Lots going on in the contest arena at the moment. The highest profile international event is the Rip Curl Pro WCT Somewhere in Chile (it's actually being held at Arica, dubbed - reasonably enough, when you look at this picture - as "the Chilean Pipeline"), which kicked off this week. Congratulations to local surfers Manuel Selman and Christian Merello for their performances in the Trials. The pair becomes the first Chilean surfers to compete at a Fosters ASP World Tour event and Round 1 should start in solid swell tomorrow morning. What price Kelly Slater, currently 6th in the ratings, and Andy Irons (7th) upping their status by end of the contest?
In Europe, the European Surfing Championships are underway at Anglet in South-West France. The English Team has strong prospects thanks to the likes of Sam Bleakley, twice a former European champion, the Isle of Wight's highly rated Johnny Fryer and last year's Junior BPSA Champion Matt Capel. The team has been sponsored by Headworx.
Closer to home, this coming weekend sees one of the most popular events on the domestic surfing calendar, the Fat Face Night Surf at Lusty Glaze, Newquay. This is the second event on the BPSA Tour and always great fun. Given the storm currently raging outside my window, the Night Surf could have some tasty swell. Better still, the event will be streamed live thanks to Kevin Stone, the younger brother of highly respected Newquay surfer Jed Stone. Check out www.focusworx.com/streaming.htm for the action.
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