Reaction marks beach opening with one day sale

By Ashleigh Dickins.

Reaction has announced the grand opening of its new Boneyard surfing beach and flagship store location, which will take place Tuesday 1 July 2008. The event will be celebrated with Boneyard Beach opening to the public and a 50% off sale at the redesigned Reaction and Reaction Girl stores in their new location.

Co-owners Radical Twang and Breezy Biddle outside the new store

"We've created the hardest, most dangerous surf spot in Second Life," says Radical Twang, co-owner of Reaction and Boneyard. "Which now provides the perfect location for our main Reaction stores. We're holding a 50% off sale for one day only to celebrate the opening of the new Boneyard beach."

"We've been working hard to prepare for the July 1st opening," says Breezy Biddle, co-owner of Reaction. "Sometimes it seemed like we wouldn't make it with Rad having so many other commitments." However, as their announcement shows, Rad and Breezy were able to pull it off.

Boneyard beach is currently closed to the public, however some members of the surf community have had access to the area to assist in testing the waves.

"Boneyard is a fantastic ride and will challenge even the best surfers," said surfing veteran and SLSA Season One Points Champion, Tightline Kidd. "It's the only place I've found that, like in real life, not only do you fight the wave, but the natural barriers containing it." SurfWatch had a chance to test the ride out as well and we couldn't agree more with Tightline.

Both Reaction and Reaction Girl stores will be located adjacent to Boneyard beach and will be open for a one day super sale on all Reaction surf products, surf wear and casual wear. All products will be on sale at 50% discount for the whole of Tuesday July 1st.

Useful links
URL: Reaction Pro
SLURL: New Reaction store and Boneyard Beach (link only valid from 1 July onwards)
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Surfline shuts down

Economic pressures take their toll on surf sims; more surf sims to close

The view of Surfline Epic Rezzable from Surfline Aloha Rezzable

Rezzable, one of Second Life's leading sim owner/developers, announced the closing of Surfline Aloha and Surfline Epic sims on Saturday, half-way through what has been a very up and down year for Rezzable's surfing venture. Most of Surflines' waves were turned off for much of February and March and Rezzable created a new temporary surf sim at the end of March for the Surfline sponsored Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) competition. Surfline then re-launched brand new landscaped versions of Surfline Aloha and Surfline Epic mid-April, just in advance of the re-scheduled SLSA Surfline surfing competition on 26 April 2008. However, the economics clearly weren't working for Rezzable and the Surfline sims will be permanently closed down at the end of this month.

"Surfline has seen many wonderful moments and I know each visitor and guest will agree with me that it certainly was one of the best surfing places in Second Life," said Gweneth Lange, Surfline Brand Manager on Saturday. "However, Rezzable is still very much here and there's always lots to do."

Rezzable is renowned for creating engaging content-rich experiences in Second Life and its new Surfline sims were certainly rated highly by the surfing community. Now it seems surfing is coming off the map at Rezzable forever and according to industry sources, we can expect to see more surf sim closures due to the harsher economic realities of Second Life.

Maintaining a surf sim is expensive

"When the the bulk of the surfing community is spending time at only a couple of surf locations in Second Life, those locations that don't see traffic will close down," said ATown Fall, owner of TCH Estates. "Cuts need to be made somewhere and, it's sad, but it's often in places that are fun but with low income draws. And there is no reason to offer something that is expensive to run when people are not using it. For the record, TCH Epic Surf zone will remain open and fully operational."

Maintaining a surfing sim with waves that perform well is an expensive operation, particularly so given the state of the Second Life economy. Many Second Life businesses witnessed a sharp downturn in April due to Havok4 related disruptions and average land prices dropped by half in the second quarter forcing Linden Lab to freeze land supply earlier this month. A full-spec surf sim costs US$ 295 per month in tier fees, before looking at other costs associated with surf sim management.

"It's a shame that Surfline is closing and this is something a lot of surfers don't realise and appreciate enough: sim owners have to pay about US$300 every month to keep the sim alive," Radical Twang, co-owner of Reaction. "Full surf sims don't generate income, people just see it as "yeah sweet.. cool surf spot". I certainly wouldn't have a full beach sim without my store to cover the costs. I foresee more closing due to financial issues, not everyone can afford to provide something so expensive, without any real return"


Lack of support from the community?

"It is a real shame to see Surfline go, it was one of my favorites," laments Bishara Estate Manager VW Sands, who is also ranked 6th in the SLSA season competition table. "Most people do not understand what a full spec sim costs. Add to tier fees the costs of running contests, gifts, prizes, activities, staff and so on and you can see that this costs a fortune. Majini is no exception. We rely on the guests to help us pay for all this, either through sales of surf related products or direct donations. For sims like Majini to live on and remain great places to hang out and surf, the surfing community is going to have to help out or more and more sims will pull the plug. Simple economics."

Carenahh Kuu, owner of Helio Estates, which combines surfing, water sports and residential sims, agrees "It is hard to keep surfing sims going for the public, since they are not revenue makers and now there is more economic pressure as well. Surfline is a great loss to the surfing community; it has been around from almost the beginning and I hate to see it go. I can relate to how hard it is for Gwen and her team, having had to give up Monkeh Barrel myself earlier this year."

"We all want great places to surf, but have become spoiled or perhaps just unaware of the economics of what these sims actually cost the owners. Let's hope that the really great surfing sims don't just turn into ad-farm, Zingo center, commercial, 'legal gambling', neon-glowing, shady, money-first billboards as some already have, just to stay on the grid!" adds VW.

