Somewhere in Cornwall. Looking a lot like a surfer’s paradise. Image: Anthony

My body was in a bar in the Alps, but my heart was in the sea. As a surfer it seems as though the saltwater gets into your bloodstream and bones, forging a connection that binds you to the coast.

I spent the winter in Morzine cramming as much beer, baguette and snowboarding as possible into five months. I never tired of the mountains or of snowboarding, and the people were so relaxed, friendly and cheerful that afternoons would melt into nights and nights into hungover blissful mornings.

On this particular day, I had bowled around the snowy playground, bombing down mountains that basked beneath a violent sun and cobalt sky. I had eaten a cheese as big as my head, rested trusty boots against the radiator and was enjoying a cold beer with friends in the smallest, most chilled out bar in town. Life was good.

And yet…

In the corner of the bar, a screen flickered dimly with the Rip Curl Pro – Kelly Slater and William Cardoso battling it out on some sweet 3-4 foot waves at Bells Beach, and I noticed a familiar longing in the pit of my stomach. As each wave on the screen built, formed and pitched, the image was connecting to well worn neural pathways in my brain, generating a specific chemical response. The one that usually sent me dragging board from car and running barefoot into the sea. Only this impulse was impotent here, in the Alps, one hundred million miles from any coast. Surrounded by mountains that suddenly seemed less like playthings and more like a blockade – claustrophobically static and solid.

It’s difficult to know why one sport calls to us above others. John Cardiel said he swapped his snowboard for a skateboard because he felt a greater affinity with skaters. Being neither expensive nor limited to specific locations/seasons, skating is automatically a more inclusive sport – accessible to a wider community. Meanwhile Arielle Gold says that what she loves about snowboarding is the variety afforded by the mountain and the park, allowing for a multitude of riding styles. Ultimately our choices are as individual as we are.

I am a huge fan of boardsports – surfing, skating and snowboarding. Over the winter I had grown to love snowboarding even more than I had expected – and I had arrived with high expectations. Apart from hyper extension of your medial collateral ligament, and having to shuffle across flats, there is nothing to not like about snowboarding.The more you ride, the better you get and the more fun it is. And the mountain is always there. You can’t always see it – but it is always there. You get carried to the top and your rides down last two to three adrenalin-enhanced Biffy Clyro tracks.

Surfing meanwhile… well, it’s not like that. With inconsistent swells, progress in surfing is often in such infinitesimally small increments that it affords you no encouragement. Paddle-outs that take two to three super eons, and rides that last less than one crashing fleeting second before you’re nailed to the sea-floor like a surplus anchor.

I’m no masochist, but still my heart hears the siren, and feels the lunar pull, as the sea stumbles upon the seabed and pitches hypnotically upward into heart wrenching curves. Who we fall in love with is often inexplicable and similarly, why I choose surfing defies explanation – but it is something to do with the dynamic environment, the way the sea feels alive. If you can ride the arching back of the salty precambrian creature, you know you have earned it. It is precious for being fleeting and transitory. It is precious for being wild, untameable – and for being beautiful. It allows little time to think and possibly it is this that I chase – to be caught up in something out of my control and maybe, be momentarily allowed to accompany the beast rather than be dashed beneath its hoof. With surfing you are immersed, literally, in the environment – you are separated from the human world for a time and that is a rare thing. It is akin to a Shakespearean romantic love – you know it could kill you, but you continue to long for it even so.

EDP Cascais Girls Pro will round out the 2013 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour. Photo: aspworldtour.com

It’s not over in Huntington. Not this year. Yesterday, the ASP announced the extension of the 2013 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour schedule with an eighth and final event, EDP Cascais Girls Pro in Carcavelos, Portugal. The new event of the ASP Women’s WCT will take place from October 3rd to 7th.

ASP Women’s World Tour Manager Jessi Miley-Dyer said:

“The ASP Top 17 were informed about the possibility of this addition at the start of the season and have been well prepared for it. Portugal is a great country and Cascais have been big supporters of women’s surfing as a qualifying event in the past. We’re happy to bring the world’s best female surfers there this season.”

So far, the 2013 ASP Women’s WCT has been dominated by youngsters Tyler Wright, 19, of Australia and Carissa Moore, 20, of Hawaii. They have each earned two wins of the opening five events – Wright winning the Roxy Pro Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia and Colgate Plax Girls Rio Pro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Moore winning the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro in Margaret River, Australia and Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia.

Following close behind is Sally Fitzgibbons, 22, of Australia and Courtney Conlogue, 20, of California.

