Several days after the conclusion of the Women’s ASP World Tour season in Maui the roster for the 2009 Tour has been finalized.  While the surfers on tour will include 11 year’s worth of titles, there are also five rookies joining the vets — all teenagers.

Sally Fitzgibbons, 18, made history earlier this year by becoming the fastest surfer ever to qualify for the world tour in a season.  She will be joined by Brazil’s Bruna Schmitz, Kiwi Paige Hareb, Hawaiian Alana Blanchard (all 18) and Coco Ho, 17.

Aussies will dominate the tour, with Fitzgibbons and current world champ Stephanie Gilmore leading eight of their compatriots.

Seven-time world champ Layne Beachley remains on the tour, though she previously announced her retirement.  The move allows her to still compete at some events, though she will not participate in all events (there are eight total events).

The new season kicks off on Feb. 28, 2009 with the Roxy Pro Gold Coast.

Here are the 2009 World Tour Surfers:

1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
2 – Silvana Lima (BRA)
3 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
4 – Layne Beachley (AUS)
5 – Amee Donohoe (AUS)
6 – Samantha Cornish (AUS)
7 – Melanie Bartels (HAW)
8 – Rebecca Woods (AUS)
9 – Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
10 – Jacqueline Silva (BRA)
11 – Chelsea Hedges (AUS)*
12 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
13 – Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)
14 – Bruna Schmitz (BRA)
15 – Paige Hareb (NZL)

Kelly Slater capped off an amazing season Friday by winning the Billabong Pipeline Masters contest in Hawaii for a record sixth time.  Slater, who clinched a record ninth ASP World Tour title earlier this year, won a total of six out the tour’s 11 events in 2008.

Slater was unbeatable in the heats leading up to the final, scoring a combined 19.00, 18.63 and 19.40 (out of 20.00).  In his final against Chris Ward waves were sparse, and Slater took the contest with a 14.00 to Ward’s 7.23.

“It was disappointing that the waves didn’t really turn on for us in the final,” Slater said. “That’s what we are here for, to put on a show for people – at least give them some big wipeouts or something.”

More exciting was Slater’s semifinal against Timmy Reyes, when Slater came from behind with minutes left in the head to score a perfect 10.00 and a 9.00.

While Ward’s second-place finish assured him of a spot on the 2009 World Tour, he came up short in the final rankings for the Vans Triple Crown honor.  Joel “Parko” Parkinson, who scored a history-making perfect 20.00 earlier in the contest, ended up taking the Triple Crown thanks to his performance over the three season-ending Hawaiian contests.

The 2008 ASP World Tour surfing season is now complete and will resume next year on Feb. 28 when the holding period of the Quiksilver Pro commences.

Read more about the contest on the ASP website.

2009 ASP World Tour rookie Nathaniel Curran – cr. Covered Images

The 2009 ASP World Tour roster has been decided with the conclusion of the 2008 season.  After the Billabong Pipeline Masters, the top 27 surfers from the current world tour earn a spot in 2009, along with the 15 top-ranked World Qualifying Series (WQS) surfers (who didn’t otherwise qualify) and three wildcards chosen by the ASP.

There are few surprises, since most of the list was decided after the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing earlier this month.

Surfers will get more than two months off before kicking off the 2009 season on Feb. 28 with the Quiksilver Pro in Australia.

