ZION SUMMER RANGE IS HERE!

The long awaited Zion summer 2010/2011 wetsuit range has finally landed in store! Come in and grab your new Zion before they run out the door!

El Fronton Heat Draw

The Draw El Fronton 2010 from Manny Vargas on Vimeo.

Names are read off to set the stage for the most anticipated bodyboarding since the Tahiti Skins of 2000.

This is the raw uncut version.

Keep your eyes peeled on redbull.com for daily updates and more.

El Fronton "The Wild Wave" Event

Between the 10th and 21st of December 2010, the Canary Islands will play host to the biggest event in Bodyboarding, the 2010 IBA El Fronton Invitational. The event will feature the best bodyboarders in the world at one of the the wildest waves, streamed live via satellite on Red Bull Web TV.

El Fronton provides the ultimate canvas to showcase performance Bodyboarding at its most extreme. Regarded as one of the wildest waves on the the planet, El Fronton is feared and respected for its raw power breaking on a shallow reef, set among the striking cliffs of Gran Canaria. It's also known for its amazing ramps that allow riders to launch out of the most extreme sections witnessed in any form of surfing. The format sees 12 internationals and 4 locals competing in a one-day shoot-out for glory. Featuring 8 past and present World Champions, the line-up is arguably the best ever assembled for competitive Bodyboarding. The event will see 4 man - 30 minute heats, with a 40 minute final, providing over 4 hours of action-packed entertainment. It will take place on the best day over an 11 day waiting period from the 10th - 21st December 2010.

Red Bull TV (www.redbull.com/tv) will be streaming the event live via satellite to determine the global reach of Bodyboarding. You hold the power to play a part in the progress of professional Bodyboarding, by making sure you and everyone you know tune into this amazing event and prove the level of interest in performance Bodyboarding. This will ensure that future events are shown on Red Bull TV.
Red Bull TV can be viewed via the following  platforms:
 www.redbull.com/tv

iPhone Version
http://win.gs/rbtviphone

Windows Phone 7:
http://win.gs/rbtvwp7

Facebook:
 www.facebook.com/redbull

The IBA has set up a dedicated facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Bodyboard-Association-IBA-El-Fronton-Invitational/107133989354869 where you will be updated on a daily basis on the lead up to the event with surf forecasts, rider interviews and footage as the world best prepare for the most anticipated event in Bodyboarding worldwide. You will be alerted when the event is scheduled to be held to ensure you don’t miss any of the action.

Congratulations JERRY!!!

EMERALD would like to extend a massive CONGRATULATIONS to our team rider JARED HOUSTON.

In his rookie year on the tour, Jerry managed to make the final of the Turbo Pipeline Pro, and the final of the Soldiers Beach Pro. This great start to the year helped propel Jared to the top 5 in the tour rankings. A consistent year on tour kept Jerry in 6th place overall until the very last event on the tour, Confital in the Canary Islands. Unfortunately Jerry didn't make it through his round 6 heat (a first for Jared in 2010) and the guys who were close behind him in the tour race surpassed him, relegating Jared to a final standing of 10th in the world after his first year on the World Tour!!

This effort Jared put in all year was rewarded at the IBA presentation event after the final event at Confital, where Jerry was awarded the 2010 IBA Rookie of The Year award. Being in the top 24 in the world also qualifies Jared for the all new GSS (A new version of the World Tour) in 2011 which will see the tour return to world class waves around the world.

He has also impressed his fellow riders, recently taking out equal 18th place in the Riptide Peer Poll. It was his first year of inclusion in voting for the Peer Poll, so Jerry was super amped to make it in the top 20!
Add to these achievements the fact that Jerry was invited to participate in 'The Wild Wave" event at El Fronton in the Canary Islands.

This event is being touted as one of the biggest events in bodyboarding history. The Fronton invitational will see 12 invitees and 4 local wildcards battle it out for glory in one of the worlds heaviest and most high performance bodyboarding waves in the world. The event will be webcast here on RedBull TV. We encourage everyone to tune in and watch, as not only will this be an epic event to watch, Red Bull will also be counting viewer numbers to see if there is enough to warrant backing the new Word Tour on a more permanent basis!!!

