Irons wins the search again, this time its Bruce not Andy

Bruce Irons has been surfing so solid throughout this whole event, proving once again how dominant he is in barreling left reef breaks. With much being said about Bruce packing in the tour after this season, it is quite clear that it has nothing to do with his ability, but rather as he has said many times over; He can`t be bothered unless it is big and heavy conditions.

With Bruce being so far back in the ratings, and the top 5 contenders out early, this event while it was awesome as hell, will have little effect on the outcome of this years title race.

Well done Bruce, way to step out of big bro`s shadow!


RIP CURL PRO SEARCH FINAL RESULTS
1 – Bruce Irons (HAW) 17.66
2 – Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.16

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH SEMIFINAL RESULTS
SF 1: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 10.16 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 8.50
SF 2: Bruce Irons (HAW) 13.70 def. Chris Ward (USA) 13.50

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
QF 1: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 16.50 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 14.17
QF 2: Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.00 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.34
QF 3: Bruce Irons (HAW) 19.40 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 9.67
QF 4: Chris Ward (USA) 16.34 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.90

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH ROUND 4 RESULTS
Heat 1: Kai Otton (AUS) 11.67 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.67
Heat 2: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 19.50 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.40
Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 10.00 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 6.30
Heat 4: Tiago Pires (PRT) 13.77 def. Dayyan Neve (AUS) 5.06
Heat 5: Bruce Irons (HAW) 10.84 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 10.83
Heat 6: Ben Dunn (AUS) 15.97 def. Mikael Picon (FRA) 12.37
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.43 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.83
Heat 8: Chris Ward (USA) 18.17 def. Andy Irons (HAW) 11.33

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 AFTER STOP NO. 6
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 5620 points
2 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 4548 points
3 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 4382 points
4 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 4370 points
5 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 4353 points
6 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 3950 points
7 – Andy Irons (HAW) 3938 points
8 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 3870 points
9 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 3628 points
10 – Bruce Irons (HAW) 3392 points

Taj Burrows through to the Quarter Finals

The Rip Curl Search from somewhere in Indo has been full of upsets. With Kelly Slater bowing out in round three and Parko,Andy, Mick and Bede getting retired in round 4. The door to jump back into the race for the 08` ASP title has slipped open.
Taj will face off against Chris Ward in heat 4 of the quarter`s, which looks to be a hell of a heat. Wardo took out A.I with a sick combo score, which saw Andy paddle in with 2mins left on the clock after throwing in his hat and going switchfoot on his last wave.


The swell is still charging, a clean 3-4ft, solid sets and a whole bunch of surfers who thrive in these conditions, who ever takes this one is going to have to push the limits. The past few years have seen so many events on the tour, being run due to time constraints in less then perfect conditions, but this years search event has been awesome, as it always seems to be. Well done to the crew at Rip Curl.

Kelly Slater Goes down in round 3!

With perfect left hand indo barrels, the worlds top 4 surfers have steped up to the plate at this years Rip Curl Pro Search. This year the boys and girls at Rip Curl have taken us to `Somewhere in Indo` and so far it has been a hell of a show.
Today`s huge upset came in the form of 8x world champ, Kelly Slater losing in round 3 to avery inform Tiago Pires. While Kelly was running the heat from the start, Putting Tiago in a combo situation (16+ point score ), Tiago was not to be underestimated. Pires has shown throughout this year that he is deadly on any hollow left, and he proved it yet again today, taking the heat from Slater in the final minute, with a sick pit that scored him an 8+ ride and a ticket into round 4.


With Slater out early, the door has been cracked open a few inches on what has so far been a runaway title race.
After seeing Kelly`s little switch foot bottom turn/stall tube ride in round 1, I thought, jeez this is the year, Kelly is going to actually win a Search event. I also thought, WTF, did that sell his soul to huey or what!


The roll has stopped, possibly only briefly, but perhaps enought to get guys like Bede, Joel, And, Taj and Mick Fired up enough to put a little race in the case for the ASP 2008 title!



