Tuesday 29 August Biarritz France


The surf at Les Bordaines was going off in the morning 3ft offshore and the best little left hand bank you can imagine, off course my head was exploding and all the kooks in the water only made my surf a very frustrating experience but it was better than nothing I suppose. We all packed up at midday and made the short drive down to Biarritz for the next event, the Billabong pro at Anglet and Mundaka. Biarritz is a beautifull town and we had a very nice lunch overlooking the grand plage before going back to the hotel and trying to sleep last nights execces off with another siesta.


Wednesday 30 August Biarritz France.


Not much to write about today, shitty surf and weather all day. The 1st day of the Billabong pro is cancelled and it just a matter of sitting around all day waiting for the wine tasting and opening ceremony in the evening, which of course we had to go to and take advantage of some of the excellent wines up for grabs.


Thursday 31 August Biarritz France.


Slightly bigger swell but still horrible and onshore with rain squalls throughout the day. Round one of the womens run in less than desirable waves but at least the contest is on the move and the organisation visibly relax a little. We manage to scratch a tiny surf in the afternoon at the grand plage in Biarritz but it is a zoo. France has to have the biggest ratio of kooks in the world, I suppose they have the same rights as everyone else but hell they are a danger to themselves and every other water craft. In the evening we found a jewel of a discovery, the best chinese restaurant ever, what a pleasure, french cuisine is delicious but enough is enough.


Friday 1 September Biarritz France.


Sunny in the morning but the ocean was a very sad sight, flat ,flat, flat. Once again the contest is canceled for the day and nerves are beginning to show again. I had a little peak at the weather maps and no worries a swell is on the way. In the afternoon we took a drive to Spain and had a walk around the new surf trade show Expoboard in San Sebastian, I must admit I was a little surprised at how small it was and how badly supported it was by the big surf companies.


Saturday 2 September Anglet France.


The swell has arrived but the weather is still stormy and onshore but the men?s 1st round is run. Both Sunny and Luke lose in the less than desirable conditions but as it is the 1st round they live to surf again. Otherwise nothing out of the ordinary occurs and its business as usual.


Sunday 3 September Anglet France.


Another day of full on surfing. 4 womens heats and 16 mens 2nd round run in fun but difficult 3-4ft glassy conditions. Sunny and Luke both obliviate there opposition and the title race stays wide open. The rest of the heats are pretty much one sided affairs with the winners dominating with better wave selection. In the end its another hard 11hour day at the office but a swell is out there, maybe for Wednesday and Mundaka is looking a good option.


Monday 4 September Anglet France


What a day, as good as they come, the air as crisp and clear as possible in over polluted Europe and a blazing late summer sun all day. The swell had dropped off and the decision was taken to only run the womens 3rd round and 1/4 finals once the tide dropped and the low tide banks came into play. I must say it was one of the best calls made all year even though the girls complained they did not want to surf if the men didnt have too. I was blown away at the standard of surfing, the ladies went off, and a 9 was ridden in nearly every heat. Layne Beachley survived a close heat against Heather Clark who amazingly threw her lead away by insisting in paddling away from the peak and catching every bad wave that came her way. Lisa Anderson proved she still is one of the worlds best with an absolute ripper of a wave with 3 sick carves to get a 9.5. In the evening we all went for a shitty high tide grovel surf at the grand plage in Biarritz which only made me frustrated as every time I managed to get a wave some kook on a longboard dropped in oh well se la vie, at least dinner in the hotel was an absolute feast of prawns, langostines and fish. Life definitely could be worse.


Tuesday September 5 Anglet Francep


No waves but a perfect day. Contest cancelled and a day off to go surfing at last, so we went on a bit of an adventure looking for an uncrowded peak up in the forests north of Hossegor. After driving around for an hour we eventually found our secret peak and had a few fun waves to ourselves even though it was only 2ft.


