Hawaii’s Alana Blanchard (Kauai) hit a career high today, defeating reigning world champion Stephanie Gilmore (Australia) to post a win in the Vans Hawaiian Pro, the first stop of the $1,000,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Blanchard won $2,500 today but now leads the Vans Triple Crown series ratings that will pay $25,000 to the women’s winner at the end of the three events.

The New Wave Primary School Champs took place at Gisborne last weekend with pumping waves on offer at "The Pipe". Young local surfers dominated the event with Korbin Hutchings (Gisborne Intermediate) taking out the boys title.

The Animal team cleaned up the top spots of the UK Pro Surf tour in Newquay at the weekend. Alan Stokes claimed the overall men's open title and Gwen Spurlock became overall women's open champion too. This is a great finish for Gwen who has taken home the Welsh Junior and British Junior title already this year.

A large gathering of surfing dignitaries from all over Australia enjoyed the official opening of Surfing Australia’s new headquarters at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast.

Formerly based in northern NSW at Casuarina Beach, Surfing Australia’s move to Coolangatta was motivated by the need to better position itself in a surf and business related area.

It's the story that sets an event apart. There is no fabricating the life of a man, the gigantic waves he rode with a passion, or the venue of symbolic cultural importance where he rode them.

Riding on the extraordinary surfing of a slew of Ticos, the best of whom ended up in 2nd place overall in the IX Pan American Surfing Games, the Costa Rica National Surf Team today made history by placing 2nd in the Games that took place at Playa Olivenca de Ilhéus – Bahia, Brazil.

The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) 1-Star PLA Pro Championships saw local talent Taylor Jensen (Oceanside, CA), 25, take out the men’s division, while fellow San Diegan Cori Schumacher (Cardiff, CA), 34, clinched her second consecutive women’s ASP North America Longboard Title when she won the PLA Pro Championships presented by Gidget in the peaky two-to-three foot wind-swell on offer at South Oceanside Pier.

Eyes were on the waves but minds were on the money as the $1,000,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink hit the water with day one of the Reef Hawaiian Pro - an ASP men's 6-star prime World Qualifying Series event. Subsequently, few people noticed that the bulk of the 10- to 12-foot NE swell wasn't making it around the corner into Haleiwa, and thousands lived it up in the bikini-strutting weather.

The Rip Curl Girls Go Surfing Day dates have been officially announced and will run on the weekend of November 28-29 at over 60 beaches around Australia.

Now in its 19th year of operation the national event is a huge weekend on the surfing calendar, and provides an opportunity for females to take part in a professional surf lesson in the lead-up to summer.