SALTDAYS- EUROPE

Portugal(sintra) - Sintra Pro 23/24/25/26/27 Aug

Portugal(aveiro) - Miss Sumol Cup 29/30 Aug

Spain(ferrol) - ETB Ferrol 01/02/03 Sep

Spain(llanes) - LLanes Pro 08/09/10 Sep

Spain(sopelana)- Sopelana Pro 15/16/17 Sep

Portugal(nazaré) - Nazaré Pro 21/22/23/24 Sep(not confirmed)

Portugal(sagres) - Sagres pro -nov(not confirmed)

Some of the worlds best bodyboarders will be there...plan your vacations!

The kind folks at Drop bodyboardwear stopped by, and "dropped" us a cool set of pictures from their last trip to the Canaries. Thanks! The rider is none but visually estimulating Ernesto Evana from Gran Canaria, and the wave is Fronton.

ION bodyboards will release this summer what seems to be a revolutionary new technology in bodyboard fabrication. We are talking about a molded Epoxy slick that suits perfectly the channel contours(photo) that ION boards are known of. Jay Reale, owner of ebodyboarding has allready tried one of this boards and claim it to be very fast and stiff. This new feature will be specially usefull for beginners that dont know really how to generate speed from a normal board or smaller waves where any extra speed is welcome. ION site.

Check this photo of oldschool legends. It was taken during a meeting for producing the new Tom Boyle re-releases. From left to right: JP. Patterson (the first pro in bb), Pat Caldwell (inventor of the Rollo), Tom Boyle(Video legend) and Jay Reale.

Some times it's hard leaving home, specially if you live allready in a paradise. That's the case of some canarians, but that didnt kept Ivan Gouveia(photo), Igor Sanchez, Ruyman Rey and Javi Ceballos to head for puerto escondido and have a hell of a good time. Check the story in secrepoints.

As a result of the big swell that hit most of Europe in the last days, Canary superstar wave El Fronton displayed all of its power for some lucky presents. The waves reached upt to 3m in the bigger day, and smaller but classic conditions in the other sessions. The crowd included crazy guys like the locals Richard Diaz, Ardiel Jimenez or Nelson Mora(photo), Tenerife freaks Alvaro Padron and Diego Cabrera, Portugal's Ricardo Faustino and Nuno Trovao and french wonderkid Pierre Costes among other heros. Photos should be hitting the net in the next couple of days, so keep posted. photo: Javi Herrera/zonabodyboard

The Rio bodyboard pro waiting period has started. This unique competition in Brasil looks for prime wave conditions to display a more spectacular image of bodyboarding to the media. There are good chances that this year's event could be placed at one of Rio's best bodyboard waves São Conrado. On the cover(photo) Tamega profiles a trademark spin. Good luck for the event!

Again this year the isolated challenge, a sort of event/surftrip took place in the cold waters of south New Zeland. They allready scored a absolutely perfect day at the spot called dinner plates(photo) and another one at puerto-like beachbreak windy bay. Follow the entire event at the isolated site.

Legendary french explorer Anthony Colas did it again, this time in Tunisy where he found some mystic new spots. Tunisy is located in the mediterranean, therefore the conditions are rather impredictable, but the potential is all there. Among the findings Colas pointed a very long left that was never surfed before, and a good right(photo), but packed with medusas that inflicted some bruisings to the adventurers. Source: waves

One of the best kept secrets in the world has been publicly revealed.
The azores islands consists of 9 islands, many of them with waves yet to be discovered and one of the last virgin grounds for bodyboarding.
In the latest years, the island has been explored by bodyboarders, wich reported great uncrowded spots and epic times.
The latest soulfilm by Mickey Smith "a blank canvas", focuses on two of the islands best waves.
There is allready a tight crew of bodyboarders in some islands, and excellent boogies like Ricardo Moura(photo).
The locals decided to share their little piece of paradise so please be respectfull if you decide to head over there, we all know how localism borns..

