The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body that sanctions all major surf contests around the world, similar to what the NFL means to football or the NBA to basketball. For the past 28 years they have been the organization deciding who are the best of the best in surfing. During this time they have been heavily criticized by surfers and fans alike for numerous reasons, among them making the scoring and ranking system too complicated, kowtowing to surf industry companies that sponsor contests, allowing heavily biased commentators and judges to influence contests, not financially compensating the surfers enough, and choosing poor locations for contests. So you can imagine the shock and surprise Kelly Slater, who supposedly won his 11th World Title Wednesday in San Francisco, must be feeling when he was told the deplorable news that due to a technical error by the ASP, Slater officially didn't win his 11th World Title. Rather, he clinched a tie with Australian Owen Wright, who is second in the rankings, and if for some reason Slater doesn't win another heat in either the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco or next month's Billabong Pipe Masters and Wright goes on to win both events, Slater and Wright would be tied and have to meet in a "Surf Off" to determine who exactly is the 2011 ASP World Champion. The press release issued this morning by the ASP explains their egregious error in detail.must have felt when he found out the deplorable news that due to a technical error by the ASP, Slater officially didn’t win his 11th World Title. Rather, he clinched a tie with Australian Owen Wright, who is second in the rankings, and if for some reason Slater doesn’t win another heat in either the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco or next month’s Billabong Pipe Masters and Wright goes on to win both events, Slater and Wright would be tied and have to meet in a “Surf Off” to determine who exactly is the 2011 ASP World Champion. The press release issued this morning by the ASP explains their egregious error in detail.

Kelly Slater further cemented his status as the greatest surfer ever by winning his unprecedented 11th ASP World Title in San Francisco, defeating Australian Dan Ross in a thrilling round three heat of the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco to repeat as ASP World Champion.

There is an old saying within the surfing community that goes, "If you can surf Ocean Beach, you can surf anywhere." Rare is a mantra more accurate in surfing. And thus sets the stage for the 10th stop on the ASP World Tour, the 2011 Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco.

Despite being in superb form at the famed Supertubes break in Portugal, Kelly Slater couldn't muster one final winning result, as Brazilian surfer Adriano de Souza defeated Slater in the Finals to win the Rip Curl Pro Portugal. With his closest competitor in the World Title chase Owen Wright being eliminated in the third round by rookie John John Florence, everything has lined up for Kelly Slater to win his 11th ASP World Title at the heavy Ocean Beach breaks off the coast of San Francisco.

A surfing dog named Buddy won the 5th Annual Surf Dog Competition at Imperial Beach, CA.  Buddy, a Jack Russell terrier who was recently the first dog to be inducted into the Surf Dog Hall of Fame, won his fifth Surf Dog Competition and remains undefeated in surf dog contests.  His owner, Bruce Hooker of Ventura, said after the win that it may be time for the 14 year-old Buddy to retire.

This is a little story about taking a chance on the "swell of the season." I'd much rather head out on a feral mission looking for a new waves throughout this very over-surfed archipelago rather than going to those well-trodden Indonesian wave areas.

However, due to the choices I have made, I write this while we are stuck in what feels like the middle of the Indian Ocean in howling tradewinds, with no chance of getting anywhere near the island we wanted to check out. The state of the ocean and the pre-mentioned swell is upon us. But how I got us into this predicament is a long story...

Kelly Slater won the Billabong Pro Tahiti in clean double overhead waves that produced one of the greatest surf contests in competitive surfing history.  The waves were so massive that the contest was actually called off Saturday because the swell was too big, a reason for not running a contest unheard of in the ASP World Tour.

"Passionate, insightful, and downright comical. Cyrus never ceases to keep you thoroughly entertained. This book is no exception." - Greg Long, Champion of The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational and the Maverick's Surf Contest.

"I was really stoked to see Cyrus put his interviews to print. Never a dull moment. Rock on." - Jeff Clark, Maverick's pioneer and star of Riding Giants.

"Action sports extremists are a passionate and dedicated lot, and Cyrus Saatsaz brings the same intense commitment and pure stoke to his journalism. This is radical storytelling. Cyrus gets the insider's perspective, because at his core, he's part of the band." - Grant Washburn, legendary Maverick's surfer and film producer.

"I'll never forget an interview I did with Cyrus a few years back, so much fun and so easy to talk to. Thanks for the good times buddy!" - Grant "Twiggy" Baker, 2006 Maverick's Surf Contest Champion.

"The best interview I have ever done." - Johnny Knoxville, actor and star of Jackass.

While The Godfather of Maverick's Jeff Clark continues to fight for control of a surf contest at Maverick's (go to the bottom of the page for more details), Clark did come away the victor in a lengthy legal battle with his former business partner, Mavericks Surf Ventures (MSV).