Light winds and pitching 2 foot waves greeted the frothing grommets at Pererenan Beach today for the second stop of the three-stage Rusty Gromfest Series 2009.

Almost 100 kids from all over Bali (and beyond) came out in force to fine-tune their skills, win sick prizes, and bro out with Rusty’s local team of pro surfers. With a stacked heat draw and a long list of alternates, organizers blew the horn at 7:30am to get the first heat underway.

Round 1 kicked off at the ‘Sandbar’ peak rather than the adjacent ‘Canggu Right’ due to the medium tide but this didn’t curb the under 14’s enthusiasm- they were pumped and zipped around the lineup catching waves left, right, and centre! The testing 6-man heats separated the boys from the children as only two surfers would progress into the second round.

On the beach kids were buzzing with excitement and wasted no time making connections with other shredder’s from all over the archipelago. “I’ve made a few new friends already” beamed Mansyur, a 13-year-old surf rat from Sumbawa, “They said when I surf their local breaks they’ll give me waves, but only if I take them to Lakey Peak first!”

In the under 16 division the incoming tide and pulsing swell produced some rippable 3 foot sets that reeled along Canggu’s lava rock shelf. The spotlight was on the Lembongan duo of Agus Frimanto and Putra Hermawan who battled it out last month at the Rusty Gromfest Keramas. Both let loose with a full arsenal of tricks and progressed through heats with consistent, solid performances.

As the midday sun cooked Canggu’s black sand, guest judge and Rusty GM Kane Faint confessed, “The conditions are less than ideal but the groms bought their ‘A’ game and are tearing it to pieces… The weather forecast predicted rain but it seems like the hot surfing scared the clouds away!”

When the under 14 finals took to the water the standard had well and truly heated up, with Komang Angga, Ediana Putra, local favorite Jeron, and the polished Koko Mitsua Antara absolutely going mental! Jeron had won a string of heats leading into the final while Ediana had also impressed the judges in the earlier rounds. These little human’s were throwing buckets upon buckets of spray and in the end Ediana took the title with lightning-fast frontside snaps and superior wave selection. Stoked!

With only days remaining in the annual event cycle, new entries continue to arrive in record numbers for the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards presented by Monster Energy.  Although California and Hawaii have suffered through an abnormally placid year, the rest of the planet has bridged the gap and then some, providing more than 450 pieces of visual evidence of the mammoth surf on the event website at BillabongXXL.com.

New video clips and still photos continue to arrive in all key categories of the event, including the Billabong XXL Ride of the Year Award, Billabong XXL Biggest Wave Award powered by Honda, Monster Tube Award and Monster Paddle Award.  Also featured are the Surfline Best Overall Performance Award and the Billabong Girl's Performance Award.  In total, over $130,000 in prize money will be awarded in the ninth annual edition of big wave surfing's top event.  The competition is open to all qualified, invited surfers at any surf break around the world over the course of a full year and is based on the photographic evidence.

In a year where many announced big wave contests did not take place due to insufficient swell, another record has been shattered concerning the number of surfing regions represented in the 2009 Billabong XXL Awards.  That list includes legitimate contenders from areas as disparate as Puerto Rico, Mexico, California, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, South Africa, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Chile, Tahiti, Ireland, Spain, France and the Canary Islands.  Never before has a year of big wave surfing been acted out across a more global stage.

Although there remains only days before the event period concludes with the Vernal (Spring) Equinox on March 20, 2009, the world's big wave elite are still scanning the planet seeking any possible last-minute pulses of swell in locations like Chile, Mexico and Hawaii.  Regardless of any last second upsets, most top riders are already making plans to attend the gala Billabong XXL Awards ceremony on Friday, April 17 at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California.  While the 2000 seats at the Grove are invitation only, the entire evening's activities from Red Carpet arrivals to the final award will be broadcast during a live webcast at www.BillabongXXL.com and televised as a one-hour special on ESPN2 on the evening of May 29, 2009.

New this year is the Verizon Wireless Wipeout Award, an interactive category which will be decided by the public at large.  Surfing fans will have the opportunity to view video clips of five contenders on the event website and text in their vote for what they consider the most spectacular unsuccessful ride of the year.  Nominations in all categories will be announced on or about March 25, 2009.

In addition to all the latest entries in each category, full event details including formats, rules and archives of past XXL years can be seen at the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com.