For more about the rankings, check out the ASP website.  The full list follows…

1. Kelly Slater (USA)
2. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
3. Taj Burrow (AUS)
4. Joel Parkinson (AUS)
5. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
6. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
7. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
8. Mick Fanning (AUS)
9. Bobby Martinez (USA)
10. Jeremy Flores (FRA)
11. Luke Stedman (AUS)
12. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
13. Andy Irons (HAW)
14. Chris Ward (USA)
15. Kai Otton (AUS)
16. Tim Reyes (USA)
17. Tom Whitaker (AUS)
18. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
19. Dayyan Neve (AUS)
20. Bruce Irons (HAW)*
21. Mikael Picon (FRA)
22. Dane Reynolds (USA)
23. Taylor Knox (USA)
24. Damien Hobgood (USA)
25. Heitor Alves (BRA)
26. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
27. Ben Dunn (AUS)
28. Nathaniel Curran (USA)
29. Chris Davidson (AUS)
30. Michel Bourez (PYF)
31. Gabe Kling (USA)
32. Jihad Khodr (BRA)
33. David Weare (ZAF)
34. Josh Kerr (AUS)
35. Nic Muscroft (AUS)
36. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)
37. Greg Emslie (ZAF)
38. Tim Boal (FRA)
39. Dustin Barca (HAW)
40. Tiago Pires (PRT)
41. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)
42. Drew Courtney (AUS)
43. Dean Morrison (AUS)**
44. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)**
45. Marlon Lipke (DEU)**

* Irons has previously stated that he is retiring from full-time competition after the 2008 season.
** Wildcard chosen by ASP & Surfer’s Union.

Kelly Slater may have clinched his record ninth world title earlier this season but there are still three spots open on the ASP World Tour roster for 2009.  The season-ending Billabong Pipeline Masters will decide who will get those slots, and Chris Ward made his statement in round two Tuesday,  scoring a high heat total of 19.90 out of 20.00.  Ward is currently ranked 24th on the tour and the cut-off for the 2009 Tour is the top 27.

Current world tour surfers who were eliminated today from the 2009 tour roster were Daniel Ross, Royden Bryson, Ricky Basnett, Jay Thompson, Rodrigo Dornelles, Luke Munro, Mick Campbell, Roy Powers and Leonardo Neves.

Action on round two is expected to continue on Wednesday and can be watched via a live webcast on the official Triple Crown of Surfing website.

CJ Hobgood took advantage of nice conditions to pull out a win at the O’Neill World Cup at Sunset Beach, HI, edging Tom Whitaker in a four-man final.

Hobgood scored a combined 15.00 in the final, led by his final wave score of 8.50.  Whitaker scored a combined 12.67.  Jordy Smith, who received the contest’s only perfect 10 Thursday in the round of 32, also made it to the final but was fourth with only a 2.86 combined score.  Smith had a run of bad luck in the final including a broken board and injury to his leg.

Surfers had huge waves for most of the final, with 20-30 wave face heights.

“It’s perfect size and really clean. There was probably one or two sets a heat that were too big,” Hobgood said after the contest. “Just some macking nuts waves out there.”

The World Cup is the second leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.  Dusty Payne leads the rankings for the mini-tour, followed by CJ Hobgood and Joel Parkinson.  All three will be competing at the Billabong Pipeline Masters which has a holding period starting Dec. 8.

For more about the contest, visit the Triple Crown website.

The PXM International Vans Pro complete competition yesterday in Puerto Escondido, Mexico yesterday and it was a local, 21 year old Angelo Lozano who took the ASP World Qualifying Series 3-Star title.  The day saw a consistent 6-8 foot surf with plenty of tough competition from all over the world including Gabriel Villaran of Lima, Peru, Ryan Turner of Huntington Beach, CA, and fellow Puerto Escondido native David Rutherford. 

Lozano had an impressive showing the entire event at the Vans Pro event, but eventually stepped it up a few notches for the finals beating out former Puerto Escondido event champion Rutherford, and Turner, who posted a perfect 10 and netted the event’s highest heat total yesterday.

“I’m very proud and I’m proud of all the local surfers,” Lozano said. “We have a lot of good tube-riders here and if we can get some more events I think we can see a lot more Mexican surfers on the WQS.”

