Perfect waves at the World Surfing Championships day 3
ISA World Master Surfing Championships
January 23rd, 2007
Rincón, Puerto Rico
Amazing glassy waves with six to eight feet barreling faces were the focus of the Porta del Sol ISA World Masters Surfing Championships today. The stellar conditions made the Masters surfers contingency able to enjoy all the charm of “la isla del encanto”, allowing them to seize an entire day of Marias Beach waves in full bloom.
As the third day of competition came to a close, the time of the truth rapidly approached. Twelve surfers, divided in the three main event different divisions, are now one step away from reaching the podium; four South Africans, three Tahitians, two Dominicans, one Peruvian, one Brazilian and one Puerto Rican. If they are able to make it through one more heat, these countries will be ensuring a medal for themselves.
Taking advantage of this morning great conditions, South African John McCarthy received the highest combined score at the Masters -17.00-. He scored an almost perfect 9.00, after coming out of the barrel and gliding the wave with stylish clean moves. With this score he beat Noel Chave from Tahiti -second- and Lee Bartlett from England -third-. Once out of the water McCarthy said: "I felt great, waves are perfect, clean and a bit bigger than yesterday; I like them just like that. Anyway, I was lucky to find them. In my 9.00 point ride I got a little bit of a barrel and then a couple of turns in the end, it was great wave and I enjoyed it a lot. I don´t know if deserves 9.00 points, it was just really fun.”
Also showing great performance, Brazilian Wagner Pupo and Tahitian Heifara Tahutini joined McCarthy and Chave on the main event round four.
On the other hand, in the Grand Masters rounds, like in the previous two days, Magoo de la Rosa from Peru and David Malherbe made the highest scores of their heat. However today, the Peruvian was better.
One more time, de la Rosa was solid, with a wise wave selection and a backside approach that filled Marías waves with radical moves. He took advantage of the strength of his backside, adjusting perfectly to hit good rights, allowing him to score 8.15 and 8.75. With this he beat Pascal Luciani from Tahiti -second- and Carlos Santos from Brazil -third-. Commenting on his performance Magoo said: "I'm really glad, because of these results and because the waves rose up a lot. That leaves less room for luck and the same opportunities to everyone. I went to the water with my 6'6, I knew that it was important for me to get back to the line up as soon as possible with this kind of conditions. Then, in the waves I felt a bit uncomfortable because of the size of the board but it adjusted because it works fine, and I think it helped me to get the best out of the waves. I hope I'll keep being lucky on the next rounds.”
Hector Gonzalez, from Puerto Rico, who also made a great performance, is also close to the Grand Masters' finals along with De la Rosa, Malherbe and Luciani.
The best single wave of the day and of the championship up to now was ridden by one of the eldest participants, Rudi Plamboom from South Africa -47-. It took place on the first heat of the Kahunas' -over 45 years old- third round of the main event. Plamboom rode a set wave, made a short snap and disappeared for three seconds to victoriously come out and keep performing getting a 9.5 which he backed up with a 5.5 to beat Dominican Robert Reid -second- and French Gilles Asenjo -third-.
Plamboom left the water and received a standing ovation from his team. Regarding to the wave, he later said: "I felt great, it was a rather deep barrel, it reminded me of one of my favorite’s waves back home, Cave Rock. I´m still confident about the championships, I've got good boards so I´m really happy. Our team is great, we´re really close and we´re committed to do a good job".
Apart from Plamboom and Reid, Ariel Méndez from Dominican Republic and Chris Knutsen from South Africa, will compete tomorrow on the fourth round to try to assure a medal.
Once all the main event rounds were over, the second round of the repercharge started and again it offered a lot to talk about. Local Alberto Licha scored the highest combined score of the championship - 17.5-, adding 9.25 and 8.25 on his best two waves. Surfing at home, Licha showed to comfortable under perfect conditions and filled with clean moves Marías' faces. He beat Heinere Paez from Tahiti -second-, Jean Louis Poupinel from France -third- and Antonio Pino from Ecuador -fourth-.
The “boricua” proudly commented: "I obtained this score because the competition was performed in Marias’ instead of Domes'; it is a pointbreak and gives the power surfers great advantages. I felt really comfortable, waves were big. I've been surfing waves like those all my life, thus I didn't have any problem. Now I'm ready to kill, after this I feel confident enough to kill".
Among other results of the repercharge, Andre Malherbe from South Africa and Gustavo Betancourt from Puerto Rico on the Masters, Heinare Paez from Tahití on the Grand Masters and the local Wilfredo Caban on the Kahunas, were standouts, scoring more than 14.00 points on their heats.
Among other results of the repercharge, Andre Malherbe from South Africa and Gustavo Betancourt from Puerto Rico on the Masters, Heinare Paez from Tahiti on the Grand Masters and the local Wilfredo Caban on the Kahunas, were standouts, scoring more than 14.00 points on their heats.
With two rounds of the repercharge already played, with the exception of South Africa, Puerto Rico and Brazil –with an incomplete team-, all the countries have lost at least one athlete. Contrary to that, Italy, Ecuador and Spain -also with an incomplete team- have no surfers "alive" on the contest.
Tomorrow at 8:00 AM -local time-, the fourth day of competition of the Porta del Sol ISA World Masters Surfing Championships will start at Marias Beach. The third and fourth repercharge will take place and also the fourth round of the main event of all the categories. The first two surfers of each heat on the main event tomorrow will assure themselves a place in the podium.
About International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running World Championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.
ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected five times since. The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Robin de Kock (South Africa), Alan Atkins (Australia), Maile Aguerre (Hawaii) and Mike Gerard (USA).
Pablo Zanocchi –on site at Puerto Rico-
ISA WMSC Media Manager
pablo@isasurf.org
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