LIVE RESULTS -- VSA Surf Jam 6

SurfWatch is reporting live from the VSA Surf Jam on Majini Island, Bishara Resorts -- Starting Saturday 30 August 2008 from 1100 hrs Second Life Time (SLT or PDT) or 1800 hrs GMT.

LIVE RESULTS

This is the sixth VSA Surf Jam surfing competition to be held this year. Today's event takes place on pipeline waves according to SLSA rules. 20 surfers are expected to take part in 4 heats. SurfWatch will post the competition heat draws, semi finals results and finals results only for the Surf Jam .

SurfWatch Results is also available on the mobile (cellular) Internet via SurfWatch Mobile.


Useful links
SurfWatch: VSA draws Surf Jam heats (28 Aug 08)
SurfWatch: Surfing Calendar - August-September 2008
SurfWatch: Buffy wins big at Surf Jam! (8 Mar 08)
SurfWatch: ONeill Crowned VSA Surf Jam champ! (2 Feb 2008)
SurfWatch: SURF REPORT -- Majini Island
SLURL: Bishara Beach (spectator area for the VSA Surf Jam)

VSA draws Surf Jam heats

Vibrations Surf Alliance (VSA) announced heat draws for Surf Jam 6 on Thursday. SJ6 takes place at 1100hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT) on Saturday 30 August 2008 on Majini Island, part of the Bishara Resorts sim.

20 competitors have signed up for the VSA Surf Jam, including ONeill Auer, winner of SJ1, Buffy Munro winner of SJ2 and Wilfrid DeCuir, winner of the first SLSA Season II contest at Boneyard earlier this month. There is also a wait list.

The VSA's monthly Surf Jam's are members only competitions, however fellow surfers, visitors and prospective members are always welcome to watch from the spectator stands on the neighbouring Bishar Island.

HEAT 1
Quench Spotter (BLACK)
Wilfrid DeCuir (BLUE)
Kim Henig (GREEN)
ONeill Auer (ORANGE)
Triston Mayo (PURPLE)

HEAT 2
MaryAnn Maa (BLACK)
Colleen Brennan (BLUE)
Crusader Arado (GREEN)
Kohana Schimmer (ORANGE)
Robbin Ember (PURPLE)

HEAT 3
Abel Halderman (BLACK
Buffy Munro (BLUE)
Kimmy Leroux (GREEN)
Gorka Urriah (ORANGE)
Malcolm Sydney (PURPLE)

HEAT 4
Amadis Thespian (BLACK)
Carolin Gausman (BLUE)
WickedV Carver (GREEN)
Triston Mayo (ORANGE)
Bon Chenaux (PURPLE)

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.The two highest scoring riders from each heat will go through to the semis.

Surfers contact: VW Sands

Useful links
SurfWatch: Surfing Calendar - August-September 2008
SurfWatch: Buffy wins big at Surf Jam! (8 Mar 08)
SurfWatch: ONeill Crowned VSA Surf Jam champ! (2 Feb 2008)
SurfWatch: SURF REPORT -- Majini Island
SLURL: Bishara Beach (spectator area for the VSA Surf Jam)

New wave on Crab Island

HP Surf's new Sunset wave breaks on Crab Island

Surfers visiting West of Ireland may have noticed that there is a new type of big wave break on Crab Island, now giving surfers a choice of three different waves in the estate (Bundoran Reef has pipeline waves and Neart an Epic). The 100 meter wide, seamless sculpty wave is called a Sunset wave and is the first of HP Surf's new generation of waves. Judging from feedback from surfers invited to test the new wave, it's quite a ride.

"We've invested most of our development time in trying to create new, innovative wave forms in attempt to make surfing in Second Life more realistic," said leogarto (Leo) Burt, CEO of HP Surf Boards Inc. "Surfers will see that each generation of our surfing waves has new innovations in form, textures and scriptiing: all designed to help surfers have more fun!"

"I really like them, said surfer Kimmy Leroux at Crab Island. "The fact that the wave is seamless from end-to-end makes it a nice ride. The wave is really smooth and catching air is great! I also like the fact that HP Surf is asking surfers to test these new waves and is taking advice from us."

