Kelly Slater Wins Billabong Pipe Masters Over Vans Triple Crown Winner John John Florence : ASP World Tour – The Association of Surfing Professionals

BANZAI PIPELINE, Oahu/Hawaii (Saturday, December 14, 2013) - Kelly Slater (USA), 41, has won his 7th Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons after a day of incredible 10-to-15 foot (three to four metre) waves at Pipeline today. Slater defeated John John Florence (HAW), 21, in a hard-fought, 35-minute Final that ended with less than half-a-point separating the two. The runner-up finish for Florence saw him crowned 2013 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing champion.

The final day of the Billabong Pipe Masters capped off the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) season in fine style, with epic conditions providing the ideal backdrop for the crowning of Mick Fanning (AUS), 32, as the ASP World Champion. It also finalized the ASP Top 34 roster for 2014. Fanning finished third overall, defeated by Florence in their Semifinal.

Transat Jacques Vabre review

The eleventh edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre double handed race set the longest course yet in the 20 years history of the coffee route. The MOD70 one design Multihulls set a blistering pace with a head to match race all of the 5450 miles course from Le Havre to Itajaí, Brasil. The IMOCA Open 60 fleet featured 10 boats from the last Vendée Globe and the flourishing Class 40 fleet drew 26 entries and delivered a truly international podium. And the Multi 50 class also enjoyed a thrilling match race between the top two protagonists.

  

MOD 70: Atlantic Match Race
There were two MOD70s on the start line in Le Havre. Jean-Pierre Dick’s Virbac-Paprec 70 capsized whilst training and broke their rig, just as Spindrift Racing also did in the summer. But the two, Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier) and Oman Air-Musandam (Sidney Gavignet and Damian Foxall) produced a close and engaging high speed race all the way from the start line off Le Havre to the finish line in Itajaí.

Whilst Edmond de Rothschild may have lead from the first mark of the course, and extended after breaking away slightly at Cape Finisterre, it was really only in the final hours of the race that Gavignet and Ireland’s Foxall had to concede they were destined for second place. The maximum delta was around 100 miles but in the latter stages of an express race, over which they averaged over 22kts boatspeed, the differential dropped to about 27 with 36 hours to the line.

The IMOCA creates the OCEAN MASTERS circuit - Vendée Globe

At a press conference organised on Friday morning at the Paris Boat Show , the IMOCA class announced the creation of a new world championship: Ocean Masters. It will begin with a new double-handed transatlantic race from New York to Barcelona starting on 1st June 2014. While the Vendée Globe remains the major event for the class, the goal is to give a structure to the 60-foot IMOCA monohull circuit, in order to internationalise and widen its audience.

New York - Barcelona
This is the course for the new double-handed race on the IMOCA calendar. The race will start on 1^st June 2014, after a week of racing in the heart of Manhattan. A warm up before the double-handed round the world race (the Barcelona World Race), the event is expected to attract around ten international double-handed crews. “I’m pleased to see the creation of this new race between New York and Barcelona and to be able to include it in the programme for Cheminées Poujoulat,” the Swiss skipper, Bernard Stamm declared. “It is important for our sponsors to be able to benefit from a solid programme with a clear outlook for the coming years.”

Ocean Masters, a new World Championship
It is with this in mind that at the Paris Boat Show Sir Keith Mills, founding president of the OSM (Open Sports Management) announced the creation of the IMOCA Ocean Masters, the new championship for the class. All of the major events in which the IMOCA60s compete will be included and the world title will be awarded every two years after the Barcelona World Race (double-handed races for the period 2014-2015) and the Vendée Globe (solo races for the period 2016-2017). “Just like other international circuits such as the F1 circuit, we wanted to offer sailing fans a real circuit. We need to open up this extraordinary sport to other countries, more sponsors, in order to widen our audience,” declared Sir Keith Mills. “It is vital to give the IMOCA a boost to achieve the success it deserves on an international level,” confirmed Luc Talbourdet, President of the IMOCA class. Seven nationalities were represented in the last Vendée Globe. The aim is to see even more countries represented in 2016-2017.

