Frenchman Hugues Oyarzabal just returned from a 5-month stay in Indonesia, and unlike most traveling surfers he's got more than some tall tales to show for it. As a goofyfoot, Hugues found an endless supply of winding lefthand tubes on Bali's Bukit Peninsula and on several outer-island missions.

Lucky for us, he was able to strap on his Go-Pro for some of the most mesmerizing POV shots to date. With the help of his girlfriend's land angles, he crafted this 33-minute film entitled Peace and Left II. If you haven't been to Indo, here's a pretty good preview:

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While those of us in California are preparing for a hot summer and small waves, our friends in places like Western Australia are already in the full swing of winter. Winter in West Oz means big swell and chillier waters, much like it does for California. Best mates Ry Craike and Dino Adrian have already been scoring, as evidenced by these two fresh clips.

Here we have a winter in Hawaii clip from Dave Rastovich's time on Oahu. Rasta talks about venturing past the Pipeline scene to the shore's other waves, and does a bit of experimenting with surf sleds.

Rasta has strayed from the norm in many areas of his life and career, and surfboards are no different. The Australian's board of choice in Hawaii for the last couple seasons is not exactly what you'd expect in North Shore juice-- a winged twin-fin shaped by Akila Aipa (which you can see in this still frame). Akila is the son of legendary shaper Ben Aipa, and a former pro himself, who has taken certain elements of his father's winged "stinger" model and applied them to a modern step-up template with a twin setup. The result is that Rasta is able to draw some incredible and unique lines on the open face, even in bigger surf.

The finals of the Rio Pro saw some impressive performances from the stacked field. But the most convincing display of surfing came from the least seasoned competitor-- rookie John John Florence, who won his first WCT final today at age 19.

As predicted earlier this month by the absent Kelly Slater, it was only a matter of time before Florence bagged his first contest victory. Now, having won in the heaviest of waves at the Volcom Pipeline Pro in January, and in the smallest of waves at Rio today Florence has proved himself in a range of conditions. And it appears that we've only seen the beginning of the two-John era.

With dominating performances throughout the day, which culminated in a flogging of Joel Parkinson in the final heat (16.37 to 11.44) John John was in disbelief as he was chaired up the beach: "I can't even believe this right now, I'm in shock. I was sticking to my game plan. I'm so happy right now. I can't even believe it... Coming here, I wasn't expecting to win."

Now sitting well inside the top 10, John John has not only taken a lead in the rookie of the year hunt, but has also tossed his hat in the ring for an outside shot at a late-season title campaign.

See more event photos here.



BILLABONG RIO PRO FINAL RESULTS:
1 - John John Florence (HAW) 16.37
2 - Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.44

BILLABONG RIO PRO SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.83 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.00
SF 2: John John Florence (HAW) 17.94 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.86

BILLABONG RIO PRO QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.90 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.60
QF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.57 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 5.90
QF 3: John John Florence (HAW) 14.94 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 9.43
QF 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.84 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.27

CURRENT ASP WCT TOP 10 (After Billabong Rio Pro):
1. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 19700 pts
2. Mick Fanning (AUS) 18250 pts
3. Josh Kerr (AUS) 18200 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17200 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 15750 pts
6. John John Florence (HAW) 15750 pts
7. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15700 pts
8. Kelly Slater (USA) 13700 pts
9. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12250 pts
10. Owen Wright (AUS) 12150 pts

Driftwood Collective has released its third episode to give you ideas on how to recycle your old surfboards. Much to the benefit of the environment, many companies are taking steps to go green.

That responsibility falls on surfers, too, as materials that have been used in the past to make surf planks are quite harmful to the environment.

Recycling the old surf plank does take some muscle work, but the results are priceless. Check out the video below by Driftwood Collective to inspire you to recycle, reuse, and get creative: