Eric Terrien wins 1st Euro leg of the Stand Up World Series
Amidst a highly competitive and international field of athletes, Eric Terrien once again reads the conditions immaculately, to secure the win in not only the sprint race, but also overall here at the first European stop on the Stand Up World Series.
Eric navigated the fast paced sprint course with skill and precision, fending off the ever dangerous Kai Lenny (Naish) to cross the finish line first and match his phenomenal long distance result here in France. Congratulations on a great result and a dominant performance from this leading European athlete.
Kai Lenny battles to the end, narrowly missing out on win
Kai Lenny (Naish) dominated every heat he competed in through the day until the final, where he shot off the start like a bullet, leading the race through the first leg, with Eric Terrien right on his heals. However, Eric then accelerated past, before Kai managed to surf his way back into the lead again. Much to his dismay, he ended up getting caught up around the inside buoy, allowing Eric slip through the gap to take the win both in the beach sprint race, but also the overall win at Stand Up World Series stop 2.
Despite the dissapointment of not taking the win in the Beach Sprint Race at La Torche, Kai Lenny finishes a very worthy second place here at the La Torche Pro with Naish and Hoalen.
Casper Steinfath does his country proud here in France
As the sole Danish representative here at the La Torche Pro with Naish and Hoalen, Casper Steinfath (Naish) stepped up not only in the surf competition having been awarded a well deserved wildcard, but also the Racing, with a 4th place in the sprint race and a 3rd place in the long distance.
Casper is certainly someone to look out for in the future and has provend himself as an exceptionally well rounded athlete.
Local Greg Closier completes the final 4 at La Torche Pro
Despite a dissappointing disqualification from the long distance race on Friday (due to him missing the final mark), Greg Closier wasted no time in making up for the loss in the beach sprint race yesterday, battling his way through the pack and the eliminations to finish in an impressive 3rd place.
Unfortunately, his lack of a result in the long distance does not help his overall standings, despite having demonstrated his abilities in front of an extremely enthusiastic crowd. However, he has certainly proved himself as a name to watch for right here on the Stand Up World Series. Here he shares a wave with Kody Kerbox (Naish) and one of the leading Fanatic riders.
Mo Freitas caps an incredible event with a 5th place finish
After his 7th place in the Stand Up World Tour surf event and now 7th in the Stand Up World Series event, (with a 5th in the beach race and 12th in the long distance), 14 year old Mo Freitas (Imagine) proves to be way beyond his years, showing that he can not only keep up with the Champion’s of the sport, but beat them. Without a doubt, this young phenom from Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu has a great future ahead of him.
Leonard Nika from Italy stands out at the La Torche Pro
Leonard Nika (Starboard) shows the world that he is a force to be reckoned with at the La Torche Pro with Naish and Hoalen, finishing in 5th place in the long distance and 6th in the Beach Sprint elimination, propelling him to 4th place overall for the Stand Up World Series event here in NW France.
Leonard is certainly someone to look out for in 2012, as he represents Italy on the Stand Up World Championship Racing Series.
Women stand out at La Torche Pro with Naish & Hoalen
The women stand strong in the Stand Up World Series component of the La Torche Pro Grand Slam, showcasing that the talent and competition is every bit as intense as the men.
With a dominating performance in both the City Long distance Race and the Beach Sprint slalom elimination race, Olivia Piana (Fanatic) demonstrated her exceptional talent in both racing styles with bullet wins in both, like Eric Terrien. This naturally means that she also secures the overall event win on this spectacular European leg on the Stand Up World Series.
In second in both the City and Beach Race, Faustine Merret secured her 2nd place overall, and universal acclaim for a great performance here at La Torche.
In third in the City Race, local to the region of Brittany, Caroline Angibaud demonstrated that she is not only a phenomenal talent in surfing (with a win earlier this week in the women’s division of the Stand Up World Tour), but also in Racing too, with a stand out performance in this unique Long Distance race.
