Quiksilver Riders Blog

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast To Start the 2010 ASP World Tour

Travis Logie © Luke Patterson

Gold Coast, Australia – The World’s best surfers are headed for the Gold Coast of Australia for the first event of the ASP 2010 World Tour. From 26 February to 10 March the Quiksilver Pro presented by Land Rover will take place at the iconic white sand pointbreak of Snapper Rocks, with all top surfers in attendance.

Two time World Champion Mick Fanning, hometown hero Joel Parkinson and nine-time World Champion Kelly Slater are clear cut favourites to win this year’s event. Three times World Champion Andy Irons is back in the mix after taking a year off the tour which could make this year’s tour one of the most interesting and rivaled seasons yet. The pair of Durbanites Travis Logie and Jordy Smith will both be flying the South African flag high and could both do well on the running right-hand pointbreak of Snapper Rocks.

Logie, who is back on the World Tour after a one-year hiatus, is rearing to go for the 2010 season. “I have been training and am feeling really strong at the moment,” said Travis of his pre-event training. Logie in known for his lightning-fast backhand surfing, and could easily have a field day should he find the good waves in his heats.  “My three favourite event locations are J-Bay, Trestles and Snapper Rocks so I am really pumped for this event.”

Kelly Slater (USA), 38, former nine-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 6, will return to the singlet this season, challenging for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title against the world’s best surfers in the world’s best waves. Coming away with an ASP Dream Tour win in Brazil last season, Slater made a mid-year challenge for the crown, yet fell short of the Australian onslaught.

“I never found myself in the right mind frame to deal with the pressure of a tenth title and find the excitement and purpose for what I was doing for more than a few heats last year,” Slater said. “Brazil worked out but all the close heats went the other guy’s way and I just made a lot of mind decisions and not surfing from the gut and real feelings. I’m comfortable with 9 (ASP World Titles), but yeah, 10 has a certain allure to it.”

Slater will face current ASP World No. 22, Ben Dunn (AUS), 24, and 2010 ASP Dream Tour rookie, Marco Polo (BRA), 28, in the opening round of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

This year, event organisers are predicting a fierce level of competition, and the ASP judges will analyse the surfers on their commitment and degree of difficulty, innovation and progressive maneuvers, combination of major maneuvers, variety of maneuvers and speed, power and flow when scoring waves in each heat.

The waiting period for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast commences on 27 February and the heat draw looks like this:

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Dane Reynolds (USA), Roy Powers (HAW), Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 2: Damien Hobgood (USA), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA), Tiago Pires (PRT), Tanner Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 4: C.J. Hobgood (USA), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA), Ben Dunn (AUS), Marco Polo (BRA)
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Michel Bourez (PYF), Blake Thornton (AUS)
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS), Chris Davidson (AUS), Neco Padaratz (BRA)
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS), Kai Otton (AUS), TBA
Heat 9: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Kekoa Bacalso (HAW), TBA
Heat 10: Bede Durbidge (AUS), Mick Campbell (AUS), TBA
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Drew Courtney (AUS), Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 12: Taylor Knox (USA), Luke Stedman (AUS), Nathan Yeomans (USA)
Heat 13: Tom Whitaker (AUS), Andy Irons (HAW), Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 14: Kieren Perrow (AUS), Daniel Ross (AUS), Luke Munro (AUS)
Heat 15: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Owen Wright (AUS)
Heat 16: Dean Morrison (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS)

The event will be covered by the live webcast, and spectators anywhere in the world can watch the event from their computers. All the action can be found at: http://www.quiksilverpro.com.au and the webcast link can be found on the event homepage. Daily videos, results, heat scores, backstage antics, images and more can all be found on the event website.

2009 ASP Roundup, The 2009 Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau, plus skate action from Australia

Boardriders TV is back on your box for a 5th season bringing you the best surf, skate and snow footage from around the globe and right here in South Africa. The new series promises a fresh new look and some footage never been seen before.

