The banks at La Graviere are lined up and the forecast for the week means the Quiksilver Surf Festival is going to score big time! No WSL this year or for 2024 it seems. Shame, but Jeremy Flores, Mikey February, Leo Fioravanti, Aritz Aranburu, Justin Becret, Leo Etienne are going to score big anyway.
Bell Jar is collection of clips from everywhere. The 10-minute edit features Caity Simmers, Timo Simmers, Zoe McDougall and Stephanie Gilmore.
Thank you Tom Jennings, Scott Hammonds, Dan Scott, and Jack Coleman for the wonderful videos. And thank you Slyvia Plath for the wonderful prose.
Music in order:
White Sweater by Romeo Void
Down By The River by Letta Mbulu
Pretty Girls Don’t Cry by Linka Moja
Three much-loved West Cornwall musical acts will be performing for free to raise funds for Surfers Against Sewage this month at The Watering Hole in Perranporth. Rob Hooper, bass player with Kizamba, has been an SAS member from the organisation’s earliest days, having grown up skateboarding and surfing with one of its founders, Chris Hines, over the border in Tavistock. He recalled fondly how he got involved in the 90s. ‘When Chris explained to me about the group he was forming to campaign about the issue of raw sewage being discharged into the sea, I was fully on board and became SAS member number 50. The use of the gas mask with a wet suit in our photos was pure marketing genius and born from a surfing community that was becoming increasingly aware of the environmental hazards that impacted our lives, our health and our love of surfing.’
Rob the Bass left, Chris Hines centre and Paddy doing ‘the balance’ circa 1976.
Rob’s stories about the famous SAS Annual Ball got the band thinking about how they could get involved. Rob explained, “In the 1990s, along with the serious politics, the first SAS ball was held on the headland of St Agnes with a dress code of ‘black tie and boardshorts’. It was attended by 500 enthusiastic SAS supporters who were keen to let their hair down and party. The Ball hasn’t happened for some time now, but we thought we could try a similar approach to raise some money.” Bandmate and fellow organizer Kat Carr adds, “We’ve wanted to do something in support of Surfers Against Sewage for a long time. In addition to Rob’s involvement with SAS, we all feel that being in the sea – swimming, surfing, fishing – is a huge part of our lifestyle here in Cornwall and we find it unbelievable that in 2023 our children still have to wade around in sewage.” Headlining the night will be fantastic The Sandy Acre 7, a legendary Cornish band fresh from a sold-out sunset gig at the Jubilee Pool earlier this month. A huge highlight of the Cornish live music scene, SA7 are known for filling the dancefloor and appealing irresistibly to all ages and tastes; from soul, blues and swing to ska, reggae and dance, and from 1950s R&B to modern anthems and contemporary classics. Joining on the decks is Descafeinat, a musician and DJ with deep roots in the Cornish Latin scene. As a member of the mighty Kabasa crew, Radio Rio and others, Greg Dyer’s DJing evolved out of his love of Latin rhythms and his vibrant DJ sets blend Afro, Cuban & Brazilian grooves, Nuyorican funk/soul, Latin jazz, rare world funk, Cumbia, juicy Latin house & tropical tech.
As always, Kizamba will be taking everyone on a unique musical journey through South and Central America, the Caribbean islands and up into the Latin neighbourhoods of North America where Latin rhythms met jazz and soul. They are joyfully celebrating 2 years playing together this month and specialize in bringing along their own brand of tropical sunshine and getting everyone smiling and dancing. When The Watering Hole, home of the Tunes in the Dunes Festival and one of the best-loved locations in Cornwall for live music, were approached they immediately agreed to get involved and have generously made their venue available free of cost for this event which means all the proceeds from ticket sales will go to the charity. “We can’t think of a better place for an SAS fundraiser than on Perranporth beach and we are so grateful to The Watering Hole, who hosted the likes of Sam Ryder this summer, for making it possible to play here.” says Kat. “Lots of people in our community support SAS with local fundraisers and we feel that, as musicians, the best way we can help is by playing our music and bringing people together to raise awareness and support for this cause that is as much-needed today as it was 30 years ago.”
Doors open at 7pm on Saturday September 23rd. Tickets are £15 (plus booking fee) in advance here
.All proceeds from ticket sales go to SAS! Black tie and boardshorts entirely optional!
Fiji is back. The much criticised Trestles surf off stays.
World Surf League Announces 2024 Championship Tour Schedule
– Fiji Returns as the Final Regular-Season CT Stop After 7-Year Hiatus
– 18 WSL Qualified Athletes to Compete at Paris 2024 Olympic Games
– Tahiti to Run in May for Preview Ahead of Olympic Games
– WSL Finals Back at Lower Trestles
The World Surf League has announced the schedule for the 2024 Championship Tour.
