Been watching J Bay the last few days. Taj is looking the goods, along with the other aussies in Parko and Fanning. Taj just took out Neco and went through to round 4. We do have a good record there over the years,. Anyhow those with broadband that are interested here's the link

http://www.billabongpro.com/

Yeah that was a sick wave, he pulled in for 4 barrels and finished off with a nice big hack at the end. Taj and Parko look at home, but there's other Aussies surfing well like Buchan and Wills as well. The bloody Irons Bro's and Slater are still there which is always going to be tough draw for those that advance. Fanning is having an awesome year with his worst placing being a third, so if he advances to the finals He'll be in a great position for the second half the tour...

Anyhow looks like they're going to be having some lay days with another good swell in a couple days to finish the remaining heats and finals... Can't wait

Taj rips.. but go Wllsy. Was given a 6'1" firewire to test for a couple of days. (this is the new moulded epoxy board taj is riding) Was interested to see how it went, as one of the best boards i ever had, was a taj model Webber. Also wanted to see if they could be used kiting as well. Ended up surfing in front of my place at Broken head point (near Byron Bay) on two very hollow 4-6 foot days. Initally I didn't like it for manouvres as it had more bouyancy than my normal glass boards. This was in wind affected very tubey 6 foot waves with a huge rip. Next day when the faces were clean and the swell had died down to 4 foot, it went great. I probably could surf one of these 1-2 inches shorter than my normal board. Definetly the machined epoxy product on the market, but I wont be changing from my glass boards...yet. Definetly worth a test run if you get the opportunity.

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Originally posted by Blaster

They seem to work for Taj last year and this year.

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Yes, apparently the first time an epoxy board has made it to a wct final. They are loving them in the USA. Taj is involved in more research and devlopment of the boards, so be interesting to see what they come up with. I think they are are a lot better product than the tufflite is/was. I'd like to know how they would stand up to a season kiting. There is no central stringer, instead both rails have bamboo running down them. 'Should' be way stronger than a glass board of comparable weight. My concern is bamboo is very absorbent, so if you ding it, would the whole board be stuffed? Anyway, time will tell and more should appear in the water in oz now nev is selling them locally.

I'm loving the tour at the moment. My favorite four surfers occupy the top five positions, I guess Andy's alright too. Fanning is have a sensational year with 3rd being his worst result.

http://www.aspworldtour.com/2007/ratings.asp?rRat=menwct&rNav=Men&rYear=2006&rTitulo=WCT