BILLABONG EXTENDS SPONSORSHIP OF BILLABONG CLOUD 9 INVITATIONAL – NEW 3 YEAR DEAL ANNOUNCED

LEADING surf company Billabong is proud to announce its continued sponsorship of the Billabong Cloud 9 Invitational in the Philippines.

The new, three-year deal ensures Billabong naming rights sponsorship of the Philippine's premier surfing event until 2012.

'Cloud 9' - a powerful, hollow right-hander has produced a smorgasbord of flawless, barrelling waves for the event since its inception in 2007, with a plethora of surf stars from around the globe sampling its delights.

In a major coup, the exclusive invitational event will offer a world-class field of 48 invited surfers a chance to compete for an upgraded US $30,000 prize pool from 2010.

Adding to their commitment, Billabong has also thrown their support behind the Philippine’s National Surfing Titles, which are held the week leading into the prestigious Cloud 9 event.

Billabong SE Asia Marketing Manager Peter Thew says they’re excited to be raising the profile of the prestigious tournament, whilst promoting surfing in the Philippines.

"The Cloud 9 Invitational is one of those special events and definitely an event we had no choice but to continue supporting,” said Thew.

“It's exciting to be able to announce this deal, as it will see Billabong increasing the prize purse, but also taking on the Philippines Nationals to help the already rapid progression of the Philippine talent. Billabong is also immensely grateful for the continued support of the Government - without them this event would not be possible!"

Similarly, Provincial Governor Robert Ace S. Barbers said, "We are happy with the renewal of our contract with Billabong for another three years of engagement to stage the annual Siargao International Surfing Competition beginning year 2010 to 2012.”

“Billabong gave us the opportunity to be internationally known as the host of the only recognized international surfing event in the country.”
Contest director, Surfing Australia CEO Andrew Stark said the deal is a major plus for the event.
“This event has been running for over 15 years now and this new deal is a testament to the unique and prestigious event that it is,” he said.
“The event will attract the very best tube riders from around the world and put them in what is arguably the world’s most perfect right hand tube.”
Premier surfers to receive an invitation to the 2009 event include former world tour surfer Bruce Irons (Hawaii), Pipeline Master Jamie O’Brien (Hawaii), World Qualifying Series (WQS) shredder Owen Wright (Lennox Head, Aus), Australian big wave charger Laurie Towner (Yamba, Aus), Sunshine Coast sensation Julian Wilson (Coolum, Aus), Brazilian ace Jadson Andre and Hawaiian hotshot Dusty Payne.

Due to Siargao's proximity to the Philippines, big swells from the Pacific Ocean roll in from the second deepest stretch of water in the world to create flawless, hollow barrelling waves.

The 2009 tournament, which has a US $20,000 prize pool, will run from October 21-27, with 2 days of competition surfing across a seven-day event window.

The tournament contest site is Siargao Island’s 'Cloud 9', a powerful, hollow right-hander that has been frequently compared to the renowned surf of Hawaii and Indonesia.

The Billabong Cloud 9 Invitational 2009 is proudly supported by Billabong, Province of Surigao Del Norte, Stoked Inc and Sagana Resort.

DEAN BOWEN WINS BILLABONG PRO JUNIOR BALI WITH KERAMAS DELIVERING FOUR DAYS OF EXCELLENCE

Dean Bowen (Australia/NSW Sth Coast/Gerroa) today won the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Grade–5 Rated Billabong Pro Junior Bali.

Held in magnificent surf over all four days at the now famous Keramas Rivermouth on the east coast of Bali, Bowen's powerful backhand on-face surfing proved too strong for Teale Vanner (Australia/Kangaroo Island/SA) in a one sided final with Bowen’s top two rides of a 7 and a 7.5 and final total of 14.5 eclipsing Vanner on a two wave total of 7.5.
"It's been such a good event with waves pumping in every heat and I really wanted to win here." said Bowen. "Everyone was getting amazing barrel rides throughout and I was always ready to take on a big barrel but that's the beauty of this wave, if it's not barrelling then generally it’s performance driven on-the-face moves and all my heats and particularly the final with the tide going out was more about big moves rather than tubes."