Billabong Pipe Masters to Decide World Title Race and 2014 Qualifiers | ASP North America

PIPELINE, Oahu/Hawaii (Thursday, December 5, 2013) - The 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) is nearing a close and the final event of 2013, the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons, will see a showdown for the ASP World Title between Mick Fanning (AUS), 32, and Kelly Slater (USA), 41. In addition to the battle for the throne, Pipeline will also determine the final qualification slots for the elite 2014 ASP World Championship Tour.

Entering the Billabong Pipe Masters, Fanning holds a commanding lead on a potential third ASP World Title. In order for Slater to surpass Fanning for an unprecedented 12th crown, he must win the event. Nothing less than a victory for Slater will see him pass Fanning on the rankings. If Slater does run the road to victory at Pipeline, Fanning must finish 3rd or better to claim the title for himself.

World’s Best Big Wave Riders Join Aikau Family to Celebrate Eddie’s Life at 29th Annual Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau

WAIMEA BAY, Oahu/Hawaii (Thursday, December 5, 2013) - On March 17, 1978, Waimea Bay’s head lifeguard and beloved big wave Hawaiian surfing son Eddie Aikau was lost at sea. Aikau was part of the crew aboard the traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule’a, en-route to Tahiti when Hokule’a capsized during a wild storm just outside of the Hawaiian Islands. Aikau set out on his surfboard to paddle for help for his stranded crew but was never seen again. The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau big wave invitational is celebrated at Waimea Beach each year in his honor.

Today, the world’s best big wave riders were joined by Aikau’s family and members of Aikau’s voyaging crew, who sailed in to join the surfers and hundreds of spectators who gathered to celebrate in Aikau’s honor.

Nainoa Thompson, fellow crewman on Hokule’a and the last person to speak to Aikau, addressed the surfers who gathered today. His soft voice, still touched by the events that took place 35 years ago, spoke with deep affection, humility, and sincere gratitude for Aikau and his actions on that fateful day that set an example for all who follow his story through time – surfers or otherwise.

ISAF | World Sailing | Allansson, Belcher And Ryan Light Up Melbourne

ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year and London Olympic Champion Mat Belcher and crew Will Ryan re-wrote sailing history by securing another regatta win in the 470 class, the 18th in a row for Belcher.  News & Features | ISAF | World Sailing | Official Site : Allansson, Belcher And Ryan Light Up Melbourne

World Championship Class 1 Title for Victory Team

Friday, 6 December, ABU DHABI (UAE): Arif Al Zaffain and Mohammed Al Marri produced a command performance to win race 2 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and clinch a record 13^th Class 1 World Championship title for Victory Team.

 

The only brief challenge to their utter supremacy over the 14 laps came early on when their teammates Darren Nicholson and Nadir Bin Hendi in Victory Australia jumped them at the start on the outside leg to lead, albeit briefly.

But a mistake by Nicholson at the first turn allowed Al Zaffain and Al Marri to get ahead and once out front they simply disappeared off into the distance to win by over 40 seconds with Al Zaffain and Al Marri taking their 37^th and 27^th career wins. “Today the luck was on our side because we broke a prop on the penultimate lap,” said Al Zaffain. “I was surprised to be passed at the beginning but 7 is a very quick boat but once we got back ahead it was our race and our title.”

52 SUPER SERIES – 2014, In a league of their own… | 52 Super Series

It may seems like there has been a close season break at all but in just six weeks the US 52 SUPER SERIES’ first regatta Quantum Key West (20-24 January) is set to be the early season springboard for what promises to be an exciting 2014 52 SUPER SERIES season. Regattas in Key West and Miami are followed by the European events in Capri, for the first time ever, Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Palma Mallorca and Ibiza. 

Building on the success of last year’s initiative to take the 52 SUPER SERIES to America for the first time, Quantum Key West looks set to attract seven 52’s including the 2013 world champions, Niklas Zennström’s Rán Racing and 2013 Key West winners, Azzurra, from Europe.

Of the five US flagged boats which are expected to compete, three crews will be new to 52 SUPER SERIES racing, Anema & Core (ex Platoon 2006), Hooligan (ex 2x Med Cup winning ETNZ) – which has just been bought by US owner Gunther Buerman from a very successful period in Australia and Sled (ex Rio/Synergy), owned by Takashi Okura.