News Update: April 12, 2006

O’NEILL ANNOUNCES MISSION LAUNCH FOR 2006

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” Lao Tzu.

This coming summer we’ll be embarking on The Mission; a new kind of surf expedition in the South Pacific. Tahiti is the destination for this year and, along with a handful of the world’s top free surfers, we’ll be roaming the vast expanses of the South Pacific aboard the Haumana Yacht, hunting down the kind of waves that’ll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention and your heart feel like it’s going to implode inside your chest. It’s that kind of deal.

O’Neill will be adding an all-new and dynamic event to its already impressive portfolio of events in Europe and around the world. The innovative contest known as “O’Neill The Mission”, will invite the top 4 competitors taken from the icy waters of the O’Neill Highland Open (5-star WQS) in Scotland in April this year and place them in the tropical paradise of Tahiti where they will board the 120’ luxury yacht Haumana for an all expenses paid mission covering the best surf breaks on the main island of Tahiti and Moorea.

These 4 surfers will meet 4 wildcard surfers selected by O’Neill to engage in a unique, and of course competitive contest that will essentially use a system of peer based review and judging to determine daily and overall winners. Total prize money for this event will be US $50,000 with the overall winner pocketing a cool US $25,000.

The O’Neill Mission is an exciting and very innovative development. It's all about pushing the boundaries of surf events with a different format and going to places not otherwise possible to host big events for any number of logistical reasons. The Mission takes the opportunity to really explore and promote the more cultural and lifestyle aspects associated with professional surfing that can sometimes get lost in bigger professional events. The Mission’s first destination is Tahiti this year. Let’s see to which other amazing destinations it will take us to in the future.

For many years, O’Neill has hosted some of the surfing's world most prestigious WQS events - the O’Neill Deep Blue Open in the Maldives and the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, Hawaii - and changing their portfolio of events to feature the first professional surfing event held in Scotland and an event of this type really shows not only the company's strong support of professional surfing but their ability to push the boundaries of professional event innovation.

The complete story and all details are on oneilleurope.com/themission (from 1st April 2006). All details on the beautiful Haumana Yacht and their cruises: tahiti-haumana-cruises.com