SURFING INDUSTRY TRAVEL NEWS: surfing news, surf information, surfing industry news — FIJI’S CLOUDBREAK TURNS INTO CROWDBREAK

CROWDBREAK
Iconic Fijian Wave Open to the Public Starting Today

photo Servais

JULY 8, 2010 – The Fiji Times is reporting that the new decree, which was passed Fij, lawmakers June 30th, goes into effect starting today (Friday, July 9 Fiji time). Radio Fiji and New Zealand news sources are also picking up this story.

The decree takes away any and all powers formerly held or negotiated in surfing areas and overrides all title claims and possibilities of payments for the use of those areas. In other words Cloudbreak has been liberated.

According to the news report, Attorney General and Minister for Tourism Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the Regulation of Surfing Areas Decree 2010 will assist in creating a marine industry that will create jobs, upskilling and economic growth. Sayed-Khaiyum said the decree “absolutely vests in the Director of Lands any interest in any surfing area in Fiji. Any existing licence or any other instrument of title issued to any person or body in relation to any surfing area is cancelled”.

“The decree gives access to and the use of any surfing area in Fiji by any person. Any person may now, whether individually or in a group, access and use any surfing area in Fiji for the purposes of surfing or any water sport, without obtaining any permit or approval from any person and without the payment of any monies or compensation to any person.”

So which Aussie will test the waters first?

The newspaper went on to report that Fijian Police will help enforce the new decree.

“Fiji’s police force says it is ready to enforce the provisions of a decree that provides unrestricted access to surfing and marine sports areas to tourists and locals alike.

Police spokeswoman Ema Mua said the force will have to quickly understand the decree and provide enforcement.

Under the Regulation of Surfing Areas Decree 2010 which comes into force tomorrow, it is illegal to create exclusive use of any surfing area.

It is also a crime punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment to obstruct or prevent anyone from accessing or using any surfing area for surfing or for any water sport.

Mua told FijiLive that the Police Tourism Unit will play a part in enforcing the decree while the Community Policing Unit will ensure that awareness is carried out about the decree.

Attorney General and Minister for Tourism Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, while announcing the decree yesterday, said that previously, a number of surfing areas in Fiji were exclusively licensed to a couple of hotel operators, which deprived other tourists and Fijians from accessing these surfing areas.

He said there had been numerous reports of tourists and Fijian surfers being physically and violently harassed and assaulted for surfing at these exclusive surfing areas.

http://www.fijilive.com/news/2010/07/08/26881.Fijilive

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This email (below) is being sent around to various peeps. I don’t know anything about this situation or the validity of this email. Nonetheless I found this email to be a bit disturbing. I’m sure there are two sides to this story, but the misguided value that individuals or corporations can OWN the ocean or surf break — especially in North America– is misguided, selfish, dishonest, exploitative i.e not good for the big picture.

What do you make of this email? Can anyone vouch for this information? Is it true?

—- begin email —

North of Mazatlan is the small beach side pueblo of Celestino Gasca. Once known for aqua culture with large warehouses and factories, those are slowly being replaced by small independent beach resorts where you can enjoy beautiful sunset walks on sandy public beaches and world class surfing at two point breaks. Having a number of resorts near perfect surf you might get the idea that as a surfer ,which I happen to be, this would be a dream come true.

For anyone surfing there prior to the introduction of the Cardon Adventure Resort, this was true. Mexican surfers had been going there for years along with a few hardy travelers that just happened to stumble upon it. Everyone getting along, totally stoked …..living the dream.
Initially when the Cardon Adventure Resort opened things were pretty much as they had been before, but it didn’t take long before the owners of Cardon decided they owned the surf. Their mandate became “Only our guests are allowed to surf here “. Access for local Mexican surfers was seriously restricted and anyone else showing up to enjoy the surf was bullied out of the water. Within just a few short years this dramatic change has resulted in an escalation of terrorism by the owners of Cardon Adventure Resort and their employees. Some of the employees just happen to be surfers from California.Two years ago after an altercation in the surf with an employee of the Cardon resort, a well known visiting surfer was escorted from his resort at gunpoint by thugs.