One last surf
Meanwhile, surfers have already begun heading down to Surfline to pay tribute and surf the waves there for the last time. "Surfline was a fantastic place to surf," said Pova Rustamova, SLSA season one champion surfer. "I loved it and its a crying shame we can't keep it open."


For those that want to paddle out for the last time at Surfline, the last day open day for the sim will be Monday 30 June 2008.

Updated 4am SLT 29 June 2008

Useful links
SurfWatch: Rezzable changes Surfline venue (17 Apr 08)
URL: More images of Surfline on Flickr (courtesy of Socks Clawtooth)
SLURL: Surfline Aloha Rezzable
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LIVE RESULTS -- VSA Surf Jam 5

28 June 2008 -- SurfWatch is reporting live from the Majini Island on the VSA Surf Jam 5 -- Starting Saturday 28 June 2008 from 1100 hrs Second Life Time (SLT or PDT) or 1800 hrs GMT.

LIVE RESULTS


This is the fifth VSA Surf Jam of the year, following an ill-fated Surf Jam 4, which was cancelled due to Second Life technical issues. Today's event takes place today on Majini beach's main wave break. 16 surfers are expected to take part in the first four competition heats (see live results for information on heat draws). SurfWatch will post the competition heat draws, semi finals results and finals results only for Surf Jam 5.


SurfWatch Results is also available on the mobile (cellular) Internet via SurfWatch Mobile
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BOARD REVIEW -- Surfwidow Beaumont Windsurfers

By Socks Clawtooth, Senior Furry Correspondent.

The new SWB Wave Pro Windsurfer

Surfwidow Beaumont is no stranger to wind and water and has developed two different types of Second Life windsurf boards, the first of which was the RSX range that harnesses real Second Life wind power. She hosts windsurf races every Monday at 11am SLT in Plum Gut using her RSiX windsurf boards. Surfwidow's new product is a wave board, which is designed to be stunt specific and work with Heather Goodlife waves.

The new SWB Wave Pro Windsurfer, comes with a lot of items. The system itself comes in two parts, the board and rail, which you rez into the water, and the sail which attaches to your avatar. This makes the sail "phantom", and prevents the sail from being locked into the curl of a pipe wave. The sail also has three prims to place numbers into for easy identification and the full windsurfer kit comes with the numbers.

Aesthetically, the SWB is very realistic. It has multiple foot straps, which are adjustable, and comes with a 'harness race pant' to complete the look. The board is completely modifiable, so you can adjust the straps and placements for your avatar's feet. All of the parts are copy/mod, and it's encouraged that you take time to make copies and edit the parts to fit you. You can also recolor the board in open chat with simple commands.


The SWB is very responsive in the water, requiring a lighter touch than its competitors, and at speed it makes very tight turns. It also has a distinct reverse, handy to back out of a bad place if you need to. Stunts on this board are a lot easier as well. Pressing the 'Page up' key gives you a simple bunny hop style jump. Press and hold 'Page up' key for long Robby Naish Big Air: over 10 meters of height! Pressing the 'Page down' key gives you a forward loop and a very loud 'Woohoo!' with it!

In our testing, the SWB rode well on epics and pipeipeline waves, but the epics were much easier to ride. Most of the stunts required a lot of timing to avoid launching over the wave and landing behind it It's possible, however, to catch up to the wave and jump back over it from the back to get back on wave It's also highly recommended you read the notecards that come with the kit, they detail how to stop the forward loops.


The only down side is the lack of user control on stunt work. Carving back and forth on epics is very difficult, and doing tabletops or similar stunts seems impossible. It's easy to run back and forth, and with the right timing you can do an impressive front flip and land on wave to keep going. These windsurfers are very easy for anyone to jump on and start riding, with a minimal amount of information. It correctly handles more like a sailing craft than a surfboard. As long as you remember that, you can rip up the waves without a problem.

Another opular Surfwidow product that is the RSiX RaceWind Windsurfer. These are built specifically for racing. The kit comes with two models, red and yellow. Both also can be personalised with numbers, as with the SWB, and the board is recolorable in the same way.

Racing boards are purely controlled by the Second Life wind. Pushing forward will change the sail angle, but not make you move forward. You also need to tell the craft to raise the rigging (rigup) or to stop (moor), and it takes some getting used to. There is such a thing as 'race wind' as well, but you get into that more when you get into racing. The ride is very technical, requiring some working knowledge on how sailing works in Real Life. You have to constantly tack, check the wind direction, adjust the sail angle to the wind (sheeting), and switch your stance to match the wind direction. It's not an easy task, but well worth it when you make your way around a course in a good time.


Both boards are available at WOOT on Jetset Island, where you can try out the RS:X for yourself just off the back of the store. If you rez the trial windsurfer, you'll catch the 'windsetter' and be able to have a consistent breeze to move you along. Surfwidow Beaumont windsurf boards cost L$375 each.


Useful links
SurfWatch: Surfing calendar - June-July 2008
SLURL: WOOT, Jetset Island

SLURL: Plum Gut
URL: Some windsurfing theory (US Sailing)
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Flynn Sheridan Invitational raises L$ 230,000

Fun in the sun! Left to right: Rani DeCosta, Cipriano Grut, DeVinna Toll (yes, really!), Colleen Brennan and Oroonie Oh

Organisers disclosed that the Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest held at Surfline Epic Rezzable and Aloha Rezzable on Saturday has already raised L$ 230,000 for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and more Lindens continue to flood in. L$ 70,000 was raised by the contest in advance via donations from competition surfers and a further L$ 160,000 was raised on the day of the event via an innovative donation system that asked spectators to vote for their favourite surfers by donating money in their names.

