Billabong XXL Awards 2012 - The Winners

The 2012 XXL Awards went down last week (Due to my holiday, I am reporting late on this) and the ultimate prize went to Nathan Fletcher for his mind boggling wave at Teahupoo last year. I am still struggling to figure out how a wave not ridden out won, but hell it was crazy! Fletcher won the "Ride of the Year" and the "Monster Tube" awards with this wave. He also took the overall Men's Performance Award. So a good night for Nathan.

The 2012 "Monster Paddle Award" went to Hawaiian, Dave Wassel, for a huge wave earlier in the year at Jaws in Maui.There were stacks of entries from December and January from Jaws, as the world's big wave surfers descended on the previous Tow Surf Spot.

"Biggest Wave Champion" went to Hawaiian, Garrett MacNamara, for his "90"ft ride off the coast of Portugal in 2011. Many thought this wave looked very soft, but the size judges cleared it as the biggest wave caught. Garrett also took the "Verizon Wipeout of the Year" award for a horrible bail at massive Jaws. He was trying to surf the "JetBoard" and went over the falls backwards on a monster of a wave.

XXL Biggest Wave Nominees 2012

There are some gnarly entries for this year's XXL Biggest Wave category. The two irish entries are definately super big and heavy waves, but neither of them was ridden out. The entries from Spain are both big, but pretty flat and lumpy kind of waves. My vote goes to the Oz entry from Damien Warr. that is a huge wave and he even gets the cover up at the end. Who do you think should take it?



The five nominees for the XXL Biggest Wave category of the 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards are put forth for your analysis: Andrew Cotton at Mullaghmore Head, Garrett McNamara at Nazaré, Axi Muniain at Agiti, Ollie O'Flaherty at Mullaghmore and Damien "Taco" Warr at Cow Bombie. For more details and to view all the still photos see the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com.

Billabong XXL Awards 2012 - Monster Paddle Nominees

The five nominees for the Monster Paddle category of the 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards are presented for your evaluation: Ken "Skindog" Collins at Maverick's, Danilo Couto at Jaws, Shane Dorian at Jaws, Jamie Mitchell at Todos Santos and Dave Wassel at Jaws. For more details and to view all the still photos see the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com.

Personally, my vote goes to Shane Dorian. His wave is massive, he makes a crazy take off and rides it out. Ken, Danilo and Dave's waves are great, but they don't make them.  The outside shot is Jamie Mitchell on one of the biggest waves to ever get ridden at Todos for sure! Which wave is your choice?

Worst Wipeout Nominees - XXL Big Wave Awards 2012

Marc Mathews heading for the caning of his life at "The Right".

As the XXL Awards sneak ever closer I continue my previews of the nominations and this week we look at the "Verizon Wipeout Awards". There are some horrific wipes in this batch, with Teahupoo serving up ywo of the nominations and they are absolute horror wipes. Jaws and Shipstern's Bluff both have 1 nomination a piece and they will make your toes curl while watching in sick fascination. However, in my opinion the wipe of the year must go to Marc Mathews for his absolutely crazy wipe at the even crazier wave of "The Right". I don't even want to imagine what it must have felt like to be swallowed by that warping, mutant beast of a wave! What are your thoughts...

XXL Ride of the year Nominees 2012

Ryan Hipwood on one serious Cloudbreak Nomination!

The 2012 "Ride of the Year" nominations are in for the XXL Awards. My choice for this year is the wave above, Ryan Hipwood, at massive paddle Cloudbreak. That has to be one of the biggest grab rail tubes ever and it had the timer running for a solid amount of time. Greg Long's huge tube at Puerto was also solid and Jeff Rowley's Jaws Bomb was pretty amazing.

Interestingly, the 2 Tow nominations don't really deserve to be there in my opinion. While Nathan Fletcher's massive tube at Teahupoo is simply insane, he did not ride it out. Surely the "Ride of the Year" winner needs to be a made wave? Garret McNamara's giant wave in Portugal, while huge, looks pretty slow and flat. (This is the opinion of a couple of big wave chargers I have questioned on the subject.) It may have had the wave height, but it was not a great wave.

Have a look and let me know your thoughts!

Worst Wipeout - Surfer Poll Awards 2011

It's that time of year again when the Surfer Poll Awards roll into our inbox's. I will be giving you the previews before the awards and we start with the worst wipe outs of 2011. My vote definitely goes to the dude at Cloudbreak, but you might have a different opinion...

SA Blog Awards

Ok Peeps, I have decided to enter the SA Blog Awards and try shake up the establishment! Hoping you guys like the Captain's World enough to throw your votes at this link - Vote for Captain Kai's World

I have entered into best "Sports" blog and best "Entertainment" blog.

Love you guys! Here is a preview of my face if I win...