March 4, 2013

Update from the recent ASP International meetings held Feb 25-27 in Queensland AUS:

The ASP World Tour will be phasing in the new owners in 2013 under the ZoSea Media banner. The tour will remain as is for 2013 with ten WT events for the men, seven WT events for the women, and a qualifying series pretty much the same as we had for 2012. As for ASP Hawaii, our region will remain one of the strongest among the seven regions with our current line-up of 4 Star, 5 Star, two Primes and a WT event, even more so now with the recent cancellation of the Lowers Prime.

All the formats that were in place for 2012 will also remain the same for 2013, with Hawaii receiving a stronger presence on the 2013 tour than any other region. This means that ASP Hawaii will once again have 40 or more surfers in all our QS events, including those who qualify on their own merit, as well as the additional spots allocated for Star & Prime events, and those spots for the final World Tour event of the season. This will insure we have more than 30% representation in all the rated events in Hawaii giving more of our surfers the opportunity to qualify for the 2014 World Tour.

ASP Hawaii will be well represented on the WT this year with: John Florence, Freddie Patacchia, Dusty Payne, and Sebastian Zietz carrying the flag for the men, and Carissa Moore, Malia Manuel, Coco Ho, and Alana Blanchard will honor HAW on the women’s WT. We have doubled the amount of HAW surfers on the WT for 2013 which shows the developing talent of our membership base and the clarity of the career path in which they travel.

On the World Qualifying Series, we’ve already seen good results from Keanu Asing, Granger Larson, and Ola Eleogram, plus we have a host of surfers like Ezekiel Lau, Mason Ho, Torrey Meister, Kai Barger, Kiron Jabour, Kaimana Jaquias, and Dylan Goodale just to name a few, all of who could qualify come Triple Crown time, just as Seabass accomplished in 2012. So, all in all, as for the ASP World Tour, the surfers from the ASP Hawaii region are looking solid.

On the home front, we recently hired Bert Ishimaru, and we will be focusing our efforts in obtaining sponsorship to increase our regional WQS events. Our number one goal will be to secure a Town event in the June to August time period, Bert and I have been tasked with trying to bring this about. We are also seeking to obtain additional sponsorship for our longboard circuit and women’s events. We’ve already had one Junior event with another in the works. The goal is to fill the gaps between now and the start of the winter season events.

In closing, the ASP Hawaii Admin staff of Randy Rarick, Faith Wenzl, new member, Bert Ishimaru and myself, are working to represent the best interests of our region to assist Hawaii’s surfers on the ASP World Tour and Qualifying Series. It is the intention of ASP Hawaii, to continue to work with ASP International to insure the best competitive surfers from Hawaii are represented fairly and with dignity, as well as taken seriously. This is the mission of ASP Hawaii and we appreciate the support of those willing to work for this goal.

Stay tuned to the ASP Hawaii website for monthly newsletters, event updates, and happenings going down in our region throughout the year.

Aloha and best of luck this year!

Marty Thomas
Managing Director
ASP Hawaii