Rusty

Thanks to all of those Rusty Surfboards and On Surfari fans that showed up last weekend to the world premier screening of On Surfari: Haiti!  Over 250 people rallied in the back lot of Rusty Del Mar for a fun filled evening consisting of two On Surfari episodes and a massive raffle to benefit the people of Haiti.  If you missed out on the screening keep your eyes peeled on Fuel TV for all of your favorite On Surfari episodes.

Check out this interview with team rider, Shayne McIntyre, featured on Fuel.tv:

Click for more images and the full feature article at Fuel.tv

Shannon and Shayne have lucked into some kind of perma-honeymoon, except rather than egocentrically living for themselves on their incredible adventures, the McIntyre's use their celebrity to better local communities. Surfing through rarely explored regions of Indonesia, Liberia, Nicaragua and most recently Haiti, the couple uses their "On Surfari" fame to bring tales of journey and excitement to living rooms around the world. Through unique escapades, philanthropic efforts and of course beautiful footage of untouched peeling waves, Shannon and Shayne hope viewers feel compelled to visit these places that seemed so previously unwelcoming. Assuring me that "these places are safe," regarding Liberia during a recent interview, Shayne's words are nothing short of persuasive. Watching Liberia's first class left go unridden during an ultra grass roots premier at Rusty Del Mar in San Diego, I can't help but wonder if these places are truly what they're cracked up to be. Nearly swayed by the waves on screen alone, I dove deeper into the world of Shayne McIntyre to find the thoughts behind the journey.-Jenna Klein

So you've just screened "On Surfari" Liberia and Haiti, two places very different from where you've gone before. With all the fear surrounding Haiti before and especially after the earthquake, how did you manage to show such a different picture?
We really tried to find something beautiful in Haiti and I had no idea if we were going to be successful with that. We wanted to see if there was more than destruction and we really found a different story in Haiti. I wanted to show that these are beautiful people with a rich culture, and that there are people living with dignity and to the best of their abilities in Haiti, fully enjoying life. A lot of the country wasn’t affected by the earthquake directly and we saw homes made out of mud and thatch about 2 hours away from Port Au Prince that weren’t even harmed. There was a lot of coastline that was fully accessible for surf and people were out there, just living their normal lives. It’s only 90 minutes from Miami and I fully encourage people to go for a quick little surf trip. We had a great time and were never in any danger, the greatest challenge are the roads and there isn’t really a ton of restaurants, but we figured it out and had an amazing time.

We mostly see you surfing and in the villages, but where do you stay on trips?
In Liberia we stayed in these cool wood decks on stilts almost like a safari tent but lifted up, and in Haiti, the two main locations we stayed in were hotels. The buildings were still standing and completely out of the earthquake zone, and for the most part weren't affected at all. We didn’t sleep in tents or cars or anything like that, we fully had access to accommodations and everything else.

When's the last time you saw a wave this good with no one on it? Shayne probably thought the same thing. Photo: Sean Brody.

I don't know many people who would bring their children to places like Liberia, yet you brought Banyan and Coral and they seemed to love it. How has having them affected your travels?
Traveling with Banyan and Coral, who are five and two right now, is definitely more of a challenge, but at the same time it’s totally possible. We do our best to pick kid friendly locations now. What’s changed is that we used to travel on foot with backpacks and cruise from spot to spot, and the kids may slow that down a little bit, or maybe you sleep in a little more [laughs], but we were really at a stage in our life where we felt ready to have children, and it's been great. Now that we travel with them it really opens doors. When you travel with kids, people know you’re there to enjoy the place and it shows the people you trust them. When you bring your children somewhere like Liberia, you’re really honoring someone’s country, because they know you feel safe there.

Traveling this much, you must have an airport story or two...
Surprisingly we have been very lucky, but when we went to Liberia the plane time was crazy. It was Puerto Rico to New York, New York to Belgium, and the kids are on the plane trying to throw food behind them or pull the hair of the person in front of them, and one’s always awake while the other’s asleep.. So we land in Belgium around 3am, and we have to crush up these malaria pills in Coral’s Nutella, and she threw up all over herself then all over me. On the plane, the bags are checked, and you’ve wearing throw up clothes on a 12 hour flight from Belgium to Liberia. That's a pretty classic airport horror story if you ask me.

I can't remember the last time I saw groms actually chearing someone on for surfing their spot, Liberian kids know what's up. Photo: Brody.

We always see acts of charity on the show, but Haiti is still in need of so much more. How did it feel to help the kids there?
It was the most rewarding experience that we had while we were there. Just to see the joy and life and vibrance the kids and young adults had, despite the circumstances, was truly inspiring and gave me so much hope. There were such beautiful kids there and when I looked at them, I saw so much of my son and daughter in their faces, in their eyes. It definitely hit home for me and felt a lot more rewarding to help than to just be out there surfing, but we also wanted to show people that they can go there and help or surf. There is still such a huge opportunity for tourism in Haiti, and we really hope to show that through our show there.

You've been to so many places, how do you choose?
It’s always varied. In Liberia, the dentist that you see in the show sent me one Email, and without him, I don’t know if we would have ever gone. He really gave us the confidence we needed to go there. He lives there with 2 young children and his wife and painted this picture of how it was, even though I kept saying 'that’s not really what I see on the internet,' but I had a lot of faith in him. With Haiti, we live in Puerto Rico which is the neighboring island, and I told myself I just don’t wanna go there, it’s just somewhere I don’t want to go, and it was funny because when I closed myself off to it, things started coming to fruition. On Facebook I asked where we should go next and the number one feedback was Haiti, and same with Fuel. They said you live close and you should just go, but everytime it’s different. Since we’ve done warm places I think we will try to do somewhere colder next time..

