Tasmanien sorgt für Wellen für die XXL Global Big Wave Awards
Laurie Towner war ebenfalls mit von der Party
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Hier ein paar Zeilen über die Ereignisse vom vergangenen Samstag aus Australien, wo u.a. der dreifache Weltmeister Andy Irons und Bigwave Legende Joel Parkinson ein paar ganz feine Wellen erwischt haben...!!
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Die Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards werden jedes Jahr in verschiedenen Kategorien an die Surfer und Fotografen/Kameraleute verliehen, die es schaffen, die grössten und spektakulärsten Wellen des Planeten zu bezwingen und ein filmisches oder fotografisches Zeugnis davon abzulegen.
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Andys Bombe !!!!
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Hier der englische Pressetext, zieht euch mal rein:
Just two weeks before the cut-off date for the 2006 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Monster Energy, a handful of the world's best surfers have battled monstrous surf last Saturday off the Southern tip of Tasmania in Australia. |
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With swells reaching 5m (15-18ft), a group of big wave adventurers including three times world champion Andy Irons (Haw), former world number two Joel Parkinson (Coolangatta), young Australian charger Laurie Towner (Angourie), Dylan Longbottom (Gold Coast) and Brendan Margieson (Gold Coast) towed and paddled into heaving caverns at Shipsterns Bluff, a rarely surfed isolated right hander named after the 100ft cliff which towers over the break.
The monumental session is set to cause a major shake up for current contenders in both the Monster Tube and Monster Paddle in categories for the Billabong XXL awards, thee annual big wave challenge that crowns the world's best big wave surfers. With entries coming primarily from huge surf ridden in Hawaii, Mexico, California and Tahiti, Australia will now be represented solidly after the session was captured on land and in the water by video and stills cameramen. The annual competition runs through March 31, with the awards ceremony scheduled for April 14, 2006 at The Grove Theater in Anaheim, California. For rules, judging criteria and all event details and particulars, see www.BillabongXXL.com. The complete story of the day ... Andy Irons, currently in Australia for the first leg of the professional world tour was more than happy to join the Billabong Adventure Division crew for the one day journey and proved his big wave expertise is applicable at any break, riding the twisting terror’s with consummate ease. The Adventure division is a program headed by Brendan Margieson charged with finding and riding big heavy waves around Australia. Andy Irons, who had towed into heavy sessions both in Hawaii and last years huge surf at Teahupoo just prior to the Billabong Pro Tahiti, rates Shipsterns and one mean mother of a wave. 19-year-old Towner, who scored one of the best waves of the season in Hawaii last year added another feather to his cap during his first ever surf at Shipsterns, paddling into one of the biggest waves ever to be ridden at the break without Personal Water Craft (PWC) assistance. With Irons calling the wave solid 15-foot (5m) and wide enough to drive a double decker bus through the middle, Towner’s ride will earn him nomination in the USD $10,000 Billabong XXL Monster Paddle in category alongside some of the most revered big wave surfers in the world. For Towner, surfing alongside childhood heroes Irons and Parkinson and being pushed by the ever charging Longbottom was a defining moment in his young surfing career. Currently rated fourth on the tough ASP Australasian Junior series, Towner has further elevated his status as one of the hottest prospects to emerge from the Australian junior ranks in recent years. His maiden Shipsterns session one he is not likely to forget for some time. Parkinson, who had surfed the break twice before and had also been towing into massive waves on the Gold Coast just one week prior, rated the session as one of the heaviest he has ever surfed in Australia. Suffering perhaps the worst wipe-out of the day on a 12 foot close-out, Parkinson was forced to straighten out, before the equivalent of a five story building collapsed around him, exploding him outwards towards the rocks. The 24-year-old’s unique tube riding skills held him in fine steed for the remainder of the session, bouncing back from the terrifying pounding to score some of the day’s biggest barrels. Remarkably, it was almost an identical session for XXL winner Longbottom, who twelve months ago rode a huge barrel ride at the same break to take out the coveted $5000 USD Billabong XXL monster tube ride award, the only Australian recognized. The surfer/shaper has forged a solid name for himself over the past 12 months, following the Billabong Adventure Division to some of the craziest locations in Australia. With the images and footage of the session still to be scrutinized by the XXL judging panel, Longbottom may find himself in a position to be nominated for the prestigious awards two years running. (c) all photos by Tim Jones/Billabong XXL |
Joel Parkinson
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Laurie Towner machte eine unglaublich Aktion
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