RIP CURL PRO SEARCH
SOMEWHERE
July 30-August 10, 2008

Photo courtesy of Rip Curl

Bruce Irons, the 2008 Rip Curl Pro Search Somewhere champion, couldn’t have been happier. Prior to making the final of this sixth event on the World Championship Tour (WCT), Bruce had mentioned plans to step away from fulltime competitive surfing, possibly to settle down a little. Now he was dancing around on the winner’s stage like a grommet, accepting his cool globe trophy and basking in the glory that comes with winning your first WCT contest and US$30,000.
Perhaps due to encouraging Rip Curl’s search for surf roots the contest site remained unnamed to the media and online webcast viewers. For those that still don’t know where it was, well, let’s just call the left Beng-Bengs and say that it’s fairly well known the world over since the 1970s and has been surfed pretty regularly since then. Let’s also add that the WCT boys laid wreck to this perfect left “Somewhere” way beyond anyone’s Taylor Steele-fueled imagination. Huge fans of spray were thrown off snaps in places most respectable surfers would be gunning down the line. Barrel riding at these surf spots became redefined with the pros making the most difficult tubes effortlessly with total style.
During the contest Kelly Slater got blown out of draining thick-lipped lefts like none other, even switch footing to add more petrol to his blaze. Tiago Pires blew minds by later dousing Slater in a complex priority situation that worked past Kelly’s advantage to his own downfall. Bali’s rising stars Garut and Gogo tested the waters of a WCT heat, and so did Bruno Santos of Brazil, all granted wildcard tickets from the minor leagues to compete on the “Dream Tour.” Brazilian Heitor Alves lost his first round heat but ripped the meanest barrel to 360 air combo ever seen at Beng-Bengs as the sun set. Parko threw up fanning plumes of liquid each time he hit the lip, and somehow squeezed through the tightest backhand barrels. Chris Ward was on a roll the whole contest until the semifinals against Bruce Irons where a lengthy heat-winning tube ride shut down on him and his advance into the final.
The intense heat didn’t stop the loyal spectators from gathering on the sunny cliffs or dry low tide reefs everyday of the contest. Even the monkeys came out to watch Fred Pattachia surf to second place at a spot he’d never been to in his life. Bruce Irons would eventually lay claim to first place, taking down defending world champ Mick Fanning along the way, surfing heat after heat to victory on the island where the wind is always offshore.
It’s been 11 years of travel advisories and political changeovers since the WCT last came to Indonesia. Rip Curl’s Search Somewhere showed that besides the world-class waves and surf enthusiasm, Bali has the ability to safely host a WCT contest just as smoothly and professionally as Bells Beach or Huntington Beach has for decades. The contest also built a key template for local surfers and nearby surf-stoked nations to follow, something especially important now with surfing’s addition to this October’s Asian Beach Games in Bali. Rip Curl had pulled off an awesome event on many different levels and with any luck it won’t be the last.

Oakley O ROKR Pro
Kuta Beach, Bali
August 16-17, 2008

Photos: Tim Hain, courtesy of Oakley

Results
Men’s Pro:
1. Garut Widiarta
2. Lee Wilson
3. Wayan Suyadnya = Made Adi Putra

Master:
1. Made Artha
2. Wayan “Cupak”
3. Made “Sachang” Sadiartha
4. Ketut Menda

Surf For Bali Kids Charity Competition
Padma Beach, Bali
August 18-19, 2008

Photos: Tim Hain

Results
Men’s Pro:
1. Dede Suryana
2. Lee Wilson
3. Pepen Hendrik – Made Awan

Women’s Pro:
1. Yesco
2. Bone
3. Sena
4. Jasmine

Rip Curl Scar Reef Pro
West Sumbawa
August 27 – September 2, 2008

Photos: Tim Hain

Results
Mens Pro:
1. Rahtu Suargita
2. Garut Widiarta
3. Dede Suryana
3. Wayan Wirtama

Coca-Cola ISC Best Maneuver Award: Mustofa Jekse n

Coca-Cola ISC Tour Rankings 2008:
1. Dede Suryana
2. Garut Widiarta
3. Lee Wilson
4. Wayan ‘Gobleg’ Suyadnya
5. Devis Ratif