"It was a great day," said co-organiser of the contest and long-time Second Life Surfing Association member Craig Stallion. "Everybody seemed to have a great time and it was all for a spectacular cause. We couldn't have ask for a better day and for a better crowd of people."

Raising L$ 230,000
is no mean feat in Second Life given that only about 30% of the world's 1.2 million active residents spend any money in Second Life whatsoever and, for example, more than half of the residents that actually do spend money have average monthly spend of less than L$ 2,000 (May 2008 average). The biggest expenditure that most Second Life surfers are likely to have is splurging between L$500 and L$ 2,000 on a new surfboard.

However, Second Life's surfing community sure knows how to make fund-raising fun! The contest proved to be just the opportunity surfers were looking for to try out some of their more colourful costumes and avatars.


























The line-up! Left to right: Wonder Woman (aka Desne Aabye,), Betty Boop (aka Colleen Brennan), a bumble bee (aka Express Zeonovka) and some red Indian guy! (QUENCH Spotter) (photo credits: Socks Clawtooth)


Voted
Overall Best Surfing Performance at the Flynn Invitational was the Second Life Surfing Association's number four ranked surfer DeVinna Toll. DeVinna also won the award for the Best Tricks, while Best Costume went to
Melora Loring, Best Surfware to Adaire Decuir, Most Annoying Gestures to Sunrize Mornington and Most Likely To Belly to Melora Loring!

Missed out on all the fun?


If you were not able to make the Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest on Saturday, it's not too late for you to take part and help to make a difference.

The Relay for Life kiosk at Surfline Aloha Rezzable will continue to accept donations related to this event for at least the next few days, so please pay
Surfline Aloha a visit and help to raise the event total (click here to teleport).

If you are a Second Life landowner and you would like to install your own Relay for Life donation kiosk, the organisers of the Flynn Sheridan Invitational would be happy to assist. Contact Craig Stallion by IM in Second Life or contact SurfWatch and we will put you in touch.

Photo credits: Socks Clawtooth

Useful links

SurfWatch: Flynn Sheridan Invitational heat line-ups announced
SurfWatch: Cancer benefit surf contest announced (15 Jun 08)
SurfWatch: INTERVIEW - Flynn Sheridan (22 Mar 08)
URL: Relay For Life
SLURL: Surfline Aloha Rezzable
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Flynn Sheridan Invitational heat line-ups announced

Organisers announced heat line-ups for the Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest today. The contest takes place at Surfline Epic Rezzable today Saturday 21 June 2008 starting at 10am SLT (1700 hrs GMT) and is a fund-raising event for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

HEAT 1
Radical Twang (Red)

Bobbi Laval (Blue)

Melora Loring (Green)

Abel Halderman (Orange)

Jes Luik (Purple)

Amadis Thespian (Black)


HEAT 2

Desirae Beaumont (Red)

Socks Clawtooth (Blue)

Express Zenovka (Green)

Sally LaSalle (Orange)

Jac Morninggton (Purple)


HEAT 3

Colleen Brennan (Red)

Cipriano Grut (Blue)

Aspen Parx (Green)

Mick Lunasea (Orange)

Rufferto Rutherford (Purple)

Kelee Kuhn (Black)


HEAT 4

Pova Rustamova (Red)

Crusader Arado (Blue)

Oroonie Oh (Green)

Molly Freidlander (Orange)

Sunrize Mornington (Purple)

Mateus Reiko (Black)


HEAT 5

Desne Aabye (Red)

Wilfrid Decuir (Blue)

LeajHane Cazalet (Green)

Mychel Daviau (Orange)

Adaire Decuir (Purple)

QUENCH Spotter (Black)


How to participate
Since the focus of the Flynn Sheridan Invitational is to raise money for Relay for Life, competitors will not be judged as in a normal surfing competition. In fact, there will no judges and no scores. Instead, the surfers themselves, along with their friends and other spectators, will be able to vote for the best surfer of the day.

To vote for your favorite surfer, all you have to do is donate to the mini-kiosk on the display boards below your surfer's name in each category. The display boards with the mini-kiosks for each surfer are located on the second level of the spectators stands (click here to teleport there). The mini-kiosks are one linden = one vote, so the organisers urge you to vote for your favourite surfers again and again!

In the first round, each surfer will get to ride three waves. At the end of the first round, the six surfers with the highest amount of money donated to them in the "Best Overall Surfing Performance" category will move on to the final round. In the final round, each surfer will ride four waves and at the end of the final round, the winner will be determined by the highest amount of money donated in that category in their name among the six finalists.

For further information on this event contact: Christine Daffodil


Useful links

SurfWatch: Cancer benefit surf contest announced (15 Jun 08)
SurfWatch: INTERVIEW - Flynn Sheridan (22 Mar 08)
URL: Relay For Life
SLURL: Surfline Aloha Rezzable
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SLSA confirms Pova as season champ

Pova Rustamova, Desirae Beaumont, Sierra Sugar and Radical Twang inducted into SLSA Hall of Fame; Christine Daffodil awarded Thor Bishop MVP

Pova Rustamova was confirmed as the Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) season champion at Friday's 2008 SLSA Season One Champion Awards Party on Majini Island, with Pova and the season's second placed Desirae Beaumont both being inducted into the SLSA Hall of Fame as a result. Third place in the season's rankings Colleen Brennan, fourth place Devinna Toll and fifth place Abel Halderman all left the awards with seasons end trophies.


