SIC 2011 Phantom Preview

Here is a short clip, filmed by Chris Bryan, edited by Todd Barnes, using the amazing Phantom Camera, which shoots an amazingly high number of frames per second which makes for some incredibly smooth and clear slo-mo's. Check out this clip of things to come!

SIC 2011 - Phantom Preview from IBA on Vimeo.

Flat Spell Reminiscing

The last few months on the East Coast have been nothing short of amazing. From late April until mid June, the swell has been constant, and winds have been favorable. That is until the last week and a half. Those people who were initially saying that it was good to have a break from all the early morning starts are now wishing they never had those thoughts, with very small to no swell on the offshore days, and plenty of onshore winds, it has been a miserable week and a half if you're a bodyboarder! There looks to be a few small waves on the way, just in time to keep the school holiday kids amused, but until then, Jeremy Wirth has provided us with a few reminders of just how pumping the Island was on the day of the Brett Young Memorial Trials. Cheers Noodles!

Early Morning Empty

Benny Sawyer pics off an early one

Jase Finlay on a round one

Jimmy Williams patented late scoop on Surge

Jase Finlay on one of the larger sets of the day

Nick Ormerod on a cracker

Charles Ward sampling some Island flavour

Azza G out of the barrel, straight into a big carve

Shark Island Challenge Highlights Clip

For those who haven't seen it yet, here is a sick clip that Todd Barnes of the IBA has put together, full of all the highlights from this year's Bodyboardbet Shark Island Challenge!

Shark Island Challenge 2011 - Highlights from IBA on Vimeo.

Island Comp Water Shots

Sorry for the delay in getting these shots to you, but here are some shots from the water of this year's Shark Island Challenge, taken by our young friend Sam Venn! Enjoy.

Sam Strachan

The crowd of groms in the channel enjoying the action

Ben Player

Wingnut

Ben Player

Island Challenge Photos

Here are a few photos of the action that went down in the water on Friday, at the 2011 Bodyboardbet Shark Island Challenge.

All photos courtesy of Matt Viesis and Jeremy Wirth. Thanks boys!

Nick Ormerod

 Ben Hall

Shaun Pyne

Joe Clarke

2011 Shark Island Challenge Wrap Up

Here is a quick wrap-up of the day's proceedings at this year's Shark Island Challenge, courtesy of Doc at Fluidzone. Be sure to check their site for all things bodyboarding!!

Australia's Dave Winchester (Mullumbimby/North Coast NSW) today won the Shark Island Challenge in near perfect powerful 2m surf at the notorious Shark Island reef off the point of Cronulla.
This prestigious specialty event sanctioned by the International Bodyboard Association (IBA) only runs when Shark Island produces great waves and today's international field enjoyed idyllic conditions as the 2m swell barrelled across the shallow outer reef.
Winchester started the final slowly and was virtually scoreless ten minutes into the 40 minute final allowing local Cronulla rider Andrew Lester to build up a solid lead but his patience paid off when he found the biggest and best wave of the final, negotiated a long barrelling section by foamballing his way through the tube scoring a strong 7.8.
Shortly after Winchester found another excellent barrel ride and opened up a huge lead when he scored an excellent 8.03 and his fellow competitors were unable challenge him with Winchester winning the final on a scoreline across his top two rides of 15.83 to Lester on 13.5 with Hawaii's Mike Stewart in 3rd place and Nth Sydney rider Ben Player in 4th.
"It's the biggest win of my career for sure" said an elated Winchester after the final.
"This event has a lot of history and to be added to the winners list is special."
"The waves were exceptional, perfect barrels and the final had a lot to do with picking off the best waves and scoring the deepest barrel rides - I waited for those waves and it was a winning strategy for sure."
For popular local rider Andrew Lester it was his second 2nd placed finish in this event as a win continues to elude him.
Hawaiian Mike Stewart never found the right waves in the final but the nine time Bodyboard World Champion enjoyed his day none-the-less.
"It's a great Bodyboard wave out here - seriously intense and ideal for the best riders to compete in" said Stewart.
"I didn't have a great final but I scored plenty of great waves through the quarters and semi's and it's been a really good day."
Stewart was awarded the best barrel ride of the day for a 9 point ride he scored on his final ride in the semi finals which saw him jump from 4th place to 2nd and got him into the final.
Nth Sydney rider Ben Player (Avalon) also had a disappointing final placing 4th after dominating his quarter and semi finals and was awarded the best aerial move of the event which he pulled in his semi final win.
Final Placings -
1st Dave Winchester (AUS/Mullumbimby)
2nd Andrew Lester (AUS/Cronulla)
3rd Mike Stewart (Hawaii)
4th Ben Player (AUS/Avalon)