Crab Island has recently been taken over by HP Surf, which has made it the developer's new testing ground for surfable waves, surfboards and other watersports products. HP Surf Boards, the leading Brazilian developer of Second Life surfboards and brought a new wave out a few months ago called the 'Teahupoo'. HP Surf is also the key sponsor of the ABSSL (Associação Brasileira de Surf no Second Life), which will hold its third major surfing competition event in two weeks time.

"The Sunset wave will be available in 60, 100 and 200 meter models," said Leo. ""The new 200 meter Sunset wave is gigantic!" SurfWatch hears that HP Surf plans to start testing the new 200 meter wide Sunset wave at the Pacific Coast Xtreme group of sims during the next few days.

Useful links
SurfWatch: Brazilian surf circuit comes to Praia da Paz (5 Jul 08)
SLURL: Crab Island
SLURL: Redondo Beach (PCX)

INTERVIEW -- Keala Mimistrobell

By Tauri Tigerpaw. Exclusive to SurfWatch.

SurfWatch recently caught up with one of Second Life surfing's pioneers Keala Mimistrobell, founder-owner of Namiko Surf Company, organiser of Second Life's first surfing competition (the Namiko Pro at Chi Island, March 2007) and one of the few early members of Second Life's surfing community. Namiko, which loosely translated means ‘child of the wave’ in Japanese, donates a percentage of sales revenue to the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Namiko has eighteen retail stores in Second Life.

SurfWatch: Almost everyone has seen your name and knows you're associated with Namiko and the beginnings of Second Life surfing. How did you get involved with surfing in Second Life?

Keala: Well, I came to Second Life in search of surf... and so one of the first places I landed was Quan Li. Seb [Sebastian Saramago] and Heather [Goodliffe] had been making some of Quan Li's first surfboards (ones that actually worked!). Some of the people I met at Quan Li lent me their boards to use... gave me bikinis....you know, helping out the noob [smiles]. And gradually, I got it into my head that we needed a real surf company in Second Life. But not something that was just about wearing the clothes... it was about spreading the joy of surf... spreading the stoke! We wanted people who didn't know anything about surfing to be introduced to it. Maybe they'd take their new found joy and try it in real life too.

SurfWatch: You came to Second Life specifically for surfing? That's a first!

Keala: Well, they said anything was possible in Second Life! People came here to virtually travel to the Great Wall of China... or race cars... or fly.. or whatever. So I thought I'd look and see if there was any surfing.

SurfWatch: Who were your first surfing influences in Second Life?

Keala: Luckily, Seb, Heather and Joe [SurferJoe Wind] were here. Lessons didn't exist back in those days [smiles]. In November 2006, it was just past the sign-up boom for Second Life. There were tonnes of noobs just messing everyone up. Almost no surfers around. Joe was the first real surfer I met and so he showed me a couple things on the board.

SurfWatch: So, just a handful of surfers?

Keala: Absolutely. Seb, Heather, Poid [Mahovlich], Joe...There were a couple more people on the beach who surfed in real life. From all over... Europe, Japan. But not a lot of Cali boys ... and definitely no Tofino girls!

SurfWatch: Tell us about the first Second Life surfing competition.

Keala: I had mentioned the idea a bunch of times to Heather, Hey... say... wouldn't it be cool if we ran surf competitions? And she agreed but didn't think Quan Li was the place to do it... it being low-prim and all. So, I introduced myself to Sally [LaSalle] and Poid who co-owned Chi Island at the time. They were the only class-5 surf spot on the grid at the time. We ran a demonstration event with the team riders I had started to put together, to get spectators out to watch a surf event. It went over great and we ended up running our first comp there.

SurfWatch: How big was the first event?

Keala: I guess when I arrived, there were these great boards that Seb and Heather were working on, but no one knew about them. And at the same time, Rad's [Radical Twang] company Reaction was up and running, but it wasn't at all involved in the 'surf community'.. so there was this gap between the people, the activity, the brands.... really the 'lifestyle' was not cohesive. I think the competitions gave the community a focus.

SurfWatch: What do you think about it all now? The sophistication of the competitions, the whole subculture of the community etc.?

