Quiksilver Pro: France

Today we kicked off the 2012 Quiksilver Pro France, one of the craziest contests on tour and one of my personal favorites.  This wave is very unique; it is one of the heaviest beach breaks in the world that can go from 3 foot mush to 12 foot barreling waves in a matter of hours.

Last year we saw rookie (back then) Gabriel Medina take out Julian Wilson in his first of two wins in his first half-year on tour.  I believe that both of these two surfers are absolutely able to take the win here this year.  This contest has years of history - too many epic moments to mention - but some of my favorites were Andy vs Bruce, Kelly's 10 point ride in 2010 where he air dropped and barely made it out.  Like I said, too many to name.  This stretch of coastline is exposed to the entire North Atlantic, a region of the ocean that generates massive storm systems in the Arctic off of Greenland.  During the summer, we tend to see hurricanes make their way around the Eastern United States, that end up coming around the North Atlantic and head right for Europe.  Currently there is a system brewing in the North Atlantic that should make its way towards France in a few days that could generate quality over head waves.

I put a lot of thought into my team this contest after my disappointing results at the Hurley Pro, where half of my team was eliminated in Round 2, and most of the remaining surfers in the next few rounds.  For waves that will be surfed in France, the surfer needs to be extremely versatile and must come with a repertoire of ability. Like I said, one heat can be sloppy on-shore and the next can be pumping beach break barrels.  I went with surfers that are experienced, have aerial abilities, and have strong power surfing.  I was very excited when I saw that Dane was granted the sponsor wildcard here; In 2009, he made a pretty good run here and threw down some of the best turns I've ever seen.  He is a maniac in French waves; they perfectly suit is style of surfing.

I decided to go with Kelly, Mick, Dane, Julian, John John, Jeremy Flores, Michel Bourez, Taylor Knox and Miguel Pupo.

Kelly Slater needs no introduction here. He has proven that he can perform and win here. Fresh off of a win at trestles and back in the world title race, I expect that he will, as always, give everyone else a run for their money.

Mick Fanning was also a given for me.  He has won a number of times here over the past 5 years.  He is back in form this year and is also right up there in the world title race with Kelly, Parko and possible a few others pending good results in France.  While he is not known for his aerial abilities, he is without a doubt one of the best power surfers on tour and is a barrel hunter.

I pretty much gave my reasoning for choosing Dane Reynolds in the paragraph above.  We've all seen him surf in France whether it be in the Quik Pro, Modern Collective, Lost Atlas, etc - he loves France and French waves.  He is a steal on fantasysurfer.com at $1.5 million and it'd be dumb not to add him to your team.  Hopefully he can find that competitive edge in him this time around and make it deep into the contest.

Julian Wilson has been on a roll this year.  After a disappointing loss to Medina last year here, do not rule him out to get the win that slipped out of his hands.  He has all of the tricks up his sleeve in the air, he has great turns and is not afraid to put is head down and paddle into the biggest wave of the day.

John John is one of my favorites to win this contest.  I also said that about the Hurley Pro. But I feel that he will really do well here.  We all know that he is arguably the best barrel surfer in the world and he just won $50,000 for an air that he pulled on the Kustom Air Strike trip and his turns and hacks are Dane-like.  With a result here, or a win, he puts himself right in contention for the world title.  If this were to happen, we could see the title being decided in his backyard at Pipeline between Mick, Parko, Kelly and himself...and anyone else that might make moves on the European leg.  Right now it is anyones title, and I am sure that John John is hungry for it after winning the Triple Crown last year, the Billabong Pro Rio and having a bunch of good results this year.

Jeremy Flores made me kick myself for not picking him for the Hurley Pro.  In my mind, he is constantly underestimated. He knows these waves better than most of the guys on tour and has the ability to get the win here.  Hopefully he can keep the good surfing up that we saw from him a few weeks ago.

Michel Bourez was a choice of mine for his power surfing and barrel riding.  They call him the Spartan because he is most likely the decedent from one of the "300" warriors (not really, but probably).  He has made a few runs at the win here in France and I have a feeling he will do it again this year; I could see him taking out some of the young guns with his carves that will make the non-french girls take their tops off on the beach.