Meanwhile, 3rd overall went to 3rd place finisher in the Beach Sprint Race, Patricia Hernandez from Spain, with strong finishes in both. Congratulations to all the women: an exciting taste of what is to come in terms of intense competition amongst the world’s very best athletes.
Beach Race provides a spectacular close to La Torche Pro
The Beach Sprint elimination Race provides a fitting and spectacular close to what has been an epic World Series showdown at the La Torche Pro with Naish and Hoalen. Welcoming athletes from 16 different countries, the Stand Up World Series strengthens its mission of uniting a legitimate global world championship series through 2012, that will mature into 2013 and beyond.
This first stop in Europe brought together athletes from as far away as Australia, Hawaii, Brazil and Mexico, to as close as Pont l’Abbe for a completely unique event that tested racers’ complete racing skill set and demonstrated that Europe is fast becoming an immense hotbed of stand up paddle talent.
Final Results from the 2012 Stand Up World Series, stop 2
Full results and video highlights will be available by tomorrow (results & by later this week for video highlights) at www.latorchepro.com. Updated rankings will be available online at www.standupworldseries.com, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here is a summary of the podium results:
Overall World Series Results: Men
- Eric Terrien (FR) – 4000 pts
- Kai Lenny – Naish (HI) – 3000 pts
- Casper Steinfath – Naish (DK) – 2750 pts
Overall World Series Results: Women
- Olivia Piana (Fanatic) – FR – 4000 pts
- Faustine Merret (FR) – 3000 pts
- Patricia Hernandez (SP) – 2750 pts
City Race Results: Men
- Eric Terrien (FR)
- Gaeten Sene – Starboard (FR)
- Casper Steinfath – Naish (DK)
City Race Results: Women
- Olivia Piana – Fanatic (FR)
- Faustine Merret (FR)
- Caroline Angibaud (FR)
Beach Race Results: Men
- Eric Terrien (FR)
- Kai Lenny – Naish (HI)
- Casper Steinfath – Naish (DK)
Beach Race Results: Women
- Olivia Piana – Fanatic (FR)
- Faustine Merret (FR)
- Patricia Hernandez (SP)
Red Bull Flow Hunters
http://www.redbull.co.nz/cs/Satellite/en_NZ/Event/Red-Bull-Flow-Hunters-021243160867999
When Ben Brown focuses on something it happens. He comes from a select group of inspirational athletes who has dedicated the majority of his life to his sport. He lives and breathes it. He trains religiously. He makes sacrifices others would not. He overcomes serious injuries that would end some careers. Ben Brown lives his out his dreams. So when Ben Brown shared his dream of chasing, then paddling some of the biggest and most dangerous white water in New Zealand, others listened.
Paul Basagoitia First to Land Natural Terrain Double Backflip
double backflip
Fulfilling a lifelong dream, professional Teva sponsored freeride mountain bike athlete, Paul Basagoitia can now add a natural terrain double backflip to his list of accomplishments. Taking place just outside Page, AZ, Paul has cemented himself in history by raising the bar of freeride mountain biking to the next level.
“It felt great when my wheels touch the ground because I don’t think my body could have handled another hit,” says Basagoitia. “It wasn’t easy, I knocked myself out a couple times but I finally accomplished what I’ve been trying to do for years.”
Following in the footsteps of other legendary action sports athletes such as Levi Lavalle to Travis Pastrana, accomplishing a double backflip is a major accomplishment for both the athlete and the progression of any sport.
“The double back flip isn’t the most technical trick but it takes a lot of airtime and even more commitment,” says Travis Pastrana, professional motosports athlete and extreme sports legend. “Once you leave the take-off, there is no turning back and no way to bail out. Paul has guts and it’s great to see that he’s pushing the limits.”
In celebration of Paul joining the Teva mountain bike team, Paul’s sponsors Teva and Red Bull partnered together to support his vision for this project—to put the mountain back into mountain biking.
“There are a lot of kids on mountain bikes doing the same crazy tricks that BMX guys are doing. Let’s bring that into the big mountain and showcase what a mountain bike can actually do,” says Basagoitia.
