Free again and never let it be said that we’re just here on a bit of a jolly. Sarah and I have been fairly occupied for the for the past week with various bits and pieces that we offered to do at Arugam Bay Surf Club, but it’s amazing how much more you enjoy work when you actually volunteer to do it. Sarah’s had her organisational hat on, producing documents, letters to whom it may concern and a coherent application form for the club as they make a bid for credibility ahead of the establishment of the Sri Lankan Surfing Federation. It’s been an interesting process and the rivalry between some of the clubs on the island has been palpable at times. Continue reading ‘Local boys take on the world’
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An historic day in Sri Lanka as the first ever Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) surfing event began in this country with day one of the six-star rated SriLankan Airlines Pro at the famous Arugam Bay on the tropical south east coastline of Sri Lanka.
A significant overnight swell pulse delivered excellent surf to 2m (4 to 6 feet) and the high quality line –up of world surfers revelled in the long walling and powerful waves on this unique sandy point. Continue reading ‘SriLankan Airlines Pro begins in excellent waves at Arugam Bay’
Head judge Richard Porta with Sri Lankan wildcards : photo ASP/Robertson
Live Coverage | Results/Photos/Videos etc
SriLankan Airlines Pro at Arugam Bay set to begin tomorrow with Sri Lankan wild-cards decided
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 18 June, 2010 : – - Day one of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-star rated SriLankan Airlines Pro at Arugam Bay was officially placed on-hold as contest organizers await an expected good pulse in swell tomorrow to begin the first ever ASP event in Sri Lanka.
The consistent 1m (3 to 4 feet) clean surf that greeted the opening day was certainly good for surfing but with bigger waves forecast in the coming days along with an extremely favourable forecast for surf in the coming week organizers are keen to run the event in the very best and biggest surf and expect to be off and running first thing tomorrow morning.
“It’s very contestable out there today but both myself and ASP Head Judge Richie Porta agree that with better waves likely tomorrow we’re keen to begin this special event on a real high” said contest director Dane Jordan.
“It’s also a great opportunity for us to run the trials final this morning and then let all the competitors really free surf the waves today and further familiarize themselves with the point break here and be primed for an excellent start.”
An opening ceremony was enjoyed by all surfers at the famous point this morning and shortly after eight of Sri Lanka’s finest surfers competed for two prized wild-card positions into the event. The standard of the Sri Lankan boys surprised many of the media and officials at this event but not head judge Richard Porta who has visited the break on a number of occasions over the past 18 months.
Asanka : photo ASP/Robertson
“ Our international panel of ASP judges judged their final today and there were some legitimate 6 point rides in the mix of scores so that gives you an idea that they know how to perform – tomorrows heats will be exciting for all” added Porta.
Local restaurateur Asanka along with fellow Arugam Bay surfer Milan were the winners of the two sponsored wild-cards into the event while a number of other Sri Lankan surfers have taken positions into round one heats.
The free surfing performances have been spectacular and the wave looks to be living up to it’s reputation as a superb performance break. All is ready to begin, internet facilities are in-place and we expect to beam out a super quality webcast from this tropical paradise remote location.
The webcast site link is located on the front page of aspworldtour.com.
The SriLankan Airlines Pro will be live webcast and will include a quality produced and globally distributed television show along with television newsfeeds distributed internationally throughout the event as well as highest quality digital images focusing on the event, the environment, wildlife and of course the abundance of surf from the region.
The SriLankan Airlines Pro is made possible thanks to SriLankan Airlines; Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Lanka Sportreizen, Dialog, Arugam Bay Beach Wear, Billabong and ASP Australasia
source:
http://www.globalsurfnews.com/news.asp?Id_news=47252
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Voted as the numero uno surf destination in the Asian zone by Floating Asia, Arugam Bay will now host an international surf tournament from June 18 to 24. The event is spearheaded by SriLankan Airlines and will feature 128 competitors from all parts of the globe including USA, Australia, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, UK, Germany etc.