My wife and I have been going to Celestino Gasca for years, always staying at the original resort right in front of the main point. On a recent trip we had planned on staying for ten days. The first day went great; just a few Mexican surfer friends sharing the waves, just like the good old days. The second day my friends and I were enjoying a repeat of the day before until Jeff Phillips, the American thug employed by Cardon, paddled out. When I was sitting by myself he began his normal tirade, screaming “I’m going to F___K you up! I’m gonna take you out”. As usual I just tried to ignore him. Day three my wife and I decided to wait until the Cardon crew had finished their session before paddling out. Watching everyone walking by our palapa including Jeff, I thought this may be a good way to handle things. Just taking turns, sounded like a good plan to me. We paddled out into an empty lineup. After about half an hour Jeff comes paddling back out on a huge long board and proceeds to put his newest battle plan into action. This time he never says one word to us. At first I thought it was kind of a relief, but that didn’t last long. I have been surfing all my life and what happen next was beyond anything I have ever experienced before. It was like some sort of absurd pro surf contest where the rules have been changed without telling of all the contestants. Now the Cardon team scored points by sitting on the shoulder, blocking us from ever taking off on a wave, dropping in front of us if we even tried to take off, finally we gave up and paddled in. It was like constantly being cut off on the freeway by a mad man.

After this fiasco we were in our beach front palapa, where we had previously spent many happy hours, relaxing and watching the surf, with friends we had met in the water, including guests of Cardon. Soon Omar, one of the owners of Cardon Adventure resort walked by to tell us “NEVER COME BACK”. Beating his chest he said “THIS IS MY BREAK” That no other resort on the beach is allowed to rent to surfers. If we didn’t leave “We would see his power”. Fearing for our safety we left the next day, leaving behind friends and a place we had loved for years.

Cardon Adventure Resort has created is a very dangerous situation for everyone. If this continues it will only be a question of time before some unsuspecting surfer following their dream is seriously injured or killed. Wither it be a guest of one of the other resorts, someone at Cardon, or the general public, no one is immune to the violent situation they have created.

It is my hope those reading this will rethink their support of the Cardon Adventure Resort. Be it a business association or a vacation to the resort.
Hopefully with the help of the global community we can convince Cardon to end this sad and violent path they have decided to go down. Then we can all go back to living the dream.

Embassy officials in Mazatlan told us our report was not first they had received. Anyone with any knowledge of similar behavior by Cardon Adventure resort is urged to contact the following authorities.

PROFECO
Federal Attorneys Office
011 52 55 52 11 17 23
www.profeco.gob.mx/english.htm

—- end email –

surf industry news.

Christian Fletcher – pulling on a cancer stick.

Before I get to the intriguing shark attack story at Hanalei Bay, let me touch on the Christian Fletcher controversy. Allegedly Christian Fletcher exercised his first amendment rights ala Kanye West in front of the entire surf industry at the Billabong XXL Awards on Friday night at the Grove Theater in Anaheim. Now, I wasn’t there ( I was but I left after the video highlights) but the surfing industry players were, so this is all second hand & third hand info I’m hearing from friends, surf industry people and from the internet/FaceBook/Twitter etc. etc. But the Fletcher clan, Herbie, Nathan, and Christian gave out the award for the XXL Monster Wave of the year. It was won by a German guy Sebastian Steudtner who lives on Maui. Steudtner is a kite surfer/tow surfer. Well apparently Steudtner can’t, according to Christian Fletcher, paddle into waves. Upon opening up the envelop to announce Steudtner the winner, Fletcher said the following (more or less depending on whose version of the incident you believe) “the f-ing German who can’t paddle won… f-ing guy can’t even paddle.” Fletcher then threw the winning envelope on the floor, telling Steudtner he “doesn’t know how to surf or paddle”, plus a few other digs, all while the poor guy had to step up on stage and deal with the train wreck. Again this is second hand, as-told-to me info. Maybe I’m getting this all wrong? Maybe Fletcher didn’t say any of this stuff? The particulars of what exactly was said doesn’t mar the fact that it was not a classy move. It was ugly. It is all on video, and video doesn’t lie.

