In-Store Promo Changed

The in-store signing for the 2011 SIC that was scheduled in Emerald this Sunday has been postponed due to the unavailablity of a bunch of the riders. Sorry to get your hopes up but it should happen, we will let you know as soon as we have a new date!

Arica Chilean Challenge Decided!

Tamega celebrates his win at the 2011 Arica Chilean Challenge

South American powerhouse, Guilherme Tamega (BRA, Copacabana) has defeated  Dave Winchester (AUS, NSW, Mullumbimby) 16.00 pints VS 13.00 points, to take out stop No. 3 on the 2011 IBA World Grand Slam Series (GSS), the Arica Chilean Challenge.

The win, accompanied by 2000 GSS points was no easy feat. In building 3-4 meter swell, Tamega gained momentum on his fellow competitors, navigating through monstrous barrels and launching huge rolls over the notorious El Gringo reef, covered only by inches of water. 

Tamega on his way to a big win!

After being carried onto the podium by his fellow countrymen, Tamega covered up the tears as he thanked his family and friends for their support, contributing to this memorable win. "This is like a dream come true. I really needed this win to get my motivation going and show me that 2011 is not over," said Tamega.

With a half a dozen World Titles and runner-up finishes alike, Tamega will be a strong contender for the 2011 World Title.

Dave Winchester driving towards 2nd place

Winchester was the man to beat, until reaching the final where he was unable to find the waves he needed. Winchester commented: "Every heat I was getting a bit more

2011 Shark Island Comp In-Store Promo

Yes it's that time of the year again, where all your favourite riders from Australia and around the world converge on Cronulla for to compete for the coveted Shark Island Challenge crown.

We will be having an in-store signing in Emerald on Sunday 5th June from 4:30pm until 6pm. At this point we are expecting all of the riders involved in the contest to be present, so come on down and grab an autograph from your fave rider or ask him a question you've been dyeing to ask! We hope to see you all here on Sunday arvo!!!

Phil's Daily Frame

Friend of Emerald, and local hellman, Phil Ruell has scored today's Fluidzone Daily Frame. Phil loves sitting super deep in dark heavy holes such as this one. You can find him out the Island and various other local breaks whenever its big and heavy!!!

Dessie's Daily Frame

Yesterday (Friday 27th May) the good guys at Fluidzone ran this shot of Emerald owner Dessie doing his thing out the Island as their Daily Frame. Cheers Doc!

The guys also ran a little article of the sequence of the same wave, so you can check out the full sequence at http://www.fluidzone.com/galleries/1641-emerald-isle

WBA Event One 2011 - Cronulla Beach

Below is a wrap-up of the first WBA event of the year at Cronulla on Sunday 22nd May. Words by Lilly Pollard.

Fun times and fresh faces to the first event of 2011...

7am, Elouera Beach. A nice little crew of girls arrived bright and early to a beautiful sunny morning, light offshore winds, and 1ft peeling rights. Yeah, it was small, but it was still fun!

“Lilly the Lagger” as I not so proudly tend to call myself, turned up a little late with newcomers to the club, Loren Collyer and Kate McAdam, not far behind.

Stoked to see a few new faces showing up, and everyone looking happy and keen to surf!

Wasn’t too long before we were set up on the beach, kicking the football around while some filled out registration forms. Yes Laura’s last name is that tricky she even spelt her own name wrong as she filled out her form. I was quick to point this out to her… Um, isn’t there a “J” in there somewhere? Ha…

Rani, Kerry and Julia were lagging even worse, almost an hour late, but to their credit, they were the only ones dressed up to the theme, “Hen’s night!” Um, not sure why I picked that theme, because it’s kind of stupid, and too general, considering that “Hen’s nights” usually have a theme themselves ha. Anyway, their outfits were cool. Julia came in fluoro tights and running gear, claiming she chose that outfit because last hen’s night she went on they did a 10km run… Ok then… And, by the way, I forgot to take photos of their outfits, but they looked good. ha. Moving on….

Everyone got ready and we ran through the rules of competing for the newcomers and “A” division then headed out.

The WBA “A” division is basically for the girls who are just learning and developing their bodyboarding, and we encourage them to catch the bigger waves, longer rides, and any attempts at moves are rewarded

Jared Houston Fluidzone Interview

Below is an interview between Doc from fluidzone.com and Jared Houston while Jerry is in Chile for the GSS Arica Challenge event. Make sure you check out the live webcast at ibaworldtour.com/live to watch the action at arguably the best event on the tour!!

