Bobby Martinez Claims Billabong Pro Tahiti Over Taj Burrow

TEAHUPOO, Tahiti (Tuesday, May 19, 2009) - Bobby Martinez (USA), 26, has taken out the Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui, defeating fellow Finalist Taj Burrow (AUS), 30, in clean three-to-five foot (1.5 metre) waves at Teahupoo.

Event No. 3 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Tahiti survived a marathon waiting period, culminating on the second-to-last available day in improving conditions that peaked for a climactic Final.

Martinez surfed a near-flawless heat, opening up with an impressive 8.73 out of a possible 10 before putting his opponent in a combination situation with a Houdini-esque 9.73 out of a possible 10. Netting the highest heat total of the event, an 18.46 out of a possible 20, Martinez claimed his second Billabong Pro Tahiti and fourth elite tour win, establishing himself as one of the premier tube-riders in the world.

�I feel great and a bit emotional,� Martinez said. �I feel wonderful. I waited for the good ones out there and just got lucky. There weren�t too many waves and I was lucky enough to get a couple of good ones and not fall. Things just seemed to work out for me today. I really don�t know what to say. It feels really special.�

The form surfer of the event, Martinez surfed the majority of his heats on borrowed equipment, having broken most of his surfboards early in the waiting period.

�I actually borrowed a board from Alain Riou (local Tahitian surfer),� Martinez said. �He rides Darren Handley shapes and the board was the same dimensions and pretty much the same board I ride. It was great to find that as yesterday, I was a bit skeptical about today in terms of the conditions and my equipment, but everything worked out perfectly.�

Martinez, who is without a major sponsor at the moment, has rocketed himself from 19th to 7th on the ASP World Tour ratings with today�s win, putting him in excellent position for the remainder of the year.

�I�m not thinking about money right now, but rather I�m thinking about the feelings I have,� Martinez said. �I didn�t start surfing to make money. I started for me, and to win today, you cannot put a price on the feelings I have. I�m really going to let it sink it and enjoy it. It�s a great result, but it�s a long year and anything can happen. Joel (Parkinson) has a great lead, and now that this event is over, my focus goes to the next one.�

Burrow�s efforts in the Final were nothing short of spectacular, collecting an 8.17, a 7.93 and a 7.33, but they were not enough to overtake the Martinez stranglehold on the event.

�I definitely had fun but it was tricky against Bobby (Martinez),� Burrow said. �He had a dream heat. The conditions looked pretty good for your forehand because the judges like seeing you pump on your forehand in the barrel. On your backhand, you just have to park it in the pit and you can�t do much, but Bobby did everything he had to out there and deserved the win. I still had a fun Final, but hard to enjoy out there because I was in a combination situation the whole time.�

Burrow now moves into the No. 2 position on the ASP World Tour ratings, setting the Western Australian up well as he eyes up the next events.

�I�ve had two keepers in terms of results and I�m hungry,� Burrow said. �I�m still kicking and I�m looking to win. The next few events, I feel really strong at and I�m going to do whatever it takes to win. I�m stoked to get a result at Teahupoo, I haven�t done well here in a few years so it sets me up really well for the rest of the year.�

Aritz Aranburu (EUK), 23, former ASP World No. 39, was the �Cinderella Story� at the Billabong Pro Tahiti. Having failed to advance through a heat in the opening two events of the season, the Basque Country�s first ever ASP World Tour competitor stormed past Californian sensation Dane Reynolds (USA), 23, former event winner Damien Hobgood (USA), 29, Australian veteran Tom Whitaker, 29, and reigning nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 37, en route to a Semifinals berth.

"I�ve had a tough draw throughout the event, but that�s what has kept me motivated,� Aranburu said. �Coming up against the best guys out there, you need to lift your ability. Beating Kelly (Slater) for me is one of the biggest achievements I�ve ever had. I�ve been looking up to him for so long, and just being on tour with him is an honor. To beat him is a major achievement for me."

The career-best result was halted at the hands of eventual winner Martinez during one of the most exciting heats of the event. Despite coming up short to Martinez (15.23 to the Californian�s 17.17), Aranburu�s equal 3rd place finish boosts the European to 19th on the ASP World Tour ratings.

�Bobby (Martinez) is one of the best out there,� Aranburu said. �I had one good one, but he got two good ones, and that was it. It�s my best result ever and I am stoked. I have lots of confidence going into the next events. I just want to go home and train and try new boards for Brazil and J-Bay. The biggest thing for me is to know that if I can do it once, I can do it twice.�

Michael Campbell (AUS), 35, opened his final day affair with a close win over fellow ASP Dream Tour veteran Taylor Knox (USA), 38, in the Quarterfinals, but the goofy-footer�s precision forehand approach wasn�t enough to overtake a rampaging Burrow in the Semifinals.

�It felt like I was a bit out of rhythm in the Semifinal,� Campbell said. �I wasn�t able to capitalize on the waves I got and Taj (Burrow) posted a couple of really strong scores mid-heat that left me wanting.�

Although falling short of a Finals berth, the journeyman competitor�s equal 3rd place finish boosts him from 29th to 16th on the ASP World Tour ratings.

