Following on from yesterday’s update, the IBA are pleased to confirm that the 2013 IBA Pipe Challenge has officially been re-instated to full GSS IBA World Tour Status for all 3 divisions.

The last minute sponsorship discussions that took place on the back of the wide spread and positive support of the bodyboarding community, has resulted in a great outcome for the athletes and fans of the IBA World Tour.

The sponsorship support has come from various companies and a full press release will be coming early next week to identify and acknowledge this much appreciated support.

At this stage it can be confirmed with certainty that the Grand Slam Series (GSS) status will be re-instated for the Mens, Womens and Drop Knee Divisions and they will proceed in the original event window of February 16 – March 1. The trials event will commence on February 16 at Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Hawaii.

Check in for all riders will be held on the 14th February 2013, with further details to follow in the coming days.

There will be a minimum of 3 full days of professional live streaming of the event.

“Once again, the IBA would like to thank the large and passionate bodyboard community for the positive efforts by the majority of followers to work towards an outcome in light of the situation with the 2013 Pipe Challenge. It is a proud day to be a bodyboarder. We look forward to providing you with further updates in the coming days. See you in Hawaii.

Further updates will be provided Monday afternoon Hawaiian time.”

The 2013 Pipe Challenge has been forced to be cancelled as a result of the complete lack of industry sponsorship for the event.

The IBA had been in sponsorship discussions with industry companies and out of industry companies for a period of over 6 months. There were a number of positive leads that have fallen away over December and January for various reasons, the most recent being this week. All options have been explored to continue with the running of the event, though the decision taken to cancel the 2013 IBA Pipe Challenge.

“The industry needs to support the IBA World Tour to ensure growth and prosperity for this sport. It’s a sad day for the IBA, its athletes and supporters.” – IBA World Tour Manager, Alex Leon

The Men’s and Women’s 2013 IBA World Tour is now scheduled to commence in Australia in April 2013, with further details to be confirmed in the coming weeks. The DK World Tour kicks off in Peru in March 2013.

IBA Managing Director, Gregg Taylor stated “Alex comes to the role with the right mix of experience and genuine passion for the sport of bodyboarding. With over 14 years in the industry, Alex will bring a fresh perspective and valuable insight to the IBA Tour. “

Alex Leon had the following comments relating to his appointment. “I look forward to working with the event promoters, officials and riders to continue the development of the IBA World Tour for the benefit of the industry and its fans. 2013 is shaping up to be an exciting year with new venues and some fresh faces on the tour. For now all eyes are on the Fronton event and the crowning of the 2012 IBA Mens World Champion.”

After 7 years behind the wheel, firstly as General Manager, then more recently as the IBA World Tour manager, Terry McKenna is resigning from IBA Pty Ltd.

Terry insists that it’s only a move from his current employer Gregg Taylor (IBA Pty Ltd) and not an exit from the sport.

“I wont be going far.

I love what I do and I am proud of what I achieved during my time with IBA, said Teza.

It’s been an amazing ride and I met some incredible people along the way. It’s these passionate people, the fans, the promoters and of course the riders that kept me going for so long.

But I think that its time for a change as I believe that the World Tour in its current form has possibly reached its natural pinnacle.

It’s just not sustainable with so many events and so little prize-money. Just ask the riders themselves.

I think the concept of 8-hour webcasts with 120 people battling over 10 days in mediocre surf just isn’t cutting it in the action sports market and I will now use my contacts and experience to create something more exciting.

I think that my rein at the top of the sport lasted as long as it did because I didn’t have any ulterior motives. I don’t own a label or I am not a major stakeholder in the industry and it’s been purely a desire to create something special that drove me this far.”

In September of 2010 Terry pitched the concept of an equity partnership with Gregg Taylor (owner of Turbo Bodyboards) to the Top 16 in a meeting at the Sintra Portugal Pro.

It was at this meeting that Terry hatched his new concept of the leaderboard format, and sold the model of leasing the tour to a corporate entity in the form of IBA Pty Ltd.

“It took a bit of salesmanship but in the end the decision was made to sign a contract that would lease the tour rights to a company formed by Gregg Taylor”

Gregg represented a group of investors and a finely worded contract was drawn up and signed by both parties, effectively handing the reins to IBA Pty Ltd.

During the next two years Terry worked meticulously with the promoters that he had developed close relationships with to deliver a legitimate world tour.

“Craig Hadden is also an inspiration for me,” said Mckenna.

“His hard work and professionalism is amazing and he is the best head judge in the world, hands down”

With the investors dropping over 1.5 million dollars into the tour the increased profile of bodyboarding came at a cost.

“Put the cheese out and the rats will come,” he laughed.

“I think that one of the downfalls of getting money into the sport is that it brings out the worst in people. Money can drive people to do things that they normally wouldn’t do.”

“I saw some great people get burned and it hurt, a lot.”

It’s a shame that none of this money, not 1 cent, went to raising prize money for the guys that put on the show, the riders themselves”

After the final Quinones was carried and cheered up the beach by his friends and fans as he flew the Puerto Rican flag with pride.

When asked about his road to the final, Hubbard explained: “I was in focus mode all day. I was trying not to think about the title race or be too distracted by Winnies performance. It was hard, because he was killing it.”

On his road to the final, Hubbard defeated Andrew Lester (AUS) in Round 6 with 19 vs 14.21 in what can only be described as the performance of the event, scoring the only perfect 10 point ride of the men’s GSS event and backing it up with a near perfect 9 point ride to post the highest total heat score of the event. In the quarterfinal, he took down an inform Jared Houston (ZAF) 17.38 vs 16.7 who put up an excellent fight, especially in dying moments of the heat. The Brazilian Eder Luciano stood his ground and showed why he deserves to be in the top 16, but was stumped when the Hawaiian needed a big score and kept his calm as time ran out by launching a risky air-roll-spin in the final minute of the heat to take the win.

Hubbard added, “the waves and conditions were good today, so I did not have to worry about what I needed to do to advance through heats, I just went out and surfed like I would when I free surf.”