Bowen's win today saw him significantly jump from 10th up to 2nd place on the ASP Australasian 2009 Pro Junior ratings behind Owen Wright.
"It's good to be up on the ratings but I'm not really concerned with ratings this year, more focused on winning events and simply surfing good," added 18 year old Bowen who earlier this year also won the World under 18 Surfing title.

Teale Vanner, who throughout this event had posted multiple 9 point plus outstanding barrel rides and earlier in the day scored a perfect ten point barrel ride in his quarter final seemed to be hunting for tubes in the final but was unable to find any while Bowen maintained his powerful and vertical top to bottom attack on the wave to take the win.
'I thought I'd find a few barrels in the final but it wasn't to be," said Vanner. "It's been a great event for me and I'm so relieved to do well here and score some fantastic waves as well."

Vanner is a former Australian Junior Champion but his year-to-date on the ASP Australasian Pro Junior series had been a shocker and in all 6 events prior to this one, had not made one single heat! "I was down on confidence and really didn't know what I had to do to find a result but surfing here has really turned my year around and to score a perfect 10 and quite a few high 9 point rides feels great."

Equal 3rd placed surfers today were Chris Bennetts (Australia/Gold Coast) who was eliminated in his semi-final by Dean Bowen in the final seconds and Dale Staples (South Africa/Cape St Francis) who had been a standout in deep tube rides throughout the event.
Indonesian surfers had surfed exceptionally throughout this event and their top placed surfer here was Raditya Rhondi (Bali) who made it through to the final 16 surfers and the final day but had to settle for equal 13th place overall.

Surfers at this year's Billabong Pro Junior Bali almost unanimously agreed that this event was the best ever ASP Australasian Pro Junior they had competed in.
Keramas the wave, across all four days exposed it’s variety of super high performance qualities, from small and perfect on day one, to solid onshore but superbly carvable on day 2, then epic solid powerful barrelling slabs on day 3 to rifling perfect barrels on high performance midsized waves on the final day.
As the only ASP rated event for 2009 in Indonesia, it was an excellent event.

The events official website where images, press releases and result spreadsheets will be loaded each day is www.aspaustralasia.com