Taylor Knox is the veteran that I feel could make an impact and cause a few upsets this year.  Last year he made it to the semi's where he unfortunately lost out to Medina (he had no chance of winning that heat after Medina dropped a 19.57 on him right off the get go).  But his surfing is some of the best and in some cases experience heavily outweighs the non-experience that many of the surfers on tour have (or do not have).

Miguel Pupo is one of my sleepers next to Taylor Knox and Bourez; this kid has proven to the world that he can take out the best in waves like Cloudbreak and Teahupoo and can throw down turns as good as anyone on tour.  I wouldn't be surprised if he did that again here in France.

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Update on Day 1 results:

We only got through 9 heats today, and I must say that there were some upsets or unexpected results.

H1: 1st Taj Burrow, 2nd Kai Otton, 3rd Taylor Know
H2: 1st Jadson Andrew, 2nd Adriano de Souza, 3rd Damien Hobgood
H3: 1st Patrick Gudauskas, 2nd John John Florence, 3rd Miguel Pupo
H4: 1st Kelly Slater, 2nd Dusty Payne, 3rd Tiago Pires
H5: 1st Dane Reynolds, 2nd Joel Parkinson, 3rd Bede Durbidge
H6: 1st Mick Fanning, 2nd Wiggolly Dantas, 3rd Travis Logie
H7: 1st Alejo Muniz, 2nd Kolohe Andino, 3rd Josh Kerr
H8: 1st Brett Simpson, 2nd Yadin Nicol, 3rd Jeremy Flores
H9: 1st Michel Bourez, 2nd Owen Wright, 3rd Matt Wilkinson

I was surprised to see Pat G take the win in heat 3 - maybe he wants some redemption after a disappointing loss at home in California.  Alejo and Simpo's results also surprised me, I had Kerr and Flores winning their respective heats.

We have three more heats to run in Round 1 - no word on whether they will run it tomorrow or not. Here are the remaining heats:

H10: Jordy Smith, Heitor Alves, Adam Melling
H11: Julian Wilson, Adrian Buchan, Kieren Perrow
H12: Gabriel Medina, CJ Hobgood, Fred Pattachia

I have Jordy, Julian and CJ winning their heats.

Here is the 2012 Quik Pro Teaser (will add in the Day 1 recap when it becomes available):

Here is one favorite moments: 2010 Kelly Slater's 10 Point Ride:

Hurley Pro: Preview

Before I get started with my preview of the next event on the WCT, I would like to apologize to you all for failing to write a post on the last few days of the Billabong Pro: Tahiti.

As for the Hurley Pro, which is set to kick off in a few days, is always a favorite of the surfers on Tour and of the fans.  This contest is held at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, CA, arguably one of the best (or best liked) waves in the world.  It is a perfect A-frame, where the waves break both left and right.

The forecast for the beginning of the contest is looking great - at least 3-4 foot waves for the first day or two, which should make for some great heats.  This contest has put on a great event the over the past decade; while there has been a familiar face at the end of each one, it is always full of good surfing and excitement.  No one can forget in 2010 when Andy Irons made a strong run, almost getting to the finals.  Last year, we saw one of the three Kelly vs Owen finals.  This year should be no different.

I put together my Fantasy Surfer team with two requirements in mind - good turns and aerial ability.  I decided that John John Florence, Kelly Slater, Owen Wright, Kolohe Andino, Miguel Pupo, Pat Gudauskas, Julian Wilson and wildcard, Conner Coffin.

John John has been on fire all year and also got a win in Brazil.  He has proved to all of us that he is capable of surfing in all conditions, even though that many of us already knew that.  He usually has good results when surfing at Trestles, but I expect him to excel in this event.  His airs are arguably the best and his turns are also fantastic.  If the swell picks up, the rest of the field better watch out because when there is a solid swell, Trestles produces some great barrels.

Kelly needs no introduction.  Since 2004 (8 years), he has won 5 times here.  He has made every final since 2004 - that non final result was a SEMI FINAL result.  Needless to say, Kelly is the most dominant surfer at Trestles and at the Hurley pro.  I expect him to have an equally good result at this contest.  Lets not all forget his rivalry between him and Owen Wright last year that put them both in the final.  His capabilities here should scare the other surfers in the contest.

Owen Wright was also a no brainer for me.  As I just said, he made the final last year during his 3 finals in a row featuring himself and Kelly.  This punchy wave will favor his style.  It also gives him a chance to show off his strong backside surfing.

