In a 72-hour flurry, the WSL has released a number of exciting announcements for the rest of this season and next year’s CT. Firstly, as expected, 11x world champion Kelly Slater has not quite put his feet up on the couch for good. Earlier this month the goat was a victim of the mid-year cut in WA, bringing to an end his full time tour status and one of the most illustrious competitive careers in sporting history. However, the WSL has granted him wildcards for the next event at Teahupo’o and at Fiji later this year. Both waves are favourites of Kelly’s and although he may struggle to take down ..read more

Following on from one of the biggest Easter weekend parties at Bells Beach in recent memory, the Tracks party tour is returning next month with shows on the Gold Coast and in Sydney. The Bells party, sponsored by Yeti, Dragon, Rip Curl and Blackmans Brewery, saw over 600 people turn up to wreak havoc to the surf punk riffs of the Goons of Doom and dance the night away to DJ Eddy at the Torquay Surf Lifesaving Club. The place was full blown carnage with stage diving, mosh pits, dancing; all fueled by the Goons who reminded us how weekend surf trips should be celebrated. Following on from their ..read more

Tributes have poured in for legendary and innovative shaper Geoff McCoy who has passed at the age of 79. Born in Gosford on the Central Coast of NSW, Geoff grew up around surfing with his father the captain of the local Killcare Surf Club. He was also successful at athletics and learnt to ride horses ­– a tradition which dated back generations in his family. Geoff decided to take up shaping surfboards after completing a pattern-making apprenticeship in the early 1960’s. After working under various shapers, he eventually decided to open McCoy surfboards at his own factory in Brookvale on the No ..read more

URBNSURF has announced that its long awaited wave pool at the Olympic Park in Sydney will open to the public on 13 May. The Sydney wave garden follows on from the company’s Melbourne pool which opened almost five years ago and has since played host to a WSL qualifying series event. Sydney’s new pool is worth $75 million AUD and is situated in Greater Western Sydney, 3km west of the CBD. According to URBNSURF, the park will be open 7 day per week from 6am till 10pm, can accommodate up to 1,000 visitors per day and will offer the same settings as the Melbourne pool, ranging from beginner surf l ..read more

The culmination of the Margaret River Pro also brought to an end the drama of the mid-season cut. While the WSL was not blessed with epic conditions in WA until finals day, the threat of the axe insured tension throughout the event window. Undoubtedly, the biggest name to fall off tour was 11x world champion Kelly Slater. It was a moment that will go down in history as it potentially brought to an end one of the most illustrious competitive careers in sporting history. Aside from Slater, there was a number of staples on tour from both the men’s and women’s side that were sent packing and will ..read more

A group of Cabins etched in NSW surfing history are at threat of being demolished and could leave the last remaining permanent tenant without a home. The cabins, located at Cunjurong Point on the south coast of NSW, were built by Don Hearn in the early 1960s. Since their construction, thousands of surfers have used them as a peaceful sanctuary and a place to stay while heading to surf the nearby Green Island. Don, who served in Papua New Guinea and Libya during World War II, passed in 1991 and the lease was given to a lady called Lexi Meyer who is approaching 70-years-old. For the last 32 year ..read more

Local hero Jack Robinson saved his best surfing till last to become 2x Margaret River Pro champion against John John Florence in a wave-filled final at pumping main break. The WA regular-footer admitted that he had surfed tactically throughout finals day during heats which were slightly starved of high scoring opportunity. However, he was blessed with pumping conditions for the final and his full repertoire was on show as he laid down some huge carves and took to the air to beat John who had looked untouchable earlier in the day. On the women’s side Gabriella Bryan laid down some high caliber ..read more

If there is a wave of consequence to be surfed in Portugal, you can almost guarantee Nic Von Rupp will be on it. The Portuguese big wave surfer seems to know every nook and cranny up and down the country’s coastline and is often found stuffing himself into the gnarliest barrels possible. This is evident in the latest episode of his Von Froth series where he is found sending it over the ledge at a left hand slab during the darkest of winter days. Click the link above to watch. The post WATCH: Dark winter days and big slabs with Nic Von Rupp appeared first on Tracks Magazine ..read more

‘Don’t worry, Kelly. T-Bone is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert, and he’s had three bacon and egg sandwiches this morning. He’s probably gunna need a couple more after this.’ They were the words of local plumber and Barrelled Surf podcast host, Adz Kennedy, broadcast to the world as he and co-hosts T-Bone and DJ Namu chaired Kelly Slater up the Surfers Point stairs following his final heat as a full-time competitor. The boys are all just “regular Joe Blokes from Yallingup”, says Adzy, but through a well-hatched plan, a bit of luck, and some good old Aussie larrikinism they managed to insert “their ..read more

If you have been tuning into the Margaret River Pro, you may have noticed another voice in the commentary booth and a different shiny head to that of Vaughan Blakey’s. The team have been joined by commentator and surf historian Matt Chojnacki who has been wondering around the contest site offering insights into the types of boards the competitors have been using. But, who is Matt Chojnacki? Matt Chojnacki grew up surfing in the storied lineups of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, in the 90s and early 2000s. They were heady times, when a clutch of northside surfers were still a force on the World Tour ..read more