ABOUT US
Our Mission
The primary focus of the Indonesian Surfing Championship series is directed at the Indonesian surfers themselves, to provide them with a consistent, legitimate, and respected forum in which they can compete and measure themselves against their peers, a stepping stone towards the ultimate goal of becoming a professional surfer and getting on the ASP WQS and WCT. The secondary focus is to grow the awareness of the sport of surfing in Indonesia and throughout the world, for the benefit of surfers themselves as well as the surfing industry as a whole.
ISC Board
Industry Representatives
Jeff Anderson – Rip Curl
Kane Faint – Rusty
Surfer Representatives
Lee Wilson
Mustofa Jaksen
Independent Representatives
Jake Paterson - Quiksilver
Tipi Jabrik - ISC
History of ISC
The idea for an Indonesian surfing series was born on a bus ride from the North Shore of Hawaii to Honolulu in 1999, with Tipi Jabrik, Rizal Tanjung, Pepen Hendrix, Made “Bol” Adi Putra and Wayan “Kopling” Wirtama discussing their experiences in regards to the lack of visibility of Indonesian surfers such as themselves. What would it take for them to have their own contest series, like that of Japan and other countries, which would be a stepping stone towards the ultimate goal of the ASP World Championship Tour?
The idea slowly germinated until 2001, when Tipi created a proposal for Quiksilver asking them to sponsor a series of surf contests, using the official ASP rulebook as their guide. Quiksilver agreed and for the next three years the Indonesian surfers finally had an organized venue in which to compete towards the goal of being the number one surfer in Indonesia, the Indonesian Surfing Series. Tipi was the director and coordinator and received a lot of help from Matt Wilson of the ASP in order to ensure that all the rules were being interpreted and followed correctly. Finally there was a title of “The Number One Surfer in Indonesia”, complete with trophies and cash and a year-end award party.
Other members of the Indonesian surfing community soon saw the value of this type of effort and began to talk about initiating their own large-scale surfing events. However, it was observed that because they were all members of the AISI “Asosiasi Industri Surfing Indonesia” they should all come together as one group in order to maximize effect and minimize effort, thus providing consistency for both the surfers and the industry. Paul Anderson at Billabong and Jeff Andersen at Rip Curl were key figures in the difficult task of getting the various industry members aligned and cooperating, and Steve Palmer of Surfer Girl generously provided many of the necessary resources along the way, including office space and equipment. Jeff Anderson also coordinated the training of the local judges by an ASP official in order that they meet the highest standards possible for a legitimate series. So in 2004 the ISC was officially formed under the direction of Tipi Jabrik, whose experience with the Indonesian Surf Series paved the way for this new venture.
Indonesia Surfing Events - History
2004 saw 6 events by sponsors Billabong, Rip Curl, Quiksilver, Rusty, and Kuta Lines, with Pepen Hendrik taking the title of the Number One surfer in Indonesia.
2005 grew to 8 events by sponsors Billabong, Quiksilver, Kuta Lines, Reef/Blue Groove, Oakley, Rip Curl, and Rusty, with Made “Bol” Adi Putra getting the Number One spot.
2006 ended with 5 events by sponsors Quiksilver Rusty, Oakley, Rip Curl, and Billabong, with veteran Rizal Tanjung charging through the series straight up to his rightful place as Number One. In addition, a Masters series was run during the pro series, with Wayan Gantiyasa gaining the top spot. To round out the series, a Junior Series that included the Quiksilver “King of the Grom” series and the Rip Curl “GromSearch” series (both having 5 trial events and 1 final) were also included.
2007 was a banner year for the ISC, with five 6-star, one 6-star prime, and one 3-star Pro event, and that included six Masters contests as well. The addition of Billabong’s Pro Junior series of three events and the host of Junior events (15 total) by Oakley, Quiksilver and Rip Curl kept both the sponsors and the ISC crew very busy.
The 6-star prime Dompu Open at Lakey Peak in Sumbawa presented by Quiksilver during August was a late addition to the tour, but was very significant in terms of being the first ISC sanctioned event initiated and funded by a branch of the Indonesian government, the Department of Tourism in the Dompu Regency of Sumbawa. Quiksilver took the opportunity to be the presenter and with the extra loot the event was upgraded to 6-star prime status…Rp 60,000,000 in prize money, Rp 20,000,000 to the winner (Pepen Hendrix, a record for the ISC Tour. With the resulting media exposure and the trail already blazed, hopefully 2008 will see more governmental initiative to support one of Indonesia’s most overlooked economic benefactors, surfing.
