Mr. Peterson:

Great day! Lakey had the best wave of the day in both Men’s AND Women’s… a 9.7!!! Let’s just say that she loves Rio! Check in tomorrow to her website at lakeypeterson.com

Kelly drives through epic Burleigh tubes and discusses his absence from the Brazil World Tour event

Semi Pro Dimensions

Height: 5’10
Width: 18 5/16
Thickness: 2 3/16

Timmy Curran Dimensions

My Height: 5’9
Weight: 150
Deck Pad: Nate Tyler Design
Fins: Futures AM2 Techflex by Channel Islands

Timmy Curran on the Semi Pro:

Well, no one can ride this board as well as Slats himself. I’ve personally watched him take out boards that I barely could get to my feet, and he made them look like he was riding magic boards. Dead serious… So I knew there was a chance that I was going to struggle on his model. Even though it looks pretty normal, you never really know what secret concave or rocker that only works for him. I am willing to bet that he has never made a board with hopes people like it. I think he makes boards that are magical for him and him only. If he made a board that was really good for everyone, then he may give his competitors some sort of advantage. Not gonna happen…

Anyways, I don’t have to sell anyone on his skills. What’s funny is I really liked it, the board had a lot of drive and held in really well in punchy beach breaks. The nose on the board brought me back a few years due to it’s narrowness. The rocker is really good, I like quite a bit of rocker in my boards for a few reasons. One is that they fit in the pocket of the wave, which is good being from where I live. Also a board with a good amount of rocker spins out of airs really well, seems to keep the fins out of the water if you are spinning out of an air. I would recommend this board and shape in waves with some power. I used it in slower mushy point surf and waves and it lost it’s spunk, or I did. I used the AM2 by Futures Fins. If you are looking for a good summer board, and are looking to get a Semi Pro I would maybe try one as a quad. The definitely go much faster in slower mushy surf. See you in the water! Please excuse typos, head snaps, not going right, booties, scenery, brevity.

Video by SURFER Magazine

Kelly escapes to a Pacific Atoll with a couple friends from Hawaii

Conner:

5’9 18 5/8 2 1/4 squash tail, 5 fin future set up. This is a fairly new board. I took it to Indo two weeks ago and rode it on a head high, fast, down the line right that was quite shred-able. She’s real fast, real loose, and is fun in just about anything. I came home and rode this board last week in the trestles prime. Haven’t experimented too much with the 4 fin set up, but the little that I have it felt incredibly fast, but harder to do a tight turn in the pocket. It has much less release as a four fin. It’s cool to switch it up though because it feels like a completely different board. Heading down to costa rica today and threw this one in the bag cause it’s fun in all sorts of waves!!!

– Via Young Wise Tails

Credit: ASP/ROWLAND

LOWER TRESTLES, San Clemente, California (Friday, May 4, 2012) – The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME Nike Lowers Pro saw the Quarterfinalists decided in glassy two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at Lower Trestles with the remaining surfers consistently putting on amazing performances throughout the day.

Dane Reynolds (Ventura, CA), 26, got the best of a slow heat against hard-working Brazilian Heitor Alves (BRA), 30, in the Round of 24 and roared to life in the afternoon, topping Granger Larsen (HAW), 22, with the day’s highest scores of a near-perfect 9.80 single wave score en route to a combined heat-total of 18.63 out of 20 with his unpredictable dissection of the Lower Trestles right-handers.

“I’ve been feeling really sketchy this event and been having unsuccessful free-surfs,” Reynolds said. “I was feeling better in that one. I had been riding a different board in every heat and I rode this one this morning and just stuck with it.”

Gabriel Medina (BRA), 18, battled back in an action-packed heat against Brett Simpson (Huntington Beach, CA), 27. Medina was in need of an excellent ride with time winding down in the Round of 16 match and launched a gigantic air-reverse to earn a 9.50 out of 10 to solidify a victory over the Huntington Beach surfer in a high-scoring heat of 17.96 to 17.43.

“I was comfortable and I knew that was going to be a tough heat,” Medina said. “Brett (Simpson) surfed really well, he had the 9 and the 8 and it was the hardest heat that I’ve had here. I was just waiting for one more wave and I fell on the one before. I needed the last one and I went big and got the score.”

Medina, who will face Dane Reynolds in the Quarterfinals, admittedly has his eye on the coveted gold-spike trophy and the Nike Lowers Pro title tomorrow.

“I’m excited for tomorrow and I want to try and win the contest,” Medina said. “That’s my goal. Hopefully tomorrow we have good waves.”

Jeremy Flores (FRA), 24, also took out two heat wins today. The talented surfer from Reunion Island notched his first victory over Sebastian Zietz (HAW), 24, in the Round of 24 despite breaking his board and went on to win on a borrowed board from former ASP Women’s World Champion Lisa Anderson (Huntington Beach, CA), 43.

“I broke my board on this lay-back and Lisa was really nice and let me borrow her board,” Flores said. “It actually goes pretty good, but it’s a lot different from what I’m used to riding. I was lazy this morning and had a hard time waking up. Early morning heats are not really my thing. I didn’t bring that many boards. That one I broke was my best one and I don’t know, I might keep surfing this one.”

Flores went on to get the best of a high-scoring affair over Californian Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA), 20, on an unfamiliar backup board in his Round of 16 heat, but looked in rhythm with today’s conditions regardless of his struggle with equipment.

“I got two really good rights with a long wall on the whole wave,” Flores said. “I think I was lucky to get those waves and get some scores. I was kind of trying out this board, I haven’t ridden it in a couple of years so I didn’t really know how it was going to go and it went pretty good.”

