Bede Wins in Brazil

It was really cool to arrive home to Stradbroke Island in Australia and find my family and friends had organised a party for me after winning in Brazil. It was a great buzz and drove home the good feeling around securing my third WCT contest win and moving to No. 2 in the ratings behind Kelly ahead of Hawaii.

I’m a believer in celebrating your victories but you can never stop moving.
So my mind has also been fully focussed on the Pipe Masters and the Vans Triple Crown where I am defending both titles.It’s given me a real focus for Hawaii.

Basically, Parko and/or Taj need to win at Pipe to overtake me in finishing second on the WCT for 2008.  I’ll be stoked if I can hold the position as it will complete a solid season where I will have moved from No. 5 to 2 – providing real confidence for a shot at the world title in 2009. We’re all dropping equal ninths in terms of our best results counting, so it’s going to be hard for people to make up points with just one event remaining. But it’s a bonus to also have the Triple Crown to aim for as well as Pipe.
I was stoked to take out last year’s Triple Crown.

The respect the Hawaiians alone hold for the Crown makes you proud to have won it.
I guess it’s because the three events are often held in such diverse conditions at different North Shore breaks and it’s a real challenge to prove consistent across all of them. The opening event is at Haleiwa which I reckon is an awesome wave.  It gets huge (and a bit scary) there but it’s still a real high performance wave even when it’s big. The contest at Sunset is different.  When Sunset is on, it’s a full ocean wave with its own unique feeling to it.  Longer boards are required and conquering Sunset is a feat in itself. Then you finish off with the Wimbledon of surfing, the Pipe Masters.
It’s the premier event in the premier wave.  To have your name on that trophy is just so awesome. 

But I’m greedy….I want to see it there twice!

The Pipe Masters also has the best trophy in surfing.  You get a handcrafted special board made by Gerry Lopez.  I’ve had it on display in the Mt Woodgee shop window in Coolangatta for the past 10 months and it certainly draws attention. For obvious reasons, Hawaii is also the ultimate proving ground for your equipment. I’m taking over 10 boards.  With the five I left over there from last year, I’ll have 15 in my quiver all up.  The lengths range from 6'2 to 7'6 and the reality is you could surf your shortest board and longest one on the same day – the swell can rise that quickly, often within hours. 

My boards went insane there last year so having the best of last year’s batch and a few new ones as well has me amped. It really helps that my shaper from Mt Woodgee Wayne Mckewen has spent so many seasons in Hawaii himself.  Wayne is so onto what is needed there and knows exactly what I need to surf well in those kinds of waves.  I’ve tried a few Hawaiian shapers’ boards in the past but Wayne's just felt better – and that gives me plenty of confidence.

My wife Tarryn and I will be staying in a nice little studio at Sunset with a nice family we know who have two young boys who surf.  We stayed there last year and I am really looking forward to getting back, seeing them and surfing some big hollow waves.
Aloha everybody
Bede

'Dream Tour' beckons for Kiwi surf sensation

Paige Hareb has rocketed to third place on the World Qualifying Series standings, raising the tantalising prospect of the Kiwi surf sensation breaking onto the elite 'Dream Tour' by the end of this year.

The 17-year-old Taranaki ace arrives home on Tuesday for a two-week break after making history on Sunday by becoming the first New Zealand woman to win a round of the WQS.

The top six ranked surfers at the end of the 2008 WQS circuit graduate to the 17-woman World Championship Tour which boasts more than $US1m in prizemoney and is tagged the Dream Tour because of its exotic locations around the globe.

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Some were claiming that the morning heats on the final day saw better conditions than any ASP World Tour contest last year. We'll just call it six-foot and damn good North Straddie, Queensland, Australia... mate!

Straddie local and giant-killer, Lincoln Taylor threw down some big moves and a possible hex on former ISA World Junior Champion Julian Wilson. "I couldn't buy a wave," said Wilson. "I think Lincoln put on an island curse on me. He caught all the good waves in the final and dug deep when he really needed to." The win was Taylor's first Pro Junior victory ever and it couldn't have come at a better time. Taylor collected $7000, the most ever won in an Australian Pro Junior, and 3,500 rating points from the 9-star rated ASP Australasian tournament.

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Xcel's Bede Durbidge Takes Second at Rip Curl Pro Moves to #2 in ASP WCT Ratings

HALEIWA, OAHU, HAWAII - March 27, 2008 - Congratulations to Xcel team rider Bede Durbidge, taking second in yesterday's finals of the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach (Australia). A recent, exciting addition to the Xcel team, Durbidge's finish secured his current second-place standing in the ASP WCT ratings, just behind event winner and 8-time world champion Kelly Slater. Coming into this year's tour after a fifth-place finish in 2007 - including the 2007 Triple Crown title - Durbidge continues to solidify his position as a clear contender for the 2008 world title.

"We're so excited for Bede and are stoked to be supporting him on his quest for the world title," says Xcel president Ed D'Ascoli. "Bede's incredible talent, combined with a clear focus is on his surfing, are key to results like these at Bells Beach. We're glad to welcome him to our team and to be a part of the ride."

(Did we mention Durbidge did it all in his Infiniti X-ZIP in the finals?)

"I've just been getting through heats and I've been going all the way to the end, so it's been going pretty good for me," Durbidge told the ASP in humble fashion.

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 27 March, 2008 : - - Multiple world champ Kelly Slater has endorsed rising Australian star Bede Durbidge as a legitimate contender for this year's global crown.  'There's been some murmurings about Bede being a contender this year and I think that is right,' said Slater after only narrowly defeating Durbidge in the final of the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach yesterday. 

While Slater has cleared out to an early ratings lead after winning both Australian events on the opening leg of the 2008 World Championship Tour, Durbidge has eased into a strong second place by virtue of his semi-final appearance in the Quiksilver Pro andrunner-up finish at Bells.

"Given Bede won the Pipeline Masters which was the last event of the 2007 tour, he now has a first, third and second from the last three contests," noted former world champion and current world tour boss Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew.  "That's huge because it shows he's a contender in every contest now. Kelly is really only endorsing what a few of us have been saying about Bede for a little  hile now. 

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