Hey Lex, time for a catch up?

Ahh, where do I start!  It has been a busy season even though its winter..

Been on any trips?

Yeah!  I went to France in September and South Africa in November.  France was amazing as always; however the surf was rubbish, I think I got maybe 5 days of average to poor surf out of the two weeks!  I went wakeboarding at TNG cable near Toulouse though which was fun.  I had never been to SA before so it was a great experience.  I travelled from Durban to Cape Town, then up the Garden Route to Jeffreys Bay where I got to go round the Billabong Head Office.  I managed to surf there but it was only waist high, so fun but not proper J-Bay.  I did do the best backside turn of my life there though! Ha!

Have you been in the freezing waters here?

Of course!  I’ve been riding a little, its pretty cold now though, there was ice on the edges of the lake last Saturday!  It’s all good until you fall in, then its time to hit the showers!  The aim of the game is to stay dry.

You have been doing some WakeGirlsGo… stuff??

It’s just girly fun.  I thought that because wakeboarding in the UK slows down so much in the winter, why not get the wake girls together and see if we can keep our fitness up in other ways – and having copious amounts of fun while doing it of course!  In October we went down to Croyde for a surfing weekend.  It turned out to be more than we could ever ask for!  We stayed in a beautiful cottage all weekend, had surf lessons, cream teas, nights out at the Thatch, Nalu Bead workshops, Desperados and Photographer Rob Tibbles there to capture it all!  And to top it off, the sun stayed out and the waves cleaned up.  In November the same group of girls headed to Bedford to have a weekend at the Flow House.  Again, so much fun and they were amazing for accommodating us.  We started with riding at WakeMK then headed over for an evening flowrider session, followed by a night out in Bedford.  We spent more time on the flowrider the next day, I think my body took a week to recover!

I hear you were at the Boat Show last week?

Yeah it was girls day there on Friday.  There were two talks by Sarah from Wide-A-Wake and also a Girls Demo in the action pool which I got to ride in; it was pretty nerve racking as there were only four of us – two World Champions, a National Champion and me!  It was good to see the girls get some time to show off their skiiiiiiils.

Sounds like you’ve been busy! Anything else?

As always  I’ve also been working with a Personal Trainer this winter.  Sharm from Kurup Fit has been pushing me off the water taking me through circuits, which are based around strengthening exercises, muscle building and some intense fitness routines.  We have also been looking at my diet to get more out of what I fuel myself with.  I’ve never had PT before, it’s hard but I’m loving it.

Do you have any trips planned?

You know it! Haha! I am heading to Euro-land in the spring to go surfing for a couple of weeks.  I’m pretty excited about my summer trip though, I’m heading to Alaska to go fishing, hiking, horse riding and hopefully finding a little bit of surfing up there too if I’m lucky.

You are one busy girl!

Ha yeah, but I love it.

It was good to catch up, I’m sure we’ll be hearing from you after your surf trip!

Definitely, I’ll be sure to send you some pics.

Lex · Surfing · Wakeboarding

Billabong once again brings us a world class surf event in the form of The Mundaka Challenge to be held in the Basque Country in Spain. The comp has a pretty unique format, with a two month waiting period, officials and surfers will wait for perfect conditions of six to eight feet before going ahead with the one day, invitation only event.

The Challenge brings in some big names of both new school and old school surfing circles. Surfing stars and legends Bruce Irons, Shane Dorian, Dane Reynolds, Mark “Occy” Occhilupo and Rob Machado to name but a few, will be eager to get barrelled at this famous spot in Spain that is known to be one of the best breaks in the world when conditions are right, hence the long waiting period.

Alongside the big names from across the Atlantic, there is set to be plenty of young, local knowledgeable talent on show and the competition will surely be fierce but it is barrel specialist Occy who is tipped to win by fellow competitor Rob Machado, not least because he won the Mundaka Billabong Pro in 1999 on his way to the world title and has a special affinity with the wave. He has a strong case as the competition is judged solely on the best two tube rides of the day. There’s a nice prize fund too, the winner will receive €15,000 in prize money!