Julian Wilson has had the results that he needed in the past few contests.  After his win at the US Open at Huntington Beach, he finally seems comfortable and hungry for last day results.  He surfed really well here last year and could have gotten to the finals if it weren't for an interference call against Owen Wright that ended his run.  I am predicting that Julian makes it to the last day again and has a really good chance of making it to the finals this year.

Miguel Pupo is someone that I think can take out the field in waves like this.  He did the same thing at the US Open and made it to the final where he lost out to Julian.  He has also proven himself in waves that I personally thought would show his weaknesses (Fiji and Teahupoo).  This kid will be fighting Gabriel Medina as the next Brazilian leader.

The next 3 surfers I chose for obvious reasons: this is a wave that they grew up surfing.

Kolohe Andino has been having a rough year this year between bad results in the first half of the year and sustaining an injury that forced him to sit out in Tahiti.  But with the contest being held in his backyard, I can't see him having another bad result - especially here.  Last year, he won the U18 USA Championships here.  Keep an eye out for "Brother" as he will not let his hometown down.

Pat Gudauskas is another local.  Like Kolohe, he hasn't had that great of a year.  He has a history of doing well at contests here; this year, he had a good result at the Nike Lowers Pro, an event that Gabriel Medina ended up winning.  For being a low price in the Fantasy Surfer pool, I see him as a bargain and a surfer who will do well in this contest.

I decided to pick Conner Coffin between the two wildcards - the other being Evan Geiselman - due to his power surfing and aerial madness.  He grew up in Santa Barbara, which allowed him to grow up surfing the point-break wave, Rincon.  I think that it is safe to say that surfing this wave his whole life sculpted his power surfing style.  Last year, Conner won the U16 USA Championships at Trestles.  Even though he didn't grow up surfing this wave as much as the local boys, his knowledge of this wave is better than most of the guys on tour.  Mix that with his style of surfing and his airs and you have a dangerous wildcard.

These are my surfers and I have a feeling that the winner will be one of these gentlemen - Who are yours?

Pictures

Felt like putting some pictures that I have taken recently on my iPhone of nature, food I cooked, travels and other things. Enjoy.

My Review of President Barack Obama's Energy Plan

On Thursday September 6, 2012, President Barack Obama spoke in front of his delegation at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.  As many of us were expecting, the major talking points such as Health Care, the Economy and Jobs were discussed.  But President Obama gave us an energy plan, new to his administration, that documented what he plans to do if given a second term.  While this portion of his speech was shorter than some of the hotter political subjects in this election, the president still spent a few minutes discussing where we are as a country in energy imports and extraction, renewable technologies and how they will benefit us, and where we can go from here.  

President Obama was also not afraid to call out his opponent, Governor Mitt Romney, on his newly released energy plan, as well as comments that he made during his speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention.  The former governor, who has been widely criticized on his energy policy, took jabs at the scientific and climate change communities by down talking the seriousness of climate change and global warming.  In President Obama's speech, he came right back at Romney by claiming, 

"...because climate change is not a hoax.  More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke.  They’re a threat to our children’s future.  And in this election, you can do something about it."

The president referencing the recent weather anomalies that have caused widespread devastation to the United States causing millions of dollars in damage, hundreds of displaced families and causing food prices to skyrocket.

In addition, he also took another shot at Mitt Romney about the authenticity of his energy plan, whether it is for the greater good of the country or whether it was made for (or by) the leaders of the fossil fuels industry.  To note, President Obama was most likely mentioning the fact that just 36 hours prior to releasing his energy plan in New Mexico, Mitt Romney met with the heads of some of the largest corporations in the oil and fossil fuels industry.  Some skeptics believe that during this meeting, he received guidance on what should, and will, be focal points in his energy policy.  The President said:

"But unlike my opponent, I will not let oil companies write this country’s energy plan, or endanger our coastlines, or collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from our taxpayers. We’re offering a better path."

As for President Obama's energy plan, he once again introduced his "All of the Above" strategy to incorporate fossil fuels, renewables and other sources of green and clean energy.  He did place emphasis on using "clean coal" to ease the minds of citizens in the regions of the area that produce coal; he has been widely accused by some who claim that he is declaring a War on Coal due to emission regulations that he set in place early on in his presidency.  Oddly enough, since he took office, coal industry jobs have gone up 10 percent, and coal production has gone up 8 percent.  Those numbers came directly from the Herald Star, an Ohio based newspaper (Ohio is at the center of the coal debate as it is one of the nations largest supporters of coal mining and production jobs).  