Carcavelos beach has a prominent space in Portugal’s surfing history, thanks to Paulo Inocentes, the first surfer to ride a wave in Portugal. After seeing a National Geographic documentary on surfing in 1958, Inocentes immediately bought a board and ventured out into the waters of Carcavelos, according to Surfline.

The next event of the ASP Women’s WCT is the Roxy Pro Biarritz in France, which will take place July 10th through 14th.

A portrait of the artist, tuberiding.

This gorgeous collection of images is from Sagres, which I like to call Portugal’s “Best Kept Secret.”

It’s actually pretty well known. For guys doing the inter rail, Lagos is the last stop in South Europe, which is only 33 kms away. I surfed it just with my friends for ages. It can get world-class, and is a super mystic place – Land of the Serpents according to the Greeks. You could call it the End of the Road.

About João Bracourt aka Brek:

I was the first Portuguese surfer/photographer to explore the Sumatra region. Published in The Surfer’s Journal, Stab Magazine, Surf Europe, etc. I am a TWOTHIRDS sentinel, protecting what we love.

Besides surfing for 27 years, I have done many covers and spreads in mags like Stab, The Surfer’s Journal, Hardcore, Surf Europe, Surfnorge, Fri Flyt, Surf Portugal, Onfire Surf, Vert, etc. I have also been published regularly in Surfline, Magicseaweed and other top surfing websites. I have made WQS Posters, ads for various clothing companies and contributed in the books Sumatra, Return to paradise, Ericeira Surfing Reserve and Portugal Surf Guide.  I’ve also shot video for the national television channel RTP.

My work has been shown in galleries all over Portugal, and I recently did a water photography workshop in UALG University. My latest cover of Surf Portugal Mag was awarded Cover of the Year.

After a lot of traveling and with more than ten Sumatra boat trips on my back, I’m refocusing on my country’s mysterious coastline and its magic islands: Madeira and Azores –  and still find time to get a barrel or two.

Check out more of my work at joaobracourt.com.

Jordy Smith, Mr. Showtime, has arrived. Photo: ASP

The first time I crossed swords with Jordy Smith, he was drunk at a bar on the Gold Coast and demanding I buy him a drink. “Hey, Stab,” he yelled at me, replacing my name with that of the magazine I worked for at the time, “Buy me a drink!”

The arrogance nearly floored me. Myself, a 22-year-old skinhead from the most crowded beach this side of Rio, with metal plates holding my jaw together and a swollen middle knuckle, I was none too keen on the disrespect.

“You’ve got money. Buy me a drink, c**t,” I said as I watched him hurriedly stuff 20s into his pocket. Money was one thing Jordy definitely had. These were the months after Nike’s obscene attempt to court his signature. The one in which they’d offered him $5.3 million dollars a year; had their then golden boy, Mister (6)9-iron himself, Tiger Woods spend 45 minutes on the phone with him; had Michael Jordan email him; and sent him the shoe in which Brazilian futbol star Ronaldo kicked a goal in the World Cup final.

Jordy was but a 20-year-old when they came knocking, and they poisoned his mind with premature notions of greatness. It would prove a tough learning curve for the kid. His first year on Tour saw him strike a concrete wall of hardened Tour veterans who, far from buying the hype, wanted nothing more than to send the punk straight back to the MR Price Pro, Durban. They almost succeeded. Jordy finished 26^th in his debut year, avoiding relegation to the WQS by a hair, in what also brought about the first major self-examination in his career.

The next time I crossed swords with him was the morning after his breakthrough World Tour victory at Jeffreys Bay. I’d actually missed the momentous occasion after taking too much acid and wigging out at a trance festival in the woods near the contest site. When I met him in the car park and requested an interview (to make amends to the publication I was working for), he courteously agreed and later that night gave me 20 minutes on the phone in which he spoke of the crushing burden of expectation he’d carried around with him since Nike heaped that steaming pile of hype all over him.

“Things don’t faze me as much as they used to,” he told me, when I asked what had changed since. “And (I’m) taking control of the things I can control and not worrying about everything else.”

As you’re no doubt now aware, Jordy Smith is the Billabong Pro Rio champion. It was his third World Tour event win and, notably, his first outside of South Africa. But it was the way in which he did it that is worth discussing. For all the money, pressure, media, coaches, fans and professionalism that have infiltrated World Tour surfing, Jordy reminded us what’s it like to have a showman in our midst. No matter the country or the cultural baggage they carry, surfing at its essence will always be just as much about style, grace, expression and personality as contest results. Watching Mister Showtime spin through a vicious frontside rotation, land, whip his hair out of his face and hold his hands abreast at the judges (an imitation of the famous Christ statue overlooking Rio) with a big toothy grin across his dial was the perfect way to ice a radical piece of flare.