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For more information, click here http://www.billabongpro.com/mundaka12/event/the-2012-billabong-mundaka-challenge where you can find links to live webcasts.

Billabong · Surfing

The Billabong Pipeline Masters kicked off yesterday 8^th December, with the first day of the twelve day waiting period bringing the biggest waves the Pipeline Masters event has ever seen and it was native Hawaiian John John Florence that impressed the most.

The last stop on the ASP World Tour for this season and the 3rd and final stop of the Vans Triple Crown competition, the Billabong Pipe Masters which is in memory of Andy Irons, sees eighteen year old Florence leading the Vans stakes and continuing to impress in professional competition – this year being his first time in the elite 34.

Last years victor at Pipeline Jeremy Flores (FRA), will not be competing in the final tour stop because of injury. The same also applies to Australian Mick Fanning. They have been replaced by C.J. Hobgood (USA), 32, and Adam Melling (AUS), 26.

An iconic and historic wave, the Banzai Pipeline is often referred to as the best wave on the planet. Known for its perfect, heaving top-to-bottom barrels and its close proximity to shore, not only is it the perfect wave for those willing to charge, but also for the spectators on the beach. Yesterday was big. The spectators almost got washed off the beach at one point and there were many near reef wrenching wipe-outs. If yesterday was anything to go by, the rest of the competition is going to be a great spectacle!

Definitely worth watching the live webcast here:  http://vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com/billabongpipemasters2011/live-gb/

ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (Heading into Billabong Pipe Masters):
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 63,350 pts
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 48,600 pts
3. Owen Wright (AUS) 47,900 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 43,700 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 42,200 pts

VANS TRIPLE CROWN TOP 3 (Heading into Billabong Pipe Masters):
1. John John Florence (HAW) 9,780 pts
2. Adam Melling (AUS) 9,650 pts
3. Michel Bourez (PYF) 8,480 pts

Billabong · Surfing

At just 20 years old, French-lady Justine Dupont has claimed her first ASP Europe Open title after a strong performance at the ASP 6-Star Billabong Girls Azores Islands Pro event.

Handy on a longboard as well as a surf board, Justine has performed consistently well through the season to cement herself amongst the world’s best female surfers. She is likely to be competing in all major female surf comps across the globe with sponsors Billabong and Nixon, her coach and family right behind her. She is definitely one to watch in the future…

Billabong · Surfing

Wow! The Billabong Pro has been decided and if we said that there was only ever going to be one winner of this epic stage of the ASP World Tour stop, who would it be? Well, Mr. Kelly Slater of course!

Still the best surfer in the world at thirty-nine, Slater stormed (literally) to a 47^th career victory and back up to top spot in the world rankings yesterday, after the Billabong Pro Tahiti stage which stretched over ten days and was filled with action and drama from day one on the South Pacific, came to a fitting dramatic end.

The Tahiti stage of the ASP World Tour is always one of the best, being that it is one of the best waves in the world but never has it been as big and as dramatic as this! To start things off, event organisers came in for some criticism when it was revealed that Bruce Irons would not be given a free ‘ticket’ to compete in the event. His brother, the late Andy Irons, won here last year and was one of the most prolific surfers in history on this wave. The decision not to include him was later revoked and Bruce had a paddle out with fellow friends and colleagues in between the semi-finals and finals of the event in honour of his brother.

As for conditions, where do we start? On Saturday 27^th August the French Government issued a ‘Code Red’ alert for the area which meant that no water patrol boats were legally aloud to operate. This was due to record breaking 6-10 metre swell! Fair enough. It didn’t stop the big wave riders though – a free tow-in session then took place, not part of the competition itself but a showcase of the world’s elite and it was quite incredible to watch on the live web cast, nothing has ever been captured live like that before. It takes some guts to tackle the force of Mother Nature like they did and we were rewarded with some awesome footage. Check out the videos below.