"This is going to do a lot for my cause,� Campbell said. �I�ve had average results this year and last year too, so a third is pretty special for me. All of the heats have been hard and sometimes the luck goes your way. I�ve had a bit of luck this time around, but I�ve also spent some time here and I know it pretty well. Stoked to get a result and looking forward to the next one."

Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, suffered an unfortunate Round 3 loss at the Billabong Pro Tahiti, but after two event wins to open the season up, the Gold Coaster remains the frontrunner on this year�s ASP World Tour ratings.

The next stop on the 2009 ASP World Tour will be the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil from June 27 to July 5, 2009.

Highlights from the Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui will be available via www.billabongpro.com

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI FINAL RESULTS:
1 � Bobby Martinez (USA) 18.46
2 � Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.10

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.86 def. Michael Campbell (AUS) 10.00
SF 2: Bobby Martinez (USA) 17.17 def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 15.23

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.33 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.06
QF 2: Mick Campbell (AUS) 12.84 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 10.17
QF 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 15.93 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.67
QF 4: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.66 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 10.66

REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) 13.17 def. Andy Irons (HAW) 10.16
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.57 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 8.67
Heat 7: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 12.56 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 9.16
Heat 8: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 9.43 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 9.40

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10:
1 � Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3000 points
2 � Taj Burrow (AUS) 2318 points
3 � Mick Fanning (AUS) 2208 points
4 � C.J. Hobgood (USA) 2196 points
5 � Adriano de Souza (BRA) 2174 points
6 � Jordy Smith (ZAF) 2076 points
7 � Bobby Martinez (USA) 2025 points
8 � Tom Whitaker (AUS) 1932 points
9 � Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 1886 points
10 � Kieren Perrow (AUS) 1742 points
10 � Taylor Knox (USA) 1742 points
10 � Damien Hobgood (USA) 1742 points

Why wear a wetsuit in the first place?

Water is not mens natural environment and since we can not breathe underwater a jump into the sea is always also a bit of a jump into the unknown. Of course fear is not the reason to wear a wetsuit, there are many much better reasons, but a wetsuit will also give you some comfort.

So what are the main three reasons why should you wear a wetsuit? I will list them here and then we will take a look at each one of them in more depth. 1. Wetsuit will keep you warm. 2. Wetsuit will give you extra protection. 3. Wetsuit will improve your buoyancy.

1) Protection against hypothermia. There are times when water is so cold that no one in their sound mind would enter it without a wetsuit. So wetsuits are great because the allow us to surf, swim, dive etc.. in the sea at temperatures that we would normally not be able to. But it is not just about the really cold water. Since water is 25 times more heat-conducting than air you lose your body heat much faster when you are in the sea. So even in warmer weather and water you can get hypothermia if you stay in too long without a wetsuit.

How does the wetsuit keep you warm? A thin layer of water comes between your body and the wetsuit. Body heats it and the wetsuit prevents the heat from escaping further, hence you have an insulation layer. Because neoprene contains many bubbles the air in them also acts as great insulation. This of course only works if fresh cold water doesn't constantly flush your wetsuit. So your wetsuits should be tight fitting, snug. I suggest you also check this wetsuits guide here another one here that I think is the most comprehensive wetsuit guide on the web. I also recommend that you check out the water temperature guide and chart for wetsuits the you can find on the same wetsuits website.

2) Wetsuits as protection. I covered protection against cold but wetsuits also act as protection against physical damage. The soft, rubbery neoprene will dampen the blows if you hit a rock, coral or your own or somebody else's equipment. For instance in surfing really shallow reef, if you are not 100% confident that you will make it, wear a wetsuit and save some skin.

3) And finally there is buoyancy. I already mentioned that neoprene is full of air filled bubbles, so wearing a wetsuit will help you float better. Here I would like to warm you that before you take on any water sports you need to know how to swim - swim good! Wetsuit is not a life vest.

And this is why it is hard for me to imagine what the water sports world would be like without wetsuits.

Wetsuits used in Pro Surfing

We wanted to do a shorter post about the wetsuits that are used in pro surfing. Not all ASP WCT tour locations require pro surfers to wear a wetsuit. Some are really warm and surfers can only wear boardshorts. Performace wise - this is the best since no wetsuits means no restricitons for the surfers. On the other hand there are surf spots and world tour locations that require a full wetsuit, sometimes even a thicker on liek a 4/3 wetsuit.

So what kind of wetsuits do pro surfers wear?

First of all - they are basically the same wetsuits that you can buy in the surf shop. If they have special the very best of the very best shapers hand made input driven surfboard that you can not get your hands on even in your dreams (at least until the pro models comes out lol) the wetsuits are pretty much the ordinary stuff that is available on the shelves. Of course the op of the line model.

What do pro surfers look for in their wetsuits?

Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility! This is the first and the most important wetsuit feature. You know that wetsuits that are the most flexible are usually not the ones that last the longest. Since getting new wetsuits is not an issue for pro surfers :)... it's all about flexibility.

Flexibility of the wetsuit means how stretchy it is and how much does it hinder the surfer when he performs his maneuvers.

Wetsuit thickness and warmth only comes second. Of course most of the pro surfers are sponsored and among there sponsors are also wetsuit companies. So they wear and promote wetsuits from their sponsor. And they can also give feedback and input when it comes to development of new wetsuit models.