Indonesia Surfing Championship Tour surfer and filmmaker, Lorca Lueras, on the intense rivalries that take occur among even good friends at all the pro Indo surf contests. RipCurl team rider Pepen Hendrik on why he and Takayuki Wakita weren’t afraid after spotting what they estimated to be a 3 meter shark while surfing at a remote spot somewhere in West Sumbawa before the contest. Wakita claimed the shark to be fat as fridge, a big dark murky beast swimming happily and well fed along its way. Rip Curl press dude Leo Maxam on how surfers would start their heats when the contest resumes at the lefthand reefbreak, which lies 300 yards offshore. Lee Wilson, remembering his early morning freesurf before the start of Round 4. Wilson got the three best waves of the dawn patrol session, including a long drainer through the inside which he made it out of. He was unable to replicate that magic in his heat versus Dede Suryana, and finished the comp in equal 15th place. Pepen Hendrik gives his two cents during the opening day of the Battle of the Bands at the 2009 West Sumbawa Beach Festival. Hendrik and the rest of the boys were hanging out under the competitors’ tents, listening as one of the worst bands played some creaky punk guitar music. The boys just wanted to chill and enjoy the breeze. Leigh McCullagh, sweeping up after the mangy surfers inhabiting his pad.

Leigh has been really gracious too us the past few days. His little home on the West Sumbawa coastline has been packed with a rowdy bunch of porch monkeys. It´s mental here, a sweet little spot right in the middle of paradise. You couldn´t ask for more. Thanks Leigh, and we love your club sandwich!

Find him at: e-mail: Sunsetview_1@yahoo.com.au Contest Director Pete Matthews breaking down the swell forecast and hoping the judges don´t bail. Sumbawa, located in the middle of the "Lesser Sunda Islands" chain, with "Lombok" to the west, "Flores" to the east, and "Sumba" further down the southeast line. It is in the province of "West Nusa Tenggara".

Larger than Bali and Lombok combined, Sumbawa is 15,448 km² big with a population of around 1.5 million.

The Island is divided into two major regions with the darker skinned Bimanese in the East and the Sumbawanese in the west.

Because of Sumbawa's natural resources it was regularly invaded by outside forces - Japanese, "Netherlands" Dutch, "Makassar" Makassarese. The Dutch first arrived in 1605, but did not effectively rule Sumbawa until the early 20th century. The Balinese kingdom of "Gelgel" ruled western Sumbawa for a short period as well. Nowadays you just got the Newport mining company here.

Sumbawa lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is a volcanic island, including Mount Tambora which exploded in 1815, the most destructive volcanic eruption in modern history. It launched 100 cubic kilometers of ash into the upper atmosphere, which caused 1816 to be the year without a summer.

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