Howzit North Shore! Hot, Steaming, Sizzling, Very Warm, Frying, Scorching, Scalding, Burning, Boiling, Torrid, Fiery and Blazing Summer Days! Luckily there have been a constant series of Town Swells and East Swells to cool things off lately. Unfortunately you have to brave the summertime traffic on the freeway to get to the other side of the island. It’s August though, and that means winter surf on the North Shore isn’t too far off. So hold on to that shave ice and head for that beach, cause it’s only going to get hotter!

The $260,000 Billabong Pro finished up at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, July 22nd. Reigning two-time world ASP champion Andy Irons of Kauai won the contest with a commanding performance over Nathan Hedge of Narrabeen, Australia. Irons took home $30,000 and extended his lead on the ratings over rival Kelly Slater of Florida. Nathan Hedge won $16,000 for 2nd place. Equal thirds went to Jake Paterson of Western Australia and 2000 world champ Sunny Garcia of Hawaii. Both took home $10,000. Irons got the only 10 point score of the tournament. 3rd place getter Australian Jake Paterson, who won the event in 2000 and 2001, got the highest combined heat score of 18 points. “Nice, (Irons) added, of the ratings lead. But like I’ve said, the tour is a marathon, not a sprint. There are so many contests ahead of us and I’m just going to try and keep my solid lead through until Hawaii. Hopefully, I’ll come out on top again, but I’ve definitely got my work cut out.” (ASP quote) Next up on the WCT Tour is the Boost Mobile Pro in San Clemente, California. Meanwhile, Andy Irons took a little “fun-time” out to win the the latest event on the men’s WQS tour by clinching the Mr. Price Pro title at Durban’s North Beach in South Africa on July 11th. Go Andy!

Serena Brooke won the WQS Mr. Price Pro in Durban for the women to win $3500 on June 7th. She led a field of Australian women including Rebecca Woods in 2nd, Trudy Todd in 3rd and Claire Bevilacqua in 4th. Next up for the women on the WCT is the Rip Curl Malibu Pro in California Oct 2nd-10th. The Mr. Price Pro “Night Surfing” division for the women, which was to have been held July 2nd-4th was cancelled due to “no shark nets”. Yikes! The women’s WQS Honda US Open of Surfing was on at Huntington Beach, California from July 24th-31st. Results next time! On the women’s WCT tour ratings, Sofia Mulanovich of Peru is #1 and Rochelle Ballard of Hawaii is #2. Keala Kennelly of Hawaii is rated #7. Hawaii’s Melanie Bartels won the Surfing Girl “Queen of Surf” in Pacific Beach, California in June.

The Nokia Biarritz Surf Festival was on in France during the month of July. Events included the 2004 World Champs of Longboarding sponsored by Bear and Nokia, the Cool Shoe European Champs of Longboarding 2004, the Tahizea/ Beach Bum International Tandem Surfing Contest, the Voodoo Dolls European Girls Longboard Contest and the SurfTech Junior International Longboard Contest. Check out www.biarritzsurffestival.com for more on this amazing event which included lots of sideshow action, like free Longboarding, Canoeing and Tandem Surfing lessons with the elite Polynesian and American riders of these disciplines. A waterman Paddleboard Contest. Sculpture, Parties, a Levi’s Girl Casting, a Polynesian atmosphere with craftsmen, dancing and native singing. From the 10th to the 18th of July, this unique event totally dedicated to surfing culture is an event not to be missed on “la Cote des Basques” in Biarritz, France… The European Surfing capital.

In the July 21st issue of Ka Nupepa, local Wahiawa Surfer Girl Katherine Van Dyke got a great write-up. Triple Crown of Surfing Production Crew Member, Caron Farnham, is off to Indo where she is running the 4th Annual Lembongan Surf Team Challenge 2004 with the help of proud sponsors SurfCo Hawaii and XCEL Wetsuits Hawaii. This contest is to support and encourage the surfers of Indonesia that are still recovering from the Bali terrorist bombing. Nice to see Hawaii still keeping the Aloha. With thanks to Randy Rarick! Aloha... Ace Cool!