Every year, prior to the kickoff at Snapper Rocks, a series of awards are given out at the ASP Banquet. There are speeches and awards based on performances and probably a bit of tasty food given out. A little known, but prestigious award is that of the Surfers’ Surfer Award, also know as the Surfers’ Peer Vote. Basically its the boys on tour taking the time to recognize a surfer who stood out on and off his board. This year, that honor was given to Michel. A true sign of respect!
Great little interview with the power-surfing new father!
Michel Bourez – In This Moment from Nike Surfing Australia on Vimeo.
“Firewire has ended our exclusive sponsorship of Taj as he has decided to experiment with both FW and PU surfboards. At his specific request, Firewire will continue to build Taj cutting edge equipment and we are obviously stoked on everything we accomplished together over the past 5 years.
There is no doubt that during that period it is commonly acknowledged that Taj did some of his best surfing ever and certainly posted his best contest results in years, winning a number of WCT events including the Quiksilver Pro, the Billabong J-bay event and the Pipe Masters.
As always, we’ll remain glued to the CT webcasts and we hope that Taj claims that ultimate prize that has eluded him to date. We’re also confident that Firewire surfboards will remain an integral part of his equipment choices as he pursues that quest. While we would have obviously preferred that Taj remained exclusively on our tech, we firmly believe that this is simply the end of the first chapter in the long Firewire story yet to unfold.
Our global market share has never been stronger and there is no doubt that the vast majority of Firewire customers are basing their decisions on the performance of our product. Either through their own ‘demo’ experience, or through the positive word of mouth from their peers. In addition, Michel Bourez is rapidly ascending the ranks of the world’s elite surfers, and if the level of interest in our tech shown by the next generation of surfers is anything to go by, Firewire is destined to secure ongoing podium finishes across all levels of competition.
In fact, the recent World Junior Pro championship at Burleigh showed just how good our boards are when 16-year old Filipe Toledo blew away almost all of the competition to finish 3rd, displaying some of the most incredible surfing seen at any level of competition. A testimony to his enormous talent and our technology.
Furthermore, after converting to Firewire longboards, Taylor Jensen won the 2011 ASP Longboard World Championship, a further testimony to the hi performance characteristics of our boards. In closing, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their ongoing support and we look forward to the road ahead.”
Cordially,
Mark Price
CEO
When 99% of us think of standup, top to bottom barrels, we think of tropical destinations. Noah Snyder thinks of his backyard.
I would too if I lived on the Outer Bank.
SESSIONS_LOOKING _BACK from Noah Snyder on Vimeo.
Check out, Michel on Opening Day 2012
Get to know the Hellrazor.
Which one you prefer?
This is where Calimex is.
You might check out the footage. Fabulous!
Filipe Toledo Signs with Firewire Surfboards
At 16 years old and hailing from Brazil, Filipe is developing and maturing as a surfer at a great time. The talent coming out of his home country is at an all time high and, through joining Gabriel Medina on team Nike, the path to success is laid out in front of him. Additionally, Filipe is the son of Ricardo Toledo, a nurturing ex-pro surfer that has been there to guide his son’s personal and athletic development, yielding a talented but humble teenager.
Over the course of the last 6 months, Filipe Toledo and his progressive surfing repertoire have thrust their way into the crosshairs of the worldwide surfing community. In August of 2011 at the US Open of Surfing, on arguably the largest and most competitive Juniors stage, Filipe claimed victory in a star-studded finals that featured superstars John John Florence and Kolohe Andino.
Filipe continued to impress in January of 2012 by stealing the show at the Billabong Pro Juniors event at Burleigh Heads by launching inverted maneuvers and defeating contest favorites. With a great finish, Filipe climbed to the 5th ranked junior in the world and established himself as an elite competitor for years to come.
“Filipe’s surfing looked great last year when he won the Junior Pro in Huntington Beach” said Marketing Director, Chuy Reyna, “but to see him tear apart junky Burleigh Heads on a Firewire he grabbed from the racks at the Firewire Currumbin store was amazing. Firewire is looking forward to growing alongside Filipe.”
“Firewire believes that refinements to the shape of today’s modern surfboards can only produce incremental performance benefits. Exponential improvements in performance require the ongoing development of new materials and construction methods which, in turn, will fuel new design opportunities.”
Media Contact: chris.cary@firewiresurfboards.com
Who doesn’t like comfy boardshorts and epic surf?
Life’s Better in Boardshorts short film. from Billabong on Vimeo.
The Dominator just keeps giving! Take it from Timmy (and us), when the surf is average, you’ll reach for this board for years to come.
Timmy Reyes X Firewire from Nick Green on Vimeo.
