With all the hype of the swells backed up on the East Coast little has been known of the little sneaker swell that came in before all the hype surfaced. It seems one came through that surprised everyone and provided the crew with a fun little flurry of waves. Despite Blake Jones’ and Mike Gleason’s busy travel schedule, they managed to catch this swell instead of hearing about it on the internet from some far away place. Check out the whole story on ESM.
The doctors have cleared Blake Jones to surf and he has not hesitated to get back on the road. After badly injuring himself early this summer in Nicaragua he is finally ready to go. The boot is off his foot and he no longer needs crutches. He has also spent the last few weeks going through extensive physical therapy to get his ankle back to fine form. He says that before and after he surfs it is a bit tight but no pain like before.
The fact that he is off to Spain this weekend is an indicator that he is confident and ready. The Ferrolterra Movistar Pantin Classic by Billabong will be Blake’s first contest in several months. The event will be held Aug 24 – 29, 2010 in Pantin, Spain and is a 6 star. We wish him luck.
Video footage Of Cheyne Magnusson and a talented crew of ladies in Nicaragua courtesy of Body Glove. The trip was to test all of the BG swimwear for 2010. The women surfers that joined him on the trip were Holly Beck, Erica Hosseini, and Maria Del Mar Gonzalez. From the looks of it, Cheyne and the crew scored some really fun waves and had a great time. It is rare that Cheyne goes on a trip and does not get good surf, so its no surprise that he didn’t get skunked. Enjoy.
A week spent surfing, sliding down muddy trails, and being bitten by mosquitoes in Nicaragua with Brendan Buckley, PJ Raia, Zack Humphreys, Tommy Ihnkin and Brian Pollack.
After weeks of anticipation, roster changes, and swell hopes, we came out of the 2010 Willabong victorious. It was pretty gloomy a majority of the day but cleared up around noon. When it cleared up the water turned bright green and we pulled the board shorts out. The waves at Goldenwest St in Huntington beach were not epic but very contestable. In the early rounds we were right behind the high scoring team (Dragon) and ended up taking them down in the final with Todd Prestage posting a high 8.0. Austin Ware was solid the whole event as well. This marks the 3rd year in row we have won the team event and this year the companies came out in full force. We thought the format was 2 company employees, 2 team riders, and 2 Active employees, but according to other teams rosters it apparently wasn’t. Some teams stacked their squads with pro surfers with the hope of taking the crown.
Better luck next year!
With the Willabong only a couple of days away, we had to make a roster change. Due to a prior engagement, Chris Abad and Cheyne Magnusson had to pull out of the Willabong this year. Apparently they are going on a romantic getaway with their lovely girlfriends to Lake Havasu. That left us scrambling to fill their voids so we can once again take the title this year. With a chance at a 3 peat we rallied long time friends and Chemistry supporters, Todd Prestage and Austin Ware. Todd and Austin will join Jason Bennett and Willie Smith on the Chemistry squad.
Coming in all the way from Gerringong, NSW, Australia, Todd is fresh off of his board riders club (Werri Beach Boardriders) win over Snapper Rocks Boardriders Club in the Jim Beam Surf Tag. Todd is a former WCT competitor and won the coveted Rookie of the year award when he was on tour.
Austin Ware hails from Solana Beach and is currently slugging it out on the WQS where last year he was very close to qualifying for the “Dream Tour”. When he is not jumping around the globe chasing important QS points he is usually training or the guy you see annihilating Seaside Reef.
CONTEST FORMAT
EACH TEAM WILL SURF TWO 15 MIN HEATS(EACH TEAM MEMBERS HIGH SCORE WILL BE KEPT)
WE WILL ADD YOUR TEAM TOTALS FOR BOTH HEATS AND THE TOP 2 TEAMS WILL SURF ONE MORE TIME IN THE FINALS.
*Rules-
-Team must be comprised of at least 2 active employees for every heat
-No interferences(since you are surfing with your team not against)
-You can sub team riders in for you second heat
-Water starts will be allowed and you can paddle out at the 5 minute warning
-2 horns signify start and stop to heats; 1 horn signifies 5 minute warning
First Cheyne Mags, then Blake Jones, and now PJ Raia. The crew has been making their way down to Nicaragua and scoring some really good waves. PJ got back early last week and had only good things to say about the huge variety of waves that Nicaragua offered. Like Blake Jones before him, he even brought home some footage of his trip. All footage is courtesy of filmer/editor Phillip Mansfield. So sit back and enjoy.
Team Surf Ride surfs through Baja California. Featuring Chemistry team riders Cheyne Magnusson and Chris Abad. Good friend Justin Quirk also joins the crew as not only a Surf Ride team rider but the ultimate guide. Special thanks to Body Glove and Surf Ride. Filmed by Scott Smith. Edited by James Tull
It’s time again for Chemistry to defend our title in the Willabong Surf Classic hosted by Active Ride Shop. This year marks the 6th year the Willabong SC has been around. We have won the event 2 years in a row and look to 3peat.
The event puts 10 teams against each other, each team has 4 representatives from a company and 2 Active employees. Each team surfs together and each surfer is judged on their best wave, then those 6 scores are added up to a team total. The other companies on tap to compete this year are Dragon, Electric, Nixon, VZ, Team BK, Analog, Gravis, Hurley, and Matix.
Our team lineup is Jason Bennett, Willie Smith, Cheyne Magnusson, and Chris Abad. The Active employees that are joining us are Will Barraza and Matt Ebersole.
The event is going down on July 23rd at Goldenwest St in Huntington Beach.
A few clips of PJ Raia mainly from New Jersey. He is shown here in his own element of wedgy barrelling beachbreak waves. All of the footage was beautifully shot and edited by Phillip Mansfield.
Stay tuned for more footage from this duo as they are both going to Nicaragua next week.
