For Immediate Release

Sept 30^th 2009

Surfing ‘Peaks and Barrels’ Is Announcing a New Internet Swell

New surfing website moving into an interactive way to plan your “surf.”

Surfing ‘Peaks and Barrels’ is taking the country by storm and is proving to be more than just your run-of-the-mill surf site. The wave has swelled and has become a Facebook favorite for surfers and beach lovers alike. P&B has been in the works since April ‘09 and is now launching the first version of it’s website, where it will offer popular gear, such as it’s “classic style” T-shirt.

PeaksandBarrels.com is thrilled to soon offer an interactive tool for surfers to plan surf sessions and get in touch with your local surfing community. In the meantime, Peaks and Barrels will have many other interesting promotions and products for fans to check out.

PeaksandBarrels.com is a supporter of non-profit organizations like SurfAid International, Saving the Waves, Saving the Firepits, and Surfrider foundation. Invite PeaksandBarrels.com to your event and let them assist in the fund raising and getting the word out.

Peaks and Barrels, it’s what you surf.

If you would like to learn more information visit http://PeaksandBarrels.com and enter your name & email, then click ‘Get Barreled‘.

Peaks and Barrels Set up for the Board Recycling Project.

Surfboard Recycling Project with VERB Media.

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DEE WHY, New South Wales (Sunday, October 4, 2009) – Silvana Lima (BRA), 24, won the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic this afternoon over reigning two-time ASP Women’s World Champion and current ASP Women’s World No. 1 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, in stormy three-to-five foot (1.5 metre) conditions at Dee Why in an action packed Final, marking back-to-back wins for the hungry Brazilian after claiming the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.Gilmore jumped out to an early lead in the sea-saw battle for the 2009 Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic title, but Lima fought back throughout the heat, collecting a 7.77 and eventually securing the win with an 8.83 for a lengthy forehand barrel to post the highest heat total of the event, an impressive 16.60 out of 20, en route to her first victory at the event after three consecutive Final appearances.

“I can’t believe it,” Lima said. “I’ve been in the Final in this event three times and I finally won. I was feeling really confident. The waves here today were like the waves in Brazil and I’m always surfing in these conditions. The final was really good. Steph (Gilmore) got some good waves too and I was able to get two good ones.”

The back-to-back ASP Women’s World Tour wins secured by the hungry Brazilian have significantly tightened the ratings for this year’s ASP Women’s World Title and although Gilmore still holds on to the ratings lead, Lima is following closely in the No. 2 position.

“I’m definitely looking at the title, but it’s too early,” Lima said “There are still four contests left this year, so there is more work for everyone, but I feel so much more confident after my first win at Bells.”

Gilmore was in devastating form throughout the entire Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic, blasting some of the event’s top scores with a committed forehand attack on the steep Dee Why right-handers, but was unable to top Lima in the Final.

“To come back after such a long break and still make the Final, I’m pretty happy with that,” Gilmore said. “Silvana (Lima) beat me at Bells and her confidence is through the roof at the moment, so my challenge is to step it up another level. I did it in the Semifinals, but maybe I peaked too early.”

Gilmore, who fell to Lima in the Final at the last stop on the ASP Women’s World Tour, knows claiming this year’s ASP Women’s World Title will be no easy task and is preparing for the next four stops scheduled on the 2009 calendar.

“It’s definitely game on,” Gilmore said. “There are four events left and everyone is really fired up and off to Portugal, Peru and Hawaii, so I can’t think of a better way to finish off the tour.”

Sofia Mulanovich (PER), 26, was also on fire throughout the entire event, topping 2005 ASP Women’s World Champion Chelsea Hedges (AUS), 25, en route to her third place finish, but could not find a solid score in her Semifinal heat against eventual Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic winner, Lima.

“I couldn’t really find a rhythm in that last heat,” Mulanovich said. “I couldn’t land a turn, but it’s alright. I guess I was a bit nervous and the waves didn’t come my way, but it’s the same conditions for everyone. I’ll just look at where things went wrong and use that for next time.”

Mulanovich, who was the 2004 ASP Women’s World Champion, has now notched back-to-back third place results, leaving her in third overall on the ratings, but as a former champion, the Peruvian natural-footer knows she’ll need to win events this year if she is to claim another ASP Women’s World title.

“Silvana got me at Bells too,” Mulanovich said. “It’s the same result. A third-place is a good result and I need to work a little more on the mental side of things, but I know that, so that’s what I’m going to do. A third is good, but you need to win events to win the title. I’m still towards the top of the ratings and I’m just going to go from there.”