There was much to take away from his performance. In a classic showcase of beachbreak surfing, in which the full gamut of conditions tested surfers’ every faculty, Jordy took the win with barely a single conventional turn among his scoring rides. The giant power swoops and big-man lazzas that have so far been his most potent scoring weapon on Tour were replaced by snap punts off quick-fire sections, and a mesmerizing display of tube wrangling. But it was his temperament in times of extreme duress that spoke volumes for this guy’s current headspace.

The arrogance and ignorance of his youth seems to have long dissipated, replaced by a quiet confidence so vividly captured in his ironic mad-swaggerish, post-wave celebrations. So he should feel confident. He has begun to achieve things in this sport. With Dane Reynolds having faded into competitive obscurity, Dusty nowhere near consistent enough, and Julian, at least in this event, short on the razzle of Mister Showtime, Jordy has become the figurehead of his generation. Things are equally strong in his personal life. He’s got the blonde bombshell he always dreamed of, along with the pimp pad in Cape Town, and has now surrounded himself with a solid support crew – including former Australian World Tour surfer and one of the more astute thinkers you’re likely to come across in surfing, Jarrad Howse. This team gives it to him straight. It’s a great time to be a surf fan when the lost art of showmanship is making a comeback  (big ups to Seabass Zietz whose break through World Tour performance also contained plenty of flare).

But he was pushed all the way by the Brazilian contingent and boyo, what a statement they made. Adriano’s runner-up pushes him to outright ratings leader, Rookie Filipe Toledo – who few believed would his place on tour – now moves to 7^th, and Gabriel Medina now sits in outright tenth, one place above Ace Buchan, the aggrieved party in what was one of the most farcical administrative errors that surfing has seen in a while.

The issue is not that Brazilians claim or do not claim, it’s that, instead of being an individual reaction, it is strongly implied that this is “Brazilian behavior.” Gabriel Medina and Adriano de Souza. Photos: ASP

If you logged on to Surfline last night, like I did, to read the coverage of the final day of the Billabong Pro in Rio, you might have been surprised to find a strange diatribe about the behavior of Brazilian surfers. The article, written by Matt Pruett proved so incendiary that it was actually removed from the site late last night after the discussion boards lit up in condemnation. In the captions, there is a note:

Editor’s note: After internal deliberation and evaluating reader feedback, we decided that the best way to tell the story of Jordy’s win in Rio is with photos and captions. Stay tuned for Surfline’s Power Rankings for a full performance breakdown of the event.

Clearly, something went wrong. Let me explain.

What was perhaps most striking about the piece was the way it attempted to mask prejudice by playing good cop/bad cop; first, it acknowledges that stereotyping is wrong, and then proceeds to trot out the same tired stereotypes. This is not “real talk” designed to investigate hard truths or open debate. Those things would require a working knowledge of Brazilian culture and history, as well as the way that stereotypes work. That said, it doesn’t quite qualify as “racism” either, because “Brazilian” is not a race. It was, instead, the unthinking and discriminatory rhetoric of cultural imperialism that (intentionally or not) serves to demonize one supposed type of people while subtly vindicating another.

I won’t waste your time detailing every false accusation Pruett makes, but I would like to highlight the one that stands heads and tails above the rest. In the piece, he asks rhetorically: “So why do Brazilians have such a hard time burying the stereotypes?” Pruett goes on to answer his own question by describing the way some surfed and behaved on the last day of the Rio Pro.

There are two levels of false reasoning in this argument. The first is that the onus is on Brazilians to somehow prove to others – presumably Pruett and the other surfing literati in America and Australia – that they are not as they have been stereotyped. The second is that it is possible for an individual to do this at all. The very definition of a stereotype is that it is a gross generalization based on a false correlation between behavior and biology. An individual can neither disprove a generalization (which is made about a collective) nor can he prove or disprove something that is, to begin with, based on fallacy. Pruett actually demonstrated as much inadvertently when he wrote that Adriano de Souza was the “most composed and humble surfer on the beach.” So why doesn’t his behavior disprove the stereotype?

Because, for those set in their beliefs, cases will always exist that justify their world-view. Filipe Toledo and Gabriel Medina, for instance, did not surf and behave with the required levels of Protestant restraint and obsequiousness that Pruett expects from anyone not from Orange County, Sydney, or various East Coast surfing hamlets. Prejudice, you see, is like believing in Big Foot. It does not matter how much evidence there is that the ape doesn’t exist, true believers will always find “proof” that will support their delusions because they want to find it. Scientists who conduct experiments in order to obtain a set of desired results are called charlatans.