For more updates on Jared's successes, like his double page (above) in the brand new Le BOOGIE mag, check his blog at jaredhouston.tumblr.com

Rich Lornie of Chout Films has just arrived back in Australia after a month long trip to Hawaii for the premieres on Oahu and Maui of his amazing vid CHOUT! While in Hawaii Rich scored some pumping swells, and has already made a good start to Chout Guy, the second installment of the Chout series. Here is a quick clip, Chout TV ep 2.0 featuring some of Hawaii's best riders.
He is off to the Canary Islands next weekend, to cover the final World Tour event at Confital and the much anticipated invitational event at El Fronton, one of the craziest waves around! We look forward to seeing the footage he comes back with after that trip!! Enjoy his clip below...



Chout TV eps 2.0 from Chout Films on Vimeo.

The Aussie Tour has been run and won...

A big congratulations goes out to Dave Winchester, for winning the Australian Bodyboard tour on the weekend. The National Titles were held in QLD at D'Bah on the weekend, where the best riders from all ages came from all round the country to compete to be crowned the best in Australia. Winny won the Pro Mens tour, and we would also like to send out a big congrats to Jon Capilli, Emerald Team rider, who was crowned National Dropknee Champion, narrowly edging out another Emerald rider, Glen Sullivan for the title. Congratulations must also go out to Emerald rider Brendan "Barney" Ryan who won the Masters Division.
Well done to all our other team riders who made it to Nationals, and we hope to see you there again next year!

EMERALD HAS MOVED!!!!!

That's right, we have moved! It was a big move, all the way to the shop next door! We are currently located at 126-128 Cronulla St, Cronulla. It is literally the shop next door to where we have been for the last 15-20 years. We will be in this shop for the next month, and we are currently open for business as usual, before we move to 2 Surf Rd, Cronulla (next door to Oporto's) which will be our permanent residence from mid December onwards. You will still be able to reach us on (02) 9527 4149 or (02) 9544 4693. Our email remains unchanged. Sorry if we have inconvenienced anyone with our moves, but once we get into our Surf Rd store we will be there permanently! The new shop will be bigger, brighter and better than our old store was, so we hope to see everyone in there!

Presentation Night Pics

CBC Presentation Night Goes Off With a Bang

Last night saw a hoard of both young and old bodyboarders and their families converge on Cronulla's Little Italy restaurant for the annual presentation night for the Cronulla Bodyboard Club. This year saw bigger numbers than the last few years which meant it was a tight squeeze to fit in at Little Italy, but they managed to fit us all in and feed the hungry masses. Everyone who attended walked out with prizes of some sort, thanks largely to the generosity of the companies we stock in Emerald, who were keen to help out with a few prizes for the kids. The guys who came in the top 4 in each division all won a board as did the Most Improved and Encouragement Award.

The final results were as follows:

AAA Grade
1st - Glen Sullivan
2nd - Lloyd Taylor
3rd - Mickey Lewis
4th - Blake Tabone

AA Grade
1st - Dane Woods
2nd - Billy Danzey
3rd - Will Pinkerton
4th - Jack Baker

A Grade
1st - Luke Hartcher
2nd - Alexander Torday-Smith
3rd - Elliot Gooding
4th - Liam Baker

Most Improved - Andrew Cole

Encouragement Award - Josh Seage

We would like to say a big thanks to the following companies for providing the masses of prizes for the night:
BZ, Turbo, No.6, Nomad, Science, NMD, Funkshen, Manta, Hot Buttered, Pride, Empire, World Bodyboards, Dunes, Zion, Reeflex, Attica, Limited Edition, Stealth, Pod, Carve, Dragon, Grand Flavour, Unite, Custom X, Chout Films, Riptide, Le Boogie, Phil Gallagher, Summerset, Flipmode, Ocean & Earth & Propel.

Congratulations to all the guys who competed this year, and we hope to see you all again next year, hopefully with an even bigger number of people!

A big show of thanks to Des for running the comps was shown by most of the guys and girls putting in together to give Des a gift of a travel voucher worth over $500, so he can go on a long awaited holiday!! Des puts a lot of time and effort into running the club each year, which he does almost single-handedly, so it was great to see that the members recognised his efforts in such a big way!