Melanie Bartels (HAW), 27, was a standout performer throughout the event’s entirety, ousting an international field of competitors including Rebecca Woods (AUS), 25, and Rosanne Hodge (ZAF), 22, on the way to her Semifinals berth. The talented Hawaiian struggled to find a solid score in her battle against Gilmore, bowing out of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic with a third place finish.

“I just wasn’t in rhythm out there and I couldn’t find anything,” Bartels said. “It’s tough out there, but I’m stoked that I made the Semifinals, it’s a good result, but I just wanted to surf well, I wanted to put on a good performance and I don’t feel like I did that, but that’s how it goes.”

The next stop on the ASP Women’s World Tour will be the Rip Curl Search in Peniche, Portugal, which holds a waiting period from October 26 through 30, 2009.

Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic Final:
1- Silvana Lima (BRA) 16.60
2- Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 12.67

Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic Semifinals Results:
Heat 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.17 def. Melanie Bartels (HAW) 6.87
Heat 2: Silvana Lima (BRA)10.60 def. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 5.40

Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic Quarterfinals Results:
Heat 1: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 6.35 def. Rebecca Woods (AUS) 5.97
Heat 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.54 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 8.80
Heat 3: Silvana Lima (BRA) 12.57 def. Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 9.00
Heat 4: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 12.86 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 8.10

ASP Women’s World Tour Ratings After Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic:
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 3241 points
2 – Silvana Lima (BRA) 2880
3 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 2139
4 – Melanie Bartels (HAW) 1983
5 – Coco Ho (HAW) 1723
6 – Rebecca Woods (AUS) 1711
7 – Paige Hareb (NZL) 1704
8 – Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 1519
8 – Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 1519
10 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 1512
11 – Samantha Cornish (AUS) 1308
12 – Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 1116
12 – Alana Blanchard (HAW) 1116
14 – Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 1110
15 – Amee Donohoe (AUS) 918
16 – Layne Beachley (AUS) 756
16 – Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 756

http://www.aspworldtour.com/2009/news_show.asp?rEvent=&rcode=13257

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Almost 3,000 people are still trapped under rubble following Wednesday’s powerful earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, officials say.

Massive quake: A member of an Indonesian military rescue team walks through a collapsed building in Padang (Reuters: Singgalang-Muhammad Fitrah)

More than 1,000 people are known to have died and the chances of finding survivors are growing slimmer.

Rescue teams from several countries are heading to the Indonesian city of Padang in a last push to save lives.

Some were focused on a hotel where as many as eight people may still be alive, and where noises were heard.

As night fell, rescuers said they were close to a room where a seminar was being held when the quake struck.

Voices were heard from under the rubble earlier, and a newly-arrived Swiss rescue team said it had picked up frantic knocking sounds using sophisticated audio equipment.
AT THE SCENE

Rachel Harvey, BBC News, Padang
Darkness has fallen for the third time since the earthquake struck and once again powerful floodlights are trained on what remains of a large hotel.Twisted wreckage of cars and rubble are still piled high here and the rescuers say they now may be close to a room where it’s known a seminar was taking place on Wednesday evening. Several people are thought to be trapped inside that room and the rumour here tonight is that miraculously even at this late stage some people may have survived and there is a long queue of ambulances here waiting just in case.      Shattered Padang tries to cope but an AFP reporter also described a stench hanging over the hotel, as bodies there began to decompose in the equatorial heat.

At least one survivor, a young woman, was pulled from under a collapsed school earlier in the day.

The rescue of Ratna Kurnia Sari on Friday was a boost to emergency workers who were enduring tough conditions as they scrambled to reach survivors in Padang.

At least one other young woman was reported to be trapped close to where the first rescue took place.

Although rescue efforts focused on Padang, aid workers and reporters said that in rural areas thousands more buildings had been destroyed and whole villages flattened.

“From the aerial assessments carried out yesterday, the feedback is, yes Padang city and environs are bad, but once you go outside into the surrounding rural areas, the situation is very seriously grave,” said International Red Cross coordinator Christine South, quoted by AFP news agency.

There was still no information for some areas including Mentawai Island, 57km from the coast, she added.

An AP reporter said parts of Pariaman district, to the north of Padang, had virtually no buildings left standing and had received no outside help.

Need for machinery

US President Barack Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, called his Indonesian counterpart to offer condolences and help with the relief effort, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari has appealed for more foreign aid to help the rescue effort.