Azza's Daily Frame

The good guys at Fluidzone have once again chosen one of our Emerald team riders for their Daily Frame! This time it's Aaron "Azza" Glossop, just chillin' in the pit on the knee at Shark Island! Make sure you check out fluidzone.com for your fill of all things bodyboarding!!!

New In-Store Promo Dates!

As promised, the 2011 Shark Island Challenge in-store signing that was scheduled to be held at Emerald earlier this month has been re-scheduled for this Thursday the 16th of June. All the guys who are in the event will be here to sign your gear and answer your questions, from 6:30pm til 7:30pm.

New Emerald video add

Emerald Surf City Cronulla (Bodyboarding Specialists) from Chout Films on Vimeo.

Mark McCarthy's Fluidzone Interview

Mark McCarthy has been storming the world tour in 2011. Another saffa grabbing big waves by the balls, Mac has taken the time to share some words and fill us in on what's happening in the world of "Our boetie"

Interview by Doc, Photos courtesy Spex.

FZ: You and fellow Saffa Jared Houston are cranking on the world tour at the moment. South African riders have a big history of going hard in the big waves. Why do you think you and your countrymen have this ability?

MM: I just think that the level of the top bodyboarders is really high and to keep up to the pace of it all you have to push yourself to your full ability. It seems to be working for Jared and myself... But it's nice to know that we patrial the history of going hard in big waves.

FZ: We've got a lot of young new crew to BB here in Oz. can you give us a quick rundown on your comp and riding history to bring them up to speed on how damn experienced you are bru, including finishing in the top 10 of the IBA world tour the last five years in a row.

MM: Thanks Doc for the kind words, It all started in Hawaii at the end of 2006 when I when over for my first season. Prior to going over I had not been bodyboarding much for 2 years as my main focus was location assisting in the film industry. I went over to Maui and entered my first event which was the Ledgers Pro and ended up getting 2nd to Mike Stewart in the Final. That pretty much kicks off a spark in my drive to become a Pro bodyboarder. I then entered the Shark Island trials and make it to the main event where I got 2nd to Ben Player. I got a 10 and 9.5 in that final but Ben was on fire in that final and got a 10 and 9.8. That year I finished 4th on the tour that year. I won my first event the next year at the Ferrol Pro in Spain and have been addicted to

Shots, Shots and more Shots!!!

Yes that's right, here are some more shots that have surfaced from last weekend. These are mostly from the Friday, and a couple from Sunday.

All shots Sam Venn (water) and Matt Viesis (land). Cheers boys!

(Don't forget to click the "Read more" link to see all of the shots!)

Friday -

Early Morning Empty

Jimmy Williams

Jase Finlay

Charles Ward

A Few More Shots

As promised, here are a few more shots form last weekend's epic swell out the Island.

Thanks to Elliott Gooding and Matt Harber for the shots!

Jack Baker - Elliott Gooding photo

Ewan Donachie - Elliott Gooding photo

Shaun Pyne - Elliott Gooding photo

Shark Island Challenge Heat Draw

Last night saw the official launch party for the 2011 Shark Island Challenege and the Heat Draw at Rydges Hotel Cronulla. There was quite a large turnout, and a great night was had by all, with bodyboarding vids playing throughout the bar all night and the premiere of Mitch Rawlins' movie Hiding From Comfort. Below is a picture of the heat draw - looks like an epic comp!!!

Island Pumps AGAIN!!!