PXM International Vans Pro Final Results:
1 – Angelo Lozano (MEX)
2 – Gabriel Villaran (PER)
3 – Ryan Turner (USA)
4 – David Rutherford (MEX)

Everyone is pretty psyched for next year’s ASP World Tour. There’s a certain level of excitement in the air unlike any year prior.  Is it because of the tour locations set of next year?  Or perhaps it’s because surfing has taken a backseat to KITE SURFING and surfers are ready to take back their spot.  Nope, it’s because the ASP’s new tournament format should lead to more suspense and excitement.  And it’s for damn sure, well hopefully, dominant surfers like Kelly Slater would monopolize the competition, as he did this year. 

Here’s a rundown of the major changes that are the framework for the new format:

- 48-man format consisting of two opening elimination man-on-man rounds. This gets rid of the free three-man round-one heats, which all surfers advanced out of.

- Round one will consist of 32 surfers, those rated 17 to 27 on the ASP World Tour, three tour/injury wildcards, the top 15-rated surfers on the ASP WQS, and three event wildcards.

- The top 16 on the ASP World Tour are seeded directly in round two where they’ll meet the sixteen victors from round one in the re-seeded draw.

- The top ten from the previous year’s Dream Tour will be guaranteed a round two seed all year long, while the next six seeds have to maintain their seeded position and can be replaced by better performing back 32 surfers after the third ASP World Tour event of the year.

These modifications all serve the purposes of maximizing swell windows for events, creating a one world ranking system, making it crucial for surfers to surf every event, and of course, increasing the excitement throughout the entirety of each contest.

Tentative ASP World Tour 2009 Schedule

Feb 28-Mar 11 Quiksilver Pro (Gold Coast, Qld-Australia)

Apr 7-19 Rip Curl Pro (Bells Beach, Victoria-Australia)

May 9-20 Billabong Pro Teahupoo (Teahupoo, Taiarapu-Tahiti)

Jun 27-Jly 5 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro (Santa Catarina-Brazil)

Jly 9-19 Billabong Pro (Jeffreys Bay-South Africa)

Sep 11-20 Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley (Trestles, California-USA)

Sep 23-Oct 4 Quiksilver Pro France (South West Coast-France)

Oct 5-17 Billabong Pro (Mundaka, Euskadi-Spain)

Oct 19-28 Rip Curl Search (Somewhere…in Europe?)

Dec 8-20 Billabong Pipeline Masters (Banzai Pipeline, Oahu-Hawaii)

With one event left in the ASP World Tour season it’s starting to become clear who will be back on tour in 2009 and who will be left on the outside looking in.

Every year, the top 27 rated surfers at the end of the World Tour season are automatically qualified for the next year.   On top of that, the top 15 rated WQS surfers who are not already qualified for the tour are given spots as well.  That leaves up to three wildcards for ASP World Tour surfers who missed the cut for whatever reason.

On the women’s side, the process is about the same, but the numbers smaller.  Only the top 10 women get an automatic qualification, while six are brought over from the WQS and one wildcard granted.

For the men, those currently ranked in the top 21 should be set for their ‘09 position (Bruce Irons, now ranked #22, is retiring after the season).  That leaves six spots up for grabs with surfers like Damien Hobgood, Chris Ward and Roy Powers on the bubble.  What is guaranteed is that just about everyone ranked in the 30s and above are out of the running, barring a spectacular turn of events in Hawaii.

As far as WQS surfers who will be making the switch, they include points leader Nathaniel Curran, as well as Chris Davidson, Gabe Kling, Josh Kerr, Tim Boal and Drew Courtney.

The second-to-last event of the WQS season starts on Nov. 12 with the Reef Hawaiian Pro.  The picture should clear up a little bit after that contest. For more about the current rankings, check out the ASP World Tour site.

For Durbidge, the win propels him to #2 on the World Tour rankings with only one event, the Pipeline Masters, left on the schedule.  Durbidge won that contest in 2007 on his way to claiming the Vans Triple Crown title.  Kelly Slater has already locked up the #1 ranking for the season.