MAJOR INDONESIAN QUAKES
26 Dec 2004: Asian tsunami kills 170,000 in Indonesia alone
28 March 2005: About 1,300 killed after a magnitude 8.7 quake hits the coast of Sumatra
27 May 2006: Quake hits ancient city of Yogyakarta, killing 5,000
17 July 2006: A tsunami after a 7.7 magnitude quake in West Java province kills 550 people
30 Sept 2009: 7.6 magnitude quake near Sumatran city of Padang, thousands feared dead
1 Oct 2009: Second of two quakes near Padang, magnitude 6.8 – no damage or casualties reported

SurfAid has a Padang Earthquake Relief Appeal. People can donate through our website. We are in Emergency Response mode and currently assessing the coastal areas south of Padang. We are buying tents, tarpaulins, food, water, medical and sanitation su…pplies in Medan to ship down. We have five Indonesian staff still unaccounted for in Padang. Any support much appreciated. Cheers www.surfaidinternational.org

Padang’s race against time <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8285986.stm>
Woman rescued from rubble <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8286638.stm>
Eyewitness: Sumatra earthquake <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8284924.stm>
UK rescue team flying to Indonesia <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8285409.stm>

There were calls in particular for skilled rescuers with specialised equipment to penetrate the unstable rubble.

A team of British firefighters is due to arrive over the weekend.

In Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said a plane carrying engineering and health teams was on its way to Indonesia, with a 44-strong rescue team due to arrive in Sumatra.

Other nations have also pledged aid to Indonesia, among them China ($500,000; £315,000), South Korea (43-strong rescue team and $500,000), and Germany ($1.5m).

The quake struck on Wednesday close to Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, bringing scores of buildings crashing to the ground.

The main earthquake struck at 1716 local time (1016 GMT), some 85km (55 miles) under the sea, north-west of Padang, the US Geological Survey said.

A second quake of 6.8 struck close to Padang at 0852 local time (0152 GMT) on Thursday causing panic but no reports of casualties or damage.

Sumatra lies close to the geological fault line that triggered the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Geologists have long warned that Padang – a city of 900,000 people – could one day be completely destroyed by an earthquake because of its location.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8287573.stm

Surfing Padang

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DEE WHY, New South Wales (Wednesday, September 30, 2009) – The opening day of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic saw current ASP World No. 5 Melanie Bartels (HAW), 27, and reigning two-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, lead the world’s best women’s surfers through Round 1 in two-to-three foot (1 metre) surf at Dee Why.

“I wasn’t really focusing on redemption over Wright, but it was more about shaking off the first heat nerves,” Gilmore said. “Chelsea (Hedges) and Tyler are a couple of my favorite surfers and Tyler did so well here last year, so I guess it felt good to come back with a win after a long break. It’s a bit disappointing that we’re not surfing at the point this morning, but it’s (Dee Why) a great wave and who knows what’s going to happen later in the week, maybe we’ll be up at the point for the Final, that’d be awesome.”

Although the talented regular-footer felt pressure entering the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic after a long mid-year break, Gilmore showed no sign of nerves and the poise shown by the defending ASP Women’s World Champion carried her directly through to Round 3.

“I think there is pressure after such a long break,” Gilmore said. “There’s sort of that safety net of Round 2, but I wanted to go out there and surf hard and my equipment is amazing at the moment and I’m stoked to be through to Round 3.”

Aside from the pressure of returning to contest mode after a long break, Gilmore also expressed the weight of entering an ASP Women’s World Tour event as the top seed.

“The pressure is always sort of there if you’re within the top five on the ratings, especially when you’re No. 1,” Gilmore said. “You’re expected to be fit and ready to go. I’m feeling fit and happy and I’m excited to be back in the action.”

Gilmore will have a Round 3 rematch against Wright when competition resumes.

Bartels surfed impressively throughout her entire opening round heat, but found her two best waves in the back half of her bout to claim the highest heat total of the day, an impressive 15.25 out of 20, while capitalizing on a rare barrel, leaving fellow competitors Rosanne Hodge (ZAF), 22, and Amee Donohe (AUS), 28, needing a combination of scores to top the Hawaiian standout.

“I’d been eyeing that little barrel out there,” Bartels said. “I was just waiting and that wave came to me and I was able to find that little barrel which gave me the good score. It’s been such a long time between events that I forgot I was surfing in a contest out there. I just tried to get a wave and surf.”

The explosive Hawaiian veteran started her year off strong with a runner up finish at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast before suffering a 17th place finish at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Bartels was elated to advance directly through to Round 3 at Dee Why and get the second half of her season off in the right direction.

