Bells Beach

The Huntington Beach High surf team is going to Australia on Friday. Usually every year, they travel to a new destination, do some surfing, get some cultural exchange programs going, meet new friends and see new places. Coach Andy Verdone thought it would be nice to see and support alum Brett Simpson, who’s on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ World Tour, and watch him surf in the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach from Tuesday to April 10. Verdone thinks this could be Simpson’s breakout event because of the similarities of waves at Bells and Huntington Beach.

The Assn. of Surfing Professional's World Championship Tour is in its second event of the season, the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, Australia. They've already run a couple of the rounds in 2- to 4-foot surf, with some hollow rights lining up. Already there have been some big upsets as a few of the big-gun U.S. surfers have lost out in round three, like Bobby Martinez and Chris Ward, plus Hawaii's Pancho Sullivan the "Power Master," and Aussies Mark...

RICK FIGNETTI The world's best surfers are still in the land Down Under, Australia, for the World Championship Tour's Rip Curl Pro. The surf contest that usually is held at Bells Beach -- for an incredible 33 years, the longest-running pro surf event in Australian history -- was moved to Phillip Island's Woolamai Beach for bigger surf. It was more contestable there, in the 3- to 5-foot range as the standouts of the first round were East Coasters C.J. Hobgood, the 2001 world champ, and twin brother Damien.

The surfing world is still buzzing about the final heat in last week's Rip Curl Pro, the second contest in the Assn. of Surfing Professionals' World Tour schedule at Bells Beach in Australia. Kelly Slater, who seems to be leaning toward making a serious run at his 12th ASP World Tour championship, did not win the event. He lost to Mick Fanning in the final heat. But what Slater did do is pull off another perfect 10 in the final heat, his second one in less than a year. He also did it last year at the Quiksilver Pro in New York, both with the same move - an air-reverse 360. Surfinglife.com.au has put together a video of both so you can judge which one was better.

They finally finished up the World Championship Tour's Quiksilver Pro in perfect 5- to 6-foot waves at Snapper Rocks, Australia. The rights were screaming down the line pedal-to-the-metal, and the surf suited the style of Aussie Mick "the Quick" Fanning, who was lighting it up. Fanning, who's known for his high-speed turns, was surfing lightning fast throughout the whole event and looked to be the man to beat. In the final, the dark horse — the big Aussie Bede Durbidge — struck first with a sick tube and some mean slashes to score an eight-point ride, putting on the pressure and taking the early lead.

The surfing world is still buzzing about the final heat in last week's Rip Curl Pro, the second contest in the Assn. of Surfing Professionals' World Tour schedule at Bells Beach in Australia. Kelly Slater, who seems to be leaning toward making a serious run at his 12th ASP World Tour championship, did not win the event. He lost to Mick Fanning in the final heat. But what Slater did do is pull off another perfect 10 in the final heat, his second one in less than a year. He also did it last year at the Quiksilver Pro in New York, both with the same move - an air-reverse 360. Surfinglife.com.au has put together a video of both so you can judge which one was better.

The ringing of the bell — that’s what three-time world champ Stephanie Gilmore did at the Rip Curl Women’s Pro at Bells Beach last week. The 22-year-old made it three wins at Bells in four years with a blistering forehand attack that saw her slash some critical turns on the lined-up rights to earn big scores in the 2- to 4-foot surf. Gilmore defeated 26-year-old Peruvian Sofia Mulanovich, who had injured her neck in an earlier heat, and it looked like it bothered her performance as she fell on a couple set waves.

Huntington Beach is hosting the first Surf City U.S.A. Longboard Pro-Am this week, featuring the Guy Takayama Pro Noseriding Series and the International Tandem Surfing Assn. World Tandem Tour as well. Organizers hope to make it an annual event. The Huntington Beach Pier will be the site of the competition, which starts on Friday and goes till Sunday's finals. The pros who will start on Friday include big names like: king of the noseriders Josh Baxter; last year's U.S. Open winner Dodger Kremel; three-time world champ Colin McPhillips; Huntington Beach's Josh Mohr, a several-time U.S. Open finalist; the stylist Taylor Jensen; and hot locals Rocky McKinnon, Justin Hugron and Kelly Kraushaar.

The Assn. of Surfing Professional's World Championship Tour is in its second event of the season, the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, Australia. They've already run a couple of the rounds in 2- to 4-foot surf, with some hollow rights lining up. Already there have been some big upsets as a few of the big-gun U.S. surfers have lost out in round three, like Bobby Martinez and Chris Ward, plus Hawaii's Pancho Sullivan the "Power Master," and Aussies Mark...

They finally finished up the World Championship Tour's Quiksilver Pro in perfect 5- to 6-foot waves at Snapper Rocks, Australia. The rights were screaming down the line pedal-to-the-metal, and the surf suited the style of Aussie Mick "the Quick" Fanning, who was lighting it up. Fanning, who's known for his high-speed turns, was surfing lightning fast throughout the whole event and looked to be the man to beat. In the final, the dark horse — the big Aussie Bede Durbidge — struck first with a sick tube and some mean slashes to score an eight-point ride, putting on the pressure and taking the early lead.