Steph is champ

Steph Gilmore is the 2009 ASP Womens World Champ for the third year in a row.

She now has to paddle out for the final against Sally Fitzgibbons, youngster Carissa Moore and Alana Balchard.

Gidget Pro will finsh soon

The Womens WCT Gidget Pro at Sunset Beach will finish in a heat and a half. The waves are ok but a little inconsistent.

Aussie Sally Fitzgibbons is ripping hard and just scored the first 10 for a series big turns. She has been on fire in all her heats today. Alana Blanchard is backing up her win in the first of the Triple Crown events with some strong surfing.

Steph Gilmore could be less than six minutes from being World Champ. If Coco Ho, who needs a combo 12+, doesn't progress out of the current semi Steph wins with one event left.

Wobbly

Weird, wobbly swell today but really small. There is a handful of micro-groms out at BP but thats about it.

Wind is trying to swing onshore but might glass off later.

Down south

Stuck in Dunsborough since Monday arvo. Usually that would be a good thing but its Leavers week !

Tides still remain really low and there are some strange banks here and there. The wind has been howlling from the south/south west for the last two days and its a bit cold.

Inji has some small waves today, nothing that you would rave about but surfable. Smiths was less effected by the wind than other places and there was the odd wave here and there but it was crowded.

Looks like the weekend might warm up some maybe there will be something worth getting wet for back in Bunbury.

Still small but clean

The bank at BP is still throwing up some small little runners that are best for longboards. The swell was up a whisker but not much.

The wind was offshore this morning and has swung a little but is still light.

My surf was curtailed a little by a bus load of Grammar kids arriving at the same time as me. Luckily the teachers surf and herded the pack inside so that we could enjoy the bigger, wider ones.

Swell building ????

The swell is meant to be coming up but it is still pretty small. And the onshore has just come in.

This morning was nice, light winds and crystal clear water. BP still had a couple of little peelers over a shallow bank. The tide is too low for Juniors, despite there being some nice looking waves.

It is still possible that the swell is building, it did seem to be getting a little bigger this morning, so tomorrow could be ok if the tide is right.

No swell and sideshore

Clean but light side shore first thing this morning with a low tide.

There were some really little waves at BP and the Bay and a few groms and a longboarder (me) got a couple of dribblers.

The forecasts are showing the swell coming up a little tomorrow with offshores first up.

Alana Blanchard wins first event

Unlike sports cover girl Anna Kornakova, surfing pin up Hawaiian Alana Blanchard can win ! The Womens Van Pro was done and dusted in a single day thanks to the four and five surfer heat format.

Blanchard just beat Steph Gilmore, with 1.12 points between then. The waves were similar to yesterday and the girls surfed fast and hard with a bit of power behind them.

FINAL: Alana Blanchard (HAW), Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Rebecca Woods (AUS)

SF1: Rebecca Woods (AUS), Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Lee Ann Curren (FRA)
SF2: Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Alana Blanchard (HAW), Coco Ho (HAW), Carissa Moore (HAW)

QF1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Malia Manuel (HAW), Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)
QF2: Rebecca Woods (AUS), Lee Ann Curren (FRA), Bruna Schmitz (BRA), Melanie Bartels (HAW)
QF3: Carissa Moore (HAW), Alana Blanchard (HAW), Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Nicola Atherton (AUS)
QF4: Coco Ho (HAW), Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Jacqueline Silva (BRA), Megan Abubo (HAW)

Round 1:
H1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Rebecca Woods (AUS), Rosanne Hodge (ZAF), Lee Ann Curren (FRA), Bethany Hamilton (HAW)
H2: Melanie Bartels (HAW), Malia Manuel (HAW), Bruna Schimtz (BRA), Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Gabi Cope (HAW)
H3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Coco Ho (HAW), Alana Blanchard (HAW), Megan Abubo (HAW), Leila Hurst (HAW)
H4: Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Carissa Moore (HAW), Jacqueline Silva (BRA), Nicola Atherton (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZ)

Hawaiian contest finally back on

AThe first contest of the Triple Crown has finally re-started after a three lay days for no swell. Today was in the couple of feet range and with a strong sideshore wind. The brown water made it look a bit like winter in Bunbury, just with some walls and power.

The event is still in the round of 96, with the WCT surfers coming in during the next round. Parko is entered to try and defend his Triple Crown title from last year. He has a difficult heat up against Pancho Sullivan and Tanner Gudaskis, who needs a good result to make next years WCT. Mick Fanning has pulled out to concentrate on Pipe.

The Irons brothers are through as is Sunny Garcia who won his heat with the highest combined total of the round.

Everyone will be hoping for some swell, especially the women whose WCT event is on hold pending good surf.

News, heats on demand and the webcast can be accessed from the Triple Crown website.

Should have voted for daylight saving

Today has been yet another day of crap surf. Strong onshores have persisted with a bit of rain here and there. However just as the last bit of light was disappearing tonight the wind has swung to a sideshore southerly and there were some ok looking waves, if it was bright enough to surf.

The weather forecast shows ESE winds first up tomorrow so there may just be the chance of a wobbly one early. The rest of the day is southerly so depending on how it hits there may be waves later as well.

The weekend looks promising with some offshores in the morning and onshore arvos. That's provided some of the swell hangs around.

