Where did you surf today ?

[Thud]

Yes but you always drive around the corner to another break. I don't see much difference with that and a board riders comp. There are people allowed to take up a public space for a private event.

[steve shearer]

Yes.

Different to a golf course or tennis court.

Thats my point.

[Thud]

Yep

[steve shearer]

I'm excited about the Format for the Surf Ranch Pro....big step forwards.
Giant leap in fact.

[alakaboo]

Isn't it essentially the same as it was last time?

And did they get the work experience kid to do the website?

[Thud]

I'm excited about the Format for the Surf Ranch Pro....big step forwards.
Giant leap in fact.

Enjoy that.

[steve shearer]

No, not really Boo.
Everyone gets 6 waves. Best left , best right =total score.

Leaderboard.

Top 8 go through.

I think that is something they should implement in the ocean.

[buddy]

Best left at Jbay.

[buddy]

I must say I enjoyed loofy's bit of moral support for Steve over on Swellnet today .

[ctd]

Yes.

Different to a golf course or tennis court.

Thats my point.

What do you think would have been there had the land for the golf course not been transferred to an enclave for the wealthy? A park maybe, some public housing, a bit of green space or a school perhaps.

Presumably you are also outraged by the Tour de France and the NY and Boston Marathons?

[alakaboo]

Golf courses are primarily flood detention basins, the game is secondary.

Steve I meant the last one in the pool. I thought it had the same format?

[offshore1]

Golf courses are primarily flood detention basins, the game is secondary.
....

Their carbon footprint is the African elephant of carbon footprints.
Golf courses use ridiculous amounts of water (especially in desert areas like Las Vegas), fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, they're a weeping canker sore.
I guess on the misty windswept moors of dour old Scotland the game made some sense, but places like the deserts of Nevada, it's environmentally suicidal.

[swvic]

I once planted a tree at Bells for the Conservation Contest. Might be wrong, but think it's since been buried by a carpark. That carpark has since been expanded to accommodate buses. Who the fcuk has right to deny tourist access to a famed surfing reserve?

[steve shearer]

Presumably you are also outraged by the Tour de France and the NY and Boston Marathons?

Why would I be?

You seem to have totally missed my point.

[Yuke Hunt]

You seem to have totally missed my point.

When it comes to surfing in a pool, there is no point ... or a beach break for that matter.

[Thud]

"It's a dream come true seeing this in person"
- Fan

Possibly the worst marketing I have seen.

[ctd]

Why would I be?

You seem to have totally missed my point.

I assumed your point was

A week long comp at Trestles though does impact. There is no other Trestles that can be substituted. If the swell of the year arrives during that time then it's a very simple zero sum game. They win, you lose.

I'm just pointing out that there are many other sports/professional events which take public land/facilities and utilise them for the profit of the organiser. So if you are against the WSL on this basis, then presumably you must also be against all those other events as well. I mean, you probably dont care about the closure of public roads in Bathurst for the car races, but the principle is the same.

if your point is different to what you wrote, maybe you could clarify.

[steve shearer]

Well to start, golf courses and tennis courts are private "stadiums", right?

I thought Mt Panorama was a racing circuit, but I see what you mean, it's a public road. No doubt a giant ball-ache if you live there.

The Tour De France runs through a place for one day....it is open to the public to view for free and presumably if you want to ride a bike anywhere else you can.

I guess I don't see that as analogous to taking Pipe, or Trestles or wherever and excluding the public for a week.
Pipe is Pipe, you just can't substitute that.

You see what I'm saying?

If Wimbledon is on, no tennis player is being stopped from playing tennis in London.


If Pipe is breaking then a whole community of pipe specialists unless they are in the event can't go down the road and surf another pipeline. It's not like a tennis court, or a footy ground, or a road.

Pro surfing is (almost) unique in the way it is parasitical and adversarial to the rec surfers who support it.
This is the Original Sin of pro surfing.

I believe this is the reason why it can never quite get significant enough of a fan base to fly.
And WSL has kind of admitted that by focussing the majority of it's marketing on finding a new fan base.