Former world champion Daniela Freitas has recently made a photo session for globo network, the biggest media group in Brazil. The result is quite.. impressive. Just as a reminder, Daniela is now sponsored by european brand Secret bodyboards, as you can see by some photos. We must say that when it comes to feminine beauty bodyboard is the sport!

Few people know of Morocco's excellent level of bodyboarding but bathed by a big coastline full of great waves, bodyboard turned out to be the ocean's nr 1 sport in this country.
In the last few years bodyboarders like Adnane Benlismane and Said Bouderga, two of Morocco's hot riders, joined the ETB tour and raised the flag for their country in style.
The new generations are also looking strong as we can see by young Aziz from Agadir, only 12 yrs old, showing us his skills on this backflip. Photo: agadir skyblog.

The IBA (international bodyboard association) has started the year with a new team and a new strenght to push things for bodyboard. Far from the first years with the self proclaimed all aussie board, this new one has representatives from all over the world. Vice president is former pro-bodyboarder Bernardo Alvim(photo) from Portugal. Bernardo has been doing a great job with the APB(association of portuguese bodyboard) lately, and is a excellent choice for the seat. To represent France we have Mathieu Desaphie. Other interesting names include Francisco Garritano of Brazil, one of the makers of the IBA latin america tour, by far the most sucessull tour in the world, and Steve Kirkman of Australia. Lastly but not least , our President is Mike Stewart. Lets all expect a great year for the IBA, and everybody pushing for the same side. "there is no peace without justice"

Finally we got our hands on the most awaited french film "crewzing". The overall feel is positive, but the level set by rodeo and deep reality was too high to overcome.
The highlights are:
Nicolas Richard: really, this guy is a freak. We get the feeling that he is underrated and the world should see more of his radical performances. On a particular wave he gets one of the nastiest wipeouts on teahupoo you ever seen.
Pierre Costes: nice segment, arguably the best in the world for his age.
Shark island side view: we get to see all of this wave's power when it pitches in the reef. Impressive.
There are some more cool stuff like frenchie action, lots of aussie waves and teahupoo.
In general this is a good movie, but there are some things missing, anyway trully worth the check .

Despite not fully completed, the artificial reff in New Zeland keeps pumping some nice waves. Much to the surfers dislike, the waves turned out to be classic for bodyboard(photo)!
Altough heavily publicized, the reef (as it is now) it's hardly suitable for surfers, who are far more numerous than bodyboarders in New Zeland.
Some discussion has allready come up, as there were a lot of expectations from surfers in this reef, but it takes a pro or a bodyboarder to surf it properly. What can we say... yeahh!!
This is the second artificial reef built by man with the purpose to create a wave, and so far the process is beeing very satisfatory. Kerry Black, the manager of the group who is building the reef allready has work contacts across the world including England, that should be the first country in Europe to have a artificial wave. Thr whole process, wich consists of bags filled with sand, it's not very expensive, and the benefits: Bodyboard/surf tourism, are immediate. link: surfline

The 1rst event of the world tour took place at the Murcielago wedge in Ecuador. Overall the championship had good waves, like usual at this spot, but not so big like last year's event. With all the best athletes from latin america the level was incredibly high. Alberto Colluci, Paulo Barcellos, Luis Villar and Uri valadao were just some of the guys who put up a show for the spectators. But big surprise was the winning by local Johnny Alcivar of only 17 yrs old! In the man x man final, Johnny took the crown with a big tube followed by a clean backflip. 2nd place was Erisberto Abrantes from Brazil.

Bodyboarders are on top when it comes to finding new waves. And soul style not the aeroplanes & boats hi-tech circus the surf companies have been putting. This winter we received news from a lot of new waves been explored by bodyboarders, these are just two newest examples: Erwan Genre , psico man from France has been exploring the reefs in Bretagne and come up with this heavy photos. On another coast, Rui Ferreira tracked down a huge swell to Galicia and found a ledging left break . links: xspotshop and bodyboardvideo.

