Last Friday, the biggest event of the ASP Men’s World Tour kicked off.  The Quiksilver Pro started February 27^th and has an event window through March 11^th, of which the top 45 surfers compete for their share of $340,000 and a lead for the world title.

Some of the surfers competing in the Australian event include Joel Parkinson (AUS), Gabe Kling (USA), Dane Reynolds (USA), and nine-time world surfing champion, Kelly Slater (USA).  Slater, Mick Fanning, and wildcard Julian Wilson all pulled great wins in their heat, moving straight to Round three. 

Only four days are needed to find a champion and the event can be moved to another location, if the surf conditions at Gold Coast continues to be small as they have been.

Check back later for event updates.

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Daniel Wills (AUS)

Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Corey Ziems (AUS)

Heat 3: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)

Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Marlon Lipke (DEU)

Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Drew Courtney (AUS)

Heat 6: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)

Heat 7: Chris Ward (USA) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)

Heat 8: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. David Weare (ZAF)

Heat 9: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Jihad Khodr (BRA)

Heat 10: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Gabe Kling (USA)

Heat 11: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)

Heat 12: Michael Picon (FRA) vs. Chris Davidson (AUS)

Heat 13: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Nathaniel Curran (USA)

Heat 14: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)

Heat 15: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)

Heat 16: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)

Congratulations to nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA).  On Saturday, December 13^th Slater went on stage to receive his sixth award in the 2008 ASP World Tour.  This one was for the Billabong Pipeline Masters.  Out of the 17 times Slater has entered the competition he has went on to finals 10 times, and won the competition six.  In addition to his recent one, he clinched the title in 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1999.

Slater surfed eight to 10 foot waves beating Chris Ward (USA) in the first man-to-man final held in eight years at the infamous Pipeline. 

The event in 2009 will be something to look forward to.  Here are the surfers that automatically qualify for the tour:

World Nos. 1-10 respectively are: Kelly Slater (USA), Bede Durbidge (AUS), Taj Burrow (AUS), Joel Parkinson (AUS), C.J. Hobgood (USA), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Adriano de Souza (BRA), Mick Fanning (AUS), Bobby Martinez (USA) Jeremy Flores (FRA).

Surfers finishing World Nos. 11-27 respectively are: Luke Stedman (AUS), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Andy Irons (HAW), Chris Ward (USA), Kai Otton (AUS), Tim Reyes (USA), Tom Whitaker (AUS), Kieren Perrow (AUS), Dayyan Neve (AUS), Bruce Irons (HAW), Mikael Picon (FRA), Dane Reynolds (USA), Taylor Knox (USA), Damien Hobgood (USA), Heitor Alves (BRA), Jordy Smith (ZAF) and Ben Dunn (AUS).

Aloha~

The challenge on the waves at the Roxy Pro Hawaii wrapped up on Monday afternoon with Stephanie Gilmore taking home the 2008 Women’s World Title and the gold. She was presented with both awards, by Roxy’s four-time world champion Lisa Andersen.

The title wasn’t determined until the last performances during the final heat. The race came down to Gilmore and Silvana Lima. Gilmore scored a 8.5, putting her ahead 1.67 points of Lima.

The competition is the second stop on the Vans Triple Crown of surfing. The final event in Maui starts next week on December 8th. Visit back later to for updates on the competition.

The 14th Annual Roxy Pro holding period began last week in Sunset Beach, Hawaii. For those who don’t know, this competition is huge. It determines the year’s world champion as well as the World Championship Tour women’s lineup for 2009. Oh yeah, and did I mention the prize is more than $80,000?

After waiting almost a week for some solid surf, action was seen Friday morning. Hawaii native, Melanie Bartels, who looked at ease in the challenging eight-foot waves, did her thing. She posted the top two waves ridden of the morning, totaling 18.4 out of 20, advancing her directly to the quarterfinals. In her heat was Coco Ho (Hawaii), Rosanne Hodge (South Africa), and reigning world champion Stephanie Gilmore (Australia).

Defending Roxy Pro Champion, Sofia Mulanoich (Peru) is currently No.2 on the ASP Women’s World Tour and has made the short cut to the quarters after putting in a solid round one effort.

The competition was scheduled to reconvene on Saturday morning, but was postponed.

Check back later for the complete results.

Move out the way boys, the girls will be out and all about the swell today. The holding period for the Roxy Pro Hawaii began yesterday and will continue until December 6th, when the waves are at their best. This is the longest running professional women’s surfing event on the island, and a key event in the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour. The prize for this event is a whopping $85,000 – I definitely need to consider a career change!

Visit back here during the holding period to see contest results.

In the meantime, shop Roxy and more surf brands at surffanatics.com and receive free shipping on any size order.