Nixon Loves Surfing
May 1, 2008 – 1:48 am PT by MeTags: ASP, Billabong Pro, Nixon —
Nixon watches begins its mini WTA (winner-take-all) tour on May 8 at the Billabong Pro Tahiti. Nixon gives a pretty sick watch worth $10K to the top surfer in four different categories in different contests (heaviest wave, longest tube, highest heat and the winner of the Vans Triple Crown).
Manoa Drollet won the heaviest wave category last year in Tahiti after qualifying for the event by winning the Air Tahiti Nui/Von Zipper Trials and securing a wildcard spot. Maybe that means tube master Jamie O’Brien, who won the Von Zipper trials this year, has an edge. We’ll see.
Check out the following press release for more about Nixon’s WTA tour…
SECOND ANNUAL NIXON WTA KICKS OFF IN TAHITI MAY 8, 2008
ENCINITAS, CA – The Second Annual Nixon WTA will kick off May 8 in Teahupoo, Tahiti during the third stop of the 2008 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour.
The Nixon WTA is a winner-take-all event which awards custom, limited edition Nixon timepieces to one person at four different stops along the ASP World Tour. Surfers on the tour will battle it out for WTA top honors and a custom Nixon 51-30 tide watch with a gunmetal finish, a custom-engraved WTA case back, and diamond baguette indices alternating with hand applied flags representing each of the four contest regions valued at over $10,000 USD.
“Year after year this event has provided some of the most memorable moments of the entire Tour,” Said Nixon Director of Marketing, Chad DiNenna. “For the Tahitian stop, we wanted to find a way to recognize the one wave that stands out above the rest for being the heaviest wave ridden. The WTA is all about giving props and taking notice.”
The first WTA watch for 2008 will be awarded in Teahupoo, Tahiti, to the surfer who takes on the heaviest wave. The subsequent three WTA challenges include: highest heat score at Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa, in July; the longest tube in Mundaka, Euskadi, in late September; and the overall Triple Crown winner on the North Shore of Oahu in December.
Video content of each of the WTA stops and winners will be available to view on billabongpro.com
2007 Nixon WTA Winners
- Manoa Drollet for heaviest wave at Teahupoo, Tahiti
- Kelly Slater for highest heat score at Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa
- Bobby Martinez for longest tube at Mundaka, Spain
- Bede Durbidge for Vans Triple Crown overall winner, North Shore, Ohau