RIP CURL PRO SEARCH ROUND 3 RESULTS
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.84 def. Daniel Wills (AUS) 9.77
Heat 2: Kai Otton (AUS) 17.50 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.83
Heat 3: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 6.86 def. Luke Stedman (AUS) 4.90
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.40 def. Royden Bryson (ZAF) 11.43
Heat 5: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 13.17 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.64
Heat 6: Bobby Martinez (USA) 15.43 def. Michael Campbell (AUS) 14.40
Heat 7: Dayyan Neve (AUS) 17.43 def. Tim Reyes (USA) 11.83
Heat 8: Tiago Pires (PRT) 17.57 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 16.33
Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.34 def. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 3.90
Heat 10: Bruce Irons (HAW) 15.50 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 6.24
Heat 11: Mikael Picon (FRA) 14.00 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 5.67
Heat 12: Ben Dunn (AUS) 14.43 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.17
Heat 13: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.30 def. Ben Bourgeois (USA) 8.43
Heat 14: Dean Morrison (AUS) 10.10 def. Roy Powers (HAW) 9.60
Heat 15: Andy Irons (HAW) 17.33 def. Neco Padaratz (BRA) 9.34
Heat 16: Chris Ward (USA) 14.84 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 8.67

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 2: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Joel Parkinson (AUS)
Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 4: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Bruce Irons (HAW)
Heat 6: Mikael Picon (FRA) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)
Heat 8: Andy Irons (HAW) vs. Chris Ward (USA)

This Years Rip Curl Search!

The Rip Curl SEARCH Men's WCT event is still searching. Unsuccessful attempts at securing an Australian or New Zealand location have surfing fans wondering where, and if, Rip Curl can pull off a SEARCH event this year. If it does happen, it’s clear that a developing country will be Rip Curl's home, most likely Indonesia according to well-placed anonymous sources.

Rip Curl first attempted to secure the legendary wave at Gnaraloo station in Western Australia. The perfect and challenging left hand barrel would have been a great test for the world's best competitive surfers. Upon hearing about Rip Curl's plans to hold the SEARCH at Gnaraloo, the local surfing community united against the event and created an online petition. The “Save Gnaraloo” petition secured thousands of signatures and forced Rip Curl to look at other options. According to one former Rip Curl employee, "(Rip Curl) will not hold the event without support of the local community."

After deciding against Gnaraloo, Rip Curl eyed the epic lefthanders of Raglan in New Zealand, according to New Zealand's Waikato Times Newspaper. Raglan, and specifically the wave known as "Indicators", like Gnaraloo, would be a great venue, both scenically and competitively pending a swell for the world’s Top 45 surfers. Again however, the local surfing community emphatically protested the event by unanimously voting against it at a Raglan Town Hall Meeting, thereby once again denying the Rip Curl SEARCH WCT’s request. The landowners and local surfers cited indigenous Maori sacred land as the primary cause of concern, according to the Waikato Times report.



Surfing New Zealand, the country's governing association for competitive surfing, has offered a solution. According the Waikato Times article, Surfing New Zealand has suggested holding the event at other spots in the scenic country, specifically Manu Bay and the Raglan bar. No one knows for sure if Rip Curl is considering Surfing New Zealand's offer.

If past success is an indicator, then look for Rip Curl to search out a developing country with the infrastructure to handle the logistics of a large event and the financial desire to look past issues raised by first world countries. Indonesia, specifically Bali, seems the obvious choice. Don't be surprised if G-Land is on Rip Curl's short list as well.

At this point Rip Curl's SEARCH WCT location remains unknown. In an email regarding its next locale, Neil Ridgway, Rip Curl’s International Marketing Director, would only comment, "Somewhere…”. Rumors about Indonesia have been boiling in the Orange County surf industry cauldron as the event’s most probable site. With a 'floating' license from the ASP that runs from July 30 - August 10 everybody is going to need an answer from Rip Curl fairly soon. Logistically speaking, people need to know. The prestigious Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach is next on the ASP’s docket. Rip Curl will likely announce the SEARCH WCT location at that time.

If you are like most, really the only thing for certain is that come July 30th, on a webcast near you, the Top 45 surfers will be ripping somewhere. Our hunch is that it will be in Bali or G-Land. Wherever they end up, this year more than any other, Rip Curl has certainly had to break out the maps, flashlights, and diplomatic skills, and search.


For my money, I would love to see it it go down in some Makin' lefts at G-Land, with the poor conditions at Pipe for the Pipeline Masters, and the last few years at chopes. I am starting to froth over seeing the top 45 get some serious backhand pits! Make it G-land and may huey send super hollow, super clean 6-8ft surf so we can get a real show this year!