SLSA SEASON RANKING
(unofficial, top ten only)


1. Pova Rustamova (2,960 points)

2. Desirae Beaumont (2,880 points)

3. Colleen Brennan (2,860 points)

4. Devinna Toll (2,755 points)

5. Abel Halderman (2,520 points)

6. VW Sands (2,425 points)

7. Christine Daffodil (2,220 points)

8. Craig Stallion (2,000 points)

9. Desne Aabye (1,680 points)

10. Bobbi Laval (1,635 points)


Note: All results are provisional, pending the final standings listing by the SLSA.


SLSA and Hall of Fame directors also voted in two surfers at large: long time Second Life surfer and former SLSA director Sierra Sugar and current SLSA director and founder/owner of leading Second Life surfing product company Reaction, Radical Twang. A new award, the Thor Bishop MVP (most valuable player) award was presented to Second Life surfer and seventh placed in the last season's rankings Christine Daffodil.

There were also plenty of lighter moments at the SLSA Awards Party including numerous party waves, dancing and a string of novelty awards as nominated by SLSA members.


Here are those SLSA party novelty award winners in full!

SLSA NOVELTY AWARDS


Best in Thong: Craig Stallion
Funniest Drunk: Radical Twang

Loudest Cheerer: Christine Daffodil

Most Spectacular and Badly Timed Crash: Pova Rustamova

Most Likely to Fall Asleep in Line Up: Paeida Allen

Crowd Clown: Poid Mahovlich

Most Likely to Break or Lose a Board: Egon Zimminy

Best Competition Day: Majini

Best Song/Best Surfer To Never Show Up to Comps/Best In-Joke: "Ken Lee!!"

Best Gesture: The Maracas Manbo!


Lots of pictures of the Champion Awards Party are available on Flickr courtesy of SurfWatch's senior furry correspondent, Socks Clawtooth.

Look out for Tauri Tigerpaw's exclusive interview with
the new season champion Pova Rustamova on SurfWatch next week!

Useful links
SurfWatch: INTERVIEW -- Desirae Beaumont (19 Jun08)

SurfWatch: Pova reigns supreme (17 Jun 08)

SurfWatch: INTERVIEW -- VW Sands (7 May 08)
SurfWatch: INTERVIEW -- Devinna Toll (14 Feb 08)
URL: SLSA Season Ranking (not yet updated)
URL: Champions Awards Party Picture Gallery
SLURL: Majini Island
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Pova reigns supreme

Season winner to be officially announced at SLSA awards night

Pova Rustamova prepares himself for a competition heat at El Corazon lastSaturday

Following a memorable Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) surfing season, it now seems certain that Pova Rustamova will retain his number one place in the Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) season table. Although this has yet to be confirmed by the SLSA and amid other rumours,
it looks like Pova will become the season champion. The Season winner, runners up and other end-of-season surfing awards are expected to be announced by the SLSA at an end-of-season awards night on Friday 20 June 2008 at Majini Island.

Devinna Toll came close to unseating the champion at the Surfline Shortboard Pro in April, but Pova retained his number one ranking and consolidated his lead with extra points from a fourth place at the SLSA Reaction Longboard Epic at Neart.

Last weekend it was Desirae Beaumont that came closest to knocking Pova off the top of the table with her stunning win at the Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro at El Corazon. However, once again Pova had the numbers working for him and the points gained from his heats position ensure, at least by our calculations, that he keeps his number one place at the end of the SLSA surfing season.

Despite securing just one competition win during the whole SLSA surfing competition season, Pova has surfed consistently well throughout the season taking fourth place at Majini Island at the beginning of the year, then first place at Monkeh Barrel in February. Surfline upset Pova's fortunes in April as he was unable to complete his semi final heat due to technical issues, although he still managed a respectable 12th place. SLSA Reaction Longboard Epic at Neart saw him close to, even if not actually on, the podium with another fourth place. Whilst the Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro didn't give him the results he wanted (leaving him at joint 14th together with QUENCH Spotter), Pova's overall season's scores were enough to stand him in good stead.

By SurfWatch's calculations, Pova should finish the surfing season in first place with 2,960 points, closely followed by El Corazon winner Desirae (previously seventh place) who narrowly beat Colleen Brennan (previously fourth place) into the second place position. However, you'll have to wait until Friday to get the full story from the SLSA.

Useful links

SurfWatch: INTERVIEW -- VW Sands (7 May 08)
SurfWatch: INTERVIEW -- DeVinna Toll (14 Feb 08)
URL: SLSA Season Ranking
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Surfing calendar - June-July 2008

Surfing competitions

2008 SLSA Season One Champion Awards Party

Friday 20 June 2008, 1800-0300 hrs hrs SLT (0100-1000 hrs GMT)


The 2008 Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) Season One Champion Awards Party takes place at Majini Island, Bishara Resorts on Friday 20 June 2008, 6pm SLT to celebrate the end of the surf season. The event includes end of surf season awards presentations, the Thor Bishop MVP award, announcements of the new inductees to the SLSA Hall of Fame and 9 straight hours of partying with live DJs through until 3am SLT on Saturday.


Open to the public.
Surfers contact: Ashleigh Dickins

SLURL: Majini Island



The Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest

Saturday 21 June 2008, 1000 hrs SLT (1700 hrs GMT)


The Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest takes place on Saturday 21 June 2008 starting at 10am Second Life time (SLT) at Surfline Epic Rezzable in aid of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.
The event is named after Flynn Sheridan, founder and former director of the Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA). A L$ 500 donation fee is applicable to those that wish to compete. Donations from spectators encouraged.