Episode 1 gets in motion on Monday the 22nd of February on Supersport 6 and brings you a wrap up of the ASP 2009 tour. Get some inside info from South African standouts Travis Logie, Dave Weare and Brandon Jackson on what the tour is all about and see why Mick Fanning became champion for the second time around.

The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau got to run on its 25th anniversary and the surf was BIG at Waimea. We bring you all the thrills and spills along with the history of this spiritual event. California’s Greg Long managed to beat an on-form Kelly Slater to take out the massive US$ 55,000 first prize.

In the final section of the show we bring you an insane skate segment where the Quiksilver skate team head to Australia. Europe’s finest Javier Mendizabal, Daniel Cardone and Ross McGouran hit up some crazy spots and put on a fine display of street skating.

The show ends with a gnarly wipe-out section from The Eddie event at Waimea. Here you’ll get to see that surfing waves of this size is not always fun.

Boardriders TV Series 5 Episode 1 Schedule:

Date    Time   Channel

Feb 22  18:00   SuperSport Six/ Africa P
Feb 22  18:00   SuperSport Six/ P
Feb 23  04:30   SuperSport One/ R
Feb 23  04:30   SuperSport One/ Africa R
Feb 24  14:00   SuperSport One/ R
Feb 24  14:00   SuperSport One/ Africa R
Feb 25  10:30   SuperSport Six/ Africa R
Feb 25  10:30   SuperSport Six/ R
Feb 26  16:00   SuperSport Five/ R
Feb 26  16:00   SuperSport Five/ Africa R
Mar  1   21:30   SuperSport Two/ R
Mar  1   21:30   SuperSport Two/ Africa R
Mar  2   23:20   SuperSport One/ R
Mar  2   23:20   SuperSport One/ Africa R

Boardriders TV is produced by Invisible Cactus and presented by Resolution

Well the years finally over and i have requalified for the WCT !!!!!!
Hawaii was really nerve racking , both events didnt go well at all for me , but it was pretty much the same story for all the guys just behind me on the ratings.
In the end i only dropped 2 spots down to 13th which means im in !!!!!!!!
Super stoked, a long hard year of training and traveling has finally paid off and made everything worthwhile.

Since ive been back home ive actually been surfing my brains out , theres been the craziest bank at dairy caus of the piers getting filled up. It also looks like they gonna start pumping sand out of some new pipes the have put through the piers which is really exciting .

Theres a benefit event for former SA pro surfer Heather Clark on the 19th of Dec , she had a really bad car accident recently and all the proceeds go towards helping Heather with her medical costs. So everyone please come down to bronze beach and show some support!!!

cheers
Trav.

the waiting period for sunset is well underway, there seems to be some good swell on the way so we should be up and running pretty soon!

my last heat at Haliewa was really heavy, in half hour heat there was one set in the last minute , we all got a wave and then the heat finished, i lost needing a 1.24 !!!! the lowest score ive ever lost by in my career, and if i had made that heat i would be in for next year!

but theres still one more event and no-one really overtook me, so things are still looking really good! same thing though if i get through a heat in this one i should be golden , hoping for a big result though to end off an exhausting but awesome year.

jacko, rudy and myself have been putting in the hours at sunset every day and the waves have been about in the eight foot range and windy but fun. so we are ready for action.

cheers travis logie

Its pretty much make or break time on the QS , theres 2 days left in the waiting period of Haliewa and theres still 2 days worth of event to run . So we running no matter what tomorrow!!!! The swell looks good though so im really excited .

Haliewa is the penultimate event on the QS tour for the year and its one of 2 six star prime events in Hawaii, so every heat is pretty much a career heat!!