The contestants comprise former champions as well as some of the best surfers in the world.
Their moves will be graded by 22 internationally recognized surfing referees.
The event is conducted by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), the global governing body for surfing. They are the key players in putting together world class surfing events like the World Championship Tour alias the ASP World Tour.
Strolling along the sandy beaches, basking in the golden sun and feeling the salty breeze ruffle your hair maybe a part of the deal when you hit on the nearby beaches but, more is in store for you if you visit Arugam Bay. The wondrous strip of golden sand was not only recognized as one of the country’s wonders by locals but it has been hailed as Asia’s top most surf destination.
Located in the dry zone of Sri Lanka’s South-East coast, shrouded by the wide spread wetlands, lagoons and jungles encompassing a variety of flora and fauna lies Arugam Bay, a fishing village two and a half kilometers south of Pottuvil. The area belongs to the Ampara district.
Overall humid climate prevails at Arugam Bay. A slight breeze sweeps by from the North-East. Usually, showers are expected in September and October. The surfing season is at its peak between June and October. This is when many holidaymakers and surfers hit the beach. Diving is also a favourite pastime with visitors because the area comprises many ship-wrecks that are a challenge to explore. You can also catch sight of wild elephants in the long, deserted beach leading down to Crocodile Rock.
Fishing and farming are the main occupations at Arugam Bay. Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Airlines Pro Surf 2010 @ Arugambay’
(1)Day one of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-star rated SriLankan Airlines Pro at Arugam Bay was officially placed on-hold as contest organizers await an expected good pulse in swell tomorrow to begin the first ever ASP event in Sri Lanka.
Arugam Bay. Main Point
The consistent 1m (3 to 4 feet) clean surf that greeted the opening day was certainly good for surfing but with bigger waves forecast in the coming days along with an extremely favourable forecast for surf in the coming week organizers are keen to run the event in the very best and biggest surf and expect to be off and running first thing tomorrow morning.
“It’s very contestable out there today but both myself and ASP Head Judge Richie Porta agree that with better waves likely tomorrow we’re keen to begin this special event Continue reading ‘SriLankan Airlines Pro at Arugam Bay set to begin tomorrow with Sri Lankan wild-cards decided’
Hi Everyone,
Im finally arrived to Arugam Bay in Sri Lanka after 8 long hours on the road for only 300km (that was the longest 300km in my life)
On the road i was traveling with Nathan Edge,his brother and Aritz.The driver was really cool and he was speaking perfect english…
The road was really hard between jungle and busy traffic in town,everyone here drive really crazy,not fast but everyone overtaking no matter if an other car or truck coming on the other side.
The country is really beautiful and people are really friendly,we stop on the good local restaurant for lunch,with good SPICY CURRY CHIKEN and amazing tea..perfect 1st meal!!!!!!!
We also see maybe 10 elephants and a views monkey on the side of the road,i was so stocked to see some elephants,they were really fat!!!
I’m arrived at the sunset at my hotel, the hotel is really nice place just on the beach and maybe 20min walk to the famous spot or ARUGAM BAY!!!This morning the waves were nice,small but no wind and good warm-up!!
The contest start tomorrow, i’m surfing heat 22 so maybe no contest for me tomorrow….
i think it’s gone be a funny trip!!!
see ya
romain
source:
http://romaincloitre.blogspot.com/2010/06/road-to-arugam-bay.html
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- Twenty-one-year-old Australian Julian Wilson is the sort of dynamic surfer for whom the new World Tour qualifying procedures seem tailor-made. An explosive competitor who has twice beaten Kelly Slater at the World Tour level — thanks to Quiksilver-provided wildcard berths Wilson also boasts the sort of well-rounded, aerial-infused arsenal that modern surf stars are made of.