Trampers were close to death: rescuer
Some of the 16 people who had to be rescued from Mt Tongariro in hazardous weather on Saturday were shaking, hysterical and close to dying from hypothermia, one of the men who found the group says.
The group of inexperienced trampers had planned to walk the 19km Tongariro Alpine Crossing, but found themselves in trouble as they reached the track’s summit.
Visibility was poor and the trampers, who had no alpine clothing, were battered by rain, strong winds and very cold temperatures.
Police have criticised Turangi-based transport operator Mountain Shuttle for encouraging the group to go ahead with the walk.
Two Auckland trampers, Ghaz Jabur and Graham Plows, found the soaking wet and poorly clothed group late in the morning and called emergency services.
Mr Jabur told Radio New Zealand many of the group were shaking and unresponsive.
“They were pretty much blue, their lips were cracked.”
Mr Jabur and Mr Plows gave the worst-off members of the group warm clothing and emergency blankets, before helping them down the mountain.
“I was holding them by the collar and just pulling them and throwing them in front of me, just to keep them moving,” Mr Jabur said.
The transport operator put the lives of the trampers in danger by telling them the weather would improve, he said.
“If we weren’t up there, four or five people would have died that day,” he said.
Police say other transport operators had refused to take walkers to the start of the crossing on Saturday because of the poor weather.
Kevin Gardiner, who owns Mountain Shuttle which had taken the party to the track, told NZ Newswire he had asked the group if they wanted to go ahead with the tramp.
When they decided to continue as planned, he told them that if they wanted to turn back, they could contact him and a shuttle would pick them up.
Mr Gardiner says the group was spoken to about safety and the weather.
New Zealand shark-surfing incident inspires flood of criticism
Fishing for sharks is one thing, but surfing on a shark carcass after its capture and posting videotape on Facebook is just begging for trouble. Nobody knows this better than three New Zealand anglers who have spent the past several days apologizing and defending themselves, while the incident remains under investigation by at least one government agency.
Image showing Eddie Bithell attempting to surf a dead thresher shark is via Facebook
The anglers had landed a large bigeye thresher shark after a marathon battle, and took the predator to port to be weighed. The next day they decided to tow the carcass to sea and “feed it to the food chain,” Zane Wright, the boat owner, told the Bay of Plenty Times.
The trouble began when Eddie Bithell decided to surf on the shark as it was being towed, tail-first, behind Wright’s boat, while Mark Collins captured the event on videotape.
When Collins posted the video to his Facebook page, without Bithell’s permission and without including all of the details, the flood of criticism began. (The video has since been removed.)
Catherine Cassidy, an Auckland environmentalist, was pointed toward the video by a shark expert in Borneo, and expressed her disgust to local newspapers and the Ministry of Primary Industries.
Cassidy told the Times: “We see people working hard worldwide to establish shark sanctuaries, where every shark counts, and then we see acts like this from a so-called developed country. It is heartbreaking and offensive.”
The anglers belong to the Tauranga Game Fishing Club. The Ministry for Primary Industries has confirmed it’s investigating the incident.
Interestingly, Shark Diver, a shark ecotourism company, used the incident to point out the hypocrisy of criticism coming from New Zealand, which still allows the controversial practice of shark finning, or removing fins from captured sharks and tossing their bodies overboard.
“New Zealand is one of the few Western countries left on the planet that not only allows shark finning,” Shark Diver states. “New Zealand is a main purveyor of legal shark fins to the Asian market.”
As for the anglers, they’re in damage-control mode.
Bithell: “I didn’t realize everyone would have such an opinion about it. We were not trying to be disrespectful with dead animals.”
Wright, who said he releases most sharks but this one had been hooked by the tail and drowned during the fight: “They think we’ve gone out to murder a shark and we’ve ridden it while it was alive and tortured it and that’s completely not what’s happened.”
A Tauranga Game Fishing Club spokesman: “We do not wish to be involved.”
Mark Connor, president of the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, acknowledged that laws do not appear to have been broken but added: “We do not condone this type of behavior at all and we would be very disappointed if it was one of our members or someone associated with the club…. People like this can give us a bad name.”
