Adrian “Ace” Buchan (World #8) came out firing in round one, taking out event favorite Gabriel Medina and progressive rookie Yadin Nicol. Ace relies on Hurley’s Phantom stretch technology for maximum stretch and lightweight performance when he unleashes  his combinations of  signature power hacks. This 60s Block Party style combines a rigid waistband with the 4-way stretch material that has made this patented Hurley technology the surf industry’s best boardshort for 4 years. Unfortunately Adrian fell to an in-form Jeremy Flores, but we look forward to his front-hand attack at Tavarua during next month’s Volcom Fiji Pro.  Get Ace’s style here

Owen Wright (World #10)  was another Australian who smoked a local hero Raoni Montieri, and out-gunned past Brazil winner Taylor Knox.  Owen owes it to Rip Curl’s Mirage Flex technology for sticking those tricky vertical re-entries and stomping airs. For such a big guy, it’s important that Owen’s shorts offer minimal  resistance and weight in such a tricky beachbreak. Owen went down to quarter finalist Tiago Pires in a wonky, stormy and low scoring 3rd round affair.  Get this Rip Curl technology here

John John Florence (World #5) stole the show with buzzer beater barrels against Julian Wilson, and two no-grab 360 airs to win the final over current world #1 Joel Parkinson. John’s hot streak continues in his signature Epic Stretch trunks that contain elastane stretch fabric for his freakish abilities above and beneath the lip.  He has been wearing this lucky style ever since his historic run to become the youngest Triple Crown Champion in 2011. He’s another goofy-footer that is poised to place high in the upcoming Volcom Fiji Pro.  Get John John’s signature style here

Parko  (World #1) surpassed the sidelined Slater in the rankings with his second place result.  Joel made it through four extremely close heats decided by only fractions of a point (0.4, 0.7, 1.3, 0.83) In a game of inches, Parko trusted the super-stretch panels of the Flux boarsdshort, and the good karma of this recycler series style. Get the Flux here

Watch the heat reviews here

Photos courtesy of the ASP

While Noll was presenting Garret McNamera with a $50,000 check for Biggest Wave of the Year, everyone enjoyed “Da Bull” retell his own quest for the world’s biggest waves in his signature black and white boardshort. He then alluded to the fact that his original short style was being copied by surf companies and poser brands. But, patenting black and white stripes would be harder than laying claim to boardshorts themselves, so he did what any pissed-off surfer would, and mooned the crowd with his signature stripes across his bare ass.

It was not what many expected from a nice looking old man, but Noll is a real bad-ass and has a core perspective about wannabe fads in the surf industry. Here’s what he said about the trendy surf guitar genre of the 60s “Crap, all of it. That’s what real surfers thought. Dick Dale was okay, but the rest was garbage. We hated all that stuff; all the surf music and the Beach Blanket Bingo movies. It (The Beach Boys) just sounded kind of pussy to us.”(Warshaw, 2006)

Playboy’s Miss June 2012 Amelia Talon, and Miss April 2011 Jaclyn Swedberg weren’t the ones taking their clothes off this time, so they cheered him on along with the rest of the industry in attendance.

Who Stole Surfing?

Noll mentioning rip-off surf companies comes just weeks after Hollister Co. became the world’s largest (so-called) surf company, posting 2 billion dollars in annual revenues. This upset many in the surf industry who are dedicated to maintaining an ocean-first mentality, and an overall sense of respect to the heritage of people like Greg Noll.

Hollister aka “Mall-ister” mass produces kitschy knock-offs of our coastal classics, and waters down our sacred surf culture.  Making shirts that say “Hollister Surf Team” is blatant rip-off of smaller surf companies who actually invest in their fellow rippers who keep the dream alive.

SUPPORT BRANDS WHO SUPPORT SURFERS!

Shop the Greg Noll X Billabong Collection Here

Warsaw, M. (1996). Photo/Stoner: The Rise, Fall, and Mysterious  Disappearance of Surfing's Greatest Photographer (pp. 46). San
Fransisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

The coral reef that punctured his right heel embedded small pieces, infecting the area and requiring additional procedures. Last week commentators at the Nike Lowers Pro marveled at Kelly’s (40) lack of injuries during his 22 years on tour, but this injury will not affect, nor was caused by the longevity of his career. Coral lacerations and resulting infections are a very common surf injury in the South Pacific. Last year, 19th ranked Matt Wilkinson was sidelined with Golden Staph Infections after bouncing off the reef at the Billabong Pro Tahiti.

Kelly visited Bali with girlfriend Kalani Miller, where her swimwear company, Mikoh Swim is headquartered. While surfing the beaches around Bali, Slater tweeted about the polluted state of the beach posing major health risks to beach-goers.

If Bali doesn’t #DoSomething serious about this pollution it’ll be impossible to surf here in a few years. Worst I’ve ever seen.

April 22, 2012 1:21 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@kellyslater

Kelly Slater

Damien “Dooma” Fahrenfort snapped this picture of a wheelchair-bound Kelly leaving the Indonesia Airport wearing his favorite new travel gear from VSTR Clothing. Slater is back surfing (at right, barreled in Duranbah) and expects to recover in time for Tavarua, continuing his 12th world title campaign.

Additional content compliments of Surfline and The Mad Hui’s