Beyond Boarders

Nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) finished the 2008 ASP world tour on a win, taking the big one at Oahu, Hawaii, the prestigeous Billabong Pipeline Masters. The victory is Slater's sixth of the 11 event tour, in a season that saw him top the World rankings for a record ninth time.

Top ten world rankings for 2008 finished:

• Kelly Slater (USA)


• Bede Durbidge (AUS)


• Taj Burrow (AUS)


• Joel Parkinson (AUS)


• C.J. Hobgood (USA)


• Adrian Buchan (AUS)


• Adriano de Souza (BRA)


• Mick Fanning (AUS)


• Bobby Martinez (USA)


• Jeremy Flores (FRA)

Bede Durbidge ended up pipping fellow Australian Taj Burrow to second place and fourth placed, Joel Parkinson made headlines earlier in the Pipline Masters event by scoring a perfect 20 out of 20 heat total, only the second perfect heat total in ASP history under the two wave format. Congratulations to Bobby Martinez and Jeremy Flores who both made the top ten.

Labels: 2008, ASP World Tour, Hawaii, Kelly Slater, Pipeline Masters, surfing

Kelly Slater, USA, has just won a record ninth ASP World Title, securing a sufficient points lead in the title rankings after advancing out of Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Mundaka, Spain, the ninth event of 11 on the 2008 ASP World Tour.

Slater defeated local wildcard Eneko Acero(EUK) in Heat 8 of Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Mundaka in excellent four to six foot (two metre) conditions. His success comes 16 years after securing his first ASP World Title at age 20. At 36 he now becomes the oldest and youngest surfer in ASP history to win a world title.

Labels: 2008, ASP World Tour, champion, Kelly Slater, World Champion

Kelly Slater (USA) beat Taj Burrow (AUS) 18.97 to 18.63, winning his third Boost Mobile Pro title at Lower Trestles and putting him just one event win away from a record ninth ASP World Title.

Taj Burrow thought he had Slater beaten, having scored a 9.00 and 9.63 before the halfway mark, but Slater stole the win right at the end, on an unpromising wave that Burrow let pass. I get the impression that the Australian felt that on Kelly's homeground he had to beat both a mighty reputation and the judges as well, but the difference between mere mortals and Kelly Slater is that given half a chance Slater grabs it while others are still considering the options. You can get lucky once or twice but to keep getting lucky you have to be good, very good.

Labels: ASP World Tour, California, Kelly Slater, Lower Tresles, surfing, USA

Taking the JBay crown, Kelly Slater, is simply unstoppable this year winning four out of five events on the ASP World Tour. It is his 38th ASP World Tour victory and puts him in commanding contention to claim his 9th ASP World Title.

Labels: 2008, ASP World Tour, J-Bay, Jeffreys Bay, Kelly Slater

Kelly Slater (USA) has made a great start to the 2008 ASP World Tour and is currently holding the No. 1 position ahead of Joel Parkinson (AUS) at No. 2, followed by Bede Durbidge (AUS), Andy Irons (HAW) and Mick Fanning (AUS), ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively,
Event 4, the Globe Pro Fiji, on the 2008 ASP tour, began on Sunday in perfect six-foot (two metre) waves at Restaurants, where Slater met local wildcard Isei Tokoea (FIJ), but unlike last week's event at Teahupoo, Tahiti, when wildcards ruled and Brazilian wildcard Bruno Santos eventually defeated local wildcard Manoa Drollet (PYF) to win the Billabong Pro Tahiti, Kelly Slater surfed a near perfect heat scoring 19.73 out of 20.00 points.


The Fiji competition continued yesterday at Cloudbreaks, and the world's top surfers maintained their form, with Taj Burrow (AUS) emerging from his heat with Tiago Pires (PRT) on a perfect 10 point ride. Former ASP World Tour and Fiji Champion Mark Occhilupo (AUS) formally retired last year, but is now the only wildcard who advanced to Round 3 which makes him the lowest seeded surfer still in the event. It also means that he will meet Kelly Slater in Heat 8 of the third round.

Labels: 2008, ASP World Tour, Cloudbreaks, Fiji, Globe Pro Fiji, Kelly Slater, Restaurants, Taj Burrow

This year is whipping though at an incredible pace and the first two events of both the men's and women's tours are already done and dusted.
In event one for the girls, the 2008 Roxy Pro Gold Coast, last year's world runner-up Sofia Mulanovich (PER) beat Samantha Cornish (AUS) at Australia's Snapper Rocks. However, just a few days late, in the final of the Rip Curl Women's Pro at Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia, reigning ASP Women's World Champion, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) came from behind with five minutes remaining to defeat Sofia, claiming her second consecutive Rip Curl Women's Pro title and jumping from 9th to 2nd in the tour ratings. A mere 600 points behind leader Sofia Mulanovich.

The 2008 ASP Women's World Tour now takes a breather until July, when the top 17 female surfers will do battle again in Brazil.

The guy's tour opened in sensational style with eight-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) beating reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) at his home break of Snapper Rocks. This put Kelly in the number one slot of the ratings for the first time since claiming his last ASP World Crown in 2006. Proving that the win was not a fluke, he then proceeded to take the Rip Curl Pro at Bells beach. Launching a huge air, he earned a last minute score and beat Bede Durbidge (AUS) in the final. 36-year old Slater, has now claimed his 36th event win and rung surfing's bell for the third time but even more significantly, has cemented his position as the world's number one surfer.
The next event on the men's ASP World Tour will take place in Teahupoo, Tahiti from May 8-18, 2008.

Labels: 2008, ASP World Tour, Australia, Bells Beach, Kelly Slater, men's, Snapper Rocks, Sofia Mulanovich, women's

ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) has won the 2007 Boost Mobile Pro at Lower Tresles, California. Kelly is the only surfer to score a 'Perfect 20' competition heat total, which he achieved in Tahiti, 2005, and this win takes him past legendary Tom Curren, for the highest number of elite tour wins in pro surfing history (34).

Only his first event win in over a year, he moves to current World No. 2, a mere 230 points behind current leader, Mick Fanning (AUS). Powerful Hawaiian, Pancho Sullivan, was a standout performer on the final day of competition, beating Neco Padaratz (BRA), Troy Brooks (AUS) and Jeremy Flores (FRA) on his way to meeting Slater in the Final. His second place puts him at eight in the rankings.

Also enjoying the time of his life is Frenchman, Jeremy Flores, whose third place in the event, was enough to jump him to nine in the world rankings; making him the highest-rated rookie on the 2007 tour.

Labels: ASP World Tour, California, Kelly Slater, Lower Tresles, surfing, USA

The Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, Australia starts the waiting period tomorrow, Tuesday, April 3 and stretches until April 13, 2007. This will be stop 2 on the Foster's ASP Men's world tour and also stop 2 of the ASP Women's World Tour, the Rip Curl Women's Pro Bells Beach, which will run in tandem with it.

Men's ASP World Champion, Kelly Slater (USA) has not won an elite tour event since winning the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach last year. Slater beat former Rip Curl Pro champion Joel Parkinson (AUS) in the 2006 event final to tie Tom Curren (USA) for the most elite tour events won by single surfer; both Curren and Slater have 33 event titles to their credit.

This year is the 35th anniversary of the Rip Curl Pro and Tom Curren and a number of other great surfers will be there for the anniversary celebrations, so Kelly Slater reckons that clocking up a 34th event title at Bells this year and beating Tom would be something really special.

Labels: ASP World Tour, Australia, Bells Beach, Kelly Slater, surfing, Tom Curren