It was such dynamic surfing that was to blame back in January, when Wilson suffered a Grade 2 sprain of his anterior talofibular ligament while freesurfing with Dane Reynolds and Dusty Payne in Ventura, Calif. The injury put a solid dent in his 2010 Worl Tour campaign, as well as sidelined him toward the business end of his soon-to-be-released movie, “Scratching The Surface.”
Nevertheless, Wilson’s on the comeback trail. Last month he competed in Brazil and the U.S., and he’s heading to the ASP 6-Star Sri Lankan Airlines Pro at Arugam Bay with a wildcard in hand. ESPN Surfing caught up with him, en route.
How did it feel to get back to competition last month?
Well, I was fortunate enough to get a sponsor’s wildcard into Lowers and then went down to Brazil to do the Rio 6 Star. It was great to get back in a contest rashie, but I didn’t feel too confident. I was still surfing around the event sites to prepare myself as much as possible.
- With Wilson, “no hands” rarely means “no lands.”
So you’ve been slowly climbing back since the injury. Did you feel your level of surfing was on par with the finalists of those events?
- Twenty-one-year-old Australian Julian Wilson is the sort of dynamic surfer for whom the new World Tour qualifying procedures seem tailor-made. An explosive competitor who has twice beaten Kelly Slater at the World Tour level — thanks to Quiksilver-provided wildcard berths Wilson also boasts the sort of well-rounded, aerial-infused arsenal that modern surf stars are made of.
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Yeah, on par with the finalists for sure. I don’t know about everyone else, but at Star and PRIME events, you always think you could of beaten the guy who won the final!
Next up is the Sri Lankan Airlines Pro. How does Arugam Bay suit your style of progressive, limits-pushing surfing?
I have never been but from what I’ve heard it can be a very rippable righthand point. I don’t know any natural footer who wouldn’t be excited about the prospect of that.
Your ankle injury required surgery to repair? How has the road to recovery been?
It took longer than I thought. Continue reading ‘Julian Wilson on the comeback trail’
A large assembly of dedicated Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) athletes are now making their way to the exotic south east coastline of Sri Lanka for the inaugural ASP six star rated SriLankan Airlines Pro which is set to begin on Friday at Arugam Bay.
It’s the first ever ASP event in Sri Lanka as ASP Australasia breaks new ground venturing into a territory that holds fascination with stories dating back to the 1970′s of pioneering surfers finding super consistent and perfect waves on this lush island.
The June monsoonal winds and a very active winter Indian Ocean combine to make Arugam Bay the surf location that it is and the field descending on the break this week will put the wave to the test like never before as they chase essential six star rating points and a prize pool of $US145 000!
Elite world tour surfers Drew Courtney, Dan Ross and Blake Thornton head the field with an array of international talent like recent six star winner Aritz Aranburu (Spain), former ASP world champion Sunny Garcia (Hawaii), South Africa’s David Weare, Masotoshi Ohno from Japan, Richard Christie (NZ) and Alan Stokes (UK) to name just a few of the surfers heading for this wave.
Even the contest organizers are uncertain what to expect from Arugam Bay however contest director Dane Jordan from ASP Australasia is optimistic the venue will deliver.
“I’ve spent five days there in three years preparing for this event and I have seen it break with excellent shape and consistency.
” I’ve surfed the break and it’s a super high performance wave – I’m not so familiar to know the exact prime swell directions, tides, winds and all else but indications are there’s a 17 second period 8 feet south swell forecast for Saturday and I’m imagining that could be an ideal starting point” exclaimed Jordan.
“I’ll liaise closely with a good bunch of local surfers and we have a very healthy waiting period to get the best out of this and the rest we’ll leave to the surfers who I know will shred the daylight out of these waves.”
Jordan also announced the final make -up of the wild card surfers into this event headed by exciting Japanese surfer Osawa Nobuyuki and backed up by equally exciting Australian’s Mitch Colborne, Davey Cathels and Chris Friend.