Tanner Gudauskas (San Clemente, CA), 23, runner-up at last year’s Nike Lowers Pro, continued to keep the hope of a potential local champion alive when he defeated ASP World Championship Tour veteran C.J. Hobgood (Melbourne, FL), 32, with a dominant performance on both the lefts and rights in his heats.

“I got off to a good start and then it seemed like it just hit the brakes and we didn’t have any waves,” Gudauskas said. “Luckily I had that first score and I wouldn’t have been as comfortable had I not.”

John John Florence (Oahu, HI), 19, further asserted his dominance in the Nike Lowers Pro, topping his idol Cory Lopez (FL), 35, in the Round of 16.

“The waves were super fun and I was nervous going against Cory (Lopez),” Florence said. “He’s been one of my favorite surfers since I started surfing and surfing against him is pretty scary. He’s so consistent and he’s got airs down like nothing. He’s been looking so sharp and I’m just really happy to have made it through that heat.”

Florence, a progressive leader of the next generation, has appreciated the high-scores awarded for the variety of both power-surfing and above-the-lip maneuvers at this year’s Nike Lowers Pro.

“I love it,” Florence said. “Not everybody surfs the same, everyone has a different style and I like that the judges have been rewarding guys for the way they’re surfing.”

The Nike Lowers Pro will return tomorrow, May 5 and crown a champion by day’s end. To watch the event LIVE log on to www.nikelowerspro.com

Surfline, official forecasters for the Nike Lowers Pro, are calling for the current swell to ease with a new reinforcing south-southwest swell to fill in throughout the day.

For complimentary high-res images log on to www.aspworldtour.com

For additional images and video news releases log on to http://users.grindnetworks.com/nikelowerspro/MEDIA/

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org

Nike Lowers Pro Round of 16:
Heat 1: Glenn Hall (IRL) 16.83 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 16.13
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.70 def. Nat Young (USA) 16.30
Heat 3: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 18.73 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 6.90
Heat 4: John John Florence (HAW) 16.27 def. Cory Lopez (USA) 8.26
Heat 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.96 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 17.43
Heat 6: Dane Reynolds (USA) 18.63 def. Granger Larsen (HAW) 16.47
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.94 def. Jay Thompson (AUS) 11.00
Heat 8: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 16.40 def. Mark Occhilupo (AUS) 16.30

Nike Lowers Pro Round of 24 Results:
Heat 1: Glenn Hall (IRL) 13.43 def. Tomas Hermes (BRA) 13.10
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 11.93 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 9.20
Heat 3: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.23 def. Gabe Kling (USA) 11.77
Heat 4: Cory Lopez (USA) 14.87 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 12.43
Heat 5: Brett Simpson (USA) 15.50 def. Daniel Ross (AUS) 13.50
Heat 6: Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.00 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 10.17
Heat 7: Jay Thompson (AUS) 13.94 def. Nathan Yeomans (USA) 13.50
Heat 8: Mark Occhilupo (AUS) 13.10 def. Blake Thornton (AUS) 13.00

We are partnering with our fabulous neighbors, Corks n’ Crowns wine tasting room so after you shop, head over for wine tasting and wood fired pizzas. Light refreshments and bites provided at CI. Lots of raffles and giveaways – first 20 customers receive vouchers for FREE wine tasting as well as gift bags.

Thursday, May 3rd from 4-7 PM at Channel Islands Surfboards SB Surfshop at 36 Anacapa Street, SB, 93101. Call 805-966-7213 for more details. Grab your girlfriends and hope to see you there!

Pastor Britt Merrick, founder of a church planting movement based in the Santa Barbara area of California, said that his 7-year-old daughter is suffering from a third bout with cancer and that he will be taking an extended leave of absence from his ministry.

Merrick’s daughter, Daisy, has been battling cancer for the last three years. The family’s journey has been a frequent part of the influential pastor’s messages given during his Sunday sermons and radio show programs aired on Christian stations.

“This news has been incredibly difficult and quite frankly, the outlook isn’t great,” said Merrick via a video posted Friday on the website of Reality Carpinteria, the church he leads. “Our family is engaged in a battle for Daisy’s life.”

In an effort to save her life, the family will pursue both traditional and alternative treatment plans, he explained.

“Some of these will include an extended stay in Israel for immunotherapy and an experimental cancer vaccine,” he said. “Ultimately, all of our hope is in Jesus.”

Keep reading on ChristianPost.com

Kelly outside The Box in Western Australia

Growing up in Gracetown (south-west WA) I learned not to take things too seriously. I’ve always thought we were blessed growing up there and to try to enjoy every moment. Why wouldn’t you? I didn’t really like negativity, so that is one of the things I avoid. That place didn’t breed too much negativity but Australia does have that tall poppy shit.

It was pretty rural, well, 15 years ago before all this property boom and money and tourism. Just a dead-end surfie town with one road in and one road out. Still is, I guess. But, it can get a bit stagnate. A lot of guys smoked a lot of weed. Everyone pretty much just wigged out on that when there wasn’t any waves. The boredom would start to kick in and you’d try to one-up each other on the piss or whatever it was.

(Legendary West Oz anti-hero) James Catto was a prick. He’s all-time, but he’s a prick. I used to go up to his house when I was a grom and try to get deck grips off him and they’d just make us eat the crookest shit. They’d raid the pantry, the fridge, getting raw eggs, off milk and make us drink it. I’d leave the house and I’d get half a deck grip. Whenever we surfed he’d always burn me (laughter) but it was good, I was a little shit, too. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t asking for it.

Keep Reading on StabMag.com