Solid Waves and Performances on Day 1 of the ISA World Longboard Championship in Peru

Posted: Sep 25,2013 Written by  ISA

Day 1 Highlights. Video: ISA

Sep.23, 2013 - Day 1 of the ISA World Longboard Championship (WLC) kicked off on Monday with firing waves and incredible performances in Huanchaco, Peru. The surf during the first day of competition ranged from 6-8 feet with many rides 200 yards long.

The waves at Huanchacoallowed the surfers to perform multiple maneuvers in a ride including critical turns, big cut backs, huge floaters and nose rides. The surfers had to pick their waves wisely and be tactical because the paddle back out to the line up was long. Some surfers opted to run back up the point on the beach.
“We had an incredible first day of this historic ISA World Longboard Championship,” said ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “Huanchaco is living up to expectations by delivering excellent 6 foot surf for the world’s best longboarders. It’s a beautiful thought to picture Huanchaco’s locals thousands of years ago surfing these very same waves on the traditional “Caballitos de Totora” (reed fishing boats), and now we have the opportunity to compete on Huanchaco’s waves and share them with the world. It’s just perfect!”

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Taylor Jensen. Photo: ISA Michael Tweddle

The first day featured Qualifying Round 1 for Open Men, Open Women, and Junior Under-18 for a full day of action-packed surfing.

In the Open Men’s, South Africa’s Thomas King was the stand-out of the day earning the division’s highest total heat score of 13.77, defeating Venezuela’s Francisco Hernandez (8.96), Hawaii’s Kai Sallas (8.1), and Italy’s Alessandro De Martini (5.4).

“It’s nice to be here in Peru, here in Huanchaco,” said the South African, while his teammates showed their support blowing traditional vuvuzela. “It’s my first time in South America. The country is nice and people are friendly. I have been here over a week now so I’m comfortable and I was feeling good out there. The support of my team and all my family and friends back home helped me a lot, so it felt good to get the right waves, which allowed me to get the scores. The surfing is unbelievable and I’m happy the ISA put on this contest and proud to be here!”

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Ned Snow. Photo: ISA/ Rommel Gonzales

King continued, “The wave is quite difficult here. It’s a lot different than what we have in South Africa. I think the strategy is to make sure I get waves. The wave changes all the time so every heat is different.”

In Open Women’s, France’s Justine Dupont put on a dominant performance earning the day’s highest total heat score of 13.83, defeating Hawaii’s Megan Godinez (6.27), Venezuela’s Adriana Gamero (5.60) and Japan’s Shio Okazawa (4.13).

“It was a tough heat, it was very difficult,” said an elated Dupont. “My board is not ok, it almost broke. My first wave wasn’t good so I had to go back out and catch another. Catching the wave is not so difficult but you have to choose the good ones. I like the wave, but you have to paddle a lot. I expect to surf heat by heat and hope to win.”

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Benoit Clemente. Photo: ISA/ Michael Tweddle

The 2013 ISA World Longboard Championship is a double elimination competition, with the first two surfers always advancing to the next Qualifying Round. Surfers in third and fourth place move into the Repechage Round, giving them a second chance to advance. However, another third or fourth place finish, and they will be out of the competition


For a full list of today’s results, click here: www.isawlc.com/results

The 2013 ISA World Longboard Championship resumes Tuesday at 7:40am with The Morning Show.

Following that, the competition will feature:
Qualify 2 Open Men’s
Qualify 2 Open Women’s
Qualify 2 Junior Under-18
Repechage 1 Open Men

The live webcast of the entire 2013 ISA World Longboard Championship is available on www.isawlc.com

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