The calendar will continue to showcase a combined women’s and men’s schedule featuring nine regular-season events, a Mid-season Cut after CT Stop No. 5, and the fourth-annual WSL Finals.
2024 will also see Fiji return to the schedule for the first time since 2017 as the final stop of the regular season. Next year, surfing will also make its second appearance in the Olympic Games at Paris 2024.
The 2024 WSL Championship Tour Schedule is :
● Banzai Pipeline, Hawaii, USA: January 29 – February 10
● Sunset Beach, Hawaii, USA: February 12 – 23
● Peniche, Portugal: March 6 – 16
● Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia: March 26 – April 5
● Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia: April 11 – 21
Mid-season Cut: 36-man and 18-woman fields reduced to 24-man and 12-woman fields.
● Teahupo’o, Tahiti, French Polynesia: May 22 – 31
● Punta Roca, El Salvador: June 6 – 15
● Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: June 22 – 30
2024 Paris Olympic Games: July 26 – August 11 (Surfing scheduled between July 27 – August 5)
● Cloudbreak, Fiji: August 20 – 29
WSL Final 5 determined to battle for the men’s and women’s World Titles.
● WSL Finals (Lower Trestles, San Clemente, Calif., USA): September 6 – 14
The 2024 CT will include nine regular-season events in seven countries, starting in January at Pipeline, Hawaii.
The Mid-season Cut will come into action following Stop No. 5 in Margaret River, Australia.
Surfers who make the Cut will compete in Tahiti, El Salvador, and Brazil before a break for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The final event of the regular season will see the world’s best surfers return to the iconic Cloudbreak in Fiji and battle for a place in the WSL Final 5.
Press release :
For 2024, the WSL Finals will return to Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, where the men’s and women’s Top 5 surfers will face off for the World Titles in the one-day, winner-take-all format. The waiting period will run from September 6 to 14, 2024, which is the ideal time of year for favorable Southern Hemisphere swells at one of the most high-performance waves in the world.
Held earlier this month on September 9, the WSL Finals shattered the record for the most-watched day of professional surfing in WSL history. With 10.7 million video views on the single day, the WSL surpassed the 2022 viewership numbers by 29%. The competition was also distributed via the WSL’s linear broadcast partners, whose audiences elevated the viewership even further. For example, viewership on Globo/SporTV, the WSL’s broadcast partner in Brazil, totaled over one million viewers, an increase of 16% from 2022. In the lead-up to the competition, the WSL delivered 25 million video-on-demand views, marking a 58% increase from the previous year. Carrying the success of the 2023 CT finale, the WSL will continue this momentum into the 2024 season, where the world’s best surfers will compete on the world’s best waves.
With the Olympic Games Paris 2024, a break has been added to the schedule in July to allow time for qualified athletes to travel to Tahiti ahead of the Games, where the line-up will be closed for Olympic athletes to practice. With this break, the Tour will not host an event in J-Bay or Surf Ranch this season. The CT event in Tahiti has been moved earlier to May to accommodate the Olympics and will be the last opportunity to watch the world’s best surfers in competition at Teahupo’o ahead of the Games.
“2024 is set to be a big year for surfing, and our schedule is designed to support that,” said Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL Chief of Sport. “I’m stoked that we’re bringing Fiji back. It’s such an iconic wave, and it’s the perfect place to test our surfers as they battle to secure their place in the WSL Final 5. We’re also really happy to confirm that the WSL Finals will return to Lower Trestles next season. We’ve hosted three exciting WSL Finals at this high-performance wave, which has proved to be an incredible showcase for the WSL Final 5 to crown our World Champions. The Olympic Games represents one of the biggest stages in the world, and we want our surfers to have the opportunity to perform at their best, which is why we’ve instituted the scheduled break and updated CT dates in 2024.”
After a thrilling conclusion to the 2023 CT season that saw Caroline Marks (USA) and Filipe Toledo (BRA) claim the World Titles and 18 surfers qualified for Paris 2024, the focus shifts to those surfers fighting for a place on the CT next season via the WSL Challenger Series. The next event is the EDP Vissla Pro Ericeira Presented by Estrella Galicia, which holds a competition window from October 1 to 8, 2023. The final event of the Challenger Series will be the Corona Saquarema Pro Presented by Banco do Brasil, which holds a competition window from October 14 to 21, 2023.”
The Quiksilver Pro France was a favourite on the World Tour.
THE QUIKSILVER FESTIVAL WILL TAKE PLACE FROM SEPTEMBER 23 TO OCTOBER 1, 2023
A week-long celebration of the surf culture: Music festival, surf competition, skate contest and surf movie screenings has been announced and starts on the 23rd!