In addition to coal, President Obama discussed how he and his administration have raised fuel standards for American made vehicles so that by the middle of the next decade, cars made in America must get at least 54.5 miles per gallon - this standard will significantly lower the amount of gas we need to put in our cars which will lower the amount of money we spend on gasoline at the pump.  He also mentioned that since he has taken office, we have doubled the usage of renewable energies such as wind and solar power.  Currently, more people are employed by the wind industry than the coal industry; in 2012, more than 85,000 people are working in the wind energy industry, and this number is set to increase over the next decade.

One of the main differences in the two presidential candidates' energy plans is Mitt Romney's goal for energy independence, and President Obama's goal for energy security.  We now know that what Gov. Romney's intention is to have all energy used in America domestic to America; energy security, which may sound similar to energy independence, is actually different.  Energy security, according to Bill Chameides - the writer of the Huffington Post article "Obama's Energy Plan By the Numbers" - would mean, "being less susceptible to swings in oil prices caused by political instabilities in foreign countries by reducing our dependence on oil".   In addition to possibly increasing domestic fossil fuel production for this to happen, it also means starting the transition to alternative energy resources, which by all means are significantly less susceptible to political instability.  

When it comes to oil, he mentioned that since he took office, oil imports are down about 1,000,000 barrels per day - which is the most by any administration.  He plans to keep decreasing the amount of imports per day and really made it clear that he plans to continue to decrease our dependence on foreign oil.  Since his election we are, for the first time in 13 years, importing less than 50 percent of our crude oil; In 2012, we only imported 48 percent of our oil, and only 22 percent of our imported oil is from Arab nations (also a decrease since he took office).  In his next term, he plans to conduct more domestic oil and natural exploration while planning to create more than 600,000 new jobs in the natural gas industry by 2020.  

Stepping away from the fossil fuels, the president started to focus on renewables again.  President Obama wanted to reiterate the fact that he has been pushing for the increased usage of alternative energy sources since he was campaigning in 2008, and since he became president.  While it started to seem as if he planned to strive away from the alternatives in his next term, he wants to drastically increase the usage of wind and solar during the next decade.  His goals of decreasing carbon-dioxide emissions is still evident and he made it clear that he will continue to put regulations in place to keep that trend going.  He also mentioned the usage of farmers for biofuels; this a technology that Mitt Romney discussed in his energy plan, but once again is not an energy that you can sustain an entire country on.  Sources have told me that if granted a second term, President Obama will make climate change and alternative energy a high priority of his.  He mentioned his desire to lower carbon emissions during his 2008 campaign, and in the beginning of his first term in office he kept his promise by quickly implementing a cap-and-trade system them.  Even though he did not place as much of an emphasis on climate change over the next few years as some would have liked, he sporadically placed regulations and standards in the automotive and energy industries in an attempt to decrease United States carbon emissions as we are the leading consumer of fossil fuels in the world.

In his campaign for the presidency in 2008, he set in place a plan to create a million new "green jobs".  While he has not met that target (to be honest, one that would have been hard for any president to reach in any economy), we are slowly on our way to meeting that mark.  Renewable energies are extremely new to the United States and for some in the energy industry (cough, cough...oil and fossil fuels), they are the worst thing that could ever happen.  With his proposals for green job plans in the wind and solar industries, biofuels and nuclear energy, and with support from Congress, we may very well see a significant increase in green jobs by 2016 and definitely by 2020.  Whether you want to believe it or not, our future is not oil.  No matter how much is on Earth (which is only about 40-50 years worth) our future is renewable energy, nuclear energy and to an extent, natural gas.  Being that there are only two men running for the presidency, only ONE has mentioned alternative and renewable energy in their energy plans.  Many believe that strict regulations on the fossil fuel industry will kill thousands of jobs, but it is quite the contrary.  It will open up the doors for coal burning power plants to transition into biofuel plants or green-energy power plants, it will let people escape the dangerous profession of coal and oil mining, and start working on wind farms or solar fields.  And one thing that it will ultimately do that many people tend to over look, is that it will create a healthier and cleaner environment for us to live in and for the future generations to grow up in.