive aerials in the quest for a slice of the Nixon prize packs!

Widely regarded as the most progressive surfer in the world, Kerr will be at the Rusty Gromfest to oversee this thrilling addition which is certain to excite all these energetic young surfers.

With most of Australia’s best young surfers of 16 years and under heading to the idyllic northern NSW coast the Rusty Gromfest will again showcase fast and futuristic surfing.

This is probably the world’s most famous gathering of elite young surfers and over 15 years talent has built an honour role the envy of all “grom” events which includes surfers like Mick Fanning, Stephanie Gilmore, Bede Durbidge Chelsea Hedges, Owen Wright and Jessi Miley-Dyer to name just a few of the those who have gone on to esteemed professional surfing careers.

This year’s list of entries includes surfers who already have impressive reputations like Sarah Mason (Cabarita/NSW) who currently leads the Australasian Pro Junior Series and recently took down ASP World Champion Stephanie Gilmore in a world tour event in New Zealand!

Then there’s exciting youngsters like Michael Wright (Lennox Head), Jack Robinson (Margaret River), Cooper Chapman (Narrabeen), Kai Hing (Sunshine Coast) and Harrison Mann (Torquay).

That is a small sample of the known talents in the field, there’s many more and then there’s the new emerging surfers who arrive at the Rusty oblivious to their fellow competitors reputations, skilled and ready to take on anyone.

Other changes to this year’s event sees the 16 boys division catering for more surfers (80) than last year thanks to a round one Pro Junior style format. Round one will see 32 surfers looking to place first or second and get the opportunity to face the top 48 seeds in round two.

Every winter Rusty Rider Europe team rider, Matt Capel, bails from UK to enjoy the warm Australian Summer - crowded, but warm and sunny. Here is a preview of Matty killing it around around the Gold Coast…. Enjoy the Show.

Right Click Here and Hit Save As to Download Clip

Rusty Chilean team rider Cristian Merello won the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Punta De Lobos, Chile yesterday. The event was held in huge 15 – 20ft waves at the famous big wave spot Punta De Lobos, Chile.

Cristian overcome a world class field including Mark Healy, Grant Baker, Peter Mel, Greg Long (who won last years “In Memory of Eddie Aikau” event at Waimea Bay, Hawaii), and Rusty's own Jamie Sterling to take the win.

Also, a big congratulations to Jamie for taking to the podium in this prestigious, invitation only event. To see more from the event check out here.

The Quiksilver Ceremonial, Big Wave Invitational at Punto de Lobos is ON! Watch it live here!

Check out Jamie Sterling's massive air drop in heat two...

The Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro 2010 had another great day of surfing with the Brazilian, Willian Cardoso, being crowned as the new king of Saquarema after a thrilling heat against Marco Polo, both from the south of Brazil.

Marco Polo decided to start early in the heat surfing as many waves as possible, while William opted to wait for the best waves as he did in his previous heats. He was rewarded in the last ten minutes with a 9.0 and 7.73 to take the win.

"I have no words. Winning here at Saquarema with the beach packed seeming like a stadium, it's an indescribable feeling," said Willian Cardoso. "I did not start the heat well, I was anxious, doing wrong moves...When I found nine points, I saw that I already turned the heat situation and when I was paddling back I got another good wave and only then began believing in the win."

With the 3000 points earned, Willian is now the sixth Brazilian among the ten who qualified for the 2011 ASP World Tour. He rose up twenty positions, jumping from 52 to 32 after the 19th stop completed in the Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro 2010.

The California kid, Nathaniel Curran, was the other surfer defeated by Willian in his winning campaign. He had a very tough heat against Willian, needing 14.17 points to overcome the Brazilian 17.20 pts.

"I started well and had good expectations, but he (Willian) had the best waves to make the highest-scores of the heat. I had to wait for a good wave, but it didn't happen", lamented Nathaniel Curran, who jumped from 72 to 54 in the ASP World Ranking. "I'm happy with my result, it was exciting surfing here. It is a place with great waves and this makes the tour much more exciting."

FINAL RESULTS OF COCA-COLA SAQUAREMA PRO 2010:
1 - Willian Cardoso (BRA) - scores 9.00 + 7.73 - US$ 20.000 e 3.000 pts
2 - Marco Polo (BRA) - scores 7.33 + 6.33 - US$ 10.000 e 2.250 pts

SEMIFINALS:
SF 1: Willian Cardoso (BRA) 17.20 x 14.17 Nathaniel Curran (USA)
SF 2: Marco Polo (BRA) 14.46 x 11.43 Travis Logie (ZAF)

QUARTERFINALS:
QF 1: Nathaniel Curran (USA) 13.66 x 10.86 Ricardo dos Santos (BRA)
QF 2: Willian Cardoso (BRA) 11.53 x 9.07 Heitor Alves (BRA)
QF 3: Marco Polo (BRA) 12.83 x 10.97 Jeronimo Vargas (BRA)

Photo: Sheila

It's my 7th time to Chile. I guess you could say I'm a fan of the cold water Indonesia, as I like to call it. Why do I call it that?  Well, its waves are 80% lefts and yes it's cold and chilly. Chile is one the places where I can find every type of wave that there is to surf: slabs, point breaks, beach breaks, reefs, and "almost waves" (i.e. if we could only blow that one rock up it would be rideable). Not only does the variety of waves allure me, but the minimal crowds and consistency of the coastline is also a main draw. Oh yea being a goofy foot and surrounded by endless lefts with practically no one out makes this place a dream situation. Add to that the culture, the friends I have here, the food and Its all good!

I'm based in Pichilemu right now an am staying in my friend Diego Medina's guest cabana with my girlfriend Sheila. It sits on the beach in front of Punta de Lobos, one of Chile's premier big wave spots. It's a left hand point break and can hold waves as big as 7 meters= 25 ft+.

My main purpose here in Chile is to compete in the Quiksilver Ceremonial: Punta De Lobos big wave invitational. We are in the middle of the 2 month waiting period.  Event organizers want to wait for a 5-7 meter = 15-25 ft swell. It will be my first time competing at this surf spot so I thought it was a good idea to come down here early and practice at Lobos. I've also been surfing some other amazing waves in the local area.

Diego Medina has been a great host. I've been able to tag along with him and get the inside scoop on where to surf as well as where to eat. I have 31 more days in Chile so I'm sure there will be some adventures to write about along with some cool point of view photos that my girlfriend and I'll be taking.

Aloha,
Jamie

Rusty team rider and Indonesian all star, Marlon Gerber, will be featured in "Castles in the Sky", Taylor Steele's newest installment in the Sipping Jetstreams Trilogy. Below we see Marlon staying cool while filming in the arid conditions...

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