Keala: Well, I think it was inevitable and foreseeable. In real life, I have been administering amateur sports events for years and the formation of the SLSA and their competition system is exactly what was destined to happen. I totally appreciate that there are people who feel so strongly about this activity now that they are willing to dedicate so much blood, sweat, tears and breath to maintaining the system. But of course, with any system, there will be people who want to rebel against it. Both in real life and Second Life. So you'll get the 'soul surfers' who won't compete, but I think there is space for everyone in this community.

SurfWatch: Where do you foresee things going in the future?

Keala: As long as we are kind, love each other and take care of each other, we will be fine. However, I can see it going as it has in real life, from my experiences. Basically, SLSA will continue to function if and only if it maintains the right people. Right now, Sally is super involved and is the mainstay. Most others seem to get excited, burn out and fade away.

SurfWatch: So with elections coming up soon, how would you define 'the right people'?

Keala: Okay, how do I explain...The system that has been created is sophisticated, yes, and needs to be maintained. It's kind of like feeding the monster! Every SLSA board that comes along makes changes and adds new layers of complexity. It's a lot for people to maintain. It can be overwhelming: especially since it is done in this difficult virtual medium. So people get burnt out quickly. People quit the board very soon after they join, after they realize how much work it is to feed the monster. I've met so many people in Second Life and they are all wonderful in their own right. Everyone has valid and passionate reasons for joining the board. But I think there can be characteristics of a person that will make it a lot more productive, not so set in their ways. So, people who can be open minded, flexible, communicative, passionate, but not stubborn. This is a growing community, a growing period, so we all have to be open to change [laughs] Does that make any sense?

SurfWatch: Well spoken! And your own future in Second Life surfing?

Keala: [laughs] My own future is to stay happy and keep surfing. I hope that all the competitions and all the team politics and personalities don't end up taking away from that original, core feeling. That in the end, it's you on the board hearing the rush of the water. I hope people are able to find peace with themselves through surfing.

In the meantime, I'm building this surf/snow sim and working on snowboards too, on the other side of this island. We're not finished yet, but soon.... I'm still building out the terrain park and stuff. Heather's been a gem, designing improvements to the snowboards. Snowboarding is a whole other story... [smiles]

Useful links
SurfWatch Surf Report: Chi, unique surf breaks with a touch of Zen
URL: Namiko Surf
URL Surfrider Foundation
SLURL: Namiko Surf
SLURL: Chi Island
SLURL: Quan Li

New fish and guns at Surf City

RJ Surfer Girl Kara Renfold shows off Rob John's smooth new shapes

Surf City boardmaker Rob John's Surf launched some of the largest and smallest surfboards in Second Life this weekend with the arrival of five RJ Fish and two RJ Guns. The ultra-short RJ Fish boards boast squared-off fish tails, making them ideal for snappy turns and radical maneuvers, whilst the RJ Guns are typically big, fast and streamlined. The sculpty shapes are brand new and all boards come with tri-fin arrangements. Both new lines are hybrid boards, combining RJ's sculpties together with Heather Goodliffe surfboard scripts.

"The fish and guns are not a retexture of Seb's sculpty boards, but are entirely new," explains Robin Mapp, owner of Rob John's Surf and Surf City. "I originally made just a few of these boards for the Surf City team to compete on. However, a lot of people tried them and dug 'em, so I put out a new line. My sculpts are 3D sculpted. Surfers will notice that they have no wavey edges and a tighter bounding box around the prim. They are totally unique."

The two new guns are the RJ Gun Pure Juice and the editor's personal favourite, coming between a Namiko and a regular longboard in length, the bright yellow and red RJ Gun Retro Bolt. The new square-tailed fish comes in a variety of designs: Black Stinger, Pink Hibiscus, Pink Neon, Neon Lights and a plainer RJ Fish Competition Board.

Rob John's Surf started making Second Life surfboards more than a year ago. The company also makes boardies, bikini's, beach chairs, loungers and, of course, Rob John's own surfing waves. The new boards are available from L$450 at Surf City South.

Useful links
SurfWatch: Surf City to test longboard skills (22 Jul 08)
SLURL: Surf City South