We would also like to say a special thanks to Mickey Lewis and Glen Sullivan for helping organise and supervise the night, as it would have been chaos without you guys!

Sam Venn was on hand to capture the night in photo form, and we will put up another post with some of the pics of the night later on when we get the images from him, so look out for that one.

EAST SWELL!!!!

For the fist time since late May, the surfing Gods finally provided us with some solid East swell with offshore winds. All the regulars were out the Island on Tuesday morning making the most of the good conditions. Also on hand to sample some of the Island's finest were Ben and Toby Player as well as Andrew "Gherkin" Hurton from the northern beaches.

Young photographer Sam Venn braved the cold, wind and rain to capture the action before he had to head off to school. Cheers to Sam for supplying us with the following shots!

Des

Ben Player, Reverse

Luke O'Connor

Josh, ARS

Gherkin

James Mantzios

For more shots, click the Read More link below...

Cronulla Bodyboard Club Presentation Night

For those of you who were involved in the Cronulla Bodyboard Club in 2010, we have organized to have our end of year presentation night at Little Italy, Cronulla on Friday November 5th. We look to kick off the night at about 7.45pm with entry being $10 per person, plus any drinks you might want.

As most of you are aware last years presentation was a good night with plenty of prize give aways. This year is set to be no different. We have received great support in donations of prizes from the following companies: Turbo, Empire, BZ, NMD, Stealth, World Bodyboards, Unite, HB, Pride, Summerset, Dragon, Carve, Dunes, Nomad, Number 6, Limited Edition, Funkshen, Reeflex, Grand Flavour, Riptide, Le Boogie, POD, Science, Zion, Chout Films & Flipmode.

Venue- Little Italy Cronulla
Date- November 5th 2010
Time- 7.45pm
Cost- $10

Please let us know if you are coming (email or phone).

Hope you all can make it!

Please call Emerald on (02) 9527 4249 if you have any questions.

Flipmode Promo Clip

Here is a little clip that the guys over at Flipmode Clothing have put together from their recent travels... Word is they may be putting a small grom team together too, so keep an eye out as to who the young rippers are that they decide to put on the growing Flipmode team!!

Flipmode promo clip "Island Edit" from Flipmode Clothing on Vimeo.

Chout TV Episode 1

The maker of Chout DVD that premiered successfully in both Cronulla and Wollongong recently has released the first issue of Chout TV Podcasts.

This is what Rich had to say on his YouTube channel: "This is the first of many Chout TV podcasts to come out over the coming months as I start the next movie "Chout Guy!" . Chout Guy will feature Jacob Romero as I take a deeper look into his life on Maui so keep watching this space. Chout TV Eps1.0 was created to showcase some of the action in my current movie Chout and get you amped to go boogin. Chout will hit the shops in November at all good bodyboard shops so keep your eyes open. Enjoy and CHOUT!!"


Chout the DVD is now available in Emerald in Cronulla, as well as SWS in Wollongong, with many more stores getting their copies in the coming days.


Below is Chout TV Episode 1.0... Enjoy.




The coming episodes should be available on the iTunes store, as well as the new website Richie is working on as we speak. More on that when we have more info for you.

Heaps of new stock!!!

We just got a heap of new boards in today, along with the new Science boards a day or 2 ago. Come in and grab a bargain before we move!!!

Check out Des and Wendell working hard at sorting it all out....

Onshore Barrels

The other arvo, we shut the shop early on the advice from a mate that a certain wave had some barrels coming through despite the heavy onshore winds.
Below are a couple of shots of Sully out there.
I can't give any more info as to its whereabouts....

Cheers to Big Rich for the images!

