hiya wa howa aswat

Ezekiel Lau has secured the most important trophy of his career by winning the 2013 Vans World Cup of Surfing, at Sunset Beach, Hawaii.

Lau made a late tube-riding charge from behind to turn the tables on Damien Hobgood and Raoni Monteiro, in the latter half of the 30-minute final.

Fourth place was Frederico Morais, 21, who was announced the JN Chevrolet Rookie of the 2013 Vans Triple Crown.

Lau went on the hunt and found his way onto the biggest waves of the final that also offered high-scoring tube riding potential. His final scoreline was 15.5 points out of 20 (8.67 and 6.83 point rides).

"I can't believe it. I was building confidence through each heat. It seemed like things were going in my favor and I was just getting the waves I needed at the right time, so having that confidence going into the final felt good", says Lau.

"I needed something to boost my confidence a little, this year has been kind of rough. You know that $40K feels good! Making the final is great. To come out with a win puts me in a better spot".
Regarding his pole position on the Vans Triple Crown Series rankings: "Every year I think Hawaiian should be in (this position).  This is Hawaii, this is our event.  I am just happy to fly the flag for us and I am looking forward to it."

Lau's win earned him $40,000 and sees him close the year at 35th position on the ASP world rankings. While that doesn't qualify him for next year's elite World Championship Tour, it does guarantee him an excellent seed.

Raoni Monteiro secured a place in the 2014 ASP World Championship Tour, while Damien Hobgood will have to wait until the 2013 Pipe Masters showdown.

Morais was ecstatic with his Hawaiian winter performance. "It was my first Triple Crown so I had no expectations for Hawaii. I was going to come here and just do my job and have fun and try to climb the ranks to guarantee my position on the Prime events for next year.

2013 Vans World Cup of Surfing | Final

1. Ezekiel Lau (HAW); $40,000 - 15.50pts
2. Damien Hobgood (USA); $20,000 - 14.30pts
3. Raoni Monteiro (BRA); $12,000 - 12.33pts
4. Frederico Morais (PRT); $10,000 - 7.16pts

Surf kooks are a cultural subgroup of beach life. Their style, their behavior and their gear leave us, many times, speechless, dazed and amazed. Let's discover their best kookiness moments.

Kooks. We know them, and we were one them. Not now, of course. Surf kooks are everywhere, from Snapper Rocks and the North Shore of Oahu, to Biarritz and Malibu.

Whether they're surfing beginners, exotic locals, inexperienced grandmothers or eccentric lunatics, you are always going to meet a few good ones, in your wave riding career.


These personalities can be found in any type of surf conditions. Although you can easily spot them in one-foot waves, they can also drop-in professional surfers in popular reef breaks during occasional close-out days.


"The Encyclopedia of Surfing" tells us that the word "kook" is "a play on the Hawaiian word 'kukae', which means 'shit'"

Surf kooks are always cool and relaxed. They're "the surfers". More than a question of surf etiquette, kookiness can really be a way of life.


What makes the perfect surf cook? Well, he's never embarrassed about the number of surf stickers glued to the deck of his surfboard, the clothes he wears at the beach, his wetsuit style, ridiculous wipeouts, and destroying the wave of our lives. Surf culture can be so oppressive...






Have we missed a classic "Absolute Kookiness" moment?
Send us your kooky tip to editor [at] https://www.facebook.com/surf4peace

The 2013 ASP World Qualification Series (WQS) are over. Nevertheless, the ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) season is not over, and there's so much at stake that only Banzai Pipeline bombs will clear the equation.

Dream Tour surfers can improve their season results, and requalify through the ASP Men's World Ranking. But, how will the 2014 season be aligned?

The 2014 ASP Top 34 will be comprised of the Top 22 ranked surfers on the year-end ASP World Championship Tour rankings, plus Top 10 surfers ranked on the year-end ASP Men's World Ranking, plus two ASP wildcards.

Brett Simpson is ranked 22nd, as the 2013 Pipe Masters kicks off. Travis Logie, Adam Melling, Kolohe Andino, Alejo Muniz, Raoni Monteiro, Jadson Andre, Mitch Crews, Aritz Aranburu, Dion Atkinson, Mitch Coleborn, Matt Wilkinson, Bede Durbidge, Miguel Pupo, Pat Gudauskas and Damien Hobgood will be playing the bubble game.

Tiago Pires, Owen Wright, Glenn Hall and Dusty Payne have suffered long injuries, and may get an ASP wildcard for the 2014 surfing season.


Finally, let's not forget that the 2013 Billabong Pipe Masters will crown the 2014 ASP World Tour champion. Kelly Slater or Mick Fanning? The Floridian must win the contest, but if the Australian reaches the Semifinals of the Pipeline Masters 2013, he will be the next world surfing champion.

A group of notable bodyboarders have interviewed Mike Stewart. The IBA World Tour issue was in the center of the conversation held at BBRmag.com.

The business model defined by the International Bodyboarding Association (IBA) Pty is not sustainable, and there have been communication problems between the steering committee and administrators.
Mike Stewart says that "the idea was to build up the events to the point that they would attract major corporate sponsorship and then the investors would reap rewards of that sponsorship". Unfortunately, it didn't work out.

And yes, there will be a world bodyboarding tour in 2014. "There are many events already in place and ready to go", underlines Stewart.

These are the main conclusions taken from the question raised by Terry McKenna, Manny Vargas, Mark McDaniel, and members of the Port Macquarie Bodyboarding Association.

The nine-time world bodyboarding champion believes that "the sponsorship that came was either mismanaged or not adequate to make the business model work".

"While the steering committee [athletes, managers and promoters] was still in place the real decisions were made by the IBA Pty and its administrators".

The bodyboard legend agrees that the "pay-per-view model is one of the leading ideas". Mike Stewart underlines that, in the last 15 years, "surf companies have not expressed any interest to be associated in any way with bodyboarding".

"I would agree that if we had a better track record of activating large events at the level large corporate sponsors expect we would have a better chance of getting those sponsors".

Lawyers will decide if the non-profit IBA will take the rights off IBA Pty, after the disastrous 2013 World Tour.