Billabong End of Season ASP 2005 Wrap Up

For the keen surfers amongst you, the following is old news, but here at Billabong, we wanted to give a special mention to our athletes, retracing some of their most exceptional moments of the 2005 ASP World Championship Tour season (Men and Women).

After winning the Quiksilver Pro in Hossegor in September, Andy Irons has now claimed victory in the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters and the coveted Vans Triple Crown of Surfing for the third time. Andy Irons stands at the end of the season in 2nd place in the overall ASP ratings with 7860 points. For Andy it is a fantastic ending to an amazing year and a tremendous finishing reward.

After breaking his foot, Taj Burrow was forced to withdraw from the Billabong Nova Schin in Brazil and the first two stops of the Vans Triple Crown of Surf, the Haliewa and Sunset 6-Star Prime WQS’s. He healed in time for the last event of the season at Pipeline, Hawaii, to take 7th place in the overall ASP ratings with 5512 points.

Joel Parkinson knee ligament damage jacked his knee freesurfing in Japan. He was forced to withdraw from three main events. Fully recovered, Parko went on to compete in New Zealand with fellow team members Andy Irons and Mark “Occy” Occhilupo in a Surfing New Zealand International Surf Session going on to compete in Brazil before making his way to Hawaii to continue his Triple Crown quest. Joel finished 11th in the overall ASP ratings.

Luke Egan ended his amazing pro surfing career getting through to the semi-final at the pipeline masters in Hawaii and finishing in 22nd position in the ASP ratings (he would have qualified for the ASP WCT 2006 tour). Luke will be taking some well-earned time off before assuming his position as marketing manager with Billabong International at head office in Burleigh heads, Queensland.

Last, but not least amongst Billabong A-team surfers, Mr Mark “Occy” Occhilupo, who came 25th in the overall ASP ratings, will be back next year for the ASP WCT 2006. Occy announced his retirement earlier on in the year but after getting back into shape before the 2005 surfing season opening, he realised at the ripe age of 40, his surfing was intact and was ready to take up the challenge of another season.

This wrap up wouldn’t be complete without the mention of Tiago Pires who missed his 2006 WCT qualification by only points. Tiago has had an amazing year, notably winning the Billabong Pro Ericeira (a 6-star WQS event) in front of thousands of spectators at his home break!

Newcomer to the 2006 WCT is Gold Coast’s Shaun Cansdell, the standout talent and form surfer at the 2005 Billabong World Junior event in Narrabeen, Australia. Shaun has a rare talent who is not just capable of magical brilliance, but routinely produces it. He is a true artist, a creative eccentric not just in the water, but with a pencil and a guitar. Skill wise, board underfoot, his technique borders on faultless, he’s fast, unpredictable, ingenious, dexterous, has over-powering timing with built-in survival, his surfing is a delight and inspiration to behold. Watch this space, we’ll soon be talking to you again about Shaun Cansdell.

A word about the girls… Billabong is proud of its elite women’s surfing team.

Keala “KK” Kennelly finishes 8th overall in the ASP ratings. Apart from her competition results and strong surfing, KK’s main highlight for 2005 remains her highly talked about tow-in session at Teahupoo, where she surfed a 15 ft wave at the infamous reef break.

Rebecca “Bec” Woods finishes 13th in the ratings which is a great finish to the 2005 season considering an injury which saw her on the bench for 3 out of the 9 events.

Brazilian Silvana Lima will join KK and Bec on tour next year. She entered her first WCT competition at the Billabong Pro Maui this December, after winning the trials. On her first round heat, she defeated current World Champion Chelsea Georgeson scoring two amazing waves, including a 10 point wave!

Billabong would like to congratulate their athletes for their amazing season! We wish all our athletes a Happy Christmas with their families, and as for you dear readers, we hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and an excellent 2006.