At the year end party/award presentation at the Wave Club on Kuta Beach, the champions were crowned amidst all the revelry and camaraderie that you might expect from a bunch of fun loving surfers at a bar on the beach. It wasn’t at all like an ASP-type formal occasion with black tie sit down dinner, but then it’s Bali right? Lee Wilson graciously accepted his ISC Pro championship trophy, thanking everyone for their support of surfing and the ISC, an over-lubricated Wayan Gantiyasa was accompanied onto the stage by several friends to accept his Masters trophy, a smiling and somewhat shy One Anwar was stoked to receive his Junior championship trophy, and Pro Junior champion Mustofa Jekson was very much at home accepting his trophy, having had many trips to similar podiums already in his young surfing career.
2008 was indeed an epic year for the ISC, not only for Indonesian surfing but also for Asian surfing as a whole. In addition to the full gamut of ISC comps, 1) the ISC got sponsored by Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia, 2) the Rip Curl Search ASP WCT tour comp came to Bali and brought the worlds best surfers, 3) the first Asian Beach Games took place in Bali and surfing finally became and Olympic recognized sport, and 4) the Oakley Pro Junior at Keramas gave out the biggest pro junior prize money in history, a $20,000 check to Dusty Payne of Hawaii! And it all happened here in Bali and with the ISC involved each step of the way.
Early in 2008, during an interview here in Bali, Rob Machado was asked to comment about the ISC tour and here is what he said: “From what I’ve heard from the boys, they are really stoked on it. Looking at it from the outside, looking at where the events are, it’s a dream tour really. It’s better than the world tour! With these world class waves, it’s pretty amazing. It’s great that they have a place in their own area…where they can compete against each other. They already push each other free surfing, but in comps there is different kind of added pressure and it’s important that they experience both.” So there you have it, from a previous runner up ASP World Champion, Pipeline Masters winner, and arguably most respected free surfer in the world.
The ISC sanctioned and/or ran a record number of comps that included 8 Pro events (some included Masters and Women’s divisions), 3 Pro Junior events, and 13 Junior events, as well as the first Women’s specific comp, the Surf Girl Big Splash. That in addition to helping out at the Rip Curl Search, the Asian Beach Games, and the Oakley Pro Junior!
At Awards Presentation part at the Sector Bar in Sanur on November 8th, Dede Suryana as officially crowned the 2008 Indonesian Pro Surfing Champion. Made Artha became the Masters Champion, Made Raditya Rondi the Pro Junior Champion, Yasnyiar Gea (Bonne) the Women’s Champion, and Gazali Hamzah the Junior Champion.
2009 looked to be a challenging year due to the worldwide economic slowdown, but thanks to the great and loyal sponsors we have, namely Coca Cola Bottling Indonesia, Billabong, Oakley, Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Rusty, and the Rote Government, we took the Coca-Cola ISC Tour to even more and better locations (West Java and Rote) and upped the standard of surfing in Indonesia beyond expectations. Plus we helped out our surf brothers and sisters in locations beyond Indonesia such as in Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines!
In an exciting down-to-the-wire race to win the 2009 ISC Open Championship and the 50 million rupiah (USD 5,000) bonus, 2007 ISC Open Champion Lee Wilson narrowly beat out Garut Widiarta in a points battle during the final day of the final event of the year, the Quiksilver Open at Keramas. It was a heartbreaker for Garut, but look for him to be on fire and charging madly for that trophy and cash in 2010.
In addition to having three 6-star Prime, two 6-star, two 5-star, and one specialty Pro event, there were of course the Women’s Divisions and Masters Divisions, and ten Junior Division events, two Pro Junior events, and the addition of the first Longboard Division event within the Rip Curl Surf and Music Festival, another highlight in the year.
Here is the list of division champions:
Men’s Open Division - Lee Wilson
Longboard Division – Husni Ridwan
Masters Division - Wayan Widiartha
Women’s Division – Yasnyiar (Bonne) Gea
Pro Junior Division – Mustofa Jeksen
Junior Division – Putra Hermawan
So it was another banner year for the Coca-Cola ISC Tour, and we look forward to bringing you another great season of competition surfing in 2010….Enjoy it with us here at www.isctour.com