Open to the public.
Surfers contact: Christine Daffodil

Useful Links

SurfWatch: Cancer benefit surf contest announced (15 June 08)

SLURL: Surfline Aloha Rezzable



VSA Surf Jam 5

Saturday 28 June 2008, 1100 hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT)


Vibrations Surf Alliance (VSA) Surf Jam 5 takes place on Saturday 28 June 2008, 11am SLT at Majini Island, Bishara Resorts. The monthly Surf Jam's are members only events, limited to 20 competitors. Surfers will face off in four preliminary heats, narrowing down to 10 surfers in the semis and 5 for the finals' heats. Surf Jam 5 will also help raise money for Relay for Life. The competition has prizes for the top 6 surfers, plenty of music and hot surfing action for spectators!


Open to VSA members only
. Surfers contact: VW Sands

SLURL:
Majini Island


Other events


'Midnight on Pepo'

Wednesday 18 June 2008, 1100 hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT)

The Vibrations Surf Alliance (VSA) midnight surf session on Pepo Island, Bishara Resorts starts at 11am SLT on Wednesday 18 June. An evening of fun and surfing on the amazing phosphorescent break on Pepo Island under the cover of midnight skies. Prizes and freebies for all surfers.


Open to the public.
Contact: VW Sands.
SLURL: Pepo Island


Windsurf RSX Fun Races

Monday 23 June 2008, 1100 hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT)

A weekly windsurfing competition for RS:X windsurfers organised on Mondays by Fishers Island Yacht Club in the Plum Gut and Sailor's Cove sims. RS:X and RS:iX windsurfers use real wind.


Windsurfers contact: Surfwidow Beaumont

SLURL: Plum Gut

Wimby Rocks!
Wednesday 2 July 2008, 1100 hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT)

The Vibrations Surf Alliance (VSA) open surfing session on the new Wimby Island surfing break, Bishara Resorts. Expect lost of surfing, jamming to reggae sounds and an after session party!


Open to the public.
Contact: VW Sands.
SLURL: Wimby Island


VSA Wind Jam

Wednesday 12 July 2008, 1100 hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT)

The Vibrations Surfing Alliance (VSA) Wind Jam windsurfing competition takes place on Wednesday 12 July at 11am SLT on Majini Island, part of Bishara Resorts. A maximum of 24 windsurfers are expected to take part. Expect windsurfing, cash prizes, freebies and plenty of fun.


Open to the public.
Windsurfers contact: VW Sands
SLURL: Majini Island


Majini Madness

Wednesday 16 July 2008, 1100 hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT)

Open surfing session on Majini Island, Bishara Resorts where every wave is a 'party wave'! "Jam to the sounds of classic surf music, drink Corona and pass out on the deck after dancing all night!"


Open to the public.
Contact: VW Sands.
SLURL: Majini Island
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Desirae Beaumont wins El Corazon

Lag monster comes out to play; 5 out of 10 top ranked SLSA surfers fail to make semis

Action from Saturday's Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro (photo: Seb Saramago)

Seventh-ranked SLSA surfer Desirae Beaumont won Saturday's Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro at El Corazon and took home her first SLSA winner's cup. Desirae has had mixed results this surfing season, but her last two performances at Surfline and Neart clearly showed that she meant business and on Saturday she took the waves, competitors - and the lag monster - to task and came out with an impressive win in difficult conditions.

"It was hard to stay on the wave, the new synced waves are smaller. I was able to stay on the wave and well...the tricks worked," said winner Desirae (see pic right) after the competition. "I was sure that I have a good chance after I got through the preliminary heats. I just wanted to do same as before and trying to avoid bellying. Yesterday was all about control. However, to win in my first season... wow!"

The surf break at El Corazon is especially challenging for surfers, combining a small break with a very short run into the shore, making it the shortest narrowest competition wave break in the SLSA surfing calendar. In addition, most competitors were expecting the lag monster to come out to play for the event: and they proved to be right. Five out of the top 10 SLSA ranked competition surfers including top-of-the-table Pova Rustamova and third place VW Sands did not even make it into the semi finals, as the combination of small waves, a short run and sim performance took its toll on competitors.

Here are the SLSA Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro surfing competition scores from the day.


FINALISTS SCORES (final heat score only)


1. Desirae Beaumont (14.83 points)
2. Craig Stallion (14.50 points)
3. Colleen Brennan (14.00 points)
4. Carolin Gausman (13.16 points)
5. DeVinna Toll (12.50 points)
6. Crusader Arado (11.50 points)

SEMI FINALISTS (semis score, overall score)

7. Wilfrid Decuir (13.50 points, 27 points)
8. Mick Lunasea (13.50 points, 26.83 points)
9. Mateus Rieko (13.33 points, 25.66 points)
10. ONeill Auer (10.00 points, 25.50 points)
11. Abel Halderman (10.16 points, 23.49 points)
12. Leahjane Casalet (10.33 points, 21.83 points)
13. Mysti Trevellion (8.16 points, 20.66 points)

Note: Semi-finalist scores are an addition of 1st Heat score plus Semi-final scores


HEAT RANKINGS

14. Pova Rustamova (13.16 points)
14. QUENCH Spotter (13.16 points)
16. Express Zenovka (12.83 points)
17. Socks Clawtooth (12.50 points)
18. Cipriano Grut (12.16 points)
18. Carlos Macalpine ( 12.16 points)
18. Bobbi Laval (12.16 points)
21. Christine Daffodil ( 11.33 points)
22. VW Sands (11.00 points)
23. Ashleigh Dickins (9.83 points)
24. Carver Nitely (8.83 points)
25. Amphiprion Watanabe (7.83 points)
26. Desne Aabye (7.50 points)
27. Egon Zimminy ( 5.50 points)

NO SHOWS
Paeida Allen
Payten Harrop
Buffy Munro
Malcolm Sydney
Jaay Zymurgy


Note: Although SurfWatch aims to report the competition results accurately and relies on SLSA judges announcements during the competition, all results are provisional, pending the final results announcement by the SLSA.

