The 42nd annual SURFER poll awards were last week, and Kelly Slater (USA), 40, and Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 24, took home the top honors. Kelly took home his 18th SURFER Poll No. 1 award, while Steph took her 3rd.

For the third year running, the best surfers, filmmakers, and who’s who of the surf world converged on Turtle Bay on the North Shore of Oahu for the Biggest Night of Surfing. Awards were presented to the top surfers, as voted by fans, as well as the best movies and performances of the year.

Kelly won again this year. He first took the honor in 1993 when he was just 21 years old.

“It’s definitely nice to be recognized by the surfing community and to come out at the top position. I’m surprised John John didn’t get first. I also thought Dane was going to get it this year—maybe next year. I think they split each other’s votes. They stole the election from each other,” Kelly said.

This year saw two first-time additions to the Top 10. John John Florence, who in 2011 won the AI Breakthrough Performer Award, secured the second position on the list just behind Slater. Also making his SURFER Poll debut this year, Gabriel Medina became the first Brazilian to break the Top 10 on the coveted Poll. He also was awarded the distinguished AI Breakthrough Performer Presented by New Era award for 2012.

On the Women’s side of the Poll, the Top 5 from 2011 all remained on the list, with Alana Blanchard jumping up into the second position behind Stephanie Gilmore, who reclaimed the top spot for her third SURFER Poll victory.

“I am very excited about this year,” said Gilmore. “I was a little unsure of how it’d unfold, I wasn’t sure if I was going to come out on top because I didn’t win last year. I seriously had one of the best years of my life, and I guess everybody else thought that too. These awards are so important, because it’s the fans voting, so it means a lot.”

Here are the 2012 SURFER Poll Results:

Top 10 Men
1. Kelly Slater
2. John John Florence
3. Dane Reynolds
4. Gabriel Medina
5. Mick Fanning
6. Joel Parkinson
7. Julian Wilson
8. Taj Burow
9. Jordy Smith
10. Owen Wright

Top 5 Women
1. Steph Gilmore
2. Alana Blanchard
3. Coco Ho
4. Carissa Moore
5. Sally Fitzgibbons

AI Breakthrough Performer Presented by New Era
Gabriel Medina

Congrats to all the winners, and you can watch the entire show at surfer.com. Continue reading →

There’s no doubt that John John Florence is one of the most exciting surfers in the world today, and reputed to be surfing’s tomorrow. He started the year with a bang when he won the Volcom Pipe Pro and his streak has been red hot since, hovering on the edge of superstar celebrity. Now, the 20-year old is about to release a film.

Amidst his hallmark competitive season, John John headed to Tahiti, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, and of course, Hawaii, to catch perfect waves and for the past 11 months, secretly film a 23-minute film entitled Done. John John’s travel and surfing showcasing his deep barrels and casual style were shot mostly by his own RED Scarlet camera (he is a camera aficionado) by his friend Blake Kueny.

The film includes a cast of John’s best friends including brothers Nathan and Ivan Florence, and best pals Kiron Jabour, Matt Meola and Albee Layer. Best of all, you can catch John John’s sick surfing action of high airs and technical maneuvers, cut to classical, indie or gangster rap music.

The film will be out on iTunes fairly soon (before Christmas), but if you’re on the North Shore of Oahu today, Wednesday, 12/5, come by the Banzai skatepark at 6:30 PM for the premier and hang out with John John himself.

Check out the trailer below.

Continue reading →

What an exciting year! It has come down to the last and final event, the Billabong Pipe Masters – to decide who will take the 2012 ASP World Championship. Will it be Joel Parkinson (AUS), Kelly Slater (USA) or Mick Fanning (AUS)?

The Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons, is the third and final event in the Vans Triple Crown and the final stop on the 2012 ASP World Title Series. The event begins Saturday, December 8 and runs until the 20th. The Banzai Pipeline, or Pipe, is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on Oahu’s famous North Shore. The Pipeline is famous for its huge waves which break in shallow water just above a sharp and cavernous reef, forming large, hollow curls of water that surfers can tube ride.

The O’Neill Coldwater Classic at Santa Cruz’s Steamer Lane, Event No. 9 of 10, was won by Taj Burrow (AUS), 34. So, that means that three surfers remain ‘mathematically’ in contention for the 2012 ASP World Title: Joel Parkinson (AUS), 31, Kelly Slater (USA), 40, and Mick Fanning (AUS), 31

We bet that all three will be going at it for one final time in 2012. Due to the altered format for the Billabong Pipe Masters, all three surfers will automatically be seeded into Round 3 of competition and finish no worse than Equal 13th (1750 points).
ASP WCT surfers’ year-end rankings are based off their top eight finishes from the 10 ASP WCT events in 2012. Parko is the current rankings leader on the ASP WCT, so the ASP World Title scenarios will be based on his potential finishes at Pipeline.

Here is how the year turned out:

• Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast: Taj Burrow (AUS)
• Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach: Mick Fanning (AUS)
• Billabong Rio Pro: John John Florence (HAW)
• Volcom Fiji Pro: Kelly Slater (USA)
• Billabong Pro Tahiti: Mick Fanning (AUS)
• Hurley Pro at Trestles: Kelly Slater (USA)
• Quiksilver Pro France: Kelly Slater (USA)
• Rip Curl Pro Portugal: Julian Wilson (AUS)
• O’Neill Coldwater Classic: Taj Burrow (AUS)
• Billabong Pipe Masters: TBD

Down to the wire… Continue reading →

Just in case it hasn’t dawned on you that 2012 is practically over, ASP International has just released its tour schedule for 2013, outlining events for the ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), ASP Women’s WCT, ASP Prime, ASP Star, ASP World Longboard Tour (WLT), ASP Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS), ASP World Junior Championship (WJC), ASP Pro Junior Tour and ASP Specialty events.

All schedules are subject to change and the ASP will continue to release information regarding event confirmations and scheduling when appropriate.
But, here is the schedule for now:

2013 ASP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR:

• Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast – March 2 – 13, 2013
• Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach – March 27 – April 7, 2013
• Billabong Rio Pro – May 8 – 19, 2013
• Volcom Pro Fiji – June 2 – 14, 2013
• Billabong Pro Teahupo’o – August 15 – 26, 2013
• Hurley Pro at Trestles – September 15 – 21, 2013
• Quiksilver Pro France – September 27 – October 7, 2013
• Rip Curl Pro Portugal – October 9 – 20, 2013
• Billabong Pipe Masters – December 8 – 20, 2013

2013 ASP WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR:

• Roxy Pro Gold Coast – March 2 – 13, 2013
• Drug Aware Pro Margaret River – March 16 – 24, 2013
• Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach – March 27 – April 1, 2013
• NZ Surf Festival – April 3 – 7, 2013 *Tentative
• Beachley Classic *Tentative
• Rio Pro – May 8 – 14, 2013
• Roxy Pro Biarritz – July 10 – 14, 2013 *Tentative
• US Open of Surfing – July 22 – 28, 2013

For updates and further information, go to www.aspworldtour.com. Continue reading →