“It is pretty cool,” Durbidge said after the win. “I’m second to Kelly at the moment and he’s my hero so I am stoked. I will try to put everything and all of my energy into finishing the year that way so let’s see what happens.”

Even though he finished equal 3rd, France’s Mikael Picon benefited from the strong finish as he will likely requalify for the 2009 ASP World Tour as a result.  His overall ranking on the WQS is 18th after the finish, and the top 27 ranked surfers on the WQS qualify for the following year’s world tour.

For more about the contest, check out the following release or visit the official site.

Bede Durbidge Steals Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro and World No. 2 Title

IMBITUBA, Brazil (Sunday, November 2, 2008) – Bede Durbidge (AUS), 25, claimed his third ASP World Tour career win with a victory at the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in Imbituba, Brazil, today. Durbidge beat France’s Jeremy Flores 17.76 to 9.86.

“I was totally in rhythm with the waves and Jeremy was on the other side of it,” Durbidge said. “I just tried to pick up those rights. I didn’t really get a good score on the lefts the whole time, so I was hunting those rights and also tried to get good waves in the beginning and surf relaxed. I felt great today, Jeremy was surfing so good and I knew that I had to push my turns.”

Durbidge reclaims the World No. 2 position he held earlier in the year with the win, and heading into the last event of the year in Hawaii as the defending champion, has a good shot at finishing runner-up to nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA). He was rated 4th going into the event.

“It is pretty cool,” Durbidge said. “I’m second to Kelly at the moment and he’s my hero so I am stoked. I will try to put everything and all of my energy into finishing the year that way so let’s see what happens.”

Previous to his 1st place finish today, the best Durbidge had done in Brazil was equal 9th.

“It feels awesome,” Durbidge said. “Brazil definitely has one of the best crowds on tour, the fans are just great and I had an incredible day.”

The final berth against Durbdige was Flores’ first. The 20-year-old was the youngest surfer in history to qualify for the ASP World Tour, and in just his second year on tour, has already proven himself. Unfortunately for him, Durbidge was unstoppable today.

“I’m happy with my result, but sad about the final,” Flores said. “I couldn’t do anything. Bede didn’t give me the time to try to. He got a 9.43 and the only two bombs out there. I didn’t see anything. I was just trying to get anything and I couldn’t – he was ripping for sure.”

Flores has been surfing on an injured ankle for the past few events and, despite not feeling his best, has still had a great season. He sits 10th on the ASP ratings.

“I was injured in a few events this year,” Flores said. “I’m don’t think I’m 100 percent, but I’m back to having good heats, getting some results and I’m much more confident now.”

Flores surfed against the only other French competitor on the ASP World Tour, Miky Picon, 29, in the semifinals. Their respective 2nd and 3rd place results today were career bests for both surfers.

“It was a really good event,” Flores said. “I had fun and Miky surfed good too. That was more important for me probably, his requalification for the tour next year. It was incredible to compete with him in the semifinals.”

Picon, who lost a tight heat to Flores in the semifinals, was equally pleased to have had the opportunity to share the experience with his friend.

“It was a very good heat, the first heat of the year with no pressure, because I was surfing against Jeremy, so anyone who went to the final was good for me,” Picon said. “It was amazing, the feeling that I felt surfing with Jeremy in the semifinal. If I won it was perfect, if I lost it would still be a good result, so I’m happy that my friend went to the final.”

Picon competed on the ASP World Tour in 2006 but failed to finish within the Top 27 to requalify for the following year’s tour. The Frenchman was forced to compete on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) in 2007 to find his way back amongst the elite in 2008. His equal 3rd finish today bumped him from 26th to 18th on the ASP ratings and virtually eliminates the possibility that he will suffer the same fate he did two years ago.

“I’m so happy,” Picon said. “Right now I’m requalifying with this result for next year, so that’s amazing and that gives me a lot more confidence for the tour next year.”

