Fred Patacchia is working double duty these days. When he's not out kicking ass on his fellow competitors, he can usually be found interviewing them for his new site, insurfnews.com. Lord knows there's a lot of down time on the tour, so it's good to see somebody doing something productive with it.


Andy chats about what it will be like to come back next year (yes, he's leaning toward coming back) as the lowest rated seed, which will undoubtedly throw a wrench into somebody's plans. Irons will be squaring off early next year with guys in the Top 5 in the first and second rounds, which means things will get interesting quickly. For more, watch Freddy's interview.

insurfnews.com - ANDY IRONS from Andrew Oliver on Vimeo.

While the ASP's world tour stars are enjoying a healthy break in the schedule, the WQS side of things, A.K.A. The Grind, is heating up in the Maldives for the the 6 Star Prime SriLankan Pro, one of the most important stops of the season. Of course, being that this party is a world away, and it's not backed by a powerhouse industry player, it gets very little media spotlight, but that doesn't change the fact tha some heavy heats with serious consequences are going down. Usually, this is the type of event where new faces emerge, and true to form, that's exactly what's happened as the field was narrowed down to the final 16 surfers yesterday. The remaining list of competitors reads is best summed up by one question, "Who the Heck is That?"


Romain Cloitre? Miguel Pupo? Jonathan Gonzalez? Anyone?


Sadly, Australia's Owen Wright and Daniel Ross along with Brazilian Andre Jadson are the only three surfers left standing who are currently in the Top 20. In fact, all three of those guys are currently in the Top 5, which means they're strengthening their death grip on the top spots. Meanwhile, the Amercans have had a relitively rough go. Hungtington Beach's Brett Simpson had another early round exit, falling in the Round of 48. Some other notables who lost in the same round included Eric Geiselman, Tanner Gudauskas, Matty Wilkinson, Kai Barger and even Sunny Garcia.


Yet all is not lost for the Americans. San Clemente's Patrick Gudauskas will be facing off against veteran Cory Lopez in the next round, which means the yanks will have at least one surfer in the Quarterfinals. The other hopefull is Californian Austin Ware, who squares off next against Australia's Drew Courtney.


Stay tuned...

San Clemente's Shawn Parkin shouldn't be confused with ASP tour leader Joel Parkinson, but he should be considered one of the hottest photographers around. Parkin manages to make even the mundane look magnificent, which is probably why he was a finalists in Surfing Magazine's Follow the Light Foundation awards in 2008. In this little trip through his hometown Parkin gives us a fresh look at San Clemente through his unique lens.

Santa Cruz super grom Nat Young, 17, kept his year of terror going by winning the Grade-3 Arnette All-Day Antics Pro Junior in Newport Beach. While this was his first victory of 2009, Young hasn't skipped a beat since going on his rampage during the second half of 2008, when he won the NSSA Nationals, finished second in the North American Pro Junior Rankings, and won the hallowed 4-Star O'Neill Coldwater Classic held in his own Santa Cruz backyard.


Young's victory at last year's Coldwater Classic was a ceremony of sorts, solidifying his ascension to fearless leader status in one of the nations most revered surfing communities. While the town has produced a number of celebrated surfers through the decades, Young is clearly carrying the torch now, representing the vanguard of a new generation of surfers up there.


Not surprisingly, he's being touted as the best young surfer in California right now. SURFER Magazine listed him at number 12 in this year's Hot 100 rankings, which was the highest of any west coaster. SURFER also listed Santa Cruz as the best surfing city to live in inside the U.S.. Young's performances undoubtedly played a role in that decision, having drawn a lot of the attention up that way. Traditionally, Santa Cruz tends to get overlooked since it's hundreds of miles away from the surfing industrial complex. Young heavy presence has been sucking some of the limelight up where it belongs.


The pride of Santa Cruz is now sitting at number three in the pro junior rankings, but with a handful of upcoming events on tap likely play right into wheelhouse (he's a lethal beachbreak surfer) don't be surprised to see him climbing. Young is hoping to qualify for the world junior championships in Australia, and he should be considered a huge threat if he gets the wildcard at this year's Oakley Pro Junior Global Challenge in Bali, which is likely. As of today, Young is our frontrunner for Surfer Magazine's Breakthrough Performer of the Year, an award given out each year at their annual Surfer Poll Awards show. Stay tuned...

Months of sponsorship speculation surrounding Kelly Slater, the world's greatest surfer, ended Monday after his longtime sponsor Quiksilver, Inc. (NYSE:ZQK) announced that Slater had agreed to a new five year deal with the company. The relationship between the 9-time world champion and his longtime sponsor, which began in 1990, has been strained of late, due to problems stemming from Quiksilver's massive debt issues that have plagued the company for more than a year. To industry insiders, Quiksilver's ability to keep Slater riding for their label is the best sign yet that CEO Bob McKnight is making progress on his efforts to pull the company out of what looked like a death spiral just months ago. In early 2009, Quiksilver faced a debt problem of more than a billion dollars after the sale of Rossignol netted them far less than expected back in November of 2008, in the wake of the stock market collapse. After stepping away from his leadership role years ago, McKnight returned his role as President in early 2008 in order to help navigate the apparel maker's sale of its troubled snow brands, which proved to be ill timed acquisitions.


It's clear that Slater, who is by all definitions the best surfer to ever set foot on a surfboard, had his own doubts about whether or not this day would arrive. "It might not come as a surprise to many people that I've re-signed with them but there have been major transitions in my life and many changes within Quiksilver," he said in a statement. "It's a long relationship and things often alter over the course of time." Indeed, several of Slater's close friends have either left the company or been forced out during the recent house cleanings both in the U.S. and abroad.


"We couldn't be more pleased than to continue our long-standing relationship with the greatest surfer the sport has ever known," said McKight. "Kelly has been a fantastic spokesman for Quiksilver, a terrific ambassador and promoter for the sport of surfing and a true friend of the company. Kelly continues to work toward broadening the exposure of surfing through projects such as his upcoming IMAX movie and he' (TM)s got some great ideas that we will work on together to enhance the marketability of surfing and bring surf competitions to a broader audience in new and innovative ways. Kelly')s agreement to accept a significant portion of his compensation in the form of Quiksilver stock demonstrates his confidence in Quiksilver and our future prospects. We are absolutely delighted to continue our
partnership with Kelly."


Of course, the next question for Kelly is whether or not he'll be retiring from competition this year. He set out for an incredible 10th world title run back in February, but has been dealt three back-to-back early round losses this year, while Australian Joel Parkinson has taken a commanding lead with his two victories. With no shortage of side projects to keep him busy, Slater hinted after his latest loss in Tahiti that he's likely going to be a no-show at the next event in Brazil, slated for late June. Though Brazil is a stop he often skips, if Slater has any plans on getting back in the title hunt this year he simply can't afford to miss it. A no show would be considered Slater officially throwing in the towel, at least for this year. But it could also signal the end of his remarkable career as a competitor.


A post-Slater era is a concern for the sport of pro surfing, just as the post-Jordan era was for the NBA. Slater has expressed interest in getting involved in promoting the sport, which has always been plagued by a toothless governing body. Should he be able to spearhead a new chapter, chances are he'll have to be competitively involved to keep things interesting. At least surfing fans hope that's the case.