Eddie élu défenseur de l'environnement de l'année selon la SIMA
The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) will honor women's surfing icon Lisa Andersen as Waterman of the Year, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder as Environmentalist of the Year, and North Shore pioneer and surf contest guru Randy Rarick with the Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the association's annual Waterman's Weekend environmental fundraiser. Kelly Slater and Layne Beachley will also receive special achievement awards in honor of their record-breaking world championship title victories.
The 18th Waterman's Weekend will be held August 23-24, 2007, at The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point, Calif. The weekend begins Thursday, August 23 with the Waterman's Classic Golf Tournament and culminates on Friday, August 24 with the Waterman's Ball and Auction.
"The SIMA Board of Directors has selected a very deserving lineup of honorees and we believe the surf industry will agree that each of these honorees has undoubtedly earned our respect and appreciation," said Dick Baker, president of SIMA. "On behalf of the surf industry, SIMA is proud to honor Lisa, Eddie, Randy, Kelly and Layne at this year's Waterman's Ball for their unique and powerful influence on the sport and culture of surfing."
Eddie Vedder, perhaps best known for his musical talents, is also a notable force in the world of environmental advocacy. Vedder and his band, Pearl Jam, are active in many environmental causes - most notable to the surf industry are the fights to save Trestles and Hawaii's North Shore. Vedder supported the Surfrider Foundation by donating $1 from every ticket sold for Pearl Jam's L.A. shows in 2006 to the Save Trestles campaign through Pearl Jam's Vitalogy Foundation. In addition to the Save Trestles campaign, Vedder and Pearl Jam staged a concert on the North Shore of Hawaii in December 2006 to raise money for the North Shore Community Land Trusts' "Campaign for Pupukea Paumalu" to help save the North Shore from development.
"Not only is Eddie a talented musician, but a true surfer at heart and his efforts to protect our waves and environment are widely appreciated by the surf industry," said Paul Naude, chairman of the SIMA Environmental Fund Board of Directors and CEO of Billabong USA. "The battles to save Trestles and Pupukea Paumalu, both part of the industry's playground, are extremely important to surfers. Eddie has not only supported the fights monetarily, but perhaps more importantly by using his and Pearl Jam's influence to bring attention to the fights when attention was needed. Eddie rallies behind numerous environmental efforts and practices what he preaches. It is an honor for the surf industry to recognize this diligent environmentalist as SIMA Environmentalist of the Year."
Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Randy Rarick, has affectionately been called the Forrest Gump of the surfing world - someone who has had a hand in every significant event in the surf world in the past 40 years. Taught to surf by the legendary Rabbit Kekai at the age of 10, Rarick has seen and done it all from owning a Dewey Weber shop in Hawaii, to surfing in the early professional competitions becoming Hawaiian state champion in 1967, to shaping and glassing more than 8,000 surfboards. And that is just scratching the surface of Rarick's life as a surfer. Having surfed in more than 60 of the 100 countries he has visited, Randy has surfed in more countries than any other surfer. Many times he was the first surfer to ever paddle out in a new break. After a four-year surf adventure around the world in the early '70s, Rarick returned to Hawaii in 1975 and helped form International Professional Surfers where he served as director until 1982. Following that, Rarick helped create the Hawaiian Triple Crown, perhaps the best-known professional surf contest. Rarick still manages the Triple Crown today, shapes boards and enjoys being a surfer.
"Randy is one-of-a-kind," said Baker. "He has dedicated his life to surfing and is forever part of surfing's heritage. He's done it all and is respected by all. Randy exemplifies the spirit of surfing, and it is our honor to recognize him with the Lifetime Achievement Award."
World Champions Kelly Slater and Layne Beachley will also be honored with an award of Special Achievement to recognize their record-setting world title wins. Securing his eighth and her seventh world championship titles this past year, Slater and Beachley have accomplished something few athletes ever will and the surf industry is proud to call them its own.
The Waterman's Weekend is a two-day fundraising event that benefits the SIMA Environmental Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation that awards grants to various environmental groups based on their dedication to preserving and protecting the world's oceans, beaches and waves. Last year's event attracted more than 850 people and raised a record $450,000 for ocean conservation groups. The 2007 Waterman's Weekend environmental beneficiaries and this year's fundraising goal will be announced in the coming weeks.
Sponsorship packages for both the 2007 Waterman's Classic and Waterman's Ball will be on sale in late May. Individual tickets for the Waterman's Ball are scheduled to go on sale in July. To reserve a sponsorship package or for more sponsorship information, please contact Melinda Carter at SIMA by calling (949) 366-1164 x4 or by e-mailing melinda@sima.com.
The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) is the official working trade association of more than 300 surf industry suppliers. Founded in 1989, SIMA is a non-profit organization that serves to promote awareness of the surf industry and participation in the sport of surfing through public relations efforts and a variety of services, educational programs and research. In addition, SIMA actively supports oceanic environmental efforts through its 501(c)(3) charitable environmental foundation, the SIMA Environmental Fund. In the past 17 years, the SIMA Environmental Fund has raised more than $3.5 million for environmental groups seeking to protect the world's oceans, beaches and waves.
