RIP CURL GROMSEARCH NATIONAL FINAL TO BE WORLD'S FIRST SOLAR-POWERED SURFING WEBCAST

Costa Mesa, CA (October 20, 2008): Rip Curl is ecstatic to announce that the 2008 Rip Curl GromSearch National Final presented by Boost Mobile will be the World's first solar-powered surfing webcast.

November 2 has been marked as the anticipated pinnacle to an amazing 2008 season for the Rip Curl GromSearch. 64 of the nation's hottest under 16 surfers will make the pilgrimage to Salt Creek, CA to battle it out for big prize money, free trips to Bells Beach, Australia (to compete in the International GromSearch Final @ the Rip Curl Pro WCT), national bragging rights, as well as the chance to be involved with the history-making solar-powered webcast.

"Minimizing the footprint in all of our events has been a huge global initiative for us," said Rip Curl marketing director, Dylan Slater. "From the world’s first carbon-offset ASP event at the Rip Curl Pro at Bells this past year to now bringing the nation's best young talent to the world through solar power, we feel this is a great evolution to this already amazing event."

Through partnering with budding solar company, Sequoia Solar, a large 18 ft. truck will be present on site, fully equipped with large solar panels that will power everything from the webcast to the live scoring to the music and announcing.

"Sequoia Solar is stoked to help Rip Curl reduce their impact on the environment," said Amber Thibaut, Chief Operating Officer of Sequoia Solar. "By pairing developing webcast technologies with advances in solar energy, we hope to influence a new generation by showcasing progressive surfing, while broadcasting how easy it can be to reduce our impact on the environment in fun, innovative ways."

The system being used to solar power the event is an interesting one. It's a 2-kilowatt system, which typically has the power to eliminate over 235 tons of CO2 emissions over its 25-year period. This is equivalent to 7,875 miles not driven or 1.47 acres of trees being planted.

Stay tuned to www.ripcurl.com for all updates on the 2008 Rip Curl GromSearch National Final presented by Boost Mobile. Also, watch the live event webcast November 2nd from Salt Creek, CA on Ripcurl.com.