Tapped Into The Waves By Terry Tappa Teece
THE Pros have got their mid-season break now, with no WCT events until the Billabong Pro Teaupoo in Tahiti.
The Oakley Pro at Keramas went down as one of the “best-ever” events in World Tour history, with amazing barrels and crazy high performance surfing, with incredible aerial surfing from Josh Kerr, John John Florence and others.
But it was 2012 world champion Joel Parkinson who triumphed, not so much for his aerial performance but his total all-around surfing ability – power surfing, awesome barrels got Parko the win, very well deserved, and pushed him up to number three on the World Tour rankings. On the way Parko scored his second perfect heat, with two perfect 10 point rides to have a perfect 20 out of 20 for his heat score. He did need it with double John Florence scoring 19.2 out of 20 in the heat, and I must say the best heat of the contest.
Josh Kerr was knocked out by Parko in the semi-finals and Mick Fanning went down to Michel Bourez in the quarter finals. But this was enough to have Mick Fanning take the World Tour ratings lead, with Kelly Slater close behind and Parko in third place. Josh Kerr has moved up one place into ninth place, well and truly deserving his top 10 ranking.
The Pros have a month off before Teaupoo, some time to be spent at home, some will be off on sponsor trips, and a few will head to Tahiti early to get in some adjusting to the world’s most fearsome wave. Others will be heading to South Africa for the Mr Price Pro, mainly those who are looking to shore up their qualifying position for next years tour. Coolangatta lad Jack Freestone will be putting his hat in the ring, looking to qualify for the elite tour. Competition started Monday, and will be concluded this weekend.
Boardriders join to fight sarcoma
This is the fifth year that Hannah’s Chance Foundation have held their Sarcoma Surf Tag Team Event on the Gold Coast to raise awareness of sarcoma cancer. Five boardriding teams including Alley, Burleigh, MNM, North End and Palm Beach will battle the waves this year in order to increase the awareness of the aggressive disease and raise funds. Once again Pitstop Hill Mentawai are the main sponsors of the Gold Coast event that is being held at Pacific SLSC at Palm Beach on Sunday 7 July.
Due to the increased support by local boardriders, an additional event is being held in NSW at Cabarita SLSC on Saturday 6 July, with clubs from Duranbah, Snapper, Kingscliff, Cabarita and Byron Bay participating in the surf event. This year, Shop A Docket have supported this event and are the main sponsors for the NSW Sarcoma Surf Tag Team Event.
Hannah’s Chance Foundation was established to raise funds for medical research into rare types of cancer. There are various types of sarcoma, all of which are extremely aggressive and close to 50 per cent of sufferers do not survive this disease. Richie Lovett, a former world tour surfer is an extraordinary survivor of chondrosarcoma cancer.
This year’s surf events hold an extra special meaning to all, especially to the director of Hannah’s Chance Foundation, Leigh Webb and her two sons Corey and Blake, who recently lost their father/husband Tony to liposarcoma last November after nearly 10 years battling the disease.
“Please come and join us for a fun day in the sun and surf as we remember fellow surfers Tony Webb (MNM) and his workmate Shaun Pywell who lost their battle to this horrible disease last November. We will honour them by spreading the awareness and raising funds to help sufferers and find a cure,” Leigh said.
I will be on the microphone for both events, and I encourage everyone to come down and show their support, and watch some awesome surfing action. Come and say hello, whichever event you check out this weekend.
Both events will start at 8am. More information can be found at the foundation’s website or find Hannah’s Chance Foundation on Facebook.