The last few days have seen the best swell of the year so far hit the Island. Just in time for the Shark Island Trials at Cronulla Point, which got some good conditions (see below article) the swell lit up the Island for those who were keen to have a dig. It was very heavy direction on the Friday, with a bit of north in the swell and pushing 6-8ft on the sets, which made for some crazy barrels and hectic wipeouts. Then on Saturday we woke to a swell that had pulsed overnight, and was now hitting the Island in the 8-10ft range with the occasional bigger one. The swell direction and size, combined with a pretty small high tide meant that again, there were some super crazy wipeouts, and some nuts barrels for anyone game enough to try and tame a bomb. There were plenty of big names in the lineup, with a large contingent of locals - John & Doug Showell, Andrew Lester, Ringa, Ben Williams, Ben Hall, Kane Cox, Shaun Pyne, Sam Strachan - and guys from all round the country - Ben & Toby Player, Nick Ormerod, Joe Clarke, Dan Worsely, Damien Martin, Winston McCall just to name a few. Everyone had a dig, and surprisingly no-one got seriously injured! Then just to back that up, Sunday had a few 4-6ft leftovers, again, very scetchy direction and tide combo, but still good!
Here are a few frame grabs from filmer Rich Lornie who was on hand on Saturday and Sunday, some of this footage will definitely be on his upcoming vid Chout The World. Stay tuned for more pics as they filter in!

Saturday-

Ben Hall

Brad Gilles

Jon Capilli

Ross Shepherd

2011 Brett Young Memorial Trials wrap Up

The 2011 BodyboardBet Shark Island Challenge, 2nd June - 25th July. An IBA specialty event presented by RYDGES and supported by Emerald, Riptide , Paramount Concrete and Uptown Group.

The 2011 Brett Young Memorial Trials Completed
Consistent with the forecast, competitors today were blessed with 4 - 6 feet waves and offshore winds at Cronulla Point for the Brett Young Memorial Trials. Up for grabs were 4 highly sort after places in the 2011 Bodyboardbet Shark Island Challenge and the honour of being crowned the winner of the highly regarded Brett Young Memorial Trials event. The level of bodyboarding was world class with barrels, flips and rolls featuring from the first heat of the day all the way to the final.

The event winner and standout performer of the day was Joe Clarke (QLD). Joe surfed with confidence all day and never looked at risk in any of his heats today. Joe was absolutely stoked with his win and confirmation of an entry into his first Shark Island Challenge. Joe went on to say "I had a taste of some sick barrels this morning at Shark Island and used this as my motivation to secure my spot in the main event. I am stoked and excited to get some big barrels in this amazing event."

The 3 remaining finalists and qualifiers through to the main event were 2nd place Damien Martin (NSW), 3rd place Nick Ormerod (QLD) and Chase O'Leary (NSW). Damien Martin was the surprise packet of the event as he has historically focused on his free surfing, though today he looked at home in the competitive arena and thoroughly deserved his 2nd place finish with high quality all round
polished surfing. Nick O has competed in the Shark Island Challenge no less than 5 times in the past and based on his form today will be a threat again in 2011. Chase O'Leary continued his stellar comp form in 2011 with another solid result and will be entering his first Shark Island Challenge.

Other standouts today who were unlucky not to progress to the final were Jason Finlay (NSW) and Dan Worsley (South Africa). Both riders looked on track to progress with impressive surfing in their heats though just couldn't find the waves when it counted in the qualifying finals.
The waves for Saturday 4th June are looking great for the Shark Island and whilst the main event will not run, www.ibaworldtour.com will be running a webcast of the free surfing session from 8am local time.

The official 2011 Bodyboardbet Shark Island Challenge launch night will be held on Sunday 5th June at 6:00pm at Rydges Hotel in Cronulla. The heat draw will be webcast on www.ibaworldtour.com/live at 7pm. This is where the heat draw will be taking place, with the majority of the 20 competitors in attendance along with the announcement of the live betting odds through www.bodyboardbet.com Mitch Rawlins will be in attendance and this will be the venue for the NSW premier of his Hiding From Comfort Movie. We will also be showing the DVD of the historical 2001 Shark Island Challenge.
All event information will be on www.ibaworldtour.com or follow updates at www.facebook.com/ibaworldtour

Sixty40 Mag Issue 13

The latest Sixty40 mag from South Africa has hit the net (it's now an online mag only) and Emerald's South African team riders have a very large presence in it! With Mark McCarthy on the cover with a bomb sequence he scored out the Island during his quick stay here, Wattsy killing it at Pipe, and Jerry with some shots in the Canaries.
Below are a few quick shots from the mag, make sure you go to http://www.sixty40.co.za/magazine/thirteen
and check out the whole issue, as there's some pretty sick stuff in there!