OC Beach Blog » Dane Reynolds

Billabong Pro Tahiti update

Jeff Malanca, contributing writer — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:59:22 +0000

The third stop of the ASP World Championship Tour has been on hold for a few days now due to the lack of swell. The 2009 Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui has completed the Round of 1 and the opening six heats of Round 2.

Some of the early upsets in Round 1 included Ventura’s Dane Reynolds, San Clemente’s Chris Ward and Oxnard’s Nathaniel Curran. Coming up in Round 2 will be event wildcard Andy Irons, Jordy Smith, Joel Parkinson, Bobby Martinez and 9-time World Champion Kelly Slater.

Many people are wondering what Slater will be riding in his first heat of the Billabong Pro Tahiti. The first two Dream Tour contests of the year Kelly Slater lost in the early rounds while surfing on some of his own shaped equipment.

Meanwhile, Surfline forecasters are calling for a moderate southeast swell to begin filling over the next few days. The official waiting period for the Billabong Pro wraps up on Wednesday, May 20. For all the highlights or to watch the live webcast, go to billabongpro.com or aspworldtour.com.

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Channel Islands Surfboards demo days

Jeff Malanca, contributing writer — Sun, 10 May 2009 15:24:20 +0000

Are you in the market for a new board? How about being able to test out one of the best shapers in the business? It’s that time of year again when Channel Islands by Al Merrick will kick off its 2009 board demo tour.

If you haven’t checked out one of these events before, it’s insane! A crew of CI employees rolls up to the beach in a big van that is packed with all the latest Channel Islands models and often times a few team rider boards.

All you have to do is show up at the surf spot and test out any of the equipment for FREE. Just recently Al Merrick unveiled the new Dane Reynolds signature model, “The Proton” which is now available at your local CI dealer.

And then of course there’s Kelly Slater’s new “Deep Six” which drew a lot of hype when he won the 2008 Pipeline Masters. Slater has even been carving some of his own boards lately. (Maybe one of those will be available for a test drive?)

Channel Islands team riders are made up of some of the best surfers in the world, including 9-time World Champion Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Timmy Curran, Tom Curran and Lisa Anderson.

The 2009 Channel Islands surfboard demo tour has thirteen stops along the California coast. The first takes place at C Street in Ventura on Saturday, May 16, from 7 to 11 a.m.

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Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast update

Jeff Malanca, contributing writer — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:10:52 +0000

It’s down to 16 of the world’s best pro surfers at the 2009 Quiksilver Pro in Australia. The first stop of the ASP World Championship Tour wrapped up the remaining eight heats of round 3 on Monday morning at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast.

Competitors had some playful size surf on tap, but the conditions were pretty sloppy due to gusty onshore winds. Ventura’s Dane Reynolds and South Africa’s Jordy Smith have both put on quite a show thus far and are looking to do some damage in round 4.

Meanwhile, the big upset for the start of the new season was 9X World Champion Kelly Slater who was eliminated by 20-year old wildcard Julian Wilson in round 3. Some of the solid matchups in round 4 includeTaj Burrow vs. Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith and Bede Durbidge and Damien Hobgood vs. Julian Wilson. For all the latest updates or to watch the live action, go to quiksilverpro.com.

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