Association of Surfing Professionals Europe
 | |
| Abbreviation | ASP Europe |
|---|---|
| Motto | Best Surfers in the Best Waves |
| Formation | 1 January 1989 |
| Type | Sports organisation, Professional Surfing |
| Headquarters | Capbreton, France |
Region served | Europe |
Official language | English |
Main organ | ASP Europe Board |
Parent organization | Association of Surfing Professionals |
| Website | www.aspeurope.com |
The Association of Surfing Professionals Europe (ASP Europe) is the governing body for professional surfers in Europe and is dedicated to showcasing the continent's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. It is one of seven regions of the ASP World Tour.[1]
History
Creation of the ASP
Founded in 1989, the ASP Europe was formed to promote professional surfing in Europe. Its objective is to equally benefit European surfers, sponsors and event promoters alike.
Each year this pro-am circuit include contests between April and November with 1-6 Star events, Pro Junior, Longboard and specialty events. Most of the events are run at famous beaches for their quality waves. The Canary Islands, France, Portugal, Spain, England, Ireland, the Azores Islands.. all organize contests at their best surfing beaches and at the best time of the year.
More than 200 of the best European professional surfers and traveling International athletes enter these events and guarantee to put on a great show.
ASP Membership
Membership to the ASP is only available to individuals.[2]
ASP Europe Sanctioned Tours
- ASP European Men's Series (consisting of ASP Prime and Star events);
- ASP European Women’s Series (consisting of ASP Star events);
- ASP European Men and Women's Pro Junior Series
- ASP European Men and Women's Longboard Series and
- ASP Europe Specialty Events.
ASP Europe Prime & Star events
An ASP Prime event is held at premium venues with a restricted field and offers Prime ASP World Rankings points.[3]
An ASP Star event is a lower level of competition, compared to an ASP Prime event, with their importance indicated by how many stars they are assigned: more stars means generally better competition and prize money.[3]
ASP Junior events
In 2013, 6 Men and 2 Women will represent Europe at the ASP World Junior Championships. Junior events in Europe decide those qualifiers every year. Surfers must be under-21 years old to enter those events.
ASP Longboard events
Same as for the Junior Tour, those events offer the possibility for the Best European longboarders to qualify for the coveted ASP World Longboard Tour events.
Rules
Judging
In contests surfers will be scored on a scale of 0.1 to 10.0, these scores will be broken up into increments of one-tenth. The following scale can be use in order to relate descriptions with the score:
- 0–1.9 = Poor
- 2.0–3.9 = Fair
- 4.0–5.9 = Average;
- 6.0–7.9 = Good
- 8.0–10.0 = Excellent
Judging criteria
Judges will base the previous score on how successfully surfers display these following elements in each wave:
- Commitment and degree of difficulty
- Innovative and progressive maneuvers
- Combination of major maneuvers
- Variety of maneuvers
- Speed, power and flow
Some of these elements may be more or less important base on the surfing conditions and the surfing area. This criterion is also different then in longboarding competition. All of this is focused on creating some type consistency that can be seen throughout the many different events.[4]
The events themselves are previously declared 1-6 star events; among other things this ranking shows what numbers of judges which are required at the event. A 1-3 star events are required to have a six judge panel with four judges on each heat. A 4-6 Star event requires seven judges with five of those judges on each heat. At 5-6 star events and prime events there is only allowed to be 3 judges from any one region. This is then limited to two at any world title events. All events also require an ASP approved head judge who has the ability to make corrections to errors or any other events that may have affected the results.[5]
Rules
There are many rules out in the water which all revolve around the idea of right of way. A surfer has right of way if he or she is closer to the area where the wave is breaking, this is more commonly referred to as having the inside position. If another surfer takes off in front of the surfer which has the inside position then interference will be called and penalties will be enacted. In most circumstances it does not matter who stood up first but who has the inside position.[5]
A surfer can also be found guilty of inference if they catch more than their maximum amount of waves in a heat and that this takes away from the other competitors ability to catch waves. A competitor is also not allowed to interfere with another competitor’s paddling and maneuvering for a wave.[5]
