Tim Boal, one of seven European surfers on the 2009 Dream Tour, sends news from Melbourne in Australia where he will attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix before heading to the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach pres. by Snickers, stop No. 2 of 10 of this year’s ASP World Tour. Boal, who started his rookie campaign with a promising equal 17th place at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast a month ago in Australia, was the second best European surfer in the event behind Jeremy Flores’s (FRA) equal 9th finish and showed he had the skills to score big against veterans Freddie Patacchia (Oahu, HAW) and Mick Campbell (New South Wales, AUS) in Round 1 before going down to Top 10 member Adrian Buchan (New South Wales, AUS) in Round 3. Find out what Boal has in mind…

“I had a good time at the first event on the Gold Coast. It was a positive first experience and an okay result. I surfed well for my first heat then had a bad strategy in Round 3 but I still managed to get good scores. This was actually my main goal for the start of the tour, I wanted to see if I could get some 7, 8 or 9 point rides at this level and if the judges liked my surfing. In both Round 1 and Round 3, I managed to get these scores so I am okay with that result. I made a few stupid mistakes in Round 3 against Adrian (Buchan) then he got the wave of the day and surfed it well so I was a bit disappointed of course.

I was very impressed with the level and Dane (Reynolds) and Joel (Parkinson) were really up there. I think I learnt a lot during this first event as a member of the ASP Top 45 and I know I did quite a few mistakes I am sure I will not do again. But on the other hand I had not competed since September and I had trouble getting back to it 100% for the first event. But I am pretty confident for the next events.

Then I went to Tahiti for a break and to surf some good waves. It was my second time in French Polynesia but the first time I came I remember not getting any waves and it was ten years ago. This time was epic, it is probably the best place I have ever been to. We got some great waves and surfed a lot of different locations. There were a lot of French surfers there and we had a great time. We got to surf Teahupoo and Michel (Bourez) was just amazing. I’ve never seen the event there and I don’t how good are the rest of the guys on tour at Teahupoo but I don’t see how much better you can surf that wave than the way Michel does. We trained a lot, had a few photo shoots and enjoyed a couple of weeks.

I am now in Melbourne where I am going to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix then I will head straight to Bells Beach to get ready for the event. I am really looking forward to surfing in the event there. My main goal now is to focus back on the upcoming event and get into the usual discipline and rhythm. I know when I am doing everything I should to do well at an event so I am focusing on it at the moment. I had a bit of physical training as well in Tahiti and I have some excellent boards so it feels like everything is going well for me.”