This wasn’t the “Paddle-in” category. It was the “Monster Wave of the Year” category. This was a Monster Wave (see below) and the ‘f-ing German’ accomplished everything according to the rules. Fletcher was stoic in his moment of classlessness. Steudtner apparently handled it okay, but the audience was in disbelief, from what I’ve been told. More than a few people have expressed utter disgust at the Fletcher remarks and actions. Probably not a good way to extend his legacy. Dennis Rodman was a hell of of a defender and a rebounder, but the masses don’t remember him that way. Looks as if Fletcher may have the same PR peeps. Sort of sad, but only if you care about Christian Fletcher. I don’t know him and have no desire to know him. I have interviewed Herbie and found him to be a very sensitive, thoughtful individual. Oh by the way, most people with half a brain don’t care if other people are so-called ‘good surfers’ or ‘pro surfers’. People are impressed by kindness, consideration and classiness. Maybe Christian Fletcher will apologize. I think that would be a pretty classy move. And for the record, the wave that Steudtner rode was not a ‘paddle-able’ wave. Just saying.

The winner, on a wave much larger than anything either myself or Christian Fletcher has ever ridden. Give him his moment, according to the judges, he deserves it.

Now on to something that is impressive. Check out this great interview with Jim Rawlinson, AKA Shark Rider, by my radio host co-hort Scott Mijares on Hawaiian public access radio. Surf Stories on KKCR. Joining Scott Mijares in the studio was Larry Bertleman, Marine Biologist, Terry Lilly, and Songwriter/ Musician Allan Thomas:

surf news, surfing news, swamis, surfing industry, seth pettersen, sacred craft expo, taj burrow, bells beach, rip curl

Seth will be playing at Sacred Craft in Ventura April 10th, Ventura County Fairgrounds

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Baldy and I will be interviewing Dr. Dave Jenkins of SurfAid this morning. I’d add more but was bitten by the Daylight Saving Time bug and am one hour off this morning… gotta go to the studio!!! Oh No!

Please listen in and visit Aaron Chang’s gallery this Sunday afternoon, March 14, from 4-7pm. Say hello to Dr. Dave, he’d love to meet you, super cool cat.



swamis, city of encinitas, surf news, surfing news, surf industry insight, surf blogs, surfing contests, surf ASP, ASP, swamis, city of encinitas

Please copy and paste the following email addresses into your destination field. (To:) The email addresses below are the Encinitas City Council members:

jbond@ci.encinitas.ca.us; jstocks@ci.encinitas.ca.us; tbarth@ci.encinitas.ca.us; mhoulihan@ci.encinitas.ca.us; ddalager@ci.encinitas.ca.us

Potential Email Titles to cut and paste:
Special Operations Permit for Swami’s,
No Contest at Swami’s,
Swami’s Contest

Please create a simple email that states your feelings. Do so in a polite and civil tone. Thanks! Edit/Add anything you see fit to personalize the message:

Dear Encinitas City Council Member,

It has come to my attention on Wednesday March 10th, 2010 you will be reviewing the Parks and Recreation Commission’s Report (PRCR) for the unsanctioned Women’s World Longboard Championship as posted for Agenda Item 7 on the city’s website. While I fully support all women’s surfing, I have many concerns with the city issuing a permit for the first contest in 45 years at Swami’s.

Best Regards,

SURF NEWS: This week — Jodie Nelson attacks Breast Cancer, Tsunami warning sends Hawaiians scrambling to stock up on Shave Ice; and Todos Santos big waves lures the big hunters to big event; Swamis landslides endears city council to allow for special permits underneath landslides; Eco warrior James Pribram joins Down The Line in-studio!

Seth Pettersen “Baby Buddah” – This is the song we play a bit during the show.

Slater maintains secondary tour plan is no pipe dream

But nine-time world champion has no plans to take on the ASP, writes Josh Rakic in surf news.

“I don’t think that the ESPN Tour is completely a dead idea. I think there’s some kind of possibility that it could still happen in the future.”

Kelly Slater surf news

And with those words from nine-time world champion Kelly Slater, it seems clear the rumours of the ”rebel” tour’s death are greatly exaggerated. But the iconic figure insists it’s no rebel tour and that if he had his way, the stalled ESPN-sanctioned tour would run as a best-of-the-best format to co-exist with the current ASP tour.