LEE WILSON CLAIMS VICTORY AT BILLABONG PRO JAVA IN CIMAJA

23 May 2009, Cimaja-West Java: In a riveting 30 minute final at the Billabong Pro Java in Cimaja with just four minutes remaining, ISC Number 2 ranked surfer Lee Wilson came from behind and took over the lead in a hard fought victory against Number 13 ranked Dedy Santoso, scoring a 8 out of 10 on smallish wave that he literally ripped apart all the way into the beach. Wilson was behind for most of the final and needed a 6.25 to take the lead, true to his trademark style he didn’t hold anything back, almost landing on top of a large rock on the inside section on his last maneuver. Santoso bravely fought back, but couldn’t get the 8 point wave he needed to regain the lead that he had held trough the majority of the final. Then to leave no doubt about his intent to claim a decisive victory, the Billabong team rider spotted a worthy wave and again ripped it apart, this time adding an air on the end which got him a 9.0 from the judges, as well as the Coca-Cola ISC Best Maneuver Award. “I’m super stoked to have won the event” Wilson beamed, “Especially in Dede’s (Suryana) home town. The people, waves, and hospitality in Cimaja have been great I’m looking forward to getting back here next year”. Wilson wins Rp 10 million (about $1,000 USD) and tallies up 3,000 ISC Championship points. Sentoso was a worthy opponent, and jumped out into the lead with a series of huge and stylish turns on several waves, leaving Wilson to search the horizon for a suitable wave for his aggressive style of surfing. The ocean would go flat several times during the final as if to be purposely building up the tension to its maximum level, and then a two or three wave set would roll through to give each competitor a chance to show off their best surfing. The crowd on the beach would go crazy after each maneuver, rooting on their chosen favorite. Local hero Dede Suryana didn’t make it into the final, but gave a brilliant display of surfing to his home fans in Semifinal 1 against Dede Santoso. Normally unflappable, perhaps the pressure of all the expectations got him rattled at the start as several mistakes got him behind. In the final minutes he needed a score of 9.6 to take the lead and seemed to have gotten it, but fell just short getting a 9.35. He lost by a mere .15 of a point. In Semifinal 2 Lee Wilson got behind Garut Widiarta in the early going. Widiarta’s, backside attack on the Cimaja waves was incredible to watch, but when Wilson got his rhythm going he soon posted a 6.35, to which he added a 9.5 to bust his way into the final. The day’s competition began at 7:00 am with the Masters Division semifinals. On the high tide there were 3-5 foot sets rolling through, giving the wily legends some great conditions in which to compete. At the end of the two semifinals, it was an all Balinese final, with Wayan Widiartha, Made Artha, Wayan Gantiyasa and Made Lapur left to fight it out in the finals. After giving them a break and running the Women’s Division final, they were back out in the water and ready to go. Made Artha’s powerful frontside surfing had him out in front early, but soon Wayan Widiartha came from behind on his backside and ripped his way into the lead, punching out turn after turn all the way to the inside to stop just short of the rocky beach, getting him the lead. Artha struggled with a few smaller waves but just couldn’t find any magic, so when the horn blew it was Widiartha who would be standing on the top spot of the podium. The Women’s Division final was a challenging affair, as the 4-5 foot sets rolling through were intimidating as well as physically demanding. But the girls bravely paddled out and tackled the waves head on, with 15-year-old Rohaye from Sumatra being the first to take off and get the lead in the final. But soon she was overtaken by Ayako Miyashita, whose greater experience both at Cimaja and in surfing competition had her overtaking the younger girl and posting the highest score of the final, a 7.0, to win. In addition to the cash prizes given by Billabong, the first place winner in each division received a first run limited edition watch from Nixon. The Billabong Pro Java was sponsored by the Desa Resort located directly on the break at Cimaja, in addition to Von Zipper sunglasses, Nixon accessories, Kustom shoes, the good people of Jawa Barat, Sakura Logistics, and is sanctioned by the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour. This event was the second stop on the 2009 Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour, boasting a total prize purse of Rp 40 million between the Men’s Pro, Masters, and Women’s Divisions. The 6-star Billabong Pro Java competition was held over a four-day period between May 20-23, with almost 90 competitors from Bali, Nusa Lembongan, Java and Sumatra making the journey to scenic Cimaja to surf for money, glory, and ISC championship points. Coca-Cola ISC Men’s Pro Division Results 1. Lee Wilson2. Dedy Santoso3. Dede Suryana – Garut Widiarta Coca-Cola ISC Master’s Division Results 1. Wayan Widiartha2. Made Artha3. Wayan Gantiyasa4. Made Lapur Coca-Cola ISC Women’s Division Results 1. Ayako Miyashita2. Nyoman Satri3. Rohaye (Febri Rohmaningsih)4. Chika Photos and Text by Tim Hain – Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour

Surf and Pilates Weeks in Spain 2009

Overview

For the last three years Errant Surf Holidays has run a number of successful Girls Surf and Pilates weeks in Spain. In 2009 we will be heading back to the warm bay or Loredo, Northern Spain for more great surf coaching, Pilate's, top food, plenty of shopping and good times.

We have a world class team looking after you, including surf girl champ, Celine Gerhart and from London's Body Control studio, Amy Swanson. The girls will be on hand through the week, alongside the Errant team to make sure, that no matter what level you are, you get the most out of your surfing, and Pilates.

You will stay at our exclusive surf styled guesthouse La Hosteria De Latas, in the beautiful region of Cantabria, Spain. Backed by snow capped mountains, you can expect to be surfing in a light summer wetsuit with air temperatures of 24c in May!

This trip will offer the perfect antidote after a long cold winter! The quality and the experience of the coaches can not be matched. All the coaches are British Surfing Associated qualified, insured, experienced lifeguards.

Our weeks in Spain are so popular they are sponsored by SurfGirl magazine, and Gul wetsuits. Amongst the surfing, Pilates and bathing in the sunshine in our big garden you will also get the chance to go shopping in the cosmopolitan city of Santander.

Alexa's "Surfer-Girl" Modeling Shoot

Alexa is a great friend of mine and I photographed her wedding last May. She surfs all the time and even taught me to surf last year! Since she will be starting modeling soon she needed to have some beach shots to have in her portfolio. These are a few of my favorites.