Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay South Africa July 2008 Surf ASP World Championship Tour WCT Surfing

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ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) Billabong Pro Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa   Waiting Period July 9-20, 2008 surf report © magicseaweed.com Foster’s ASP World Tour World’s top 45 ranked surfers in Jeffreys Bay for Billabong Pro in July All of the world’s top 45 ranked professional surfers will be in Jeffreys Bay from 9-20 July 2008 for the R2.1 million Billabong Pro, the only stop on the African continent for the Foster’s ASP World Tour, the 10-event series of events that determines surfing’s annual men’s world champion.  The 23rd edition of the country’s most prestigious and lucrative surfing event will showcase the spectacular surfing of multiple world champions Kelly Slater (USA) and Andy Irons (Haw), defending champion and runner-up Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow (both Australians), who share the ASP ratings lead after the first two events of 2007, and former champions Joel Parkinson (1999) and the evergreen Mark Occhilupo (1984). Amongst the stellar cast of experienced campaigners and red-hot newcomers will be four South Africans with Ricky Basnett (Bluff) and Royden Bryson (East London) joining veteran Greg Emslie (EL) and Travis Logie (Durban) amongst the elite ASP top 45 ranked surfers on the 2007 world tour. And who knows how the phenomenally talented Jordy Smith will fare this year? The 19 year-old Durbanite secured the best finish in the event by a South African when he reached the semi-finals in his debut appearance last year but is now vastly more experienced and is currently rated second on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS). It doesn’t stop there as another six of SA’s best surfers are included in the field for the Von Zipper Wildcard Trials. They will take on six international rising stars with the top performers earning coveted wildcards into the Billabong Pro where they get to strut their stuff on the world stage against the top seeds in the first round. The 2007 event has been extended to 12 days to enable organisers to select the best possible conditions at Supertubes, considered the planet’s premier high performance point break, for the four days of competition required to determine the champion. While the hordes of spectators will be joined by the eyes of the surfing world on the live webcast in watching their heroes going ballistic for cash and points in the fabled waves of Supertubes, those in attendance will also be able party the night away to the sounds of the country’s best live music acts at the three-day J-Bay Music Festival on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, 12-14 July. Add scores of the world’s A-list surf media, a dozen international TV crews including MTV, Fox and Fuel and webcasts on www.billabongpro.com that provide live video, scoring and commentary in four languages and the 2007 Billabong Pro J-Bay will be the centre of the surfing universe from 11-22 July this year.    Past Jeffreys Bay Champions:   1981     Shaun Tomson (SA)                Beach Hotel Classic 1982     Greg Day (Aus)                      Country Feeling Surf Classic 1983     David Barr (USA)                    Country Feeling Surf Classic 1984    Mark Occhilupo (Aus)               Country Feeling Surf Classic 1985    No event 1986    No event 1987    Grant Myrdal (SA)                   Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic 1988    Mike Burness (SA)                   Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic 1989    Justin Strong (SA)                   Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic 1990    Marcus Brabant (Aus)              Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic 1991    Luke Egan (Aus)                      Dream Sequence 1991    Pierre Tostee (SA)                   Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic 1992    Seth Hulley (SA)                      Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic 1993    Munga Barry (Aus)                   Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic (WQS) 1994    Justin Strong (SA)                   Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic (WQS) 1995    Seth Hulley (SA)                      Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic (WQS) 1995     Kelly Slater (USA)                   Billabong Challenge 1996     Shane Thorne (SA)                  Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic (WQS)         1996     Kelly Slater (USA)                   CSI / Billabong Pro (WCT) 1997     Jevon Le Roux (SA)                 Billabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic (WQS) 1998     Munga Barry (Aus)                  Billabong /MSF Pro (WCT) 1999     Joel Parkinson (Aus)                Billabong /MSF Pro (WCT)  2000     Jake Paterson (Aus)                 Billabong /MSF Pro (WCT) 2001     Jake Paterson Aus)                  Billabong Pro (WCT) 2002     Mick Fanning (Aus)                  Billabong Pro (WCT) 2003     Kelly Slater (USA)                   Billabong Pro (WCT) 2004     Andy Irons (Haw)                    Billabong Pro (WCT) 2005     Kelly Slater (USA)                   Billabong Pro (WCT)  Mark Occhilupo: Twenty-one years ago as an 18 year old ‘Occy’ redefined back hand surfing with his victory over Hans Hedeman (Haw) at J-Bay in 1984. A world class field contested the tournament including then world champion Tom Carroll (Aus), Shaun Tomson (Sth Africa) and Michael Ho (Haw). At 39 ‘Occy’ will be the oldest competitor in this year’s WCT tournament.  