”It doesn’t have to be a rival or alternative tour to the ASP, it might be a supplementary thing,” Slater revealed to The Sun-Herald. ”The last thing I want to see is the companies or the ASP be screwed over. But I also don’t want to see the surfers screwed over. A supplementary series could work out great. It doesn’t need to decide the world champion. I think people were confused about whether that needed to be like boxing with different belts. No.”

Slater came under intense scrutiny last year after he and ESPN mooted the idea of a secondary tour, one which would feature just 16 athletes and unprecedented prizemoney, plus mainstream media coverage of a sport with a business model that has gone largely unchanged for two decades.

Unlike other international sports such as tennis and golf, surfing’s major companies not only sponsor the bulk of the tour’s athletes but are also the principle sponsors of the events – granting them almost total control of the sport.
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE FROM SMH HERE

surf news, surfing industry, southern california surfing culture,

The good Professor professes the truth.. and it hurts… from laughing so hard.

surfing industry news, surf news, ASP, Doug Warbrick, Taj Burrow, Kelly Slater, ASP, surf news

SURF NEWS: QUIKSILVER PRO STARTS HISTORIC 2010 ASP SEASON – Wax heads and surfing fans get excited – the world’s best surfers are headed to the Gold Coast as two of the biggest surfing events kick start the 2010 ASP Men’s and Women’s World Tours next month. From 26th February through to 10th March, the 2010 Quiksilver Pro presented by Land Rover and the Roxy Pro will take place on the southern end of the Gold Coast’s iconic point break of Snapper Rocks. This year’s Quiksilver Pro presented by Land Rover will feature the world’s top 45 ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) surfers including the likes of reigning two-time World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) and current world number two and hometown hero Joel Parkinson (AUS). Nine-time World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) is the only non-Australian to have won the Quiksilver Pro (twice), and looks to be a top threat in the 2010 competition. Surfing sensation Julian Wilson (AUS) surprised the crowd last year when he knocked out Kelly Slater and will no doubt be looking to do the same again this year as he competes as a wildcard.

SURF NEWS: CLAW HONORED – Doug Warbrick’s huge contribution to Australian surfing has finally been acknowledged with his elevation to the sport’s Hall of Fame at the Australian Surfing Awards on the southern end of the Gold Coast last night. Surf businessman Warbrick became the 32nd member respectively of the Hall of Fame which began with the initial induction of Snow McAllister (Deceased) and 4 x World Champion Mark Richards in 1985.

SURF NEWS: TAJ WINS BREAKA – Gold Coast Queensland: Taj Burrow (AUS) today etched his name into the history books, claiming the inaugral 2010 Association Of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 4-Star, Breaka Burleigh Pro. Burrow defeated Josh Kerr (AUS), Owen Wright (AUS) and Dusty Payne (HAW) who finished second to fourth respectively in an exhilarating four-man final. “It’s so great to be back at Burleigh Heads, I’ve spent a lot of time here over the years and it’s such a great wave, so to be able to win the very first competition here in so long is just great,” Burrow said.

HERE is the video of Kelly Slater, Dane Reynolds, & Julian Wilson that Baldy and I have been watching to get our froth on prior to knee high muck sessions at the local walled of beachbreak. This is sick, especially if you skip through the marketing stuff and just watch the action.

Sunday we interviewed Billabong XXL global director Bill Sharp. We told Bill that a paddle-in surfer will beat out a tow-in surfer for biggest wave this year. He didn’t bite. You can listen to this weeks show via iTunes podcast directory search keyword ” down the line”.

Rachel and Her Comet – 540K and still ticking …. Cool as…

We interview Bill Sharp this morning. Give a listen!

Do yourself a favor, go check out BillabongXXL.com website. Bring along a sandwich and a cold beverage and schedule yourself two hours to digest it all– the waves, not the meal. There is plenty to sink your teeth into.

Do your best to determine the winner of four categories: Ride of the Year, the Best Paddle-in Wave, The Best Tube Ride, and the Biggest Wave. These clips below are just a small smattering of what you’ll see. And with last weeks Mavericks event providing some of the largest and heaviest waves of the year, well, the judges have their hands full.

Is this the year that all four categories are won by the same surfer on the same wave? Could a paddle-in surfer claim Biggest Wave over some of the tow-in stuff at Peahi? Hell yeah!!