So where is this cold spot?
Let’s just say we're gonna need good wetsuits.. but if you follow us on Facebook I might give out some little hints…

Congratulations to Anastasia Ashley for claiming the cover of West Jet (Canadian Airline) In-Flight Magazine! If you are flying in the British Columbia region, keep your eyes peeled...

The Rusty Board House team harbors some of the best young up and coming surfers in the La Jolla region and these groms were foaming at the mouth at the opportunity to surf Trestles. The RBH Team put on an impressive display at the world renowned cobble stone break and put a plethora of Rusty Surfboard models to the test. Check out the images below to see what ensued:

The wrong side of the tracks

Owen, fish out of water

RBH Groms frothing

Lucas throwing shuv-its on his SCREAMER

Blow tail by Jacob on the GTR Squash

Fano was doing these all day on his Redline Squash

Tristen lets loose on his all new Dozer

Will on rail riding the Redline Round

Owen gouging on his GTR Round

RBH Team Manager, Ryan Schnell, shows the groms how it's done on his new Hustler

RBH Shop Manager, Garret Scurr, won't let the groms have all the fun. Scurr on the Dozer.

Text and Photos: Brody

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

Eli Steele

Clean waves and great surfing on day 2 at the Rusty Gromfest at Lennox Head.

Saturday July 10, 2010: Lennox Head NSW Australia: Day two at the Rusty Gromfest saw much cleaner conditions with sunny skies and offshore winds and this assembly of Australia and many of the world's best young surfers thrived in the better conditions

West Australian surfers have been prominent on the opening two days here and again today with Margaret River pair Creed McTagggart and Bronte Macaulay both impressive winners in their 16 year and under divisions.

Both have been attending the Rusty Gromfest for a number of years and are keen to notch up a win at this prestigious event given this is their final year!

"I placed 4th last year here and I'm keen to try and win this year for sure," said McTaggart.

"I won last week on the Gold Coast at the Occy event and I feel really in good rhythm ao it would be good to win again- this is a great event and to be a part of the winning list would be special," added Creed.

"Bronte Macaulay took advantage of some great left peeling waves this morning and posted the morning's highest scoring ride with an excellent 8.25 for a series of very powerful and committed bottom to top turn combinations.

Sunshine Coast surfers continued to impress today, lead by Eli Steele and Harry Bryant.  Steele demonstrated his power on face abilities by progressing through to the quarter finals in the 16 Boys, placing 2nd in his four man heat behind the events number one seed, Hirota Arai from Japan.

Earlier Steele also showed us his aerial abilities by winning through to the final of the Kerrazy Airshow Invitational, an event directed by probably the world's greatest aerialist in Josh Kerr.

Steele pulled the biggest aerial in his qualifying heat of this unique specialty event which is judged solely by Kerr.

"To perform aerials for Josh Kerr is really special - the final will be amazing because some of the international surfers seem really good at pulling aerials - I'm looking forward to the final but I'm also really keen to keep progressing to the final in the 16's division as well" said Steele who will be joined by fellow Sunshine Coast surfer Kai Hing in the aerial six man final late today.

Sydney surfer Cooper Chapman scored the day's highest scoring ride with an outstanding 9 point ride to advance to the quarter finals of the 16 Boys and Cooper is also highly fancied in the Kerrazy Airshow final.

A few years ago, Holly Beck was a real darling of the surf media with a little love from mainstream culture as well. The photogenic girl from Palos Verdes was among the hottest NSSA competitors a decade ago. She went pro and took a crack at the Womens WQS. But she was always more than a surfer with a little modeling, a degree in Psychology from UCSD and an MBA in marketing.

But then she fell out of the public eye a bit. Well, if you're kind of curious to know what Beck's been doing, you'll be happy to know she's not divorced, living in the Valley in a pair of velour sweatpants on a diet of Xanax and ice cream. Quite the contrary actually -- Miss Beck has been working in Nicaragua and living (quite comfortably it seems) off the land. And from the looks of it, she's been getting shacked too.

She's teaching surfing at Suave Dulce (Smooth and Sweet), her Womens Surf and Yoga Retreat in Northern Nica. But the camp is about more than getting limber and cruising on waves, it's actually designed to proactively give back to the local community where it is hosted.

"After spending the last decade traveling the world as a pro surfer, I wanted to spend time living with more purpose. I fell in love with the people and waves of Nicaragua," Beck told me today, "I bought some land, built a small house, and am trying to live as sustainably as possible while also becoming a part of and helping out the community around me. That means pumping a well for water, running lights and a fan off solar electricity, and bringing volunteers down to assist me with beneficial projects. I love inspiring people, and if I can do that in the water while also helping them to help others and see their lives differently, then I'm happy."

Suave Dolce offers a chance to not only partake in surf and yoga, but give back to just one of the struggling but surf-rich regions of the world. The camp is at a simple, but comfy house right on the break where you eat all sorts of natural food from the earth.

You can actually sign up for the Surf Yoga Volunteering trips here. Beck will be teaming up with an organization called SYRV (pronounced "serve," as in, serve the community.) They are involved in purifying drinking water, improving education, feeding homeless families, and teaching English. Together they will be erecting a community center for the local village.

"It will make sewing machines, computers, and clean water available to a community previously without any of those things," explains Beck, who is on SYRV's Board of Directors.

What did you do on your last surf trip? Get barreled and overtip the maid?

Always good to know that surfers are using their skills for something admirable.

Article by: Jon Coen of ESPN
Photos by: Nikki Brooks

Support Josh Kerr and Damien Farhenfort on their quest to claim bragging rights for the ultimate blog... Click to VOTE!

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.