Story updated 10.30am 15 June 2008 (corrections to heats rankings)

Photo credit: Seb Saramago


Useful links
SurfWatch: SLSA draws El Corazon heats (13 June 08)
SurfWatch: Who will be crowned season champ? (13 June 08)
SurfWatch: El Corazon to challenge SLSA surfers (12 June 08)
URL: SLSA Heat Draws for El Corazon
URL: SLSA competition calendar
URL: Judging Criteria
URL: Competition Day Requirements (for Surfers and Spectators)
SLURL: El Corazon (competitors only)
SLURL: El Corazon (spectators)
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Cancer benefit surf contest announced

Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest, 21 June 2008

The Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest was announced Sunday as the first Second Life benefit event of its kind for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Named after Flynn Sheridan (see pic right), founder and former director of the Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) who is fighting a personal battle against cancer, the contest will take place at Surfline Epic Rezzable on Saturday 21 June 2008 starting at 10am SLT (1700 hrs GMT).

According to organisers Christine Daffodil and Craig Stallion, the surf contest is intended to be a fun day of surfing with friends to both honor Flynn's contributions to the surf community of Second Life and raise donations for the American Cancer Society. The Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) has voted to sanction and support the invitational as an official SLSA event.


Those wishing to surf in the contest must register in the SLSA Forum and then visit Surfline Aloha Rezzable to make a minimum donation of L$ 500 as an entry fee at the Relay for Life kiosk (see pic left). The contest will admit competition surfers using any Heather Goodliffe scripted board, whether Pre-Havok4, Post-Havok4, long board or short board. However, the idea is that competition surfers must donate to participate and whilst the L$ 500 donation doubles as a competition entry free, donations of sums more than L$ 500 are encouraged. In fact, there will be prizes for the top five entry fee donations.

Non-surfers are welcome to attend to join in the fun, make donations to Relay for Life and to vote for their favorite surf performances in several categories.

How to take part
Surfers should register to compete in the SLSA Forum (URL) and then make their donation entry fee (which must be a minimum of L$ 500) via the Relay for Life kiosk at Surfline Aloha Rezzable (SLURL teleport link).

The deadline for those registering to compete in the
Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest is Thursday 19 June 2008 at 11.00pm SLT (06.00 hrs GMT).

Non-surfers and surfers not competing in the surf contest can make donations anytime via the Relay for Life kiosk at Surfline Aloha Rezzable (click here to teleport).

For further information on this event contact: Christine Daffodil

Useful links
SurfWatch: INTERVIEW - Flynn Sheridan (22 Mar 08)
URL: Relay For Life
URL:
SLSA Forum contest registration
SLURL: Surfline Aloha Rezzable
SLURL: Surfline Epic Rezzable
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LIVE RESULTS -- Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro

SurfWatch is reporting live from El Corazon and Heartland sims on the SLSA Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro surfing competition -- Starting Saturday 14 June 2008 from 1100 hrs Second Life Time (SLT or PDT) or 1800 hrs GMT.

SEE LIVE RESULTS NOW

This is the final competition in this SLSA surfing season and 32 surfers are expected to take part in the competition.


Live results also available on the mobile (cellular) Internet via SurfWatch Mobile


Useful links

SurfWatch: SLSA draws El Corazon heats (13 June 08)
SurfWatch: Who will be crowned season champ? (13 June 08)

SurfWatch: El Corazon to challenge SLSA surfers (12 June 08)

URL: SLSA Heat Draws for El Corazon

URL: SLSA competition calendar

URL: Judging Criteria

URL: Competition Day Requirements (for Surfers and Spectators)

SLURL: El Corazon (competitors only)

SLURL: El Corazon (spectators)
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SLSA draws El Corazon heats


The Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) has drawn the heat line-ups for the Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro surfing competition at El Corazon, which takes place at 1100 hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT) Saturday.

32 surfers are now expected to compete in the Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro including the top ten ranked surfers in the season's rankings. Saturday's competition at El Corazon will decide what SLSA surfer will be crowned the season champion. The El Corazon event takes place on the narrowest wave with the shortest break in the season's competition calendar.


Preliminary heats will be judged on three waves per competitor, while semi finals and final heats will be judged on four waves per rider.


HEAT 1 - 11.00 am

Pova Rustamova (RED)

Desirae Beaumont (BLUE)

Cipriano Grut (GREEN)

Carolin Gausman (ORANGE)

Express Zenovka (PURPLE)


HEAT 2 - 11.20 am

DeVinna Toll (RED)

Desne Aabye (BLUE)

Paeida Allen (GREEN)

LeahJane Cazalet (ORANGE)

Payten Harrop (PURPLE)


HEAT 3 - 11.40 am
VW Sands (RED) Bobbi Laval (BLUE)
Buffy Munro (GREEN)

Wilfrid DeCuir (ORANGE)

Mateus Rieko (PURPLE)


HEAT 4 - 12 noon

Colleen Brennan (RED)

Ashleigh Dickins (BLUE)

Mick Lunasea (GREEN)

Socks Clawtooth (ORANGE)

Amphiprion Watanabe (PURPLE)


HEAT 5 - 12.20 pm

Abel Halderman (RED)

QUENCH Spotter (BLUE)

Oneill Auer (GREEN)

Malcolm Sydney (ORANGE)

Jaay Zymurgy (PURPLE)

Carver Nitely (BLACK)


HEAT 6 - 12.40 pm

Christine Daffodil (RED)

Craig Stallion (BLUE)

Carlos Macalpine (GREEN)

Crusader Arado (ORANGE)

Egon Zimminy (PURPLE)

Mysti Trevellion (BLACK)

Notes: The (COLOUR) in brackets denotes the colour of the surfer's competition shirt. The heats draw may always be subject to last minute changes.