“Bells is a very hard wave and it was really small when we surfed it, so it was tough for me,” Bartels said. “The waves out here are offshore and bigger than two-foot, so it’s perfect, I’m stoked.”

The Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic holds a waiting period from September 30 through October 5, 2009. Event officials will reconvene at Dee Why at 7am local time tomorrow to assess conditions for the potential start of Round 2 at 8am.

Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Rebecca Woods (AUS) 10.45, Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 9.15, Layne Beachley (AUS) 8.25
Heat 2: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 15.25, Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 11.05, Amee Donohoe (AUS) 10.85
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.00, Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.40, Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 12.05
Heat 4: Silvana Lima (BRA) 8.60, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 8.60, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 4.70
Heat 5: Coco Ho (HAW) 10.65, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.35, Alana Blanchard (HAW) 10.25
Heat 6: Samantha Cornish (AUS) 9.55, Paige Hareb (NZL) 7.85, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 6.40

Upcoming Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic Round 2 Heats:
Heat 1: Amee Donohoe (AUS), Layne Beachley (AUS), Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
Heat 2: Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Bruna Schmitz (BRA), Alana Blanchard (HAW)

For additional ASP information log on to http://www.aspworldtour.com

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By Tetsuhiko Endo

Brett Beyer NY Surf Festival

With last weekend’s Unsound Pro surf contest in Long Beach, Long Island; the second annual New York Surf Film Festival in TriBeCa, which ended last night; and the recent art opening of the female longboard pro Kassia Meador of California at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, the New York area has been crawling with the biggest names in surfing. A friend of Waves, the surf writer Tetsuhiko Endo, caught up with the film festival over the weekend.

Rob Machado, professional surfing’s ambassador of soul, was standing outside Tribeca Cinemas on Friday, waiting for the national premiere of his new movie, “The Drifter,’’ at the second annual New York Surf Film Festival.

The oddity of the location for his United States premiere — the theater is on the concrete corner of Varick and Laight Streets — was not lost on Mr. Machado, who can more regularly be found in Hawaii, Tahiti or Indonesia, where “The Drifter” takes place.

“There’s this crazy, underground surf scene here that no one seems to know about,” he said while waiting outside the theater for his film to begin. “And it makes it really cool to come to an event like this.”

In his narration of “The Drifter,’’ Mr. Machado says, “The surf world moves like a traveling circus.” Well, that circus came to town this weekend along with the festival, whose organizers were hoping to showcase the eclecticism of a spreading area surf scene that is increasingly drawing fascination from other parts.

A quick look around Tribeca Cinemas on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday underscored his point: The New York/New Jersey surfing scene showed up in force, from swaggering hipsters to suit-wearing bankers, to the Jersey boys in their flannel-shirt-and-baseball-hat uniforms. The rest of the crowd was a mélange of industry types from California, Aussie expats, a handful of Irish, the odd Basque, and even a couple of Ohio lake surfers. The filmmaker Andrew Kidman and local pros like Will Tant and Dean Randazzo blended in happily with local recreational surfers, including the fashion designer Cynthia Rowley .

“It doesn’t feel like a typical surf event,” the Australian filmmaker Stefan Hunt agreed. Mr. Hunt’s movie, “Surfing in 50 States,” was one of 18 featured over the weekend along with 13 shorts. “Usually, theses things are filled with the surfer dudes with bleached hair, the skinny girls in bikinis, and a bunch of surfing films that all look the same.”

Homogeneity is one of the things that the event’s founder, Tyler Breuer, who is also manager of the Sundown Surf Shop on Long Island, said he specifically tried to avoid. “I want the old guys I grew up surfing with in Long Beach, I want the grommets who are just interested in the shred flicks, I want the artists, and I want the people who don’t surf at all,” he said.

Sancho Rodriguez, the founder and organizer of the San Sebastián Surfilm Festibal, who was also in attendance, praised the mix of the crowd over the lip of his beer can. “New York is a strange place for a festival like this, but doing things that are slightly out of the ordinary is good for surfing,” he said. “We have to understand that our sport is growing and maturing, so the role of festivals like this is to convey the best parts of surfing to people that may not have been exposed to them.”

Ms. Rowley suggested that the surf world was ready for some distance from its traditional epicenter on the West Coast, and that New York seemed to be providing it.

“Californian surf culture has been a little mined,” she said, in that dismissive way that only fashion designers can fully evoke. “People are inherently interested in things that are alternative.”

When asked what she thought of the general surfing vibe in the room, she called it “aspiring to be non-aspirational,” and added: “New York surfers are a stylish bunch. In fashion, it’s got to be genuine to be cool, and this definitely feels genuine.”

Waves is an occasional City Room feature chronicling surfing in and around New York City, and the issues important to local surfers. Its author, Jim Rutenberg, is a Washington correspondent who grew up surfing in New Jersey and continues to surf regularly on Eastern Long Island. Ideas and comments are welcome at Wavesnyt@gmail.com.

Article at: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com

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“There has been a big break on tour so it is somewhat fitting for it all to get back underway with the richest prize-purse on offer,” Beachley said. “It’s wonderful to have support from Australia’s leading bank, the Commonwealth Bank, and I’m looking forward to a terrific start tomorrow.”

After standing on the leading front of competitive female surfing for nearly 20 years, Beachely is now blending her competitive spirit while working hard to continue to create a future for the sport by founding events like the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic.

“I really find myself in juxtaposition this time of year,” Beachley said. “Emotionally I am invested in staging a great event but also wanting to compete at the best of my ability. I’m really focused on running a wonderful event for the surfers, sponsors and fans.”

Paige Hareb (NZL), 19, is currently sitting in the No. 3 spot on the ASP Women’s World Tour and is the leading rookie after the first two events. The young New Zealand talent has been keeping busy after the lengthy break by competing on the ASP WQS while spending some of the down time at home.

“It’s been like one big holiday,” Hareb said. “I’ve still been doing the world qualifying series in between but had a three-week break in California and have also been at home a bit hitting the snow!”

Although Hareb exceeded her expectations in the first two events on the 2009 calendar, the young Kiwi is hoping the keep the ball rolling at this week’s Commonwealth Bank Beachley classic and is looking to climb to the top of the ASP Women’s World Tour ratings.

“To be honest I’m surprised,” Hareb said. “I’ll take it though and of course I’m going to try and stay there if not better it.”


There will be an official press conference Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 10:45am at Dee Why Surf Club. Surfers Layne Beachley, defending ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, and defending Commonwealth Beachley Classic Champion Tyler Wright (AUS), 15, will be attending.

For additional ASP information log on to
http://www.aspworldtour.com
http://www.beachleyclassic.com/

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Team News

Mick’s hungry again with leap to #2 in the ratings

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 21 September, 2009 : – - Costa Mesa – Mick Fanning’s resurgence to the winner’s circle was an emphatic one. On the platinum-esque stage of so-Cal’s most high performance surf break, Lower Trestles, the 2007 World Champ scalped the 2009 Hurley Pro Trestles with an intensity that eerily resembled his ASP World Title form.

After taking out Kelly Slater in the semi-finals, Fanning found himself pitted against the always-exciting Dane Reynolds. However, it’s been nearly 2 years since Mick won an event, and with $105,000 on the line for the winner, Fanning wasted no time putting the final in a chokehold. A pair of mid to high 8’s left Dane combo’d, and Fanning officially became the winner of the richest event in surfing history.

“I’m overwhelmed,” Fanning stated. “I guess it’s more about building momentum again this year and getting the hunger back.”  The $105k was obviously nice, but for Mick, it’s the massive leap frog to #2 in the ASP World Tour rankings that makes it exciting. With 4 events remaining, Mick is very much back in the hunt to win the ASP World Title.

Surfersvillage.com

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We just went from one thing to the next, speaking about life and love and surfing. When we arrived at Thunders, the boat wasn’t there. They were surfing somewhere else. There were a couple of guys out so we unpacked our boards and paddled out. Within minutes everyone went in. We surfed these perfect little 3- to 4-foot barreling lefts with no one out, just us. There were no cameras. No one was watching. We were out there hooting each other into waves. When Gerry’s surfing, you can really just tell just how much he enjoys the actual act of riding waves. When you watch him surf you realize there’s something else going on there beyond what normal humans encounter—like he’s tapped into something that the rest of us are not.

Fifty years from now, Gerry will probably be remembered for his tube-riding, and the way he surfed Pipeline, but I think his contribution to surfing has been more than that. He’s inspirational, not just in the way he makes difficult situations look easy, but in his whole act from head to toe, from sunrise to sunset. There is a relationship he has with riding waves and with being in the ocean, there’s that synergy between the two, and you can just see it.


Patagonia Video



Patagonia Video


SURFER MAG ARTICLE

www.surfermag.com

By Rob Machado

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