Surfers and fishermen flocked to the curling waves near Montauk at sunrise on Friday, both groups excited about the prestorm conditions roiling the surf as Hurricane Earl — diminished but still powerful — moved up the coast.

Tommy Gilbert, 26, a stock trader who lives in Manhattan and spends many summer weekends at his parent’s home in East Hampton, said he had not seen waves this good — 12 feet high, according to the surf report — since Hurricane Bill last year.

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Brazil will be hosting its second competition of the year from September 21 to 25. The Bahia Bodyboarding Show will be one of the last chances for riders to fight for precious points on the world tour and increase their situation on the ranking. The competition will give 1000 IBA points and a total purse of $35.000 being $20.000 for the men and $15.000 for the women.

The City of Salvador will become Brazil's bodyboarding capital for the second time. One last year's edition Guilherme Tâmega from Brazil and Eunate Aguirre from Spain where crowned champions.

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Guilherme Tamega Defends Crown Of The Bahia Bodyboarding Show: Brazil will be hosting its second competition of the year from September 21 to 25. The Bahia Bodyboarding Show will be one of the last chances for riders to fight for precious points on the world tour and increase their situation on the ranking. The competition will give 1000 IBA points and a total purse of $35.000 being $20.000 for the men and $15.000 for the women.

The City of Salvador will become Brazil's bodyboarding capital for the second time. One last year's edition Guilherme Tâmega from Brazil and Eunate Aguirre from Spain where crowned champions. This year the competition will end on Saturday the 25th because a huge party is being scheduled to celebrate the 2010 Bahia Champions. All international riders can pay their entries on the Check In that will happen on September 20th.

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Annual Nuns Surfing Contest At New Jersey: The Sister Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will launch the 15th Nun's Beach Surf Invitational with proceeds going to the maintenance of its 150-bedroom beachfront retreat on the harbor, the New York Post reports.

The pact between surfer and nun in Stone Harbor was forged more than 60 years ago when local surfers approached the retreat asking if they could ride its waves. The nuns own the pristine, block-long strand. The nuns warmly greeted the beach bums, and the swath of surf was soon dubbed "Nun's Beach."The sisters often sit on the beach and even draw spiritual inspiration watching the wave-riders.

"It's very peaceful," said Sister James Dolores, 73, the retreat's property manager. "You see how the water holds them up, balances them and if you ride with the water, it will get you where you want to go. That's how it is with the grace of God.

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Base Jump 2010: Local and foreign "Base" jumpers will be performing out-of-the-ordinary feat by jumping at night from Wisma Sanyan, Sarawak's tallest building from Oct 15-16 this year. Sibu Resident Sim Kok Kee said besides Malaysia Base Jump Association chairman Captain Abdul Aziz Ahmad, others would be from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. "Normally they will only jump during the day. This is the first time they are performing the night jumps," he told Bernama here.

He said Captain Abdul Aziz, the sole Malaysian Base jumper in the event, would perform a trial jump on Oct 14 in which he would be assisted by Australian Base Jump Association technical advisor Gary Cunningham. Before proceeding to Sibu, Sim said, the jumpers would participate in similar jumps in Alor Star, Kedah and Kuala Lumpur.

Bodyboarders are the plastic men of modern wave riding. In less than a month, two competitions boosted the image of the sport founded by Tom Morey. The Zicatela Pro, in Puerto Escondido (Mexico) and the Shark Island Challenge, in Cronulla (Australia) have shown why pro bodyboarding is a very serious venture. While surfing, kitesurfing and windsurfing have found their solid base of loyal sponsors, bodyboarding is still struggling to consolidate its industry and, at the same time, a group of world sponsors for the major competitions.

The truth is that pro bodyboarding has evolved a lot, in the last years. From the athlete's point of view, bodyboarding has presented tricks and maneuvers than cannot be seen in any other wave sport. These men are made of plastic. And that's why Terry McKenna and his IBA team are doing an excellent job promoting bodyboarding in many coastal towns and cities. Bodyboarding has conquered all the respect it deserves from fellow surfers, kitesurfers and windsurfers. Let's hope plastic men like Ben Player keep us entertained.

Few sports have grown as quickly or in as many directions as mountain biking, and in many ways Whistler has always been in front of the curve. Trails like A River Runs Through It changed the way people looked at bikes, while the Whistler Mountain Bike Park - now in its 11th  year - changed the sport entirely. Mountain resorts across North America and Europe are scrambling to recreate that experience, as a way to earn revenues as well as to meet a growing demand from riders.

Staying on the forefront is hard work, but Whistler has an ace up its sleeve - the Crankworx freeride mountain bike festival, which runs Aug. 7 to 15. Crankworx, this year in its seventh edition, has broken new ground in freeriding time and time again, creating the slopestyle format and bringing back once popular events like the dual slalom and updating the format for today's style of riding.

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IT'S wild, it's wet and it's taking Ireland by storm -- surfing is gaining huge popularity around the country and for lots of different reasons. Only surfer chicks need apply for the Ladies' Surf Weekend in Tramore where budding and accomplished female boarders can apply for up to 60 all-expenses-paid places at the two-day competition held during the Tramore Oceanic Surf and Sea Festival from September 24 to 26.

The fully sponsored places in the all-women's event are due to support from the Women in Sport Initiative, the Irish Surfing Association and Oceanics Surf School. Practice These three surfers, instructor Lorna Walshe, Surfers.

Emer Kelly and Grace Doyle, were getting some early practice in time for the festival which includes a full programme of activities to suit landlubbers and surfer dudes alike. Entertainment for families and outdoor lovers include eco-walks, kite and windsurfing demos, rock-climbing instruction, beach volley ball, seaweed workshops, historian sessions and much more.

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It's sometime in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, and Bill Jason begins to feel it.First, it creeps in his legs, then into his weary head. "Maybe it's the other way around," Jason says with a laugh. Regardless, the 41-year-old mountain biker from Fairfield is tiring, and the sun has yet to rise over Mt. Washington, site of this physically and mentally demanding 24-hour mountain bike race at Great Glen.

"In endurance racing anything can go," Jason says. "Your body can go. Your bike can go. Your mind can go. You have to be prepared because whether it rains, or it's hot, or it's cold you are still racing. That is what I like about the 24-hour race. You are facing adversity.

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Six days before the Women's final at the U.S .Open of Surfing came the big announcement. To the winner of Saturday's finale would go a record $50,000. That was $30,000 more than the previously set first-place prize of $20,000, which was also a record. No wonder Carissa Moore of Hawaii was all smiles late Saturday at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Moore emerged from a frustrating waiting game with fellow finalist Sally Fitzgibbons of Australia to win the coveted Women's title. "This is definitely one of my sweeter wins," said Moore, who has won just about every other contest under the sun.

Today was her first U.S. Open of Surfing championship. "It was strange out there," she said of the conditions. "We had to wait and wait. I knew Sally had some really low scores but I had to concentrate on myself. I'm glad I caught that last wave."

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