Surfers contacts: Milo Voss / Radical Twang / Sally LaSalle

Useful links
SurfWatch: Who will be crowned season champ? (13 June 08)
SurfWatch: El Corazon to challenge SLSA surfers (12 June 08)
URL: SLSA Heat Draws for El Corazon
URL: SLSA competition calendar
URL: Judging Criteria
URL: Competition Day Requirements (for Surfers and Spectators)
SLURL: El Corazon (competitors only)
SLURL: El Corazon (spectators)
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Who will be crowned season champ?

Being the last competition of the Second Life Surfing Association's (SLSA's) season, this Saturday's Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro at El Corazon will decide what SLSA surfer will be crowned the season champion.

Only seven competition surfers have a chance of taking home this season's trophy: Pova Rustamova (currently ranked first in the season's standings), Devinna Toll (2nd), VW Sands (3rd), Colleen Brennan (joint 4th), Abel Halderman (joint 4th), Chrisitine Daffodil (6th) and Desirae Beaumont (7th).

Top-ranked SLSA surfer Pova Rustamova

With 2,620 points, Pova currently has a strong 415 point lead of over second placed Devinna in the season's standings and all he needs from El Corazon is a first, second, third or fourth place in order to retain his lead and become the season champion. However, if Pova is unable to take one of the top four places, then the number one position opens up and either Devinna or VW could take the season's championship with a win at El Corazon. A bigger upset could leave the season's top spot open for a maximum of seven SLSA surfers to win enough points at El Corazon to challenge Pova's lead and take the championship.

The top ten surfers ranked in the SLSA season's standings today are as follows:


1. Pova Rustamova (2,620 points)
2. Devinna Toll (2,205 points)
3. VW Sands (2,180 points)

4. Colleen Brennan (2,135 points)

4. Abel Halderman (2,135 points)

6. Chrisitine Daffodil (1,965 points)

7. Desirae Beaumont (1,880 points)

8. Desne Aabye (1,475 points)

9. Bobbi Laval (1,350 points)

10. Ashleigh Dickins (1,290 points)


The SLSA Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro surfing competition takes place on Saturday 14 June 2008 at 1100 hrs Second Life time (SLT) at El Corazon.

Useful links

SurfWatch: El Corazon to challenge SLSA surfers (12 June 08)
URL: SLSA Competition Season Ranking
URL: SLSA competition calendar
URL: Judging Criteria
URL: Competition Day Requirements (for Surfers and Spectators)
SLURL: El Corazon (competitors only)
SLURL: El Corazon (spectators)
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El Corazon to challenge SLSA surfers


With little more than 48 hours until the Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro takes place at El Corazon, SLSA surfers are readying themselves for one of this year's most challenging surfing competitions and the final Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) event of the five-contest Spring-Summer season. El Corazon will also decide what competition surfer becomes the SLSA season champion.


El Corazon is a small break with a short run into the shore that is sure to bring its own intensity to Saturday's competition. The pipeline wave is just one section wide, making it less than a third of the width of the wave at the last competition at Neart. And whilst we're comparing El Corazon's break to the last competition, the wave run is only about two thirds as long as Neart too. Overall El Corazon is the narrowest wave with the shortest break in the season's calendar. It's shorter than either Neart or Monkeh Barrel (at least, when there was a Monkey Barrel sim!). In addition to the size of the break, the El Corazon surf break also has a few little quirks such as fast moving fluffies (ocean foam waves) and pipeline waves that often fold before they hit the beach.


The SLSA Thor Bishop Shortboard Pro surfing competition takes place on Saturday 14 June 2008 at 1100 hrs Second Life time (SLT) at El Corazon. As usual, 40 surfers are expected to take part in 8 heats and as of time of posting 31 surfers had already registered for the competition.

Useful links
URL: SLSA competition calendar
URL: Judging Criteria
URL: Competition Day Requirements (for Surfers and Spectators)
SLURL: El Corazon (competitors only)
SLURL:
El Corazon (spectators)
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Surf's up on Cornish Surf Beach!


Avid Second Life surfers ONeill Auer and Lala Recreant, in pursuit of the illusive lag-free Second Life surfing experience, have created a surf sim called Cornish Surf Beach. The beach has already gone through several changes since it's inception a few weeks ago, with changes to design and other guest options and much tweaking of the sim to optimise surfing wave performance.

"It's not commercialised, so it's very beautiful and we are open to suggestions and feedback so surfers can make it how they want it to be," said Lala. "'We've made it as low lag as possible and as relaxing as possible."

Cornish Surf Beach currently alternates between a three section wide Epic wave or two pipe waves with fluffies. Amongst the hills surrounding the surf break are secluded spots for those not surfing to enjoy the view, or for the more romantic, perhaps the sunsets. The beach is also equipped with sun loungers and a dance floor with picture slide show of regular visitors to Cornish. ONeill and Lala also aim to host surfing competitions at Cornish in the near future.