Down south the go today

Nothing local today.

However there were waves on the western side of the Cape today. Boneyards had a few out. Rocky Point was the pick with almost no crowd and sets up overhead in the morning. Little Rockies was clean and had a crowd of two.

The tide was to full and the swell to small for PK to be much good bu

t a SUP or two and a goat boater were able to enjoy the clean water and offshore lines.

Tomorrow looks similar weather-wise but no guarantee the waves will hang around.

How would you react ?

Imagine your surfing crap onshore waves in the late arvo with only your brother and a couple of friends. You didn't really want to go out but they shamed you into it so your not really happy anyway. Suddenly a Great White Shark comes up from below you, hits you board, tosses you in the air and breaks your board in half ! Not sure how you would react ? Well watch as WQS sufer Eric Gieselman has that happen to him.

Eric Geiselman's Shark Encounter from Cavin Brothers on Vimeo.

Hawaiian contest season has started

The first event of the Triple Crown had its first lay day due to small surf. Day one was in waist height dribble, not very Hawaiian but very WQS.

Onshore but some swell

Been another blah Bunbury week for surf.

Currently there is a strong north wester blowing in and a bit of swell. If your desperate you could find some rides between the mush. Might just be that I'm hanging for a wave but there was the odd one off BP Groyne.

There is a bunch of body boarders out at the Wall. The waves are small and only just breaking but their enjoying themselves ! Maybe if the swell keeps rising the conditions might improve.

Tomorrow may be ok early. The wind is meant to be offshore but the swell is waning quickly.

Sofia wins home event

Sofia Mulanovich has won the Womens WCT event in Peru beating Stephanie Gilmore. The waves were ok, longish racy lefts.

Sofia moves to third on the ratings and Steph puts a few more points between her and Silvana Lima, who was beaten in the Quarters.

The next event is at Sunset Beach starting on 24th.

MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 15.00
2 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.74

MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.60 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 15.17
SF 2: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 16.27 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.20

MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Coco Ho (HAW) 14.74 def. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 10.16
QF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 9.27 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 6.60
QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.16 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 6.83
QF 4: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.67 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 10.17

ASP WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR TOP 5 (After Movistar Peru Classic):
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 4765 pts
2 – Silvana Lima (BRA) 4188 pts
3 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 3891 pts
4 – Coco Ho (HAW) 3679 pts
5 – Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 3043 pts

Thank God this week is over

What a terrible week for surf. When knee height onshore BP shore break closeouts are tempting because they are the best waves you've seen all week its been a sad week !!

The two BPA swell buoys are showing 27 and 5 centimetres of swell. Crack out the rhino chasers.

Swell is meant to start to pick up over the next couple of days. Fingers crossed.

Slater and Quiksilver Crew Hit Mexico

Surfline has a great feature on its site showing a promotional trip by Kelly, Dane, Julian Wilson and Jeremy Flores. It is a mix of great photos, audio from Aaron Chang, the main photographer, video and a super slow mo section which is great to watch. You can see all the little things that great surfers do that others can't.

Click here to access the feature.

Women in Peru

The womens WCT is in Peru and after a few on and off days they have made it through to the quarters. Both title contenders are through, as is last contest winner Coco Ho. Home town hero Sofia Mulanovich is up against another former world champ Chelsea Hedges.

The waves look fun, nothing to testing but contestable at about three feet.

MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Coco Ho (HAW) 14.50 def. Alana Blanchard (HAW) 10.50
Heat 2: Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 11.25 def. Melanie Bartels (HAW) 6.25
Heat 3: Paige Hareb (NZL) 11.60 def. Rebecca Woods (AUS) 9.40
Heat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.00 def. Anali Gomez (PER) 8.75
Heat 5: Silvana Lima (BRA) 12.35 def. Megan Abubo (HAW) 12.35
Heat 6: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 17.85 def. Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 9.75
Heat 7: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 11.65 def. Samantha Cornish (AUS) 7.00
Heat 8: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 13.50 def. Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 8.50

MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: Coco Ho (HAW) vs. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)
QF 2: Paige Hareb (NZL) vs. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
QF 3: Silvana Lima (BRA) vs. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
QF 4: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) vs. Sofia Mulanovich (PER)

Still Flat

Nothing to blog about this week because it is flat.

Nice day

but no surf. The wind is offshore but the swell has all but disappeared.

There is a cruise ship in port. Good day to come, most things will be closed or full for the Melbourne Cup !

Best wave ever

Small and offshore this afternoon. The nice day tempted a few to go out at BP and paddle around a bit. The waves were barely hip height and mainly closeouts but for one grom on a soft board he got a left that was the wave of his life. He told his older friend all about it and claimed he would be telling the story for years.

The enthusiasm of the newbie is a great re-charge for a grizzly old timer and makes a session where there were no waves almost as good as one where there is.

Arvo report

Still windy. The swell has come up a little with the tide. BP, Juniors and the Bay seem the only chance for waves with quite a few paddling out.

Windy and crowded

There are a few desperate surfers out there. The early showed a few very small and very short waves at BP and Juniors. But there were seven guys out already and not enough waves to go around.

The offshore is howling and is due to get stronger. Tomorrow is meant to be 50 kmh. Stay home.