As for bigeye threshers, they’re in reasonably good health from a population standpoint, according toDepartment of Conservation shark expert Clinton Duffy.
“I don’t know about the wisdom of shark surfing but the shark itself is fairly common,” he said.
Bog Works Big Wave event scheduled for Tuesday, May 1.
It could be Mayday and Mayhem tomorrow as Surfing Taranaki’s Bog Works Big Wave Invitational 2012 is all go for Tuesday, May 1, in predicted 4 metre waves and light offshore winds.
With a $5000 prize purse, the big wave surfing event will be held at the legendary big wave break, Bog Works, on New Plymouth’s foreshore with a 10am start. The best viewing for spectators will be from along Woolcombe Tce (just east of Placemakers) or from the acclaimed Coastal Walkway below.
The line up of big wave contenders includes Paige Hareb, currently in between ASP World Tour events, as well as Daniel Keropa and a host of Taranaki and New Zealand big wave riders.
The Big Wave Invitational will run along the lines of other big wave competitions around the world, says Craig Williamson, Executive Officer of Surfing Taranaki.
“One of the most famous and long standing big wave competitions is Hawaii´s annual Eddie Aikau Memorial Competition,” says Craig.
“We have taken some inspiration from this event and hope to create our own little bit of magic right here in Taranaki for New Zealanders to take part in and enjoy. Taranaki often enjoys sizeable ground swells from the Southern Ocean from Autumn through till Spring enabling Bog Works to come into its own as a big wave break not for the faint-hearted.¨
The prize packages is broken down into $2,000 for the winner, $1,000 for the runner up, $500 for third, $250 for the, fifth and sixth place getters, along with awards of $250 each for the Biggest Wave, Most Critical take-off and Best Tube Ride of the day.
All competitors below are confirmed but still need to register with the Beach Marshall before 9am and be present for a competitors 9:15am meeting, with the view to get underway by 10am.
JAMIE (CHIP) ANDREWS
TYLER ANDERSON
JEREMY CURD
KANE ROWSON
BACHELOR TIPENE
JEREMY GRAINGER
GORDON MCBRIDE
JARROD HANCOX
CRAIG DINGLE
JASON MATHEWS
SIMON DEKEN
CONAN JAMES
SIMON MOULD
MIKE BREWER
ELI SMITH
PAIGE HAREB
DAN KEREOPA
PETE MALONEY
CLINT REID
Surfers registered and on Standby are:
MARK PARTHMORE
MILES RATIMA
SAM HAWKE
DOUG YOUNG
BEN NOTTINGHAM
CONTOUR – ROAM
Police criticise treacherous Tongariro trip
Police have criticised a transport operator for allowing a group of 16 under-prepared trampers to take on the hazardous Tongariro Alpine Crossing in bad weather, resulting in a number of them suffering from hypothermia.
The group was dropped off at the Mangatepopo car park yesterday morning by Mountain Shuttles, a Turangi-based company.
The group was to walk the 19km track to their waiting vehicles at Ketetahi.
Despite strong winds, rain, poor visibility and very cold temperatures on the mountain, the company told them the weather would improve and that they would be fine, police said.
None of the inexperienced group had appropriate alpine clothing, with some wearing shorts or jeans.
By the time they reached the Tongariro summit the weather had not improved and they were soaked to the skin, with many in the early stages of hypothermia.
Two other trampers came across the freezing group and gave warm clothing to the worst affected before helping them down to a Department of Conservation hut warden who was waiting to assist them down the mountain.
Two search and rescue teams from the Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation met them near Soda Springs and provided them with food, drink and warm dry clothing before leading them back to Mangatepopo car park where they were treated by three waiting ambulances.
Two women were taken to Taupo Hospital for further treatment.
Inspector Steve Mastrovich said other transport operators in the area had refused to take clients yesterday because of the hazardous weather conditions.
“Police are disappointed that [the shuttle company] did not take a similar approach and will discuss this with the operator.
