BeckerSurf

Shane Dorian rode the wave of his life last year at Jaws, and so fitting, he took home the top $50k prize for ride of the year at Billabong’s XXL big wave awards on Friday at The Grove Theater in Anaheim. Dorian also picked up another $5K for the Pacifico Tube award for the tube on the same wave.

The video by Elliot Leboe shows Shane’s incredible drop and tube on one of the biggest waves ever caught at Jaws, Maui. Two awards for one wave, and a total of $55K – sweet.

In the Jaws ride, we all saw a return to old-fashioned values in the form of Shane’s paddle entry to two-raised-arms barrel ride. This return to the good old days of tackling big waves without ski assistance is the “in” thing happening in surfing right now, and all of the awards (besides the wipeout) were given to paddle-power waves.

Shawn Dollar was the Paddle and Biggest Wave champ for his 61-footer for his ride at Cortes Bank, Keala Kennelly and Greg Long won Best Performances and Wipeout of The Year went to Chris Shanahan from The Right in Western Australia.

It was such a fun night! Thank you to Billabong for an incredible show. Congrats Shane Dorian and all of the other big wave athletes for this past year’s success. We can’t wait to see what everyone does this season!!

To check out Shane’s winning wave, wathc the video above.

For more information on the evening, go to: http://billabongxxl.com/xxl_awards/winner.html. Continue reading →

In just a handful of days, the Billabong Rio Pro, the third stop on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), begins!

Sadly, defending champ John John Florence (HAW), 20, has officially withdrawn from the Billabong Rio Pro, and will not be defending last year’s title in the Brazilian warm sands of Arpoador and Barra da Tijuca.

Despite spending the last seven weeks re-habing in Cali and Hawaii from an ankle injury sustained on the Gold Coast during the opening stop of the year, John John has opted out of the Billabong Rio Pro, in hopes of healing 100% before rejoining the elite ranks. He was also unable to compete at the second stop on tour, at Bells Beach.

“I am going to take my time and wait for my ankle to heal 100% before competing. I am looking forward to being healthy and ready for Fiji and the rest of the year”, explains John John.

The Billabong Rio Pro 2013 is running from May 8th–19th, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Of course, we’re heartbroken, as I’m sure he is, too. I mean, who doesn’t want to be part of this party? Check out the trailer above, and for more info, go to: www.aspworldtour.com.

Continue reading →

The Billabong XXL Awards, surfing’s annual big-wave awards show, recently announced their list of nominees in three of the most popular categories: Wipeout of the Year, Best Overall Performance (male) and the Billabong Girls Performance (female).

Five surfers are in contention for the XXL Wipeout of the Year. This is well worth watching. These guys are cray cray.

Watch these nominees as they all suffer serious wipeouts at notorious big wave spots around the world. Being acknowledged among “the best of the worst” are Brett Burcher of Ulladulla, New South Wales and Chris Shanahan of Denmark, Western Australia. Both fell at the extremely shallow break in West Oz known as “The Right”. Joao De Macedo is being considered after his wipeout which caused him to launch into space at Mavericks in Northern California. Tom Dosland skimmed down the face of a huge wave on his back at Jaws in Hawaii and Axi Muniain did an aquatic reverse-somersault at Nazaré, Portugal.

XXL WIPEOUT OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES:
(Surfer prize $2,000 – Video prize $1,000)
Brett Burcher (Ulladulla, New South Wales, Australia) at The Right, Western Australia.
(Video by Darren McCagh.)
Joao de Macedo (San Francisco, California, USA) at Mavericks, California.
(Video by Curt Myers.)
Tom Dosland (Haiku, Hawaii, USA) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii.
(Video by Elliot Leboe.)
Axi Muniain (Zarautz, Basque Country, Spain) at Nazaré, Portugal.
(Video by Ingo Quintana.)
Chris Shanahan (Denmark, Western Australia) at The Right, Western Australia.
(Video by Darren McCagh.)

Here are the nominees for Best Overall Performance (male) and the Billabong Girls Performance (female):

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE (MALE) AWARD NOMINEES:
(Surfer prize $5,000)
Grant Baker (Durban, South Africa)
Kohl Christensen (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA)
Shane Dorian (Kona, Hawaii, USA)
Mark Healey (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA)
Greg Long (San Clemente, California, USA)

BILLABONG GIRLS BEST PERFORMANCE AWARD NOMINEES:
(Surfer prize $5,000)
Paige Alms (Haiku, Hawaii, USA)
Anastasia Ashley (San Clemente, California, USA)
Keala Kennelly (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA)

Videos will be judged and voted upon with the winners to be announced on May 3 at the annual awards show in California. It will also be streamed live at BillabongXXL.com. Continue reading →

Check out Joel Parkinson’s official 2012 world title documentary, “One Perfect Day.” Shot in Hawaii, it’s a special 25 minute documentary around Parko’s maiden World Title as 2012 ASP World Champion.

Shot and edited by Andrew “Shorty” Buckley, with additional footage Kendall O’Brien and Nimai Strickland, and narrated by Buff Farnell, the documentary takes you on a journey in the days leading up to his world title. It features some of the most dramatic days in surfing history, when Parko not only won the contest but also the World Title, in a gripping duel with 11 times surfing champ Kelly Slater last December at the Billabong Pipe Masters.

It’s as in-depth a look at that day as you’ll see. There are insightful interviews by Parko and his mates, excellent surfing footage and killer behind-the-scenes vision, watch it here.

Relive the moment and enjoy!
Continue reading →

Last week, Billabong posted some photos and a video of their All-Girls Team’s surf trip this past December at Pipe Masters in the North Shore of Hawaii.

The Billabong athletes, including surfers Courtney Conlogue, Lindsay Perry, Ellie-Jean Coffey, Alessa Quizon, Frankie Harrer, and Justine Dupont, got to enjoy 3 weeks of some R&R, barbecues, and cruising around to find fun waves.

Check out their travel log of photos and a video of these talented ladies who gathered at the Billabong house for the Pipe Masters surf tournament on Oahu’s North Shore.

For more pics, head to the Billabong blog. Continue reading →