MONSTER PADDLE ENTRIES PUSH UPPER LIMITS OF "GREEN" SURFING
NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- (March 14, 2008) -- There's just a week left in the
annual event period for the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented
by Monster Energy and less than a month remains before the world's surfing
elite gather in Anaheim, California for the gala XXL Awards party. And
while the massive jet-powered entries in the XXL Ride of the Year and
Biggest Wave get the bulk of the mainstream attention, the core surfing
community continues to focus ever more closely on the traditional category
of Paddle-In surfing.
This year there is a vast array of potential contenders from all around the
world, ranging from Ben Andrews and Nic Lamb at
Maverick's in Northern California to Greg Long ,
Mark Healey and Jamie MItchell at
Todos Santos, Mexico to
Kalani Chapman at Waimea Bay, Hawaii to
wildcards like Felipe Barnales at Pico Alto,
Peru or Reinaldo Ibarra at Punta Lobos, Chile.
In all, there have been over 113 entries in the Monster Paddle division --
the most in history by a wide margin -- and they will be whittled down the
five biggest faces by the XXL's Voting Academy
made up of the competitors, photographers and top journalists who cover the
sport.
The Monster Paddle category of the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards has made a
significant surge in grassroots popularity and credibility amongst the elite
in the sport over the past several seasons. Surfers who specialize in tow
surfing with motorized watercraft -- and fail to take the opportunity to
paddle into a few big ones when the conditions are right -- do little to
earn the respect of their peers or ensure an eligibility
in the XXL Biggest Wave category itself.
"If you want respect you have to dig deep and prove that you can paddle into
a big one on your own when it's heavy," said Ken "Skindog"
Collins, last year's XXL Ride of the Year champion and a master of all big
wave disciplines.
"Getting towed into a big wave when you don't have the skills to paddle into
one is cheating plain and simple," said Collins. "It's fraud. None of the
top guys want to see it. You need to paddle in when it's gnarly, take your
lumps, THEN go tow into a few.
Simple as that."
And it's not just the men who have taken up arms against some the year's
bigger swells. At
Waimea
Bay on Oahu, sexist barriers continue to be shattered by Maya
Gabeira, Jamilah
Star and Jenny Useldinger who were captured on
film paddling into waves bigger than any registered by quite a number of
popular male big wave riders. To view the latest entries in the Monster
Paddle category, click
here.
Nominees will be announced March 21 in the Monster Paddle category and all
other divisions including Billabong XXL Ride of the Year, Billabong XXL
Biggest Wave powered by Honda, Monster Tube, Surfline
Best performance and Billabong Girls Best Performance. Over $130,000 in cash
and prizes will be at stake. The Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards
ceremony will take place on April 11 at the Grove Theater in Anaheim,
California, and while seating is limited to 2000 invitation-only VIPs, the
entire show will be webcast on both
BillabongXXL.com and EXPN.com. The event will also be presented as an
hour-long TV special on ESPN2 airing on Thursday, May 29 at 9:30 P.M. on the
West Coast (12:30 A.M. late-night in the East).
To develop your own opinions on the biggest waves and best rides among the
500 entries in big wave surfing's top global event, click on the website at
www.BillabongXXL.com.