Surf's Up! Rep. Posey On Board With Kelly Slater

The U.S. House this week unanimously passed a resolution honoring surfer Kelly Slater for winning the 2010 Rip Curl Pro Bell Championship.

Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, who represents Slater's hometown of Cocoa Beach, offered House Resolution 792 in recognition of the surfer's lifetime achievements.

Slater has worked hard to master a sport that so many have tried but so few have actually been able to conquer, Posey said.

Floridas first surfing champion, Robert Kelly Slater, was born in Cocoa Beach, where he learned to surf with his brothers. In 1992, he was the youngest surfer to win the Association of Surfing Professionals World Championship and, in 2008, he became the oldest to win that title.

Slater is also the first surfer ever to be awarded two perfect scores under the ASP two wave scoring system and is a six time winner of the Billabong Pipeline Masters for the top forty-five ranked surfers by the ASP.

In 2007, Slater started the Kelly Slater Foundation to raise awareness and support for environmental and social issues.

Nearly 40 percent of all East Coast surfing occurs in Florida. And, despite tough economic times, the surf industry remains resilient, racking up $7.22 billion in sales in 2008, according to the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association.

Cocoa Beach-based Ron Jons was recently named one of the 25 Best Independent Retailers by Business Week and employs 500 people with $50 million in revenue.