Epic year for the tour with an awesome – absolutely awesome – finish at the Fronton a few days ago, crowning Jeff Hubbard with the World Champ crown for this year, PLC wining the Fronton event and stopping Dave Winchester on his way to winning a first world title. Let’s hope Winny can make it next year, would be epic to see him win a world title as he’s been competing so good this year. Only Jeff could beat Winny. Massive congrats to Jeff, what an athlete! Also congrats to Jared Houston, soooo impressive at the Fronton. We think he was the best rider that day overall, unfortunately only 2 waves count in each heat but Jared must have had some of the best moves and waves out there that day.
See you at the Banzai Pipeline next year for the very first stop of the 2013 IBA Tour ! CANT WAIT !
Peep the highlights from the Fronton event, siiiick !
A crisp new magazine is not the only thing hot off the press – with it comes a brand spankin’ fresh concept that is sure to shake up the bodyboarding world.
If you somehow haven’t gathered by now, we’ve crowned our inaugural Bodyboarder of the Year in these pages. Sure, the iconic Peer Poll is cool, but didn’t having the Reader Poll separate leave unanswered questions? We thought we’d give the readers a chance to influence the Top 20 list and the results were, as expected, captivating. Have a flick through and see where your guy or gal finished up in bodyboarding’s prestigious new honour.
We bring you a couple more banging features – one showing that not all high-profile surf trips go as planned, even with a team of four of the world’s best, and another documenting a potential World Champ-in-waiting’s pressure-relieving jaunt to the frigid waters of Ireland.
You’ll also find insightful stories on a diverse crop of some of the sport’s colourful characters – from the prodigious ’90s versatile star, to a young pro at a career crossroads to another burgeoning talent who’s juggling a bodyboarding career with work, a mathematics degree and being a young dad.
Add to that a new focus on big, clean image spreads, and a beautifully shot bonus DVD featuring three eclectic guys from opposite ends of the globe and you’d be hard-pressed to find another product that comes close to the comprehensive bodyboarding package that is Riptide Magazine.
Bodyboarder of the Year – Dave Winchester
Peer Poll Number One – Jeff Hubbard (Reader Poll 3rd)
Reader Poll Number One – Dave Winchester (Peer Poll 2nd)
Dropkneer of the Year – Dave Hubbard
DK Peer Poll Number One – Matt Lackey (Reader Poll 3rd)
DK Reader Poll Number One – Dave Hubbard (Peer Poll 2nd)
Women’s Bodyboarder of the Year – Isabela Sousa
Women’s Peer Poll Number One – Isabela Sousa (Reader Poll 2nd)
Women’s Reader Poll Number One – Lilly Pollard (Peer Poll 2nd)
Grom of the Year – Lewy Finnegan (Peer and Reader Poll 1st)
Movement Mag issue 41 is now available. As you might have heard it’s their last issue… sad. Don’t miss this issue !
Nothing beats cracking open a magazine for the first time and feeling the weight, touching the texture and the smell the ink of beautiful pages. Issue 41 is a tribute to the past 8 years of making Movement, it’s an anthology of our best gear all squashed into 192 pages and wrapped between two hard covers.
Sixty40 Bodyboarding Magazine Issue 17 is out – Issue 17 is celebrating our very own Dropknee World Champion, Sacha Specker. This issue delves into the mind of one of the hardest working individuals in our sport, and in our humble opinion, the best waterman in the country. But that’s not all, we also drop a profile on Dylan Van Tonder, a very talented individual hailing from the usually wave starved Port Elizabeth as well as Luke Kitchin, the current SA Junior Champion. And just to round it off, we have an article on the boys from the dirty south hitting Sumatra. Be sure to check the exclusive clip, courtesy of Josh Kleve, linked to the article. As it’s our final issue for the year, have a safe festive season filled with waves and see you in 2013.
Just got the news from Nomad, Michael Novy is now riding for them and has a new pro model in PP and D12 Cores.
Here’s the full release from the guys at Nomad: Michael Novy, one of Australia’s finest bodyboarders, and a quintessential cog in the two original ROAM films has joined the team that spawned the series, the NOMAD FSD.
Following his signing to the Nomad team Novy commented, “I’m ecstatic to be riding for Nomad after years of working alongside them and their team. To have signed with a company that will be supportive and proactive I can focus on really developing my surfing. This has rejuvenated my passion and I am enthusiastically looking forward to 2013 with Nomad and what it will bring”.
Nomad Team Manager Shane Britten said of their new recruit “Its great to finally be working with Novy as part of the Nomad FSD. In the past he has always been there as part of our projects, and even this year has travelled extensively with Chris James, so we know he is a great fit for our team which prides itself on surf travel and wave exploration. Novy is an incredible bodyboarder and will bring a fresh dynamic to our already renowned team of riders as we begin new projects for 2013”.
An extremely limited 100 board release of the new Nomad Michael Novy Signature Series will be released and available in store in Premium PP and D12 PP during the 1st week on January, 2013. Pre-Order the Nomad Novy at your favourite bodyboard retail store today.
