Surfing

For the fourth year we're across in Japan for Greenroom Festival, Yokohama. A two day event that celebrates surf through art and music and pulling a crowd of around 10,000 people. Sam & Patchy PreppingBespoke ^Aloha Goods BoothTCSS Complete Booth SetupTCSS Greenroom Team (Pama Davies, Patchy, Rama McCabe & Thomas Bexon)Rama Custom Boardshort BuildingDoc - Always Big in JapanMain StageSide of Stage with Ray Barbee& Tommy Guerrero

Wooden Surfboards reinventedShaping surfboards is an art and there’s certainly some romanticism connected to it. You know: Creating something out of nothing, living close to the sea, hanging out with the surfers and being one, providing the base for awesome surf: Great surfboards in a variety of shapes, each made for a certain type of wave.. But the other side of it are usually toxic materials, toxic liquids, bad air in the workshop, white powder that comes from sanding the boards into the final shape all over your skin, slowly diffusing those chemicals into your organism.Stefan from Kun_tiqi Surfboards is a shaper, he is a surfer and though born thousands of miles from the sea, he now lives close to some of the most beautiful beaches in Cantabria, Spain. Entering his workshop feels different. It mostly smells like wood – even though he admits: “I repair lots of conventional surf boards so I have the usual repertoire of chemicals. My workshop does stink sometimes too, but I hope it gets less as more and more people surf wood instead.” His own label – Kun_tiqi Surfboards – wants to provoke a different thinking. In the old days of surfing surf boards were made of wood. They were heavy, huge and could never provide the performance of modern surfboards. Then came a revolutionary time for surfboard shaping and connected to it a different style of surfing: The aera of boards made of polyurethane or polystyrene foam covered with layers of fiberglass, cloth and polyester orepoxy resin, made for more radical turns, shorter and lighter boards arrived on the stage.Stefan wants to prove that a step back can mean a step forward too – just in a different direction. His boards are made of wood, balsa wood in that case, but constructed in a hollow structure which provides more stability than foam boards while maintaining the same performance, weight and feel in the water. The only difference: “Surfers who started riding my boards were surprised by how much they float in comparison to regular boards. In terms of maneuverability and speed they are the same though.”“We now offer different shapes – ranging from a 9” performance longboard, over noseriders, evolution boards, retro single fins, fish boards down to shortboards everything – each made for performance while lasting longer than conventional boards. Not a single customer managed to snap a balsa board yet – they are built to last and perform…” If he’s not in the workshop caring glassing his balsa boards he’s surfing the area around Santander – often using his bike to get there. “Cantabria is a beautiful area. It’s still relatively free from crowds, people are relaxed here. And slowly people start to be more conscious about their environment too – they start to realize that if it stays that way we have a little paradise here at the north coast of Spain.”This is taken from : www.oldyoungsea.com a great site about an upcoming film of traveling and surfing from the South of France through Spain and down into Portugal. This is just one of the many stories told along the way. Check it out, Stefan and his Kun tigi Surfboards have been on this blog many times in the past.

Jordy Smith has ripped his way to the quarter finals of the Billabong Rio Pro in the sometimes sloppy, sometimes rad, beachbreak of Barra Da Tijuca. He did this with a series of pits and punts, with one particular spin in Round 5 seeing Jordy awarded a massive 9.0 for a single air that you just have to go re-watch on the heat reviews now. Once you’ve been floored by that impressive air (which is one of the fastest and smoothest spins ever seen in competition), then go watch Felipe Toledo’s OMG perfect ten in his Round 4 match-up with Jordy and Mick Fanning. Boom Boom – Just like that, a giant alley oop followed by a big air reverse in the matter of seconds. Jordy, punting his way to the Quarter Finals. To claim the Billabong Rio Pro and put himself solidly in the world title race Jordy will have to see off a challenge from a trio of Brazilians; Gabriel Medina, Felipe Toledo and of course Adriano De Souza, along with King Kelly, Sebastian Zietz, Mick Fanning and Ace Buchan. But if the Saffa superstar continues to have as much fun as he has been in his heats in Rio, then he’s going to be a hard man to beat. Big smiling claims show that he’s having a ball, and Jordy is a dangerous competitor when he’s having fun. Here are the highlights from the second last day of the Billabong Rio Pro: Check out the official press release below. ******************* BILLABONG RIO PRO QUARTER FINALISTS DECIDED IN BARRELING BARRA DA TIJUCA Filipe Toledo advanced to the quarterfinals of the Billabong Rio Pro. Photo: ASP/ Smorigo BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (Saturday, May 18, 2013) - The Billabong Rio Pro returned to Barra Da Tijuca for the second consecutive day and saw flawless performances from the ASP Top 34 as they battled through Rounds 3, 4 and 5, deciding the event’s Quarterfinalists in improved three-to-five foot (1.5 metre) barrels. Filipe Toledo (BRA), 18, 2013 ASP Dream Tour rookie, put together an immaculate alley-oop to air-reverse combination, securing a perfect 10-point ride for the effort. While fellow competitor Jordy Smith (ZAF), 25, went on to earn a perfect 10 of his own in the amazing Round 4 affair, Toledo’s back-up score of 8.43 was enough to secure a spot directly in to the Quarterfinals over Smith and two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS), 31. “That was my first perfect 10 on the tour and I’m at a loss for words right now,” Toledo said. “I can’t even describe how I’m feeling. I’m just so stoked to compete against Jordy (Smith) and Mick (Fanning). I competed with them in the same round at Bells and to win this heat in Brazil is amazing. When I saw the sets coming, Jordy had priority and he was paddling for the one behind me. I knew it was going to be good. I went for the first big air and I was so happy that I made it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to do another one.’ I had that other section and I made the second air. I’m so excited right now, I don’t know what to say.” Hometown hero Adriano de Souza entertain his fans. Photo: ASP/ Kirstin Adriano de Souza (BRA), 26, put in a strong performance in his Round 4 match-up against Taj Burrow (AUS), 34, and Nat Young (USA), 21, earning a spot directly in to the Quarterfinals following a priority interference by Burrow. While Burrow posted two near-perfect scores, de Souza earned two excellent rides of his own, posting a 15.90 out of 20 heat total to secure the Quarterfinals berth. “Before the heat started I was really focused,” De Souza said. “I knew Taj (Burrow) was going to be dangerous and I have a lot of respect of Nat young, but Nat was in the middle of us and I knew it’d be hard for him. Taj was on fire during the whole heat and I just focused on my waves. 5 minutes before the heat ended I heard Taj got an amazing wave, but then later I heard Taj got the interference. I was happy to make it, but it’s too bad for Taj. He’s an idol of mine and an amazing surfer.” Adrian Buchan (AUS), 30, took a massive Round 4 victor

Cutting loose, getting hammered, and maybe even scoring in Tahiti

With the waves taking a brief respite, Creed McTaggart, Noa Deane and Ryan Callinan hit the coping and the court.

In which our quarterfinalists are decided.

Taylor's winter edit from time on the rock Plus, a couple from home

The quarterfinals are set after a tube-filled day in Brazil

The Billabong Rio Pro returned to Barra Da Tijuca for the second consecutive day

It works with a paddleBrian giving it a tryNo wind requiredIt flies on a wave