Mavericks Report: "Big Wave World Tour"

(Half Moon Bay, Calif.) – Looking ahead to an El Niño winter and the anticipation of big waves early in the season, the organizers of the Mavericks Invitational big wave surf contest are opening the contest season on November 1, 2012.
Following the approval of the permit by the San Mateo County Harbor District last week, the organizers kicked into high gear the planning for this year’s famed big wave surfing contest off Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay. The contest waiting period is officially November 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013.
“It looks like we’re headed for an early winter, and we want to take advantage of the big swells in November,” said Mavericks Pioneer Jeff Clark, part of a group of business and community leaders organizing the event. “The surfers are ready, the community is ready, and we are stoked to make this amazing event happen this year.”
Mavericks Invitational organizers are also announcing a partnership with the Big Wave World Tour. Founded by famed big wave rider and shaper, Gary Linden, the Big Wave World Tour (BWWT), is an international surfing phenomenon that organizes the best big wave riders in the first-ever big wave surfing league.
The tour showcases the world’s top surfers and local standouts as they battle extreme conditions, and each other, in a season long battle to become the next Big Wave World Champion. The tour includes events in Chile, Peru, Mexico, and now in California.
“Big wave surfing and Mavericks have become synonymous, and a competition there a dream come true,” said Linden, who has served as head judge for previous contests at Mavericks. “Being part of the event is an extreme honor, personally and for the Big Wave World Tour.”
The association with BWWT allows those surfers who are part of the tour to use their performance at Mavericks as part of their overall scoring for the season. The list of competitors for this year’s Mavericks Invitational will not change from last season, when a lackluster winter dashed hopes for a contest.
“The competitors will still earn their way through dedication to surfing Mavericks, proving their mettle at Mavericks, and being voted into the event by their peers,” said Clark. “Gary Linden has experience at Mavericks, making it easy to integrate their judging system and water patrol into our event, while keeping true to the unique nature of Mavericks.”
Mavericks Invitational is the world’s premier, high adrenaline, big wave surfing event. This one-day, invitation-only surfing competition is held at the legendary Mavericks surf break located ½ mile offshore at Pillar Point Harbor, just 20 minutes south of San Francisco. The 24 most daring big-wave surfers in the world will attempt to tame the massive swells on the biggest and best day of the 2012-13 winter season.

Nathan Outteridge has joined the Swedish Challenger for the 34th America’s Cup

 

 

Artemis Racing announced today that Australian Olympic gold medalist, Nathan Outteridge has joined the Swedish Challenger for the 34th America’s Cup.

Outteridge is well known for his results in both skiffs and multihulls, having won the gold in Weymouth in the 49er Class, as well as performing well in the past four America’s Cup World Series events.

Outteridge will begin training with the team next week in Alameda in advance of the upcoming America’s Cup World Series in San Francisco where he will helm Artemis Racing Red. Racing will take place from 3-7 October, in conjunction with the Bay Area’s best known event, Fleet Week.

“Joining Artemis Racing is a great opportunity for me. Artemis is a solid team all around and I’m excited to join Terry Hutchinson and the sailing team for my first America’s Cup,” said Outteridge who has just arrived in San Francisco following the Farr 40 Worlds in Chicago.

“I think anytime you add a sailor of Nathan’s caliber to a team it’s a good thing. I’m anticipating that the experience we have here, balanced with his youth and enthusiasm, will be a good mix," said Skipper Terry Hutchinson (USA).

“It’s great to have Nathan join Artemis. We have seen that his success in skiff and moth sailing have translated well in the AC45 racing. Nathan certainly has a bright future,” added Paul Cayard, CEO of Artemis Racing.

--- From Artemis Racing

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Additional Links and Info:

Visit Artemis Racing website

DISNEY STAR ROSS LYNCH TO PERFORM AT BALLOON FESTIVAL

 

 