Jared Houston is impressing everyone with his hard-core, gutsy surfing and his high-flying aerial skills. Jerry took time out from his Arica preparations to fill us in on where things are at.
Interview by Doc & Photos by fellow South African - Spex

FZ: Hey Jerry, You're in Arica at the moment, how is the vibe over there?

JH: Hey Doc! Yeah man been here for over a week now, heading on for two and it's been cool. The pace of life here is incredibly slow once your done surfing for the day at twelve when it goes onshore you pretty much just hang at your hotel until bedtime. My girl arrived today so all smiles.

You and fellow Saffa Mark McCarthy have been killing it this year, both currently holding 3rd and 4th on the world tour. How is it having a saffa mate to hang with on the tour?

JH: Yeah we're actually equal 3rd. Travelling with Mark is by far a highlight of the tour for me. He is a bit older and although he hates it he is kinda like a big brother to me and helps me out so much! He pushes me heaps and there is no bad competitve blood between us which is epic!

You're both supported by Emerald Surf City in Cronulla. Dessie spotted your talent early in the piece, spotting you before anyone else realised your potential. How much support has Emerald given you along the way?

JH: Ah man, lets just say Emerald surf city has had my back since day one, he actually originally thought I was a blatant kook but for some reason took me in anyway. No australian trip I do to this day would be possible without Dessie's support and Im so grateful to them, Emerald has been paramount in my success. In other words, literally impossible without them.

Arica is a pretty mean wave. You're known for pulling some pretty tech moves over dry reef. Is El Gringo a wave that makes even an air maniac like you think twice?

Mysto Missions

On Wednesday with the predicted south swell looking good for a couple of well known breaks down south, Rich Lornie teamed up with Shaun Pyne and Alex Leon to head down and see what they could find. Upon ariival at their chosen spot, they found that just about everyone else had the same idea where to surf, so instead of battling the crowds, they chose to surf a lesser known spot that they had heard might be firing. Check these framies from Lornie to see just how hard they scored, with only 5-6 guys in the water!!!

Alex Leon

Damien Martin

Shaun Pyne

Wednesday Waves

The much anticipated long period south groundswell that had been predicted all week hit the East Coast on Wednesday. The crowds who had managed to wrangle a day off work/school headed on mass to any of their local south swell magnets. The light offshore winds meant that the swell was perfectly groomed, and waiting to unload itself onto any unsuspecting rock ledge in its way. While Shark Island is reasonably protected from a south swell, the long period of the swell meant that it wrapped around Bundeena headland and into the bay quite nicely. Sam Venn was on hand to capture the action before he headed off to school, but with 50-60 guys in the water, there was plenty for him to shoot. Below are a few of his shots for you to enjoy.

Azza Glossop deep on the knee

Kane Baker flying high

Wazza extending his time in Surge

Rosco sneaking into a bomb before opening Emerald

Shark Island Challenge Trials Entry Forms

The 2011 Brett Young Memorial Shark Island Trials - The Gate Way To The 2011 Shark Island Challenge.
The Deal: All competitors are to download and complete the attached entry and medical form. (Note: 64 Man Field; i.e. first 64 entries received).

Please Note: All competitors must sign entry form and applicants U/18 years of age must have entry form signed by Parent/Guardian. Any unsigned applications and/or applications without money or medical forms will not be accepted...

Entry Fee: All trials participants must pay $150 AUD to enter – confirmation of entry via email / contact number

Closing Date: Last entries 30th May 5pm - Beach Entries available only in first round if a paid competitor fails to turn up.

Information
Date: 2nd -5th June, (best swell day)
Time: 8am Start
Venue: Cronulla Point, Cronulla (event to moved to best location in Cronulla region)
Check-in: 6:30 am Cronulla Point or otherwise re-directed.

SIC 2011 promo clip

Untitled from Fluidzone on Vimeo.

This short clip put together by SIC Contest Director Alex Leon in conjunction with the IBA shows just how beautiful and brutal the Island can truly be. This is the reason why the title of Shark Island Challenge Champion is coveted world wide. For your chance to win your way into the main event, be sure to hit http://www.riptidemag.com.au/images/stories/downloads/2011SIC_trial_entry_form.pdf and get your forms in quick smart!!!

Chout The World Sneak Peak

Check out the short teaser that Lornie has released for his upcoming vid Chout the World. It is the second film for Rich Lornie, and looks to be an impressive follow up to his successful debut release CHOUT!