Team Rider - Jared Houston

Emerald team rider Jared "Jerry" Houston has been impressing all around the world of late. Currently sitting in 6th on the World Tour (in his first year) with one event left to surf, Jerry is very close to achieving his goal of a top 5 finish.
As well as doing well on the World Tour, Jerry has been getting a lot of coverage in the bodyboarding press lately. With a 6 page spread in the current Riptide which is Jared's first international full feature, Jerry has also received a 6 page spread in the US mag Bodyboarder. Along with this, Jerry has had a double in Sixty40 mag from South Africa, of a massive invert. Also keep an eye out for the next issue of Le Boogie, as a trip he went on to South Australia will have a big feature, where he will also have some shots run. Jerry has also informed us that some shots of him at the new South African slab "Devils Horn" should be run in upcoming mags in both Australia and South Africa!
Attached is the article Bodyboarder mag featured of him, as well as the invert shot that got run in Sixty40 in case you haven't had a chance to see the mags.

We also wish Jerry GOOD LUCK in the final world tour event in the Canary Islands!!! Do us proud buddy!!!

Also, don't forget to check out Jared's personal blog on the Sixty40 mag website at

http://jaredhouston.tumblr.com/

.

Emerald's Big Move

For those of you who don't know yet, Emerald is moving!!! We are not going, far, we will still be in Cronulla, just around the corner from where we are currently. The new place is on Surf Rd, right next door to Oporto's chicken shop. We don't have an exact date as yet that we can tell you when we will be in the new shop, however I can tell you that we will be out of this shop by the 15th November at the latest. I will update this again as soon as we have a date that we can tell you!!!
Also, as we are moving, most of the gear in the shop is on sale, so we don't have to move as much stuff.... Come in in the next few weeks to grab a great deal!

Shark Island 22-9-2010

After a week of solid waves from the South, we finally got a good direction day out the Island. Thankfully it was a school day, and the crowd was pretty mellow. A bunch of the boys got out there and made the most of the super glassy conditions, and Rich Lornie was on hand to capture all of the action.

Here's a couple of his framies for you to enjoy!

Gleeso

Max Baker

Deano

Des

Josh Seage

Rosco

Richie in some trouble!

CHOUT Premier Dates!

CHOUT! the bodyboarding video by Richard Lornie will be premiering this month in Cronulla!. It features riders such as Jeff Hubbard, Jacob Romero, Jared Houston, Shaun Pyne, and all the top names in bodyboarding, along with a bunch of up-and-coming rippers, surfing in places such as Hawaii, Cronulla, South Australia, Tahiti and more.

If you haven't heard or seen anything about this vid yet, check out the teaser below.

Hope you enjoy it!!!

The Cronulla Premier will be at 2230 Bar next door to Emerald on the 23rd of September 6:30 - 8pm. Tickets on sale in Emerald from this Friday (3rd September). $10 for entry, or $20 for entry plus a copy of the DVD! THIS IS AN ALL AGES PREMIER!!!!!!!!

The Wollongong Premier will be held at the CBD Bar, in the Rydges Hotel, Wollongong, on the 1st of October from 6:30pm onwards. (there may be 2 showings depending on demand on the night!) This showing will be all ages, however anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

We really hope to see you all at one or both of the premiers, as this vid is an absolute cracker, and good times will be had by all attending!

For any more info on the vid and its stars and locations, check out the Facebook page HERE where there are heaps of screen grabs from the vid itself! 

Emerald Relocation Sale!!

Check out our online store, for some massive savings storewide, as we need to clear out our stock, so we can move stores! Everything in the shop is reduced! So check out www.emeraldsurfcity.com or come in store and grab a bargain! HURRY, before stock runs out!!!

Team Rider - Shaun Petersen

Shaun has been tearing it up lately, taking out his frustration of missing out on the Shark Island Contest by one place on every wave that gets in his way! Check out his new vid to see what hes been up to in the water.

Untitled from Shaun Petersen on Vimeo.

Team Rider - Josh Kaihe

We recently received some shots of our young team rider Josh Kaihe, doing what he does best out the Island. It was a solid, straight swell hitting the island, with the odd bomb coming through, and a very sparse crowd that was game enough to have a go. Josh was out there, as usual, and managed to pick off a few sick ones. Here's a couple of them, courtesy of photog Matty Harber.

 

Official Chout Teaser

Emerald Scoop!!! Below is the official teaser for the new bodyboarding vid titled CHOUT! by Lornedog Films. The teaser is sick!! Some big heavy barrels, and even bigger heavier moves! Check it out, feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think and we'll pass it on to Lornedog...