VERT Mag has just released a new Digital Issue on ISSUU. This is an exclusive digital issue (available on iTunes since September) that compiles some articles published during 2011. The articles were reviewed and improved, with more pages and photos, bilingue texts and some exclusive content. It’s totally FREE now.
They are currently working on the next FlipBook issue which will be a full bilingual (Portuguese/English) issue, so stay tuned!
What the fuck is wrong with bodyboarding!? Read this and share it. Like this on FB if you wish.
What the fuck is wrong with bodyboarding!? How comes Movement Mag is releasing their LAST issue? Why? Because no one invests in the sport, including brands and distributors within the sport. Yes, you read it well. How come a magazine like Movement Mag which is the BEST mag ever seen in the bbing industry, made by professionals, goes down?! How come? Because even the brands inside the industry don’t invest, because most brands are managed by amateurs who know nothing about running a business and doing proper marketing. Don’t mis-understand what we’re saying, not all brands are unprofessional like this, some are, but very few. Most brands are just distributors’ brands, not driven by individuals or athletes but just driven by people taking care of multiple brands and specially their own brand coz the margins are 3 times larger this way. Greed. Money. Cheap goods sold at high prices. No support to the media (mags & websites). No wonder why the industry is down again. Economy crisis, yep probly’ but not just that… maybe just a 1/3 of the fiasco could be explained by the actual economy issues.
If you’re a brand and treat media within the bodyboarding industry like shit, how do you expect the same media are gonna advertise or talk about your products? They won’t. Easy. How come we’ve seen brands and distributors within the industry advertise in surfing magazines and surfing websites whereas they could have advertised on bbing media instead? Bad choice. When you dont support the industry, don’t expect the industry to support you. Brands will pay the price for these bad choices, no coverage in mags and no coverage or press releases on websites means you’re dead. This is how it works. Call it karma or bad marketing choices or greed or whatever.
We’re very sad and very sorry for Movement Mag and other mags in general around the planet, kinda disgusted at what the industry has turned into. Do you remember OPTION Mag in the USA? It was the same, a great magazine but probly’ not enough support from a weak industry too busy to count dollars and save money instead of spending a small percentage of their turnover in marketing and ads to keep the ball rolling. It’s a circle, a fragile circle. Ever since we’ve started writing and blogging and doing interviews on this website years ago we’ve kept our hope(s) high and our motivation(s) high just because we love bodyboarding and had faith in some of the people running it and running brands, shops and stuff. We love going to the beach and sharing that stoke. We didn’t care about the money or anything and still don’t care (we’re loosing money right here with this site, spending time to update it and not making any coins with advertisers because they are no advertisers almost) but now we’re even loosing our hope that one day the sport will grow and be more “pro” than it is. It’s amateur league all the way now, even more than before. Cheap competion between brands and distributors, panic, and then fail and extinction. It’s coming. It’s soooo fuct up right now.
The IBA is obvisouly struggling to find sponsors, the pro riders are struggling to find money and sponsors. Where has the money gone? Attracting sponsors from outside the industry doesn’t seem to work too well because when you’re not really passionate about bbing, the sport sucks, no style or attractiveness compared to stand up surfing, let’s be honest. We love bbing but it’s not bankable compared to skating or surfing or snowboarding. Doesn’t matter, we could have coped with this issue IF everyone inside our industry was supporting the sport. Buy bodyboarding brands, buy bodyboarding suits and clothes, follow the tour, watch events, support pros and magazines and websites, buy all mags you can and know your sport and your history of the sport. Know the brands, see who’s for real and who’s here for the money, who’s supporting riders & events for real, who’s runned by athletes and shapers, who’s been here for a while and has done their part to support and push the sport in the right direction. A lot of brands have been pushing the sport and supporting it for years, others have not. Maybe the cake is also too small for so many brands to share it? Hard to say. It’s a small industry but hundred thousands of boards are sold every year so there must be some coins and market out there.
We’re not here to tell you what to do and who to buy from. Just support the sport you love and buy from brands who support bbing. Do the extra effort to buy from these people, be selective, think, get more knowledge, read mags, share the stoke, be smart, stay core, support the core, question everything you do or buy.
Some important news on the IBA Website. In November they appointed Alex Leon as the new IBA World Tour Manager since Terry Mc Kenna resigned from the IBA.
From the IBA site: Alex Leon was appointed to the role of IBA Tour Manager in November 2012 and will take on the full responsibilities of the role for the 2013 World Tour. Alex steps into the position with 4 years experience in various event roles for both the IBA and with the Shark Island Challenge. Prior to this time, Alex spent 10 years as a professional bodyboarder.
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.”
All IBA Tour enquiries can be sent to alex@ibaworldtour.com
From Terry Mc Kenna FB page: Terry McKenna resigns from IBA
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”
Terry will go back to developing the best domestic tour in the world in Australia with his major sponsor Rebel Sport, whilst working on an exciting new concept that he hopes to hatch mid year.