The really bat-shit crazy part of all this is the apparently unconscious double standard used to describe the Brazilians. When Medina hassles in a heat with Slater-like intensity, he is labeled over-eager and disrespectful. When Felipe Toledo displays passion in the water reminiscent of Andy Irons, it is considered hackneyed and pompous. The issue is not that Brazilians claim or do not claim, it’s that, instead of being an individual reaction, it is strongly implied that this is “Brazilian behavior.” If you watch any of the heats from Rio which are still on demand, you would see is flatly false.

I am so tired of having the same old conversation about Brazilians and why they supposedly act in certain ways. My theory is that it’s less about the actual behavior of many Brazilians and more about the fear, frustration, and disillusionment of surfing’s content creators who are witnessing the sport they love convulsing under the strain of its own demographic explosion.

This may lead you to wonder why I’m writing a detailed takedown of an article about Brazilian behavior that no longer exists. The reason is because, whether or not Pruett’s article sits on a web site or is relegated to an old file on his computer, the ideas contained in it have long since infected the world of surfing. The fact that Pruett’s article even saw the light of day attests to this. We cannot forget that these ideas float among us. We cannot eradicate them by only half acknowledging them. We have to stand up as a society, as many have already done on Surfline’s message boards, and make it plain that we will not tolerate this.

I have no particular connection to Brazilians other than the feeling that all people of dark complexion and “ethnic” features share when we participate in a culture dominated by those of lighter complexion and “Anglo Saxon” features. It is the queasy suspicion that under each stink eye, each drop in, each admonition, lurks the assumption that, based on my innate biological characteristics, I do not belong. Every time a Brazilian is criticized for some arbitrary breach of hoary rules of conduct like being too demonstrative, or competing too hard, I hear a single phrase: “You are playing our sport, and you will play it by our rules.”

If Pruett and Surfline really believe that, and if they have taken down Pruett’s article to save face while they still actually support his underlying ideas, then this conversation is over. No one will ever mention Brazilians on Surfline again, and the culture will maintain its current strain of unvoiced bigotry. But if they don’t, and I would like to believe they don’t, then they have an opportunity to start a real dialogue. Perhaps with an apology. Everyone is allowed to misstep, but it is long past time that the people who run this culture stand up and denounce bigotry.

Screenshots of the article in question can be found on page two.

Stay fit. It’s Fergalicious. Photo: Shutterstock/Valeriy Lebedev

I’ve said this before, and I will say it again to reiterate: The human body is designed to move. Run, swing your arms, spin, jump, bend….move. These actions require the interaction of muscles throughout your body, muscle chains, or fascial lines-which is what we call them in the health world. Chains of coordinated muscle action is what allows you to move in the surf. You will be able to react to turns, turn your head, spin your shoulders, and swing your lower body around to smash the lip and throw some gnar-spray, brah.

CABLE MACHINE CIRCUIT TRAINING: Pulls, Pushes, & Chops

Surfing is all about flow, movement with ease, and reactive timing of muscle chains. You can train your body to do that. A cable machine is one of the few “machines” I use with myself and my clients. With proper use, you can train groups of muscles that will have you moving with more strength and efficiency. Chops, Dynamic Pulls and Pushes-Rotational Training…so good!

MOVEMENT TRAINING: One-arm band pushes and pulls-dynamic core training

I’ll travel with one of these bands and wrap it around a tree or post for an easy workout.

FULL BODY FLEXIBILITY STRETCHES: How you should be stretching

Something else you’ll dig are these stretches. Just like the cable training above, these stretches are working on flexibility throughout your muscle chains. Integrated flexibility is what you need to move in the surf.

“The key to fluid style…is flexibility within the muscle slings or myofascial slings of the body to promote full body flexibility. Get into some Surfing Stretches. Muscle Slings/Myofascial slings=interconnected muscles and fascia that work together as a cohesive unit to provide large movement patterns.”

For more information on quality movement, exercise, and surf specific health and fitness, check out surfstrengthcoach.com andsurftrainingsuccess.com.

Transworld Surf, Surfer Magazine, and Surfing Magazine are all owned by Grindmedia now, a division of Source Interlink Media.

Today, in a bold land-grab within the action sports publishing industry, GrindMedia announced the acquisition of Bonnier Corporation‘s action sports properties, which fall under the Transworld brand. Titles that will change hands in the transaction include: TransWorld SURF, TransWorld SNOWboarding, TransWorld SKATEboarding, TransWorld Ride BMX, TransWorld Motocross and TransWorld Business. According to the press release, GrindMedia will now reach up to 300 million enthusiasts.