SLURL: Cornish Surf Beach
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Where the hell is Socks?

The making of... Exclusive to SurfWatch.

Senior Furry Correspondent Socks Clawtooth walks us through the making of his new video documentary on Second Life surfing ''Where the Hell is Socks?' For the record, Socks did all of his own stunts in this video, none of the stunts in the video were faked and, you'll be pleased to hear, no furries were harmed in its filming.

27 sims, less than 5 minutes. Well, 28 if you count the sim hop I did at Rasta (the white line you see me cross is a border). Having watched surf movies like 'Step into Liquid'' and Endless Summer', not to mention being a fanatical Warren Miller fan, I took things to a logical extension when I filmed this. Also add 'Where the Hell is Matt?' Matt is a guy who's traveled the globe, stood in front of the sights, and danced. Matt's YouTube video is incredible to see where he's been. So, being a Second Life citizen, I did it my way. The opening music is what he used in his video, if you've never seen it.


Filming 'machinma' like this is pretty easy: if you have the right equipment. If you've got a decent computer, FRAPPS is a good option. Unfortunately, my computer is behind held together with spit, bailing wire and faith, so I used what I had. S-video output to a camcorder, and you've got Second Life on a tiny screen!


Next was the camera. Second Life camera follow modes, well, are bad for film making. If you're doing an 'I've been there' video, it's fine. But if you're moving, the camera wants to snap to the back of your head, or thereabouts. So enter my buddy. He's the fox you see at Neart drinking the beer. We set up that account as a camera account, and run two computers on the same router on Second Life. Wireless. Yeah, it amazed us too.


I took the slow one to surf on, he took the fast one to film on, and started sim-hopping. For a week before hand I put together the travel plan, how the video could be done the most efficiently. We did a test shoot on Manjini Island and it worked out well. So we went full tour-de-force. It took a couple of nights, a couple dozen crashes, and wading through awful lag to get 'the shot', but in the end, I'm happy with the result.


The other thing about
the documentary is that it's also a time capsule. Sunset Strip is gone now, the sim owner kicked 'em out from what I understand. The JSA beach may go back to Epics sooner or later. And who knows when beaches will change the layouts, the speed, or even the existence of the waves? My 'privateer' rides may not exist next month, let alone tomorrow! Second Life is always in motion, always changing. So this is a snapshot of 28 Second Life beaches from May 2008.

However, one of the main reasons I wanted to do this video was to encourage people to sim hop. See what the scene is like all over the grid. I've already heard from a few people who said "Wow, I didn't know there was that many places to go!" In all reality, we left a lot out, and some of the bigger sims too. Plus in the last few weeks, a lot of new beaches have opened up. So yes, part two is being planned.

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SURF REPORT -- Costa Rica: in harmony with nature

The Epic wave on Playa Del Rey

Costa Rica is an estate of more than 20 tropical sims showcasing a variety of Costa Rican natural environments from miles of golden sandy beaches to dense tropical rain forest. In fact, one of the objectives of the estate is to highlight the importance of living in harmony with nature. The estate is home to the three most famous beaches of the Manuel Antonio National Park in real life Costa Rica: Playa Espadilla Sur, Playa Manuel Antonio and Playa Escondido.

Costa Rica has several interesting surf breaks and there are plans to further develop the Costa Rica estate as a surfing destination. The main surf breaks today are Playa Del Rey on Pacifico Central 1, Playa Escondido on Pacifico Central 4 and Playa Santa Teresa on Pacifico Norte 1.

Playa Del Rey is the home of the Costa Rica estate's only Epic wave. This is a short 100 yard Epic break starting in the middle of the sim and breaking into the beach. Pacifico Central 1 is also home to the Playa del Rey Surf Shack, which sells a variety of surfboards including Analog Surf, Jac Mornington's Realistic, Namiko, Poid Mahovlich's glow at night surfboards and also Heather Goodliffe windsurfers. You can just about see the pod of humpback whales in the neighbouring Pacifico Central sim to the north, although they tend to stay away from the waves.

Playa Escondida's pipeline wave breaks into a secluded bay

Three sims south of Playa Del Rey is Playa Escondida, where a three section wide pipeline wave breaks into an otherwise calm bay fringed with tropical vegetation. Whilst, the newest addition to the Costa Rica surf scene is a long four-wave pipeline break at Playa Santa Teresa, with phosphorescent waves that run in for just about 255 yards onto an island just in front of the Peninsula Nicoya Sur mainland. Playa Santa Teresa also has a vendor for Poid's luminous surfboards. There are two or three sets of fluffies that break along the shores of Golfo de Nicoya and Isla Venado, which are both north of Pacifico Central, but these all run for just a few yards each and so of limited interest to surfers.

Playa Santa Teresa's phosphorescent pipeline wave break

There are many other activities for visitors in Costa Rica include boating, canoeing, fishing, hang gliding, scuba diving, whale watching and white water rafting. Costa Rica has clearly developed the estate aiming to provide visitors and residents with the best experience and the attention to detail really shows.

Most of Costa Rica is residential with privately owned land, but the convenant for the land ensures free passage to allow non-residents to explore the estate, although the homes themselves are out-of-bounds. There's a lot to explore. The estate provides a hovercraft tour for new arrivals in Costa Rica, accessible via hovercraft stations on different sims throughout the estate.

URL: Costa Rica Sims
SLURL: Playa Del Rey
SLURL: Playa Escondida
SLURL: Playa Santa Teresa

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