Extra wild-cards will be awarded to Sri Lankan surfers who will compete under an ASP assisted trials for these positions.
Asanka, widely regarded as the number 1 surfer in Sr iLanka and also owner of the restaurant and land right on the point is a favourite to take one of these positions and in his best English commented on the opportunity and the event saying -
“I think good the tournament for our boys!
“All the local boys are happy.
“It gives us chance to make our surfing better .
“Also for rest of Sri Lanka to see how good our boys surf and how much surfing good for country.”
Like all new locations that ASP surfers explore, there will be rich and positive sharing’s of all things surfing in a quality event that should benefit all.
The SriLankan Airlines Pro will be live webcast and will include a quality produced and globally distributed television show along with television newsfeeds distributed internationally throughout the event as well as highest quality digital images focusing on the event, the environment, wildlife and of course the abundance of surf from the region.
The SriLankan Airlines Pro is made possible thanks to SriLankan Airlines; Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Lanka Sportreizen, Dialog, Billabong and ASP Australasia
Surfplugs is proud to report that we have donated enough money from Surfplugs sales to fund a new village well project in Sri Lanka. Tim Tanton, founder of the Paddle4Relief charity has said:
‘Arugam Bay Surf Club have managed to lease some land on the beach front, we will soon be building a surf club and are fortunate to have a well on the land. Your donation will go towards the regeneration of an unused, dirty and contaminated well and it will be named SURFPLUGS!’
source:
http://surfplugs.blogspot.com/2010/06/arugam-bay-well-project-sri-lanka.html
A large assembly of dedicated Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) athletes are now making their way to the exotic south east coastline of Sri Lanka for the inaugural ASP six star rated SriLankan Airlines Pro which is set to begin on Friday at Arugam Bay.
Sri Lanka is getting ready to surf its way up with two international surf festivals organised to be held next month.
Tourists surfing at Arugam Bay
Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Dileep Mudadeniya told Daily FT yesterday that two surf competitions will be held next month at Arugam Bay attracting 300 surf lovers.
“There will be a British Pro Surf competition in the first week of July and the next week will be dedicated to an international level surfing competition,” Mudadeniya said.
The British Pro Surfing Competition is set to attract 75 to 100 British nationals and the Five Star Surfing Championship will attract 200 persons from 15 to 20 countries. The Five Star Championship will be held from 18 to 25 July.
“This is a world quality event and Sri Lanka tourism can attend a large mileage from organizing such events. And the regional empowerment is also vital. The local economic development is set to score high with so many people coming down in one month,” Mudadeniya asserted.
Some 200 rooms, all there is available in the area, have been already booked for the event.
Arugam Bay is on the list of the top 10 surf points in the world. Situated on the South East side of Sri Lanka Arugam Bay receives the same Antarctic winter swell’s that hit Indonesia in the in the middle of the year.
The best time of the year is between May and November when the predominant wind is offshore for at least the first half of the day.
source:
http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.php/business/127-local/12964.html
(Colombo, Lankapuvath, June 11-14.48p.m) – SriLankan Airlines is bringing one of the world’s most glamorous and highly rated surfing events to Sri Lanka, part of the airline’s multi-faceted strategy to position the island as one of the world’s most sought after travel destinations.
The ‘SriLankan Airlines Pro 2010’ tournament will draw some of the top stars in the surfing world to Arugam Bay from 18-24 June, among the 128 competitors from the United States, Australia, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries.
SriLankan Airlines Pro 2010 is an important event for professional surfers, since it has the highest rating of ‘Six Stars’ on the ASP World Tour by which competitors qualify to contest for the World Title. The event is being conducted by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), the global governing body for the sport, which organizes the ASP World Tour. Over Twenty international surfing officials will attend the event.
‘SriLankan Airlines Pro 2010’ is expected to showcase the picturesque southeast resort of Arugam Bay as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, positioning it as a destination for all types of beach lovers, and not just for surfers. It will also generate massive publicity around the world for Sri Lanka, already experiencing a continuous boom in tourism over the last 12 months.