Quiksilver have announced the return of an international surf event in France co organiSed with the French Surfing Federation: the “Quiksilver Festival By Groupe Clim”, a unique event mixing music, surfing, skateboarding, art and beach lifestyle.
Flores has picked some of the words top surfers to compete at the iconic breaks of Capbreton, Hossegor and Seignosse this autumn
Four years after his triumph at the Quiksilver Pro France in Hossegor, Jérémy Flores has invited some of the best surfers worldwide to join him on the beaches of Les Landes, South Coast of France. 20 of the best surfers in the world have responded to the invitation to compete on the legendary waves of the Landes beaches!
Sierra and Josh Kerr, Coco Ho, Clay Marzo, Adriano De Souza, Mikey February, Tahitian surfers Vahine Fierro and Kauli Vaast, Joan Duru, Laura Enever, Shane and Jackson Dorian, Aritz Aranburu, Marc Lacomare and many other great names in professional surfing already answered the call.
Surfers will team up in pairs. Each team will earn points as they compete in a expression session format with best Airs & Barrels, best Combos, Biggest turns and Twin-fin Challenge. Four days of competition will run in the best the conditions available during the week of the waiting period with the top team with the highest accumulated points crowned champion at the iconic locations of Capbreton, Hossegor and Seignosse. The teams and the competition venue will be announced in the coming days.
The first weekend of the Festival will put the spotlight on young surfers with the Quiksilver Challenge, presented by the French Surfing Federation from Saturday September 23 to Sunday September 24.
The first French-speaking surfing competition will see young talents compete in categories under 14 and under 16. Wednesday will be dedicated to surfing for all and inclusion with an initiation to surfing for the youngest and a demonstration of adapted para surfing. The French Surfing Federation partnered with Surf Insertion and the Nationale Handi Surf association for a full day made up of sharing, solidarity, and good vibes with the pro surfers from the Quiksilver Festival.
The Quiksilver Festival will partner with Enedis, an innovative power supply solution will be deployed to reduce the use of generators. With the support of the Clim Group (Mercedes-Benz distributor), the Festival will take a more sustainable path: 100% electric vehicles will be made available to guest surfers throughout the week.
Capbreton, Hossegor and Seignosse will be buzzing for a whole week to the rhythm of surf culture!
Throughout the weekend, the Festival will host live concerts and DJ sets in exclusive locations. Part of the “Must see” events of the Festival: ‘the Surfers of Fortune Party’ at the Boardriders in Capbreton on Thursday evening with the exclusive performance of ‘Grand Turn’ for the release of their first EP, as well as the Closing Party of the Festival, on the iconic Place des Landais in Hossegor with ‘Young Gun Silver Fox’ and ‘Lewis Ofman’ as headliners.
WHATS ON:
Saturday 23/09 and Sunday 24/09
Quiksilver Challenge presented by the French Surfing Federation
Surfers from international French-speaking territories will compete in the under 14 and under 16 age categories on the beach of Santocha, in Capbreton.
Monday 25/09 to Sunday 01/10
8am-7pm – “Quiksilver Surf Festival” (competition venues and teams announced in the coming days)
Wednesday 27/09
9 a.m. – Surf For All organized by the French Surfing Federation
Providing an introduction for youth to surfing and a demonstration of adaptive para surf during a day shared with pro surfers from the Quiksilver Festival.
5 p.m. – Meeting with the surfers at the Quiksilver Store in Hossegor
Gifts, posters, lots of surprises and a good time with some of the best surfers in the world!
7:30 p.m. – Screening of the Quiksilver film “Repeater” at the Cinéma le Rex in Hossegor – Cinema tickets can be picked up free of charge in the Quiksilver stores in Hossegor and the Boardriders in Capbreton.
Thursday 28/09
7 p.m. – “Surfers of Fortune Party” an evening straight out of the ‘90’s and this iconic era of surfing, with the exclusive performance of Grand Turn for the release of their first EP
Saturday 30/09
5pm – “Skate Event” death race and cash for tricks with the best local skaters
7:30 p.m. – 0:30 a.m. – “Closing Party” Quiksilver is taking over the Centrale and putting on a show for the last evening of the Quiksilver Festival with Young Gun Silver Fox and Lewis Ofman as headliners!
To stay updated on the Quiksilver Festival, follow them on Instagram:
@quiksilver_festival
@quiksilver
#QuikFest
And online: https://www.quiksilver.co.uk/quiksilver-festival
Mark Boyd is well seasoned to the bracing North Atlantic waters of Scotland, a true Norse Shore local. He’s part of the environment as much as the rugged coastline, dramatic cliffs and pristine beaches, that provide an awe-inspiring backdrop to this edit.
Surfer – Mark Boyd
Photography – Mal Anderson / Lewis Arnold