Cheron Kraak:   Regarded as the unofficial Mayoress of J-Bay, Cheron is the Billabong South Africa licensee and owner of Country Feeling. The only female senior surf industry owner operator in the world, Cheron employs more than 200 people and runs the biggest business in town.  Respected and loved by surfers and the surf industry alike, Cheron was voted Eastern Cape Woman of Distinction last year and also received the ASP International Cultural Award for 2004 in recognition of the contribution the Billabong Pro J-Bay makes to the World Tour.  Cheron started the Surf Classic in the early 1980’s and it has gone on to become the most prestigious and longest running event on the South African coastline, with 2005 seeing the 21st edition and the winner’s names representing a Who’s Who of international and South African surfing.  South African WCT Competitors: South African’s supporters have two WCT ranked competitors in this year’s line-up with seasoned campaigner Greg Emslie and tour rookie Travis Logie both ranked in the world’s top 45 surfers.  Von Zipper Wildcard Trials: Three prestigious Billabong Pro main event wildcards are on offer via the Von Zipper Trials. An international field of 12 trialists will compete in three four-man heats with the winner of each heat earning a main event wildcard where he will come up against one of the top seeds in the first round.    The field comprises of three internationals, six Von Zipper nominated South Africans and for the first time three locals who have been selected via a nationwide poll conducted by Zigzag surfing magazine as the surfers most likely to give the top 45 a run for their money at ‘Supers’.  The three surfers selected by the poll include giant-killer Sean Holmes, fellow Jeffreys Bay standout Ryan Payne and red hot former Port Elizabeth resident Dylan Stone.  They will be up against international debutants Ian Walsh (Hawaii), reigning U/18 ISA world champion James Wood (Australia) and Hodei Collazo (Spain) plus the six VZ nominated trialists of reigning SA champion Shane Thorne, talented ‘Super Freak’ Jordy Smith; fellow Durbanites Warwick ‘Wok’ Wright, the 2002 ISA world junior champ; Rudy Palmboom (Bluff) and former Kommetjie resident, Damien Fahrenfort and Shaun Payne (St Francis Bay).  The Wave: For over forty years J-Bay has lured surfers from across the globe to the legendary break of ‘Supertubes’ and its ruler straight hollow cylinders. The multiple sections of the lengthy wave grant its deserved reputation as one of the world’s best right hand point breaks. Despite freezing winds and chilly water when the Bay becomes stacked to the horizon with corduroy-like swell lines the elements become a minor factor to surfers. The break relies on a long, curving lava reef that begins as a jagged south-facing outcrop and continues for at least a mile down the inside edge of the bay. Gaps in the reef line are supplanted by sand flow from beaches to the west, occasionally altering the character of some of the sections. From the top, J-Bay consists of Magnatubes, a peaky right and semi-left, more exposed to swell than most of the stretch, yet never linking to the major lineup, instead fizzling into a small sandy bay between it and the next section; Boneyards, a quick hollow right reef that predominates on smaller days and an occasional left, begins to close out toward the start of J-Bay's splendid premier section; Supertubes, an aptly named long slabby powerful wall, drawing larger swell energy from the upper reefs and funneling it for around 200 yards, letting the skilled surfer dictate the terms of a ride without ever seeming weak or unchallenging; Impossibles, often also aptly named, a series of shallow lava beds with long deepwater holes interrupting the wave, except during times of unusual sand buildup when the whole 150-yard section can become an extended barrel; Tubes, where the wave begins to slow and ease into the final connected section of wave; the Point, a mellow, playful wall flowing down into a final closeout across weed-softened reef and Albatross, farther across the bay, which is another piece of reef featuring a quick right. Some diehard J-Bay surfers claim that Albatross operates as the end section on rare giant days. Billabong Pro WCT’s: The Billabong Pro at J-Bay is the second of three events on the 2006 Billabong Pro series on the Foster’s men’s World Championship Tour which takes competitors to three premier surf locations on three different continents. The first Billabong Pro was at the legendary wave of Teahupoo, Tahiti and Mundaka will host the third Billabong Pro tournament in the Basque region of Spain October 3rd or 4th – 15th  Billabong Pro Live webcast:  via www.billabongpro.com each day of the event utilizing live coverage in English and Portuguese, with the event websites in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French. Various camera angles, highlights and replays, weather and scoring information, direct viewer interaction, celebrity guests, interviews and more are apart of the daily webcast program.  Legendary South African surfer and 1977 world champion Shaun Tomson will join the commentary team that includes Contest Director Mike Parsons and the affable G.T. On behalf of  Billabong South Africa Tel: 042 200 2600 Email: sean.holmes@billabong.co.za  Distributed by:  Life's a Beach Communications Mobile: 082 423 1964 Email lifesabeach@mweb.co.za | BILLABONG PRO | SURF SPOTS | SURF SCHOOL | SURF PACKAGES | SURF PICTURES |

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