Part 1 in a series of clips to be released from a 2 month trip Greg Vorster and Emilie Ouellette
take through Mozambique and South Africa.

Featuring: Mark McCarthy, Greg Vorster and Rheinard DuToit
Filmed by Emilie Ouellette
Song: Great Heart by Johnny Clegg

We catch up with Mark McCarthy in his hometown of Richards Bay, South Africa
and find out what he has been up to since the last event on the World Tour.
He shares his thoughts on the upcoming Pipe event and what he hopes to see for the future of his sport.

Mark McCarthy – Chile, Brazil and Mexico.
Produced by Guilherme Mangas.
Presented by Stealth Bodyboards.
Filmed by Guilherme Mangas, Javier Fleitas and Guido Santos.
Edited by Guilherme Mangas.

Zicatela,Thursday 4th October – Hawaiian Jeff Hubbard has won the IBA TURBO ZICATELA PRO 2012 in flawless 6-8 foot surf at Puerto Escondido today. Hubbard defeated 6x World Champion Guilherme Tamega (BRA) with a high flying air roll and deep barrels in the final to claim his second Zicatela Pro title.

The 2 x World Champion fell victim in the non-elimination Round 4 of the event, but taking the longer road to the final did not slow down the hungry Hawaiian. Hubbard took down Australian super talent Mitch Rawlins in Round 6 this morning and managed to keep his momentum, topping Magno Passos (BRA) in the quarterfinals and current World Champion Pierre-Louis Costes in the semifinal. Guilherme Tamega was looking strong thought the event, defeating an inform Mark McCarthy (ZAF) in the quarterfinal and current ratings leader Dave Winchester (AUS) in the semifinal, but could not match Hubbard’s aerial antics in the final.

Today Tamega bagged his third 2nd place finish of 2012, making it clear that he is hungry for a seventh world title. Winchester’s 3rd place finish has helped him improve on his current points, but with the other three semifinalists also drastically improving on their points, the world title race has heated up between the top four seeds and will be decided at the Encanto World Series in Puerto Rico or possibly the final event of 2012, the Fronton Pro scheduled for 7-16th of December in the Canary Islands.

Mark McCarthy, Nick Ormerod, João Zik.
One day with small waves, but fun at Itacoatiara.
Filmed and edited by Guilherme Mangas.

Praia Grande, Sintra, Saturday 1st September 2012 - Pierre-Louis Costes (FRA) has taken out the IBA 2012 Sintra Portugal Pro, defeating South Africa’s Jared Houston in a nail-biting final. The Frenchman opened up his account with a 6.63 out of a possible 10 points for a backflip on his first wave and backed it up with a 6.18 to fend off the South African. Although Houston was slow to start, he managed to lock in a 7.00 point ride, the highest wave score of the final, committing to a lofty backflip on a set wave, but was unable to post anything higher than a 5.55 for the remainder of the final, 0.26 short of the required score.
This result will catapult Costes up the rankings, putting him into contention for a second world title.

“I am so happy with this win”, especially because I was contemplating whether or not to compete at this event.” Costes added, “before today I was not really thinking of a world title, now I will have to focus on Mexico and see if It is possible.”

  Being the two “Young Guns” on tour, Costes and Houston have had some memorable match-ups at places like Puerto Escondido and Fronton. Today was the first time they faced off in a final. 

“Finally I met him in the final and it brought out the best in me”, Costes commented. “We have had a few man-on-man heats together in the past and it always seems to push our surfing to its best. I want to congratulate him, he is hard to beat.

Today’s second place finish for Jared Houston has solidified the young South African’s reputation on the GSS tour. Well known for his big wave antics, Houston held his nerve today and showed that he can perform on any platform.

Houston elated, “I am very happy with a 2nd place finish, but disappointed to have lost. I was pretty nervous going up against Pierre in the final, just because we have a history, but it was a very hard fought heat.”

Mens Final

 In joint 3rd, Mark McCarthy (ZAF) and Alex Uranga (ESK) had stellar performances throughout the event, but fell short to the eventual winner Pierre-Louis and Jared respectively. Uranga seems to have earned himself a reputation as a “Giant Killer”, taking down current rankings leader Dave Winchester (AUS) and Guilherme Tamega 6x world champion on his way to the semifinal. McCarthy had a long road to the semifinal, surfing a total of eight heats, more than any other competitor, as he was relegated to fight his way through the repocharge rounds and defeated an in form Jeff Hubbard (HAW) in the quarterfinal before eventually loosing steam in the semifinal.

The next Mens GSS event will be held at Puerto Escondido/Zicatela from September 27th to October 6th 2012.

2012 TAND INVITATIONAL

Mark McCarthy’s 2012 Hawaiian season on the North Shore.
Edited by Richard Lornie.
Very cool edit!!! 

Stealth Team Riders Ben Player, Dave Winchester, Pierre Louis Costes, Ryan Hardy, Jake Stone, Joe Clarke, Nick Gornall, Mark McCarthy, Alex Bunting, Jase Finlay, Drew Innocend, Lachie Cramsie and Charlie Holt.
Produced by Todd Barnes.