There is a new bodyboard school in Spain. It is located in the basque country and you can count with the help of "professors" David Perez, Aritz Larrinaga and Antonio Ortiz, names that dont need any presentation. If you are looking for some fun weekends, or to learn a litle bit more about bodyboard dont miss this chance! Visit the euskal eskola at ebeskola.com.

In Australia where the violence and localism is reaching serious levels, the police is pondering the option of sending water policemen to patrol the more crowded spots to enforce order. In a historical sentence allready a surfer has been condemned to banishment from some spots due to his violent behaviour. The crowd has grown in the more popular spots like snapper rocks, where violent disputes for waves(photo ehe) have also increased. source: waves.com.br

The second preview of the el quemao challenge is online thanks to lpsurf. One word for it: f#$k! They surely can expect a lot more attention on quemao once the video is released.. i wonder how the locals will take it. It's the price to pay for having a dream wave at your door. Other news is the release of the wrrider new collection, they will feature some new tech like stringers, mesh and concaves. As soon as i get the photos i will post them on saltdays.

Riptide has relesead a special nr. 150 edition in what they call "the best issue ever". We will have this issue for sale in the end of march so keep your eyes on saltdays. But the big surprise is really the cover, in a spectacular scenery, above a huge cliff, a bodyboarder looks down on a perfect spot.. it's really an amazing shot of Ireland's new discovery, a monster right with resemblances of teahupoo.

The 3rd edition of the annual Margara challenge in Puerto Rico took place again last week. Margara is one of the high quality waves in PR and is considered by many simply the best you can find there, and there is no doubt that Puertoricans can pull some events the right way!. Results were: 1- Ruben Quinones, 2- Javier Baez 3- Uri Valadao 4 - Milton Montalvo. Congratulations Babby! You can see a photo Gallery here, and other informations about the challenge including videos from last sessions in stunning conditions. Bodyboard is alive and kicking in Puerto Rico, one of the great bb nations of this planet.

The wave pool of inland Sao Paulo- Brazil was oficially inaugurated with a private show of bodyboarders and even hosting the 1rst event of the local circuit. It was the first ever artificial wave event in Brasil much to the delight of the bodyboarders present who took advantage of pool facilities to have (almost)endless fun. The crowd present was stunned with the versatility of bodyboarding, cheering and wanting to know more of this sport, specially with the night surfing. Water or land, in a bodyboard is just the right place to be.. photo: Maui no ka oi

The Portuguese Association of Bodyboard(APB) is now officialy rolling. The apb is one of a kind and something new in the rather normal "surfing federation" control thing that happens in Europe and worldwide. The elected president is now legendary bodyboarder Paulo Costa(photo) and on the board are names like pro bodyboarders Bernardo Alvim, Hugo Pinheiro, Tiago Ramires, and photographer Dino Casimiro. Priorities are now set and consist of 1- supporting the competition structure, 2- support to bodyboard organizations, 3- support to the formation of new bodyboarders, 4- to improve bodyboarding image trough the media. good luck!

European bodyboard brand Respect has presented its new line for 2006. News is that they changed their production to a renowned asian factory to improve quality and price. Also there are some new pro models like the French Eric Gamez(photo) and Spanish Jonan Bengoetxea. As soon as we get real pictures for these models we will get back to respect, for the meanwhile check the prototypes at bodyboardpro.

Lpsurf presents us the trailler of the coming video that features the El Quemao challenge. The event was won by Yeray Martinez, and you can tell why after watching this preview. Again, after AGT we get to see quemao firing, and i must say this is really a eye opener. The best wave in Europe??

Fronton is back on the news but for the wrong reasons. Rumours are that Videoing and photography are forbidden there, unless it's recorded by a canarian. Some hard locals claim that the island was poorly represented in the last shootings, and that riders like Ernesto Evana(photo) are portrayed as secundary characters despite the fact that they are the best there. As a reminder the island was visited last season by a large number of Australians who took advantage of this unique wave to promote themselves, wich is completely legit but was badly regarded by some locals, altough the islands received a large amount of attention due to this travels. This question unfortunately is far from over so let's expect the next developments.