The rules of right-a-way vary slightly with the type of break. Point Breaks will always have a consistent direct of what is inside, that is the person further up the line will have right-away. In a single peak situation where there is both a left and a right two people are able to be on the wave at the same time provided that one goes left and one goes right and that neither crosses the path of the other to go one direction. If this does happen then the surfer who stood up first will get the right-a-way. On a multi peaked wave where the wave eventually comes together both peaks can be surfed until the surfers come together, when they do the surfer who stood up first has right-a-way and the other must maneuver to get off the wave without interrupting the other surfer.[5]
In a one-on-one competition priority can be declared by the Head Judge. Once the person with priority has paddled for a wave priority is then turned over to the next person until that person does the same. The person with second priority can paddles for waves as long as it does not interfere with the other person and will only lose their priority if they catch a wave.[5]
A surfer who has already taken off or obtained possession of a wave maintains this position until the end of their ride. If another surfer takes off on the inside of this surfer then this person does not obtain priority and is considered to be snaking. If this surfer does not hurt the other surfers ride then both people can be scored based. If the judges de/atermine that the snaking did interfere then the person will be penalized. Interference penalties are called by the judges and must have a majority to be declared an actual penalty. Interferences are shown as triangles on the score cards in various different ways depending on when or where in the heat they were made. If three or more waves are being scored then one wave will be dropped off the score card. If only the top two waves are being scored then 50% of the second best scored wave will be taken off. If a surfer has more than one then 50% of the best waves score will be taken off also. The surfer who has been interfered with will be allowed an additional wave to their maximum as long as it is within the time limit. If a surfer interferes more than twice in a heat then they must leave the competition area.[5]
ASP Europe Champions
| Year | ASP Europe Senior Men's Series | ASP Europe Senior Women's Series |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  Jeremy Flores (FRA) | Johanne Defay (FRA) |
| 2012 |  Marlon Lipke (DEU) | Pauline Ado (FRA) |
| 2011 | Romain Cloitre (FRA) | Justine Dupont (FRA) |
| 2010 | Marc Lacomare (FRA) | Pauline Ado (FRA) |
| 2009 | Joan Duru (FRA) | Lee-Ann Curren (FRA) |
| 2008 | Tim Boal (FRA) | Justine Dupont (FRA) |
| 2007 |  Aritz Aranburu (EUK) | Lee-Ann Curren (FRA) |
| 2006 |  Michel Bourez (PYF) | |
| 2005 | Patrick Beven (FRA) | Caroline Sarran (FRA) |
| 2004 |  Justin Mujica (PRT) | Caroline Sarran (FRA) |
| 2003 | Patrick Beven (FRA) | |
| 2002 | Eric Rebiere (FRA) | |
| 2001 | Eneko Acero (EUK) | |
| 2000 | Eric Rebiere (FRA) | Patricia Rossi (PYF) |
| Year | ASP Europe Junior Men's Series | ASP Europe Junior Women's Series |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  Leonardo Fioravanti (surfer) (ITA) | Johanne Defay (FRA) |
| 2012 |  Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) | Cannelle Bulard (FRA) |
| 2011 | Medi Veminardi (REU) | Johanne Defay (FRA) |
| 2010 | Charly Martin (GLP) | Pauline Ado (FRA) |
| 2009 | Marc Lacomare (FRA) | Johanne Defay (FRA) |
| 2008 | Maxime Huscenot (FRA) | Alizé Arnaud (FRA) |
| 2007 | Romain Cloitre (FRA) | Pauline Ado (FRA) |
| 2006 | Joan Duru (FRA) | |
| 2005 | Jeremy Flores (FRA) | Pauline Ado (FRA) |
| 2004 | Marlon Lipke (DEU) | |
| 2000 | Patrick Beven (FRA) |
| Year | ASP Europe Longboard Men's | ASP Europe Longboard Women's |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | No Event | No Event |
| 2012 | Antoine Delpero (FRA) | Alice Lemoigne (FRA) |
| 2011 |  Ben Skinner (GBR) | Emilie Libier (FRA) |
| 2010 | Antoine Delpero (FRA) | Estitxu Estremo (EUK) |
| 2009 | Ben Skinner (GBR) | Candice O'Donnell (GBR) |
| 2008 | Michel Demont (PYF) | Claire Karabatsos (FRA) |
| 2007 | Michel Demont (PYF) | Claire Karabatsos (FRA) |
| 2006 | Claire Karabatsos (FRA) | |
| 2005 | Claire Karabatsos (FRA) | |
| 2004 | Claire Karabatsos (FRA) | |
| 2003 | Claire Karabatsos (FRA) |
See also
References
- ↑ Association of Surfing Professionals, Frequently Asked Questions, What is the ASP?. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ↑ (accessed 28 April 2011)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ASP Rule Book 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
- ↑ "Judging Criteria". ASP World Tour. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 ASP Rule Book 2012
External links
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