With a number of enhancements being activated on the ASP World Tour this season, the ASP Judging Criteria has been refined to reflect the progression of the sport.

The ASP Judging Criteria for 2012 and beyond is as follows:

Surfers must perform to the ASP Judging Key Elements to maximize their scoring potential.

Check out the awesome ESPN interview 

Sure, Mark Healey's not crazy. Totally believe that one. Just being around him scares me, especially if he's wearing buckskin.

Self deprecation is part of the play for Healey and his group of non-crazy friends. It's how they humbly shrug off doing non-crazy things like going left at Waimea or hitching rides on the backs of Great White sharks. But in all seriousness, ask anybody and they'll tell you, Healey's the man.

 

Saturday May 12, 2012. Billabong Pro Rio, Rio De Janeiro, Brasil. Image Credit: © ASP/Kirstin.

Coco Ho of Oahu, Hawaii (pictured) caused a massive upset during the quarterfinals eliminating three times ASP World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) from the Billabong Pro Rio on Saturday May 12, 2012.

Ho posted a pair of great 7-point riders for a 14.93 total heat score (out of 20.00) leaving Gilmore with an equal fifth place finish.

Trestles was in some pain after Mason's damage...Check out the Lost Vid
Mason Ho, 20, is  charismatic  in the water. He rides Mayhem quads and bottle-nosed fish and his surfs are punctuated by fin-throws, old-school air reverses, even older-school 360s, chop-hops and even backside alley-oops. If there is a Hawaii style, his is it: all warm-water, loose-limbed, afro-swinging extravagance.
Mason is also the son of Hawaiian star Michael Ho, the nephew of Hawaii’s first-ever world champ, Dez Ho, and brother to girls champion Coco Ho. If he wanted, Mason could book an audience with Fast Eddie Rothman at the tap of a few keys. Mason also likes, very much, to drop in.

Kaimana Henry throwing around his huge hammer at Haleiwa HAHA!!! Mwason trying to turm his 6’4. also Tommy “Tongue Dart” Dosland, Barron Mamiya (the 2 Baddest Kids around….good bad) & CHEESEBURGER ! Starts at Haleiwa and ends at firing Rocky Point.

Join us and help support this medical fundraiser for George Ramos hosted by the North Shore Lifeguard's Association
-- Sunday, May 27, 2012 9:00am - 5:00pm

PADDLE FOR GEORGE, is a 3.5 Mile Open-Ocean Prone/SUP or OC-1 Paddleboard race from Sunset Beach to Waimea Bay. Race starts at 11am. Awards 1st through 3rd places for each division.

Surf News, 10 May, 2012 : - - Costa Mesa -- 2009 ASP Rookie of the Year, former ASP World Junior Champion, and Hawaiian standout, Kekoa Bacalso and Rip Curl have reunited for a multi-year deal. A fixture on RC's program for a number of years, Bacalso and Rip Curl went separate ways for over a year. However, the stars aligned for a reunion, and Bam is back on the program and fired up.

Top Seeds Lead Opening Round at Billabong Rio Pro

Surf News, 9 May, 2012 : Arpoador, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil -- The 2012 Billabong Rio Pro, Stop No. 3 of 10 on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, kicked off competition at the secondary venue of Arpoador this morning and the event’s top seeds dominated the clean two-to-four foot (1.5 metre) lefthanders on offer for Round 1.

Julian Wilson (AUS), 23, into his second year amongst the world’s elite, was in solid form for his opening round bout this morning, posting the day’s highest single-wave score of 9.27 out of 10 for committed backhand surfing en route to attaining the day’s highest heat-total, 17.14 out of 20.

Kelly Slater Withdraws from Billabong Rio Pro due to ankle injury/infection, Round 1 Draw Amended

BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (Tuesday, May 8, 2012) – Kelly Slater (USA), 40, reigning 11-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 1, has withdrawn from the Billabong Rio Pro following a heel injury sustained in Java.

“I injured the inside of my left heel in Java and then re-opened it again the following week at Cloudbreak,” Slater said. “It became infected and I flew to Australia to get it treated and stitched in hopes of making it to Rio, if not for Round 1, at least for Round 2. I’ve been in the water since getting it stitched and while I can go straight, I can’t do turns at all right now so I’ll have to pull out of Rio. It’s unfortunate, but I’m just going to focus on healing up as soon as possible right now. Good luck to all the competitors in Brazil and I’ll be watching online.”

This Wednesday evening at Surfer the Bar: Talk Story Series ftg. Kimo Hollinger | Hosted by Jodi Wilmott
Doors 6p , Show 8p | $5 requested for charity
Kimo Hollinger graced many of the North Shore’s most memorable sessions in elite company during big wave riding’s burgeoning era. In the mid-70s, after a near-fatal session at huge Waimea, he turned his back on big wave riding forever. A deep-thinking Hawaiian whose insightful observations have been published by SURFER magazine and Surfer’s Journal, his contributions to surf culture persist to this day – though rarely this publicly. Kimo’s story will take you far beyond the waves and deep into the life of a true and thoughtful Hawaiian.