By: Heath 'Nutty' Walker

Well the year of 2007 is coming to a close. The Pipe Masters just finished in probably the worst conditions ever. Mick Fanning and Bobby Martinez were knocked out early in the unfavorable conditions. The win was taken out by Bede Durbridge from North Stradbroke Island in small 2ft waves.

The dream tour (ASP) saw its worst year for waves in a very long time with Brazil being the biggest event for surf all year. As we saw Mick Fanning dominated the year by winning the title and event in Brazil. Mick had a stellar year with his top 10 results being all 1sts, 2nds and 3rds. If I do my math correctly Mick is the second athlete to bring home a world title to Reef. Derek Ho was the last Reef rider to win the prestigious title back in the late 90's.

The fickle conditions on the ASP World Tour had its ups and downs with Bobby Martinez in 07. It was a very frustrating year for Bobby losing out in close heats due to the poor conditions. We saw him back to his old self in Mundaka with a back to back win there defeating Taj Burrow in the final. Bobby made the history books by being the first surfer to ever win back to back titles in Mundaka.

Talking to Bobby before the Pipe event he said "I just want to get this year behind me and start fresh for the Goldie event come March. Its been such a crazy and frustrating year I am hoping 2008 will bring some better conditions for the events" Still Bobby did round out the year in 10th place on the ASP World Tour Ranking. You can never count out Bobby as he sets his standards very high and with his natural talent is always a going to be a world title contender in the future.

The Reef Hawaiian Pro was held in the best waves all year for any WQS or WCT event. In heavy 8 to 12ft conditions it was Kauai's, Roy Powers, taking the win over "Triple Crown Champion" Bede Durbridge, Joel Parkinson and Reef wild card and local hero Sean Moody rounding out the final.
Sean surfed amazing all event in a all star field. He easily took down big names on his way to make his first triple crown final. He said after the event " I am so stoked to make the final. This event will be remembered for a long time due to the gnarly conditions. I grew up and learned how to surf here at Haliewa so this means a lot to me. I am just so stoked"

In the women's division it was local hero, Megan Abubo who took home the win. Megan stole the show in what many were calling the best event on the women's tour all year and the best Haleiwa the girls have ever surfed in.


Tonino Benson stepped it up in 2007 by wining Open men's NSSA title and Open Mens Air show NSSA title. He later took that confidence to Huntington Beach at the US Open where he took down Jordy Smith to win the US Open Pro Junior.

Tonino will head to North Narrabeen, Sydney, Australia come New Year's day for the Billabong World Juniors (Jan 2nd to 8th). He will be joined by new Reef apparel riders Chris Waring from Seal Beach, Nick Rosza from Ventura and Manuel Selman from Chile who was the trials wild card winner from the Rip Curl WCT Search event held back in June this year. The Billabong World Juniors is the world's most prestigious contest for surfers under 20 years of age and is by invite only.

On the ASP WQS Jay Bottle Thompson was Reef's highest place surfer. Jay finished in 4th place on the WQS and qualified for the 2008 WCT (TOP 44) tour. Jay surfed second to none all year by winning the Newcastle event in Australia. He placed 5th in Scotland, 3rd in England and narrowly missed out on a final place in the Reef Hawaiian Pro where he placed 3rd in the semi final.

Ben Bourgeois was Reef's apparel rider next in line finishing in 8th place, Benny also qualified for the 2008 WCT tour along with Jay. Benny and Jay traveled together a bunch in 2007 and feed off each others positiveness. Benny won The Rip Curl Board Masters in England, he took a second to Gabe Kling in the Billabong Tahara Japan event and placed 3rd in the Scotland event.

A very worthy of a mention is to Tim Boal from France who won the Reef Vendee pro in France. He finished in 43rd on the WQS. Tim really stepped up his game in 2007 and is going to be one of Europe's top WQS campaigners in 2008. Jonathan Gonzalez, from the Canary Islands, was a finalist in the 4 star event held in his home land. Jonathan ended in 66th place. I expect big things from Jonathan and Tim in years to come. These guys have just as much of a chance of making the WCT as Ben and Jay did this year.

I can't express enough the talent of surfers from around the world now that compete on the WQS (World Qualifying Series). Any surfer in that top 100 have the potential to make the tour (ASP TOP 44). There is a lot of luck involved so you just have to hope that the right fundamentals can all come together in one season as it did for Jay Bottle Thompson and Benny B in 2007.

Sofia Mulanovich just missed out on another world title at the Billabong Maui event. Sofia came back blazing with a win at the Roxy Sunset pro and was just a sniff away from another title.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be and Sofia lost out early. Stephanie Gilmore with the pressure off ended up taking the Maui win and breaking ASP records by being the first rookie to win a world title.

Dylan Goodale, from Kauai, is Reef's youngest apparel athlete. Dylan stepped it up this year by placing 2nd in the Rip Curl Grom Search, he won the Quiksilver King of the Groms in Huntington Beach and has also been chosen for the ISA World Junior Titles to represent Hawaii in 2008.
I can see Dylan's progression as a gnarly young ripper coming on quickly. He might only be as big as a minute but he has a appetite like a small horse. Look out for this kid in 2008.

Courtney Conlogue, from Huntington Beach, was a semi finalist at her home break at the US Open 6 star WQS event and she won back to back titles once again by winning the ECSC (East Coast Surfing Championships) WQS Pro. Courtney's progression is moving at a very rapid pace she was awarded a wild card into the Reef Girl Haliewa Pro and will also compete at the Girls World Juniors in Sydney early new year as well.

Reef riders graced numerous covers this year. Mick Short had a Waves (Australia) cover and Surfer Magazine cover, Damon Nicholls had a Transworld Cover. Tim Boal cover of Surf Europe. Bobby had Surf Sessions (Europe) and Flow (Japan). Rob Machado Surfer Mag and Mick Fanning had more covers than I can mention.

Now days you can pick up a new mag every month and be guaranteed to see epic images of Mick, Bobby and Rob. A worthy mention for great editorial coverage this year was the Fish (Paul Fisher), Benny B, Bottle, Kalle Carranza, Damon Nicholls, Tonino Benson, Tim Boal and Jonathan Gonzalez.
Exposure is super important for the brands image and awareness in the market place. I want to thank all the team for digging in and working with photographers this year.
I can't express enough how important exposure of a athletes image is in print magazines and internet coverage. Its a major part of the longevity of a athletes career.

New Apparel additions
Gabe Garcia, Calrsbad (17 years)
Chris Waring, Seal Beach (20 years)
Nick Rosza, Ventura County (20 years)
Jared and Taylor Thorne, Newport Beach (14 years)
Victor Dunn, Newport Beach (15 years)

REEF GIRL
Katarina Lylerly
Rachel Soars
Kelly Rolland

Reef wants to wish a Happy Holiday season to everyone and best of luck in 2008!