The world’s best surfers are gearing up for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by LG Mobile! The event site at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast – the world’s largest surf site – is complete and the pros have been out practising in clean head-high waves…

The Quiksilver Pro sees the return of reigning and nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 37, in his bid for an unprecedented tenth crown, but a swath of the world’s top talents will be standing in his way.

Taj Burrow (AUS), 30, current ASP World No. 3, is one of the few on a short list of favored athletes who could potentially usurp Slater, and Burrow’s reputation in righthand pointbreaks such as Snapper Rocks is unrivaled by most.

It’s pancake day! Yay!



image from JamieOliver.com (an amazing site for recipes)

• 3 large eggs
• 115g/4oz self rasing flour (this makes ‘em thick like American pancakes)
• 140ml/5fl oz milk
• a pinch of salt

Heat a good non-stick pan on a medium heat, add a knob of butter. Pour some of your batter into the pan and fry for a couple of minutes until it starts to look golden and firm. Lovely with a bit of lemon and sugar!

SAS have launched a new campaign ‘Love Your Beach’ this campaing will enable recreational water users to apply for ‘bathing water’ designation for their recreational water sites, providing them with extra protection under current legislation.

SAS campaigners are encouraging recreational water users to demonstrate how much they adore their beloved recreational waters. Obviously SAS will assist, but we need water users all over the country to make that loving gesture, use their local knowledge and enter their local recreational water site into the Love Your Beach campaign. It couldn’t be easier, simply go to the SAS website and fill out a short questionnaire.

It will only take 2 minutes (we’ve filled it aleady), and if you really, really love your beach, upload a photo. Click here to go to the www.sas.org.uk and fill out the questionaire.

Reigning and nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 37, will begin his campaign for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title at the Quiksilver Pro presented by LG Mobile.

Event No. 1 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Quiksilver Pro will be held at the Gold Coast’s Snapper Rocks from February 28 through March 11, 2009. The Quiksilver Trials and Roxy Trials will take place on February 27, 2009. Slater, who in past seasons has been reluctant to commit to a full year of competition, has announced his intentions for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and has acknowledged the allure of a possible 10th ASP World Title.

“I commit to where I am,” Slater said. “I’ll be on the Gold Coast for sure. I’m pretty excited about some new equipment and am ready to surf, I think. No. 10 is alluring and is there for the attempt, but I’ll let everyone else worry about the pressure of it as well as I can.”

The power of the River Severn can be seen with the Severn bore – a large tidal wave that works its way up the estuary and is popular with river surfing enthusiasts.

Welldone to all the mentalists who rode the bore! Look out for the first surfer who managed to stand up, is he clapping because he caught the wave or because his mate fell over? Click here to view the video (new window)

Different options are being explored for harnessing the tidal energy to generate electricity in the future.

Our fresh..est tshirt – Elements. We do love the elements, after all that’s how our lovely waves are formed and being British we always talk about the weather, plus how awesome has the snow been this week?! So, Peeler wanted to celebrate all of this by producing elements.

It’s available to buy now, take a look

These HEMP bags are as versatile as they come. The PIONEER SERIES is ready to be thrown on any truck, bike rack, double-decker bus, or prop plane.

These bags are made out of even stronger HEMP than it’s predescesor and its now available in three colors to better suite your climate and mood.

These one-of-a-kind surfboard bags are made from hemp and recycled materials. This surfboard bag protects your board from sun, heat, and helps prevent dings by wrapping your board with mildew resistant hemp and recycled foam padding.

We have tested this bags head-to-head with the leading brands and have found them to be 10 degrees cooler in harsh condition. They are damn cool on the outside too.

Click here to check out the board bags, they’re available in the following sizes – 6’6″ 7’6″ 8’6″ 9’6″

Adam Melling wins Rip Curl MP Classic

Adam Melling (Lennox Head/NSW) signalled his intentions loud and clear for the 2009 season by taking a huge win at the Rip Curl MP Classic held in excellent 1.5m (5ft) barrelling high performance surf at Coolangatta Beach today.

Melling was rated 35 on the ASP World Series last year and was always in contention to qualify for the elite ASP World Tour but didn’t quite finish the season off in Hawaii. This year he wants to erase the disappointments of last year and today’s winning start to his competitive year indicates he’ll be a serious contender.

“I haven’t competed for a few months since returning from Hawaii in 2008 and I was really looking forward to dusting off the cobwebs and getting back competitively here and that’s how it has panned out – I couldn’t be happier right now, my boards are great, fitness and injuries all good and to win in such excellent surf in this event is super great – It’s a special event named after an extraordinary surfer.”

Melling’s final two wave scores today were a 9.4 and an excellent 8.5 to easily take the final on a total of 17.9 with Gold Coast surfer Ice Pierera – Ryan (Coolangatta) coming in second on a scoreline of 15.8.

NSW surfers Matt Wilkinson (Central Coast) placed 3rd on 14.5 and Stuart Kennedy (Lennox Head) placed 4th on 13.6. Michael Peterson, accompanied by his mother, sat in the judging tower to watch all the days action.