For Immediate Release DISNEY STAR ROSS LYNCH TO PERFORM AT BALLOON FESTIVAL TEEN SENSATIONS R5 FEATURING LYNCH IN CONCERT JULY 29 READINGTON, NJ --- The screaming won’t just be for the balloons. R5 featuring Ross Lynch from Disney’s Austin & Ally will perform in concert at the 30th annual Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning in Association with PNC Bank on Sunday, July 29 at 1 p.m. at Solberg Airport in Readington, NJ. R5 is the fastest-growing young band on the pop-rock scene with more than four million YouTube views and 150,000 Twitter followers. These teen sensations are comprised of the Lynch family of Littleton, Colorado, and include Ross Lynch, star of the Disney Channel's #1 series, Austin & Ally, and Riker Lynch, a featured "Warbler" in Fox's smash TV series, Glee. They are the latest Disney teen sensations to perform at the balloon festival following the Jonas Brothers (2007), Demi Lovato (2008), Meaghan Martin (2009), Emily Osment (2010), and Mitchel Musso last year. “With concert tickets skyrocketing, we’re proud to once again offer children and their families the opportunity to see their favorite Disney stars at affordable prices they can’t find anywhere else,” said Festival Executive Producer Howard Freeman. “Our teen concerts series has enabled us to introduce the magic of ballooning to whole new generation and adds value to their festival experience. It’s also one of the reasons we remain the top family destination year after year.” R5 is comprised of Lynch family siblings Ross (age 16), Riker (20), Rocky (17), sister Rydel (18), and family friend Ellington Ratliff (18). Together they make up one of today’s most exciting young bands featuring catchy rock-inspired songs, a fashionable look, and an energetic performance style. Ross Lynch has also recorded songs for Austin & Ally, including the show’s theme song, “Without You,” as well as “Double Take,” “Break Down the Walls,” “A Billion Hits,” “Not A Love Song,” “It’s Me It’s You,” “Better Together,” and “Heard It on the Radio.” Playing Austin Moon in Austin & Ally is his first leading role. Pursuing a career in television, Lynch is following in the footsteps of his cousins, Derek and Julianne Hough from ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. He will also star in the new Disney Channel movie Teen Beach Musical, its next song-and-dance extravaganza, in 2013. Tickets for the R5 concert presented by 1560 Radio Disney include admission into the Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning, which features twice daily mass ascensions of more than 100 balloons from around the world and has been named as of the Top 100 Events in North America. VIP reserved seats (first 10 rows) are $50 for adults and $40 for children; Gold VIP reserved seats are $40 for adults and $30 for children. General admission lawn seating will also be available. Tickets are now on sale at www.balloonfestival.com. ### MEDIA CONTACT: Russ Mensch Mensch & Company, Inc. 201-797-2448 menschandcompany@aol.com

Announcement on Grand Prix

 

Announcement on Grand Prix

FIDE and AGON are pleased to announce the full details of the new Grand Prix cycle 2012/2013. Regulations for the Series as well as Players contracts can be found below. Each player will be assigned to play in four of the six cities and his best three results will be accumulated for his overall ranking at the end of the series. The top two overall placed in the Grand Prix will qualify for the Candidates event in 2014.
From the Regulations, the 18 players qualifying to participate in the series are as follows:

Art. 3.1 Current World Champion and ChallengerViswanathan Anand (IND)
Boris Gelfand (ISR)
3.2 World CupPeter Svidler (RUS)
Alexander Grischuk (RUS)
Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR)
Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR)
3.3 FIDE President NomineeThe FIDE President may nominate one player who must be rated at least 2700 as per the January 2012 rating list.
3.4 Organiser Nominees
Six players may be nominated by AGON and must be rated not less than 2700 in the January 2012 rating list or have been a former World Chess Champion.
3.5 Rating
Five players plus reserves as may be required:

Name	Title	Country	Jan-12	Jul-11	Average
Carlsen, Magnus	GM	NOR	2835	2821	2828.0
Aronian, Levon	GM	ARM	2805	2805	2805.0
Kramnik, Vladimir	GM	RUS	2801	2781	2791.0
Karjakin, Sergey	GM	RUS	2769	2788	2778.5
Topalov, Veselin	GM	BUL	2770	2768	2769.0
Nakamura, Hikaru	GM	USA	2759	2770	2764.5	1st Reserve
Gashimov, Vugar	GM	AZE	2761	2760	2760.5	2nd Reserve
Radjabov, Teimour	GM	AZE	2773	2744	2758.5	3rd Reserve
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	GM	AZE	2747	2765	2756.0	4th Reserve
Kamsky, Gata	GM	USA	2732	2741	2736.5	5th Reserve
Jakovenko, Dmitry	GM	RUS	2729	2736	2732.5
Vitiugov, Nikita	GM	RUS	2726	2733	2729.5
Morozevich, Alexander	GM	RUS	2763	2694	2728.5
Wang, Hao	GM	CHN	2733	2718	2725.5
Dominguez, Leinier	GM	CUB	2730	2719	2724.5
Tomashevsky, Evgeny	GM	RUS	2740	2707	2723.5
Caruana, Fabiano	GM	ITA	2736	2711	2723.5
Nepomniachtchi, Ian	GM	RUS	2735	2711	2723.0
Almasi, Zoltan	GM	HUN	2717	2726	2721.5
Adams, Michael	GM	ENG	2724	2715	2719.5

3.6 Replacements
Any replacement for the initial selection, will be selected on the basis of Article 3.5 which takes into account the average rating and greater number of games, if of equal rating.

All the players qualified above (including the five reserves) must download and sign the Players Agreement and return it by email to office@fide.com and also by mail (postdated not later than 1st June 2012) to FIDE Office, 9 Syggrou Avenue, 11743 Athens, Greece.
The six cities and dates for the Grand Prix series are:

2012
Grand Prix	Chelyabinsk	September 19 – October 3
Grand Prix	Tashkent	November 21 – December 4
2013
Grand Prix	Lisbon	April 10 – April 24
Grand Prix	Madrid	May 22 – June 4
Grand Prix	Berlin	July 3 – July 17
Grand Prix	Paris	September 18 – October 2

Players must also submit, along with their signed agreement, the six cities ranked in order or preference of participation. FIDE and AGON will consider the players’ requests and allocate the players to the various tournaments taking into consideration the players’ preferences, average rating and other parameters.

Links

• Grand Prix regulations (PDF)
• Grand Prix Player Agreement (PDF – new version on May 28)