Right-coasters Alek Parker and Benny Bourgeois have gotten quite good at dodging hurricanes and scoring waves. More on that here... These 2 vids were just posted and it looks like after bobbing and weaving through North and South Carolina, Alek and crew got some fun waves courtesy of Hurricane Danielle..



The Hunt "Danielle" from ALEK PARKER on Vimeo.



Blue Water Sessions from ALEK PARKER on Vimeo.

North Carolina's own, Ben Bourgeois, won the Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro last year, so it's only fitting to get a little interview from him first. He had just found out he had been bumped into the next round, and I had just realized I needed batteries for my tape recorder. I saw that he was walking back up the trail too, so I decided to do a little interview with him until my recorder died, I got five questions in.

So you won it last year, how did you spend the money?

I paid bills and put it in the bank.

How stoked are you that it's a six star this year?

Yeah definitely, it's nice that it it's a bigger event. You know, more guys, more prize money, more everything. It's a big plus.

Do you know who's in your heat?

Well, I was supposed to surf this morning, but I got bumped into the next round, so I'm not really sure. Maybe should check on that.

You recently scored some good surf over in Pohnpei. How was that?

It was insane, that [P Pass] was one of the best waves I've ever surfed. Just epic.

Where you off to next?

Hey, look it's Rob Machado over there [Ben gets distracted as Machado fillets a small left just south of Lowers]. How was that? Oh yeah, I'm off to Panama in a few weeks for a little trip, besides that just cruising.

And there went the power.

Lower Trestles is sacred ground for surfers. The wave itself is one of the best in the world for highlighting state of the art high performance surfing. That's why victories here, at any level, carry a significant degree of prestige. While Lowers plays host to a variety of surfing tournaments each year: the NSSA National Titles, a World Qualifying Series (WQS) event and an full blown ASP World Tour stop that brings the world title race into play.
In years past, the WQS event has been the least publicized of the three. That's due mainly to the fact that it didn't carry a whole lot of weight in the overall meaning of things. The WQS, which is surfing's version of the minor leagues, is comprised of hundreds and hundreds of surfers all vying for a shot at making the cut for the ASP World Tour. But unlike Minor League Baseball, where players are broken into segregated leagues, like Single- A, Double-A and Triple-A, in surfing the climb is a bit more complicated. Surfers with enough points can enter any contest they wish on the WQS schedule, which is comprised of roughly 40 events. Those events are broken into a tier system, ranked from 1-Star, which have very little points and prize money, all the way to 6-Star PRIME, which provide top dollars and enough points that they are basically can't miss events for any surfer hoping to make a serious run at the ASP World Tour.

6-Star PRIME events are rare birds indeed. There are only eight in 2009. And the only one on the U.S. Mainland, the 6.0 Lowers Pro, is underway this week at Trestles. Because 6-Star PRIME events are so important, several of the surfers who enter are ASP World Tour surfers aiming to protect their coveted spots by requalifying through the WQS again just in case they don't make the big league cutoff.

So how do the surfers feel about having such an important event at Lowers now?

"It's about time," says Ben Bourgeois, last year's winner. "This is by far the best wave in California for a surf contest, so it's nice to have something on the WQS level that really matters. I think we're going to see a lot higher level this year."

If the first few days of action are any indication, Bourgeois is right.