Chout! The World (Sneak Peak) from Chout Films on Vimeo.

Swell Times

The incredible month of May has been producing the goods once again this year, with good waves almost every day since late April, there have been a lot of smiling faces, and tired sore bodies in the lineups around the state. The last few days have been no exception in the Cronulla area, with fun waves at several of the local breaks, which helps to spread the crows and keep happiness to a maximum. Good friend of Emerald, Big Rich has sent through a few shots of yesterday arvo and this morning. Check out these sweet juicy images!! Don't forget to check out more of his work at Robsonsvids on Flickr
Enjoy

Golden Arvo Glow

Azza Glossop

Rich Lornie

Jye Zappacosta

Shaun Pyne

Sam Strachan

Luke O'Connor

New rubber a must

The weather has been cooling down very rapidly, and the water temperature is sure to head south very soon too. We now have a full range of Reeflex, Dunes and a bunch of Attica suits in store, with the new Zions due to land in the next week or two as well. There have been some massive improvements to the quality of most of the suits this year, so make sure you're toasty in the water this winter, with a top quality bodyboarding wetsuit!!! We currently have well over 100 winter suits in store, so there's sure to be one for you!

Jerry's Chile Warm Up

"Mark Mccarthy and I have been in Arica, Chile for almost a whole week now, getting some practice in for the up coming event starting the 20th. I decided not to do Peru, because I felt that last year I was ill prepared for this event, especially in regards to picking the good lefts which offer the highest scoring potential!
I was invited(along with mccarthy) to go in the local contest held at el Gringo this weekend and I jumped at the oppurtunity to practice under contest conditions. The locals really surprised me from the Semi Finals onwards and some of the guys I really hope qaulify for ACC 2011 include Alan Mu`noz and another alan but im not sure of his surname!The guys rip! I ended up winning the event and got a sweet trophy so im pretty stoked, Alan and I were pretty tight in the final so I was stoked to come out on top! Cheers for having me!
Tommorow looks like the arrival of some swell so im itching to get some good waves and some more valuable practice!Well done to Sam Bennet and all the other competitors at the Peru comp, great job!"

The words of Jared Houston, on his preparations for the upcoming IBA Grand Slam event at Arica, Chile.

Jared Houston gets The Daily Frame

Jerry managed to get himself a few decent waves on his brief visit to the east coast after the IBA Box comp, and managed to bust this invert that the boys at Fluidzone.com thought was worthy of their website's Daily Frame! Check it out, and check out their awesome site, for all things bodyboarding.

The run of swell continues...

The last couple of weeks have seen a very fun run of swell in and around Cronulla. The weekend was no exception, and the forecast for the next week also looks quite promising! Saturday morning saw some very good direction, groomed swell out the island, with Surge absolutely on fire, and a few good ones from the peak as well. Although he arrived a bit late, Rich Lornie managed to catch a bunch of the action for us. Here are a few frame grabs from the Lorndog! Enjoy...

Ben Hall

Dave Ballard

Kane Cox

Rissole

Jared Houston Le BOOGIE Interview

Earlier this week Jerry caught up with Le BOOGIE's Nick Perry for a quick interview while on his way to the airport... Check it out!


Jared Houston talks to Le BOOGIE Magazine from le BOOGIE on Vimeo.

Venn's View

Monday and Tuesday morning were predicted to be the perfect size and direction swell and wind combination for Cronulla's infamous Shark Island to roar back into action. As it turned out, there was a bit too much north in the swell for the Island to be amazing. There were still plenty of punters ready to have a dig and run the gauntlet that is Shark Island.
Bundeena's Sam Venn was in the channel documenting all the action that went down before he had to scoot off to school. Sam is a budding young photographer, who seems to be improving at his chosen craft swiftly. Look out for some more images coming from Mr Venn's lens soon.
Thanks to Sam for providing us with these shots, a mixture from Monday and Tuesday.

Jack Baker

Ryan Hutt

Rosco

Glen Sullivan

Island Fun

The last week has seen fun swell out Shark Island, most mornings and afternoons have had rideable waves. The swell has been up and down in size and yesterday morning provided some very east almost nor-east waves out there, for those who were keen to try their hand at pulling in.
Here are a few frame grabs from Chout Films' Richard Lornie, who was on hand to document all the action.

Andrew Lester

Shaun Pyne

Jared Houston

 Keep an eye out for an upcoming new teaser for Rich's new vid Chout The World, the much anticipated sequel to his successful first DVD Chout.