Back to the competition, some of the bigger names on the Tour such as Billabong surfers Joel Parkinson, Taj Burrows and Nike 6.0 athlete Michel Bourez, fell short of the points relatively early in the competition and it was left to the South Africans Jordy Smith and Travis Logie plus Aussies Josh Kerr and Owen Wright to battle it out between them, not forgetting Jeremy Flores, the Frenchman who scored a perfect 20 in his heat on Sunday. Flores, 23, won the first Andy Irons Award which is awarded for the most committed performance of the event. There were plenty of those. Travis Logie suffered some nasty injuries, no falls are small in those conditions, in fact each and every surfer put his life at risk pretty much just by paddling out – twenty surfers and more than fifty non-competitors were treated for injuries in the ten days of the comp.

In the final Kelly Slater (AUS), beat youngster Owen Wright after scoring 18.43 to his 17.10 and bagged himself $75,000 US first place prize and 10,000 valuable world title ratings points not to mention a reminder that he is still, after ten World Titles, the surfer to beat. Logie and Kerr took joint third.

So, that’s two wins from four starts after the fifth stage of the Tour and Kelly Slater takes the top spot. Can he go all the way, AGAIN? Next stop, another record breaking stage of the comp, New York of all places, this is better than a soap opera!

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Billabong · surf · Surfing

Michel Bourez took time out to talk to Two Seasons whilst in Europe with Nike 6.0 a while back. He is currently in his native Tahiti competing in the Billabong Pro on the ASP World Tour and is, at this point in time ranked 7th in the world! Here’s what he had to say…

2S: Thanks for taking time out to answer our questions Michel!

MB: Hi! Cool, no problem!

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2S: So, what’s next on your agenda this summer? Any plans to come to the UK?

MB : Tomorrow I’m going to Mentawai with Nike. Then I return to Tahiti. I have a busy schedule so unless England has become an incredible spot, no this is not planned it! And it’s too cold!

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2S: You got that right! Which up coming competitions are you hoping to nail this year?

MB : It would be so coooool to win in NY! (The ASP Tour will be stopping on the East Coast of the United States for the very first time, at Long Island’s Long Beach from September 4-15. The Quiksilver Pro New York is an eagerly anticipated new event on the calendar)

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2S: You are involved in the Nike 6.0 Chosen commercial. Do you like surfing in the dark?

MB : Before participating in The Chosen I had almost never surfed in the dark. It was cool, a supa cool new experience! The Chosen happened in Bali on an incredible spot : Keramas. I think I’ll do it again one day. Eventually, one night!

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2S: Whilst travelling the world on your surf adventures, what 3 items can you not live without?

MB: My phone, My sunglasses and a lighter…

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2S: And sun cream we hope! Where’s your favourite secret spot?

MB: My secret spot? Ah ha somewhere…!

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2S: What has been your proudest moment in life?

MB: 2009 When I qualified for the ASP World Tour.

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2S: You have had loads of great results in your career so far. What else to you hope to achieve?

MB : I train hard to win competitions and get closer to the title. It’s my dream!

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2S: We need to brush up on our skills in the water. Tell us how, please…

MB : Rest, balanced diet, stretching and go!

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2S: What do you enjoy doing on a lay day?

MB : When I do not surf I like to know what’s happening in the world. I check the news on the internet. Then I watch movies, I see my friends, I do the same stuff as everybody else.

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2S: We know you grew up in Tahiti so you were born a surfer but tell us about your first experience on a surf board…

MB : I can’t remember ever not having surfed… to be more precise, I remember I was 5 or 6 years. I was with my brother. One of his buddies had a board so we went to the beach and I rode it, I liked the feeling. I wanted to do what the others were doing, turning on the waves . After that we returned there almost every day, except when our parents were not there to take us. He had to cross the road, we had no right to go without dad or mom…. Hehehehe!

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2S: What do you eat before a competition?

MB : I eat pasta, meat, fruits, vegetables. I avoid anything that is fatty.

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2S: What would you do career-wise if you weren’t a surfer?

MB: Maybe footballer. It would be cool, no? They wear nice striped shirts! Or an engineer !!

What a cool guy, thanks Michel! We hope to see you get even closer to that number one spot!

surf · Surfing

At the end of this month, over the August Bank Holiday weekend, some of the world’s next big stars in surfing will descend on Fistral Beach, Newquay for the European King of the Groms final and the 4* ASP Quiksilver Pro Junior event – the last in the series of four European stops.

