Rip Curl

The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford celebrated its 50-year anniversary in Easter 2011. All of the world's best male and female surfers were in Torquay for the contest, watched from the cliffs by all of the past champions and competitors. Mother Nature turned it on for the event and we witnessed perfect waves for the monumental occasion.

Like no other surfing game on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch - Rip Curl's "Live The Search" is a 3D application that combines combines high-action arcade game-play with a realistic surfing experience. Roam the world searching out secret waves and surfing as ASP World Champions Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore or put yourself in the game by creating a unique surfer. It's all about travel, adventure and living the Search!

This last trip has really caused some problems. When it was time for us to sit back and check out all the great photos and footage, there was nothing. A cryptic phone call came in from the sat phone saying no one was going anywhere; swell's on the way. Change the plane tickets. Well, we weren’t going to argue with that. From the beginning, we promised this trip would have no real end date. So we let them go off and Search for as long as they wanted. Good thing they did. Even better, they convinced us to keep going…

Talk about big shoes to fill. Being the sons of Tom Curren, Frank and Patrick have not only grown up in the water, they’ve grown up in the spotlight. And they’re shining. At 13 years old, Patrick is already damaging the amateur ranks in the US. And big brother Frank, at 15 years old, is already a top gun at his local break Rincon. But true to their bloodline, the Curren boys get most excited for the adventures away from the scene. And this trip with dad is only the beginning.

It's been 16 years since Tom Curren and Frankie Oberholzer shared a boat in Indo together. Back then Google didn't exist and G-Land was a far-flung jungle expedition for only the globe's most intrepid surfers. Today, Google provides us with 305,000 results under the search phrase "Indonesia surf camps" and G-Land looks like the Super Bank on a Saturday. Today, towing at Tom's heels are his sons Patrick and Frank. In so many waves, this trip is very different from their 1994 trip. But on second thought -- when you get down to it and out in the water -- nothing has changed at all. Music: Free As - Jussie Smith

During a bit of a flat spell Koa, Alex and Stu hit the beach. Strolling the coastal villages way up here, it doesn't take too long to forget the madness of Kuta, Jakarta or Padang. And it just so happens there's a particularly weird wave up here, too -- a wave that Dillon, Brady and Bruno had discovered about a month before, when everywhere else was flat. Though they had the honor of being only the second group to surf it, Koa, Alex and Stu only got a taste.... Just wait until we show you this place in all its glory in the coming weeks. Music: FAIT014 - Hold Onto You Music: MHA001 - Days Of Joy

One of the filmers, Jimmy Kinnaird, likes to torture each fresh passenger on the Tip 2 Tip mission. He's been on most of the trips and has been there to document some of the best days and biggest scores. So, what he does is put together these 10-minute edits of absolute gold to show the new crew on their way out to sea. This causes the froth level to get dangerously high as the waiting game ensues. But it's also a brilliant tactic, because when it's time to get in the water -- no matter if the waves are all-time or not -- you can be sure the boys will be firing on all cylinders. Music: FAIT010 - Be Mine Music: FAIT012 - Ride

And Koa thought he covered a lot of fresh ground way back in Chapter 1. He had no idea. For a solid month before this trip Dean, Dillon and Bruno had been zigzagging northern Indo, discovering never-surfed-before waves more than they were dropping into more familiar locales. So when they passed the baton to Koa, Alex and Stu at the docks, they let loose a few secrets just to pump them up and prepare them for what was surely waiting for them in the coming weeks. But of course Indo made them work for it - no free passes around here. Music: No One Can Stop Us - Original Mix

For the last 7 days on the boat, the crew exercised patience as Mother Nature had her way. They pushed around just a few more hidden corners. And thanks to Captain Albert's expertise, just before it was time to head to port, they came up with some more gold to throw in the memory bank. Then it was back to Padang to find their sea legs and prepare for the impending reality of heading home. Hungry for just a bit more action, they boys decided to hit Padang's chaotic streets. Rickshaws. Taxis. Motorbikes. It's not quite the same as pulling into 6-foot bombs, but... Music: Misfits Fight Song - My Robot Friend

Dean Brady has been going to Indo for a long time now and, naturally, not everything is the same as it used to be. But nothing is so drastically different than the handful of reefs that were shifted by the earthquake/tsunami of December, 2004. Listening to Brady talk about all the waves he's surfed out there, you realize he hasn't forgotten even the slightest details of each one. Maybe that's why the guy gets so barreled out there. Music: Theme From Burning Winchester - The Winston Giles Music: These Days 2009 - Pez Music: Misfits Fight Song - My Robot Friend

Six months back and forth, and one month straight on. Cabin fever was bound to infect Dean, Dillon and Bruno from time to time. And of course we wanted to hear about it, along with all the photographers, filmers and journalists that jumped on board Quest 1. The boys thought the questions would end out there on the boat, but little did they know that there was more waiting at home (check back tomorrow for more on that). In this episode are nuggets from their Tip 2 Tip exit interviews - which are also the most revealing. Agree or disagree, this is reality. Music: She Wants To Be Adored - Winston Giles Music: These Days 2009 - Pez

Bintang consumption was starting to sky-rocket and mornings were breaking slow and foggy. Wilko was frothing for some left-hand ramps, and finally Kekoa and Dunny started listening to his pleas. They would move on from the more crowded Mentawaii locales. And then they saw it growling around the bend. Wilko would have to grab rail for just one more day. Quest 1 wasn't going anywhere. Music: Halclyon - Delphic

There's nothing more painful than being confined to a boat and at the mercy of "majority rules" in the land of perfect lefts and rights. But this was the position young Wilko found himself in with natural-footers - and hence, right junkies - Kekoa Bacalso and Ben Dunn. Things got worse for Wilko when just as the crew had given up hope of scoring any perfect surf alone, they stumbled upon a beautiful beast (you'll see that on Friday). He finally got his time in juicy lefts though. And he shined. So you decide who flairs the most in this episode: the rights or lefts? Music: Hollywood - Codeine Celvet Club

Team boat trips can be a gamble. What if the boys give up an important contest only to spend two weeks motoring around unseasonably flat reef passes? Will they snap? What if they've never traveled together before? The potential for rough seas of the other sort is certainly there, but, then again, this is a part of the job. These guys get paid to travel the world and meet new people everyday. It's what they're good at. And you couldn't ask for a better contrast than Bam Bam Bacalso, Dunny and Wilko. Lucky for us, they pulled it off. Meet surfing's latest odd couple... plus one. Music: A Lovely Game - Darker My Love

It doesn't take too many seconds of watching these girls surf to realize that things are moving quickly in the world of women's professional surfing. Whether it's Steph and Tyler fading into barrel after heavy barrel; or Alana boosting airs; or Bethany defying the odds with fearlessness and finesse, it's quite clear that the girls of the new millennium are only going up from here. Pay attention. Music: Boots - The Stripperz Music: Can't You Smell Me Burning - The Maladies