Kelly Slater Wins US Open

Kelly Slater Wins US Open

In his typically dominant fashion, Kelly Slater has won the 2011 Nike U.S. Open of Surfing. Facing West Australia's Yadin Nicol in the final, Slater opened up with an eight-point ride and never looked back, winning the U.S. Open for the first time since beating Shane Beschen 15 years ago. In one of the most lopsided heats in recent memory, Nicol wouldn't even catch a wave until there were less than five minutes left on the clock -- and when he did finally stand up, the wave just closed out. Throughout the event, Slater had to work hard for his heat wins, finding tubes that didn't exist and landing air rotations ...

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Agenda Day One

Agenda Day One

The first day of the Agenda Trade Show got off to a busy start, with all areas of the show appearing crowded. The new Pavilion space in a large tented area outside housed most of the more traditional action sports brands such as Reef, O’Neill, Quiksilver, Etnies and Fox. The space was quite busy during the day and aisles crowded. The Berrics had its space in the lower level of the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach and was also crowded, as were the other ballrooms upstairs. I saw lots of important retailers at the show including PacSun, Jack’s, Maui Nix, 17th Street, Sun Diego, Ron Jon’s, Tyler’s, South Coast Surf Shops, CCS, Tilly’s ...

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US Open of Surfing Preview

US Open of Surfing Preview

This week former world champion CJ Hobgood tweeted, "Correctly guess how many air reverses will be performed @usopenofsurf and I will give u my surfboard." He followed the thread up with, "The correct answer should be fairly obvious: Too many." The Nike U.S. Open of Surfing is upon us, and yes, sure as the Huntington Hop defined the event in the '80s, this year the world's best will be peacocking around with their own trademarked rendition of the air reverse. But whatever maneuver is in vogue at the moment, the Open's much more than just a surf contest. The circus, the zoo, the madness, the freak show, Sodom, Mos Eisley Cantina, the Open ...

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X Games 17 Wrap Up

X Games 17 Wrap Up

The sun sets on downtown Los Angeles. Fans, hoarse from cheering and glowing with too much sun, stream from the Staples Center, and L.A. Live. The Jersey barriers are being removed, returning Figueroa Street to a northbound thoroughfare when just a few hours ago it was a hotly contested stretch of the RallyCross course. That transformation was just one first in a four-day stretch of them that prove X Games 17 to be historic. The Games began Thursday, but the fuse that sparked this action sports explosion was lit months ago with the announcement of the four-day "Pastranathon." Travis Pastrana's attempt to wrap the end of his competitive freestyle career into ...

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Global X Games Expansion

Global X Games Expansion

Beginning in 2013, ESPN will produce six world-class X Games global events -- expanding from the two U.S. events to six events around the world. In May, ESPN announced the expansion plan and launched a formal bid process to determine the location of three new X Games events, which will join the current events in Los Angeles, Aspen and Tignes, France (where ESPN is currently partnered with Canal+). Since launching the bid process, 35 entities from 21 countries have been qualified to place a bid to host an X Games event. As X Games 17 begins this week in Los Angeles, representatives from 18 countries will be in attendance. Immediately following the event, ESPN ...

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Dew Tour Wrap Up and Results

Dew Tour Wrap Up and Results

After rain delays, lightning evacuations, and electrical problems that delayed Sunday's competition, Bucky Lasek won Skateboard Vert finals at the first stop of this season's Dew Tour in Ocean City, Md., in front of his hometown crowd. Lasek, a Maryland native, took the highest score of the competition -- 88.50 -- on his final run. Pierre-Luc Gagnon took second place, followed by Shaun White in third. "Words can't explain how I feel right now," Lasek said. "I went all last year without a win. To come back this year to win the first stop, the Pantech Open, in my homestate of Maryland, is unbelievable." Pedro Barros took home the win at the ...

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Volcom Hosts 2012 Spring Swim...

Volcom Hosts 2012 Spring Swim...

It was a packed house at the Volcom HQ in Costa Mesa, CA on Thursday night for the annual Volcom Swim Fashion Show. The show featured styles from the new 2012 line. The bars were open, dj was playing, and people were mingling as everyone ushered in to get a good spot for the main event. When the lights went down and the music started up all eyes were on the runway as models with black and blonde bobs strutted down the catwalk. The show emitted an edgy, high-fashion vibe capturing and highlighting the designs of the suits fantastically. The Volcom HQ was the perfect venue for the show, providing a large ...

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Globe Announces World Premiere...

Globe Announces World Premiere...

El Segundo, California - July 19, 2011 - GLOBE, designers and distributors of shoes, clothing and cruiser skateboards, today announced the world premiere date and location for its newest surf film - 0000 (YEAR ZERO). The premiere will take place in Costa, Mesa California on August 3, 2011 coinciding with the US Open of surfing and the Agenda tradeshow in Huntington Beach. The film's DVD release is set for fall 2011. YEAR ZERO is a modern take on high performance surfing set in a post-apocalyptic world, reminiscent of Mad Max or an HG Wells novel. It tells a story of a band of renegade surfers, including Dion Agius, Yadin Nicol, Nate ...

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Rip Curl Presents Float The...

Rip Curl Presents Float The...

Rip Curl presents Float The Movie. World premiere is Tuesday July 19th at the Lido Theatre in Newport Beach, CA. One boat, six months, 13,000 islands, 25,000 Bintangs: the infinite search. Show starts at 8:30.

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Google+ Outs the Fox in...

Google+ Outs the Fox in...

The social network wars are heating up - as Google+ roars on the scene after giving Facebook a five year head start. But things aren't as they appear - and in fact while both Facebook and Google+ are social networks, the two companies have very different agendas as to why they want you to connect and share with them, and what the long term implications of choosing a social network could be. But now that users are starting to explore Google+, it's clear that Google sees the social network environment as critical to gathering both data and content. Yes, you heard me right - Google's terms and conditions, buried in tiny print that ...

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Top 25 Viewed Stories So Far...

Top 25 Viewed Stories So Far...

With the first six months of the year gone, I thought it would be a good time to see what are the most viewed stories so far. One thing is for sure: it has been a very newsy six months. Top 25 viewed stories Jan. 1 – June 30, 2011 from shop-eat-surf.com 1. No more Nike 6.0 2. Top brand at PacSun 3. SIMA Image Award winners 4. Volcom to sell to PPR 5. Potential payouts in Volcom/PPR deal 6. La Jolla to license another brand 7. Senior Quik executive takes new job 8. Outsider named CEO of Hurley 9. Investor takes large stake in PacSun 10. Lost and La Jolla separate 11. Bevacqua autopsy inconclusive 12. PPR plans for Volcom 13. Paul Gomez to ...

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Surfing America Introduces the...

Surfing America Introduces the...

UNDER 18 SQUAD ANNOUNCED SATURDAY NIGHT AT SPECIAL FUNDRAISING EVENT PRESENTED BY NIKE 6.0 San Juan Capistrano, Calif. - June 29, 2011 - Surfing America, the national governing body for surfing in the United States, is pleased to introduce the 2012 PacSun USA Surf Team. This year's announcement was made at a special event called "Surfing Americana presented by Nike 6.0" that was held at a luxury estate on Cotton's Point in San Clemente, CA on the evening of June 25.  This was the final day of the 2011 Quiksilver USA Championships, held at Lower Trestles, CA. The sold out event hosted athletes and their families as well as industry leaders and ...

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