The King of the Grom’s European final kicks off on Thursday 25^th August and is a hunt for the best surfers aged sixteen and under, who will then compete in the international final during the Quiksilver Pro France in October.

The second stage of this Quiksilver, surf-filled weekend is the The Quiksilver Pro Junior which is a 4* ASP stage with a $20,000 prize purse. Over ninety-six of the world’s best junior surfers will compete on Fistral beach to become the new Junior European Champion. Check out more details on the King of the Groms Facebook page.

There will be a great family atmosphere over the weekend where visitors will be treated to live music and child-friendly events. The guys from Surfers Against Sewage will be around promoting their latest campaigns too so get involved!

On a more senior note, next month Quiksilver will be hosting the Quiksilver Pro New York, the first ever world championship surf event to be held in the city that never sleeps. It is the world’s first $1,000,000 surf event too, not a bad days work if they take the top stop for the likes of  Billabong’s Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, Kelly Slater and friends! It promises to be a great event for competitors and spectators a like, the festival area on Long Beach will feature other action sports events including Skate, BMX and MotoX.

quiksilver · Surf fashion · Surfing

Next week the word of surfing descends on Jeffrey’s Bay on the Eastern Cape of South Africa, for one of the pro’s favourite stages on the ASP World Tour.

Expectations for the wave and the level of competition are high for the Billabong Pro J-Bay, and if past years and comps held at this spot (one of the world’s best waves) are anything to go by then it’s going to go off!

Head to http://www.billabongpro.com/ for more info and keep up to date via twitter @twoseasons and @billabongpro

Check out the video below and feel the excitement building…

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Billabong · Competition · Surfing

Two Seasons and Billabong are excited to announce that Tyler Cuddy will be visiting the UK in July.

Tyler Cuddy captures some of the world’s best surf images. Originally from San Diego, California, he has grown up on the beach with the waves and the ocean on his doorstep. Not one to stay in one place for too long, it seems he has the perfect job, travelling to the world’s best surf spots to take typically captivating, moody and generally awesome images.

Cuddy has teamed up with Billabong to bring us a small collection of four photo print t-shirts and vest tops for the ladies. The range is aptly named after iconic Californian landmarks such as Huntington beach (where Kelly Slater has recently been given ‘the key’) and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Santa Barbara amongst others. Each photo print gives that hazy summer sun feel, a must buy for the summer then!

Should you pop down to Two Seasons Bristol on 20th July or our Billabong Plymouth store on 21st July, you will have the opportunity to meet Tyler himself, get your product signed by him, have exclusive access to discounts on the day and maybe a freebie or two. If you click on and print out the poster above and bring it along to the event, you can claim an extra 10% off all Billabong sale items!

Check out the video below for behind the scenes footage of the Tyler Cuddy photo shoot:

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Billabong · Surf fashion · Surfing

It’s the eighth year of the joining together of surf communities across the globe in an attempt to create awareness of the sport, to have fun on the beach and clean those beaches up for all to enjoy. The scale of the day has grown to over thirty countries and regions now and there are over one hundred and eighty different events planned for the day. Join in with International Surfing Day which takes place this Sunday 19th June worldwide.

In the UK the SAS (Surfers against Sewage) are hosting the Goldcoast Oceanfest in North Devon as the official UK environmental partner. There will be plenty going on over three days from 17th -19th June in celebration of International Surfing Day on Sunday including music (from the likes of Sea Sick Steve!) and organised activities for everyone so don’t forget your board shorts and wetsuits! To raise awareness of the importance of keeping our beaches clean you can join in the Trash Mob Beach Clean between 1-3pm on Saturday. Grab your gloves and bin bags from the SAS stand and getting picking that litter! The most successful litter collector will be rewarded with a special prize and fifty free surf lesson vouchers (to be used the following day) available for youth volunteers taking part aged between 16-25.

If you can make it to North Devon then it is definitely an excellent cause to join. Visit the following website for more info http://www.sas.org.uk/news/2011/06/13/sas-goldcoast-oceanfest-north-devon

surf · Surf fashion · Surfing