SriLankan Airlines is the Principal Sponsor of the event, and is being supported by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB). Sri Lanka is hosting the SriLankan Airlines Pro Surf for the first time.
Dane Jordan, ASP Australasia Operations Manager, said: “Sri Lanka has several excellent locations which are ideal for surfing. Arugam Bay has built a strong reputation over the years among the global surfing community, and ASP is pleased that it will be the site of this Six Star ASP World Tour event.”
The event will be launched with an opening ceremony on 18th June which will feature entertainment by traditional dancers and drummers, and hundreds of brightly coloured helium balloons being released into the air. Special Food Centres, Spectator Areas, Marquees for VIP guests, and a Media Platform have been arranged. The finals of the competition will be on 24th June with an awards ceremony on the beach.
SriLankan Airlines is bringing one of the worlds most glamorous and highly rated surfing events to Sri Lanka, part of the airlines multi-faceted strategy to position the island as one of the worlds most sought after travel destinations.
The SriLankan Airlines Pro 2010 tournament will draw some of the top stars in the surfing world to Arugam Bay from June 18 to 24, among the 128 competitors from the United States, Australia, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries.
SriLankan Airlines Pro 2010 is expected to showcase the picturesque southeast resort of Arugam Bay as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, positioning it as a destination for all types of beach lovers and not just for surfers.
It will also generate massive publicity around the world for Sri Lanka, already experiencing a continuous boom in tourism over the last 12 months.
Courtesy: DailyNews
Posted on Friday, June 11, 2010 @ 09:21:53 LKT by SaNDuN
We introduce Cihan Akça to you.
He is the first surfer in Turkey preparing for the World Qualification Series. It has been quite a widespread belief that the waves on the Turkish coastlines are not suitable for surfing and therefore the country is not a haven for surfers.
Cihan Akça in action
That belief is about to change now. Surfing is beginning to blossom in Turkey!
Cihan Akça has been surfing in ?ile (Black Sea Shore – Istanbul) and many different locations of the world for years now, improving his skills and experience, and eventually preparing for the World Qualifying Series.
About Cihan Akça…
He was born May 04, 1982 in ?stanbul. Following his graduation from Kadir Has University (Istanbul), he began working as a Research Associate at the Institute of Maritime Sciences in ?stanbul University. He acquired his doctor’s degree in Tenerife using the postgraduate fellowship he was granted with, and then headed back to Turkey. He is currently writing up his dissertation at the Institute of Maritime Sciences in ?stanbul University. Furthermore, he is hosting the “Daily Surf Report” Turkish broadcast on EUROSPORT2.
Surfing in Turkey… Continue reading ‘First Turkish Surfer Cihan Akça is Ready for WQS’
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Ready for take-off – Julian Wilson will head to the Srilankan Airlines Pro set to launch into moves like this! Photo: ASP/Robertson
A fully fit and recovered Julian Wilson (Australia) is ready to launch himself onto the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Star Rated World Tour at next week’s SriLankan Airlines Pro which will run at the famous Arugam Bay point break on Sri Lanka’s superb south east coast.
Wilson is one of the world’s most exciting, progressive fast emerging new-age surfers capable of outstanding performances in all conditions.
A serious ankle injury and subsequent operation severely disrupted his 2010 year-to-date but Continue reading ‘Julian Wilson accepts wildcard into SriLankan Airlines Pro at Arugam Bay’
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Hi Everybody!
I´d like to travell to Arugam Bay in August .
I know that the surf is as good as ever but I am worrying about the atmosphere in the town after the Tsunami. I am sure a lot of houses are getting rebuilt right now – so maybe it´s not a good place right now to have a relaxed hangout…!?! Has anybody of you guys been there lately?
Cheers, Marco
notified to arugam.info only today, 7th June, 2010 by:
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