With Flores and Picon requalifying, and Tim Boal (FRA) joining the tour via a WQS Top 15 finish, France will boast three surfers on the ASP World Tour next year – a new record.

Hawaii’s Fred Patacchia Jr., 26, equaled his best result in Brazil with an equal 3rd finish at Imbituba, but was unable to take out a rampaging Durbidge in the semis to find himself in another 2008 final (he finished 2nd in Bali earlier this year).

“It was a tough heat, the conditions have changed a lot, in the earlier heats we had 8.00 and 9.00 point scores, and in that heat I had to wait forever,” Patacchia said. “I was trying to get the best waves but it didn’t work out, Bede surfed a smart heat and got the best waves.”

Patacchia’s highest year-end rating on the ASP World Tour was World No. 14 in 2005 – his rookie year. Now rated 11th and heading into the final event of the year held at home in Hawaii, Patacchia may well post a career-best rating in 2008.

“Yeah, it is always good to get a great result, so I’m happy,” Patacchia said. “I always look forward to surfing at home, theTriple Crown is always incredible for me, so I’m just looking forward to relaxing and being at home, surfing Pipe, Haleiwa, Sunset.”

The final event of the 2008 ASP World Tour will be held at the Banzai Pipeline from December 8-20, 2008. For more information, visit www.aspworldtour.com

Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro Final Results:
Final: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.76 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.86

Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro Semifinal Results:
Heat 1: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.00 def. Mikael Picon (FRA) 13.73
Heat 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.33 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 8.50

Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro Quarterfinal Results:
Heat 1: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 18.06 def. Leonardo Neves (BRA) 14.03
Heat 2: Mikael Picon (FRA) 12.23 def. Daniel Ross (AUS) 11.83
Heat 3: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.17 def. Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 12.30
Heat 4: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.83 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 9.40

Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro Round 4 Heat Results:
Heat 1: Leonardo Neves (BRA) 13.83 def. Marco Polo (BRA) 8.44
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.00 def. Ben Bourgeois (USA) 11.40
Heat 3: Daniel Ross (AUS) 13.50 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 13.00
Heat 4: Mikael Picon (FRA) 15.67 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.50
Heat 5: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.60 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 9.50
Heat 6: Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 14.34 def. Dayyan Neve (AUS) 13.00
Heat 7: Heitor Alves (BRA) 17.23 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.50
Heat 8: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.43 def. Tim Reyes (USA) 13.83

Top 10 Surfers on the 2008 ASP World Tour after the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro:
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 8042
2. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 6780
3. Taj Burrow (AUS) 6324
4. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 6180
5. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 5860
6. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 5748
7. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 5370
8. Mick Fanning (AUS) 5310
9. Bobby Martinez (USA) 5282
10. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 5214

After a day off, the ASP World Qualifying Series 6-Star Prime Santa Surf pro continued today completing 24 heats of the 2nd round in steady three foot waves at San Juan, Lanzarote.  Defending champion Patrick Beven of France lead by the end of the day going for something that has never happened here before: a fourth title and a second consecutive title at the tour stop.  Beven won Heat 8 with the highest score of the day which was a 16.33 out of a possible 20. 

“I had a good time out there and pushed my turns as hard as I could,” Beven said. “The waves were good enough to get some scores but I let the others start fast and waited for my waves to come. I was not stressed at all and felt good. I am relieved to get that win.”

Beven will surf against two Hawaiians in the next rounds, Gavin Gillette and ASP World Champion Sunny Garcia, and one Aussie in Drew Courtney.  It is sure to make for an interesting and competitive day with both Garcia and Courtney in position to qualify for next year’s ASP World Tour.  But it looks like Beven will have the home court advantage. 

“I have been coming here for a long time now and won three events including a European crown so I am definitely confident,” Beven said. “It is still stressing when you paddle out for your first heat because it is the one heat you really don’t want to lose. I am relaxed and focused so I hope I can do good again.”