“The TransWorld acquisition is the latest in a series of significant acquisitions SIM has made in the action sports space,” said Chris Argentieri, President of Source Interlink Media.

Given the consolidation, the vast majority of action sports publishing outlets are now owned and operated by the same company, Source Interlink, which does about 1.1 billion dollars in revenue annually. This means that in the surf space alone Transworld Surf, Surfing Magazine, and Surfer Magazine will all be housed under the same roof, although physically that remains to be seen.

Representatives from GrindMedia and Transworld Media have both been contacted for comment. Updates will be made as available.

I was born and raised in Rome, Italy. I’ve always been passionate about ocean and water sports, and I quickly started to travel around the world looking for waves and new experiences.

I got into photography quite late. One night, I was walking back home after being out for a while, and a cute girl arrived in front of me. She looked at me and started running. I stood still, and she jumped on me with all her power. She hugged me and, like a dead weight, we fell down violently. She fell on top of me and I hit my shoulder against a sharp step. I felt pain but I was shocked.

It turned out that the girl broke my shoulder. This meant three months without surfing, sporting activities, and a long rehabilitation.

I was very upset and I quickly realized that I needed something to stay connected with the surf and the ocean even if I was injured, so I bought a camera.

Sometimes bad things happen for a reason!

View more of Mattia’s work and travels at tripicture.com.

Pure Morning. Photo: Elmo Hernandez

Sometimes nature’s elements combine to give us something extraordinary. The purity of this moment was absolutely gratifying. - Elmo Hernandez

Like this image? Hang it on your wall, or check out more great surf photos from The Canvas Wave.

Airs like this that propelled South African Jordy Smith to his first international World Tour victory outside of South Africa. Image: ASP/Smorigo

While the collective eye of the surf community has been turned to the massive swell that hit Teahupoo for the past week, the ASP’s top 34 have been patiently awaiting waves at Barra Da Tijuca for the Billabong Rio Pro. The action was slow to arrive in Brazil, forcing the contest on hold until a smaller swell arrived at the end of the waiting period. But once the show arrived, the beach filled with stoked Brazilians and the world’s best surfers reminded us of their capabilities.

The home team was on fire (for the most part), with Brazilians in three out of four Quarterfinals. Adriano De Souza took out Kelly Slater in the first heat of the day; Kelly just couldn’t find the waves he needed. (The announcers kept touting how much Kelly “isn’t a morning person.” Based on precedent, that seems unlikely.) That’s the fourth time in a row, De Souza has beaten the champ.

In a very controversial second Quarterfinal, Gabriel Medina scored a perfect ten, then dropped in on Adrian Buchan – though both surfers thought they had priority. The colored discs on the beach that indicate priority had quickly been switched from Buchan’s favor to Medina’s. As a result, Adrian waiting for the interference to be called on Medina, thinking he had won the heat; as the judges made no such call, Buchan lost his rhythm and the heat.

Mick Fanning made his way to the Semi’s over Sebastian Zietz between all the madness.

And Jordy Smith showed Filipe Toledo he could take to the air just as well as anyone, thereby defeating the young Brazilian in the last Quarterfinal.

The air show continued with Medina taking on De Souza in the first semi final. In a flurry of air reverses and vicious claims, the lead changed hand several times as scores climbed from sevens to eights to nines and higher. I emphasize the overstated claims. Medina dominated, but it was De Souza who had the lead in the end and even a last minute massive air (topped with more claims) couldn’t put the younger Brazilian through to the final.

Mick Fanning struggled to put a good ride together in his Semi Final heat against Jordy Smith. Jordy continued to successfully take to the air, yet the claims were refreshingly absent as the South African made his way to the Final (his best result in Brazil).

Needless to say, Jordy probably felt the pressure in the Final as Adriano got off to an active start. Eventually the South African answered back and once again the Final became a contest of airs. It was another high scoring affair that saw the lead change hands more than once. As the buzzer sounded, Jordy Smith claimed his first World Tour victory outside of South Africa, defeating multiple Brazilians in the process.

Smith was a bit of a dark horse through the back end of the contest, but he definitely earned the 10,000 points this Tour win nets him. Adriano gains 8,000 points, thereby moving into first place in the rankings, which makes the World Title race quite a bit more interesting.

With exactly two weeks until the Volcom Fiji Pro the boys should have plenty of time to rest up. If Restaurants and Cloudbreak give anything close to the performance they did last year, the Fiji Pro could once again produce a legendary contest.