Wednesday September 6 Anglet France


The swell arrived and the contest was on, in some insane 4-5ft peaks, unfortunately today will not be remembered for the surfing but for the day the circus arrived in town.It was all too bizarre. Round 3 of the mens was run off in prettty good glassy surf but every heat was pretty one sided with someone getting the waves in the tricky line up and the other guy not getting anything. Anyway the decision to run round 4 was taken and Kalani Rob who had had a few beers and CJ did not want to surf as it had already been a long day so they desided not to paddle out. A heated discussion between all involved immediatly took place and the contest director took the decision to start the heat with Kalani and CJ in the contest area with beers in hand. All of a sudden things suddenly looked pretty ridiculous as the heat was underway with everypone staring at an empty lineup. After a few nervous minutes the surfers agreed to surf and the heat was restarted. Kalani after a few afternoon beers left a lot to be desired and was beaten hands down. The surf was still good but very tricky and both Sunny and Luke lost kkeping things interesting for the title race which is getting hotter by the minute.


Thursday September 7 Biarritz France


The swell had dropped a bit but during the night a storm front had moved in and the contest was put on hold until later on in the day. I took the morning off to go for a stroll around the shops in Biarritz. One thing for sure it is a pretty town is Biarrittz, not to mention the chocolate and pastry stores. In the afternoon the contest was again cancelled until tomorrow even thought the surf had improved a lot and the sun had come out. We all went for a surf in the evening at the grand plage which was quite fun.


Friday September 8 Biarritz/Mundaka


Another perfect morning, offshore with clean skies and crisp 3-4ft left and right peaks. The 1/4 finals and womens semis and final were run off immediatly with some good surfing going down. Danny Wills and Mick Campbell had the heat of the day with some sick tubes had by both of them. Danny getting very deep on one to make the difference and win the heat. Lisa Anderson won a close final over layne Beachley with a big come back in the last few minutes. After the womens final the contest director wanted to go ahead and finish the contest as the waves were still pretty good but Billabong wanted to wait it out and gamble on to swell hitting Mundaka tomorrow morning.So the decision was made to pick up and move off to Spain and Mundaka for a grand finale in some real perfection. The 2 hour drive to Mundaka is a scenic one if you managed to make the Spanish border and get some petrol as in France the petrol strike had closed down nearly all of the gas stations and was about to cripple the whole country. Mundaka is a joy to the senses, unrivalled beauty and in the heart of an extremely radical basque culture, here there are no half measures, so I was out in the lineup for a surf as soon as we arrived hoping to get a few waves before the masses arrived unfortunately the swell did not play along with my master plan and all I ended up doing was paddle against the current for 2 hours.The night life made up for the waste of energy though as a Tapas dinner in the bars and a few vino tintos more than set the mood for some sick barrels on the morrrow.


Saturday September 9 Mundaka Euskadi


A joy to behold, every surfer lives for pure moments like these, barrels, barrels and more barrels. Mundaka was in perfect form this morning 4-6ft and grinding from start to finish, beautifull crisp morning air and the sound of cracking waves were what awoke me and I knew today was a day to remember. Occy and CJ had a battle royal in the first heat and both got very very sick tubes but Occy took the honours with a perfect ten in the last minute to advance to the final, my hair was on end and I had goose bumps just watching the pureness of what surfing is all about, speed, power and the barrel. Shane Dorian beat Willsy in the second semi in an all backhand affair that did not have the same effect on the nervous system due to the difficulty of getting as deep as the previous all goofy heat of Occy and CJ.The tide started to push in pretty fast and the final was held straight away, this time Occy pulled in a bit too deep too many times and got swatted leaving Shane an open road to victory, he certainly deserved the win as he got some very very deep backhand tubes and to finish off each wave 2 or 3 huge lip bashes. As the saying goes he who dares wins and Billabong won big time with this event, the chance to finish in good waves at an average beach break were pushed aside and the 50/50 gamble for perfect Mundaka was made.luckily for surfing it paid off.


Now we´re getting ready for the new Portugal pro.