“Encouraging ill-prepared and under-equipped people to go into an alpine environment is irresponsible and contrary to the practices of the local tourism operators who are members of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing users group.”
Police praised the actions of the two trampers who helped the group: “If it was not for their actions and assistance the outcome may have been different.”
People venturing into the outdoors were reminded that the winter season is nearly upon us which means a dramatic drop in temperatures, especially in alpine environments.
“Ensure you have the correct equipment for the environment and always prepare for the worst weather.
“If in doubt people are urged to contact the local Department of Conservation visitors centre for weather and track updates before venturing into the area.”
“Code Red” Full Movie – Surfing Goes Huge At Teahupoo Tahiti
Mountains to Sea Trail grand opening hikoi this Thursday
24 April 2012
Media Release
Mountains to Sea Trail grand opening hikoi this Thursday
The Mountains to Sea Trail, the fifth Great Ride to be fully-completed under Nga Haerenga, The New Zealand Cycle Trail, will celebrate its grand opening with a three-day hikoi ride this Thursday.
The 317-kilometre Mountains to Sea Nga Ara Tuhono takes cyclists on a journey ride from the slopes of Mount Ruapehu and through the Tongariro and Whanganui National Parks. The trail includes the iconic Bridge to Nowhere and a half-hour jet boat ride on the Whanganui River.
New Zealand Cycle Trail Project Manager John Dunn says the trail stands as a showcase of New Zealand’s diverse landscapes.
“Mountains to Sea can truly claim to be one of the epic Great Rides. From witnessing the snowy peaks of Mt Ruapehu, abandoned settlements rich in cultural heritage, and the tranquillity of the Whanganui River, this multi-day adventure sums up the stunningly diverse scenery that cyclists can take in.
“As cycle tourism continues to grow, I know Mountains to Sea will be an asset the local communities will truly cherish. Already, ski shops that would once close for summer are now staying opening year-round to offer bike hire and cater for the burgeoning demand from cyclists.”
“Jet boat operators are reporting equally strong growth. One company has seen cycle tourists almost double in the past year. To cater for the growing demand the company has hired four new staff and ordered a purpose-built jet boat, specifically designed to carry bikes.”
Visit Ruapehu General Manager Mike Smith says estimates show the Mountains to Sea Trail has already generated up to 20 full-time equivalent jobs and $1 million in increased visitor spending.
“With the trail fully open, we can now realise the full benefits of our investment. Early estimates show that in three years’ time the trail could create between 50 and 100 jobs and attract between 30,000 and 50,000 additional visitor nights. That’s a potential $10 million in new income for the district.
“We’re already focused on further trail developments, with a community-based project to build a new trail from National Park Village to Horopito. This would link National Park Village to Ohakune and be a stunning addition to the trail network. We’re also excited about the opening of The Timber Trail next spring, bringing Taumarunui into the bike tourism business as well.”
The Mountains to Sea Trail is a partnership project between the New Zealand Cycle Trail project, the Department of Conservation, Whanganui iwi, the Ruapehu District Council and Wanganui District Council.
Event Details
A three day cycle journey (hikoi) travelling the entire length of the Mountains to Sea Nga Ara Tuhono will take place on the Thursday, 26 April through to Saturday, 28 April.
The hikoi will allow the cycle trail partners, iwi and the local communities to showcase their sections of trail and the benefits to local businesses and the local and regional economy.
A blessing and opening event will be held in Ohakune at the start of the hikoi. Another event will be held in Whanganui at the end.
Details are available on the Visit Ruapehu website: <a href=”http://www.visitruapehu.co.nz/new-zealand/mountains-to-sea-cycle-trail-hikoi/” target=”_blank”> http://www.visitruapehu.co.nz/new-zealand/mountains-to-sea-cycle-trail-hikoi/</a>
For further information, or photos, please contact:
Alastair Stewart
Communications Advisor
Nga Haerenga, The New Zealand Cycle Trail
Ministry of Economic Development
Phone: 04 470 2508 Mobile: 021 358 274
Mike Smith
General Manager
Visit Ruapehu Trust
Mobile: 027 508 8950
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