Looks like if i make it through 2 heats i should be safe for next year so , wish me luck guys!!!!!

cheers

Travis Logie

I have been on the north shore for a couple days now and its been really relaxed actually , weathers been pretty insane but not too many waves around , had a mental sesh at cammys, funnist left bowls and today i surfed pupukea beach park and then a quick one at off the wall .

looks like theres some swell on the way but only next week wednesday so gonna have to grovel until then..

trav

hey guys.

this is my first blog and i should have at least two per week from here on.

i have been in california living it up in malibu with a good friend conrad and his family. they have been great.

a couple houses down is the, “bay watch” star pam anderson who i met and her kids who are cool groms. went to canada for the coldwater classic 6* which was cold but an awaesome experience, i was with jacko and travis logie, i learnt what the wqs was really about, and its not as glamorous as it seems, we had alot of traveling and missioning with board bags and car rentals which equaled alot of stress but once we got onto the road in canada and the spot where we were staying, it was all worth it, amazing views from the room and very scenic drives were on offer. we saw the black canadian bears which was cool, couple laughs when the bear snuck up on the boys. on the contest side, i made the round of 48 and trav as well, jacko however got a third which i was stoked to be there for! he was surfing so good throughout the event and unfortunately ran into jay thompson who got a nine on the wave of the day and left jacko needing a big score which the waves were not often offering.

After canada was santa cruz back in california but further up north from malibu. water was still really cold but the air temp was not so bad, actually got hot at midday. i surfed the 6* and the jnr pro which both went fairly badly, in my QS heat i found myself needing a 6.61 and tries to pull the rabbit out the hat by doing a last minute backside air reverse, i ended up falling just short of the requirement and got a 6.58. but it goes that way sometimes. i did not get any waves in my jnr heat.

off to hawaii in two days! first time there and really excited, looks like the day i arrive has some size but then the swell seems to die for the next week.

i will let you know how it goes in hawaii and if i find the balls to go on some sets.

cheers.
beyrick

just finshed up in the Canarys , leaving this sunday to trek over to Hawaii to hopefully seal the deal,

looking forward to it , i havent been to the north shore in a couple years !

a month there then its home sweet home for a couple months of much deserved RnR  .

i will keep you posted on the journey

Travis Logie

im in Canada for a 6star WQS . its bloody freezing !!!!! the water is a touch colder than cape town but the air is pretty frigid , im  struggling , being from durban ive never even used booties before let alone gloves and a hood  . but its pretty intersting and the place is crazy beautiful.

im staying with blackie and beyrick , its beyricks first trip on the WQS so were giving him the proper rookie treatment . yesterday i made him carry my boardbag(6 boards) up four stories for half a coke ,  after i explained that i dont drink coke and it was impossible to  buy half a coke i then made him unpack them, fin them and wax them , for a full coke which i havent got him yet.

Travis Logie

Just thought i’d bang something together and let everyone know whats been going on.. let you know what the team has been up to.

Travis and Jacko are off to Canada, Canaries, US and Hawaii for the last leg of the WQS, Trav is lokking solid at number 10 and Jacko has an outside chance at number 20. Anything can happen though as there are about 4 6 star primes left – it will probably go down to Hawaii. I would be sick to see Trav and Jacko on the WT next year representing Quik and SA.

Young Beyrick has been on fine form cleaning up on the junior scene taking out the U20 King of the Groms and the Billabong Junior event in Vic Bay. He is now in Cali for a few events then off to Canada and Hawaii – his 1st time there, let’s see how he does.

Stan “Splinter” Badger is in Indo running riot at the moment, his blog posts are pretty classic – sounds like he is loving there. I would love to be a fly on the wall there to see what he has been getting up to. He is with a small crew and AVG is there behind the lens – the shot should be quite mad!!
Brett Shaw skated himself into the ground at the Bowlriders taking out 3rd spot, he was on fire and showed the kids what old school transition is all about!!

Kyle Lane has injured himself quite badly and has been out the water for quite some time, hope he can get the ankle sorted out pretty soon..

Well – that’s it for now… will keep you updated with some fresh news next week..

Patto

Travis doing what he does best!