Morning Of Mountains And Men

Check out Fluidzone's feature today on why we were late opening on Friday the 13th August. There were some very big waves around that morning, and instead of heading for a sheltered location, we went straight to a rarely surfed big wave location to try our luck in the big juice! Check the link below to go straight to the action!
Morning Of Mountains And Men

2010 Shark Island Comp Finally Runs!

That's right! After 2 months (to the day!) of waiting, a clean pumping swell with offshore winds was delivered! It was a beautiful Saturday the 14th of August that greeted the competitors of the Fluidzone Shark Island Challenge yesterday morning. With light offshore winds, a blue sky, and clean pumping 4-5ft of SSE swell, the event was called ON.
First heat saw a showdown between three of the most outstanding locals, John Showell, Andrew Lester, and Adam "Wingnut" Smith, and WA star Ryan Hardy. Hardy took out the heat, and Lester got through in second place.
The second heat was Damian King, Jase Finlay, Jones Russell (In place of Jared Houston) and Dave Winchester. Winny won a very close heat, with Kingy making it through the heat on a countback, just managing to overcome a charging Jones Russell, who was in the event due to Jared Houston having to head home to South Africa 3 days earlier to sort out visa's for his upcoming World Tour assault in Europe.
The third heat saw Nick Ormerod (replacing Michael Novy due to injury), Sam Strachan, Shaun Pyne and Brendon Newton fighting it out. Once again this was a very close heat, with local hellman Shaun Pyne winning, and Nick Ormerod just edging out local up and coming star Sam Strachan by 0.2!
The fourth and final heat saw Emerald's Glen Sullivan take on 2 x World Champ Ben Player, Dallas Singer (in place of Thomas Robinson) and Dan Worsely from South Africa. Dan flew out of the blocks with a big score early in the heat, but couldn't find a second score to back it up. Dallas and Ben Player progressed through to the semi finals.
The first semi was again an amazing prospect, with Andrew Lester, Ryan Hardy, Damian King and Dave Winchester. These guys are arguably 4 of the best riders in the world! It was a hard fought exchanged between these guys, with the lead changing multiple times during the heat. The judges were faced with a tough job to separate the scores, with Hardy and Kingy proceeding to the final, narrowly defeating Lester and Winny.
The second semi saw local hope Shaun Pyne take on Nick Ormerod, Ben Player and Dallas Singer. Pyneo managed to keep the local's hopes alive coming through the semi in second place behind Ben Player.
This left a final for the ages, with 4 world titles shared between Kingy and Benny, as well as Hardy being arguably the best and most stylish rider of his generation, and local self confessed hellman Shaun Pyne. The waves unfortunately slowed down a bit for the final, but there were still plenty of contestable waves and air bowls to be had. Hardy was performing several moves on each waves, along with getting deep heavy barrels. He had one wave where he did a flip out of the Peak barrel, straight into a forward spin, backdooring Surge, and finishing with a large invert. This would have been the move of the contest, but Benny had other ideas. He quickly followed this up with a massive ramp, where he launched a massive air forward, which gave him perfect 10's and the move of the comp. He unfortunately couldn't find a big enough second score to give him the title. Kingy and Pyneo were simply out-surfed in the final by Hardy and Ben, with Hardy taking out the 2010 Fluidzone Shark Island Challenge.
Dave Ballard was awarded the best barrel, and also winner of the locals expression session, which also included Christian "Rissole" Riguccini, Tristan Barfield, Mark Fordham, and Des Govender. This was held between the second semi final and the final, and saw some great riding by the locals, who showed how the Island should be ridden.
A big thanks goes out to Contest Director Alex Leon, and everyone else who made this comp possible! Cheers guys!

Below are a couple of framegrabs from our filmer Rich Lornie, who was in the water for the entire event. You will be able to see the footage of the Island event on his upcoming DVD titled Chout!. Check Out his teaser below as well.

Jones Russell

Dallas Singer

Nick Ormerod

Dan Worsely

Ben Player

Dallas Singer

Damian King

Ben Player

Dave Winchester

Shaun Pyne

Ben Player

Dave Winchester

Ben Player's Perfect 10 Air Forward