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Peninsula Envy: Florida Surfing ExplainedFrom Jay DiMartino
Poking out from North America like an excited male member, Florida is an interesting place to be a surfer. The Sunshine State rates on the surf-o-meter somewhere between Texas and Tahiti (Okay so it’s much closer to Texas), and its population bubbles with an uneasy amalgam of rednecks, tourists, and immigrants. At worst, Florida is a retirement home that gets so hot in the summer that it’s almost unhealthy to leave your home before 5PM. At best, it occasionally busts out with some really good waves. Now, don’t get me wrong. The surf here usually sucks. The west coast is flat about ninety percent of the year, and the east coast is fickle even with a category 3 hurricane hovering off the coast, but there is something about Florida and its surfers that is endearing…so much so that I moved back from Hawaii to be a part of it. Continue surfing story...Bobby Martinez wins Billabong Pro TahitiArticle source: Submitted By Ben - magicseaweed on the 14th May 2006Rookie Bobby Martinez (USA) has turned the surfing world on its ear today by pushing past a host of established pro tourers to claim his first-ever major event win at the Billabong Pro Tahiti. Defeating the 2005 Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour Rookie Of The Year Fred Patacchia Jr. (HAW) in the 40 minute and extremely tight affair, Martinez scored a total of 16.27 to Patacchia’s 16.07. Held in two metre (four to six foot) and near perfect waves at the infamous break of Teahupoo, Martinez was the form surfer of the event and in the lead up to the final he scored some of the deepest and longest tube rides ever seen in competition. While the waves were few and far between at the beginning of the final, when the swell did begin to pump toward the end, Patacchia and Martinez were literally on fire, mixing up tube riding with scintillating top turns and incredibly committed lip bashes – all just above the razor sharp reef. Continue surfing story... |
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