photo by: Philippe Demarsan

JASON TORRES WINS TORNEO COCA COLA ZERO DATE OF COSTA RICA’S CIRCUITO NACIONAL DE SURF DAYSTAR 2008-2009 IN PLAYA JACO

NATALY BERNOLD TAKES WOMEN’S, CEDRIC AUFFRET CAPS LONGBOARD

by: Ellen Zoe Golden

(Aqui en espanol)

PLAYA JACO, COSTA RICA December 15, 2008 – After what one beachcomber named a “720” because of the 360 aerial and then the 360 slider that followed upon landing, Jason Torres (Jaco) sealed the deal and won the second date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf DAYSTAR 2008-2009 (CNS) in Playa Jaco yesterday. The International Surfing Association’s (ISA) #5 surfer in the world was spectacular in the Final Heat of the Torneo Coca-Colo Zero in front of Hotel Bahía Encantada. Torres began in the first few moments, on one wave doing 7 snaps ending with one so vertical you could set your watch to noon, and then he lay back for a while, as the current Costa Rica National Champion Gilbert Brown (Puerto Viejo) and Nino Myrie (Puerto Viejo) showed the style and class of veteran surfing.

     Meanwhile, the fourth surfer in the heat, 18-year-old Antony Flores (Jaco)—a surprise entry in the Open Finals anyway—also took to the air with 360s and waves with sliders, but certainly never was able to match the feat of Torres single wave “720” that ultimately capped the Heat in its latter moments.

     The waves cooperated, pulling up to a nice height and better faces of 3-4 feet that afternoon, after conditions suffered all weekend, smaller and closed out.

    Torres won 1st place, with Myrie 2nd, Brown 3rd, and Flores 4th. With this 4-star trophy, Torres added 1,500 points to his CNS ranking.

    Flores for his part, debuted in the Longboard division earlier on Sunday. Following in the footsteps of 2007-2008 Costa Rica Longboard Champion Diego Narango, the 2006 Open National Champion who made the shift to Longboarding for the Costa Rica National Team, Flores has hopes to grab the attention of the Federacion de Surf Board of Directors for the National Selection in the Longboard Category. His performance Sunday, steady, walking the nose, turning his log 360 degrees , is coming along, and was enough to place 2nd behind Cedric Auffret.

     Auffret, who was the 2006-2007 Costa Rica National Longboard Champion, was determined and confident in his surfing on Sunday, handling his board much like a shortboard, whipping it around, doing floaters, walking the nose, and more.

    “Oh yeah, I’m happy,” Auffret said afterward. “I want to be National Champion again.”

    The Women’s Final also took place in the good tide and open faced waves, and once again it was a gunner between Nataly Bernold (Jaco) and the 6-time National Women’s Champion Lisbeth Vindas (Jaco), even as surfers Lupe Gallucio and Mariana Samudio demonstrated excellent surfing levels. This time, however, it was Bernold who had the better wave selection, and she was able to get off more maneuvers, a strategy, ultimately, that resulted in her receiving the 1st place trophy at the end of the heat. Earlier in the day, the Women’s division saw the return of Andrea Diaz to competition. Diaz was the very first Costa Rica National Women’s champion; she won the title in 1999.  Andrea has been away from competition for four years, and is hoping to make the Costa Rica National Team for the 2009 ISA World Surfing Games in Hermosa in August.

The next date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf 2008-2009 DAYSTAR will be the Torneo Witch’s Rock on January 9, 10 and 11, 2009.

The CNS DAYSTAR 2008-2009 International Sponsors are: Billabong, Coca-Cola Zero, Powerade, Quiksilver, Redbull, Reef, Surftech. National Sponsors include: DAYSTAR, 69Slam, 911 Groovy Radio, Balance Nature, Banana Wax, Chiclets Canopy Tours, Christian Surfers, Day & Night Beach Club,  Gimnasio Platinum, Gorila, Hotel Backyard, Hotel Terraza Pacifico, Ibarquero Design, Jass Surf Shop, Mango Surf Shop, Quique, Remax Jaco, Roca Bruja, Surfos Magazine, Tabacon, Banzaii, Carton, Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, W.O.W. Surf Shop.

For more information on the Circuito Nacional de Surf DAYSTAR 2008-2009 or the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica, please go to the webpage at www.surfingcr.net.

Results of Trofeo Coca-Cola Zero Circuito Nacional de Surf 2008-2009 DAYSTAR

December 12, 13, 14 - Playa Jaco

 Open

1-      Jason Torres

2-      Germaine Myrie

3-      Gilbert Brown

4-      Anthony Flores

Junior  (Less Than 18)

1-      Carlos Muñoz

2-      Mykol Torres

3-      Anderson Tascon

4-      Anthony Segura

Women’s

1-      Nataly Bernold

2-      Lisbeth Vindas

3-      Mariana Samudio

4-      Lupe Gallucio

Junior Women’s (Less Than 18)

1-      Nataly Bernold

2-      Avalon Esterak

3-      Lupe Galluccio 

4-      Leilani McGonagle

Boys (Less Than 16)

1-      Carlos Muñoz

2-      Josué Calderón

3-      Anthony Segura

4-      Manuel Mesen

Grommets (Less Than 14) 

1-      Noe Mar McGonnagle

2-      Manuel Mesén

3-      Leonardo Calvo

4-      Josué Rodríguez

Mini-Grommets (Less Than 12)

1-      Bruno Carvalho

2-      Carlos Brown

3-      Leonardo Calvo

4-      Gabriel Muñoz

Mini-Grommets Mujeres (Less Than 12)

1-      Arisha Grioti

2-      Leilani McGonagle

3-      Avalon Esterak

4-      Cloe Velarde

Longboard

1-      Cedric Auffret

2-      Anthony Flores

3-      Pablo Bolaños

4-      Mauricio Umaña

Master (More Than 35)

1-      Giancarlo Loría

2-      Marcelo Matos

3-      Carlos Velarde

4-      Javier Hernández

Grand Masters (More Than 40)

1-      Cassio Carvalho

2-      Craig “Tequila”

3-      Carlos Velarde

4-      Mike Esterak

Novices

1-      Francisco Dagapitti

2-      Itai Barrantes

3-      Juan Manuel Montero

4-      Eduardo Umaña

Bodyboard

1-      Reymar Ramirez

2-      Juan Castillo

3-      Richard Marin

4-      Reiner Montenegro   

Bodyboard Women’s

1-      Jimena Calvo

2-      Cindy Díaz

3-      Megwyn Sauders

Jason and Nataly win the 2nd Event on the CNS Tour in Jaco

Los jóvenes surfos Jason Torres y Nataly Bernold ganaron ayer la categoría Open de la segunda fecha del Circuito Nacional de Surf (Torneo Coca Cola Zero), que se realizó frente a las instalaciones del Hotel Bahía Encantada en Playa Jacó.

Según información suministrada por Carlos Brenes, vocero del Circuito, la final estuvo muy disputada entre residentes de Jacó, ya que Jason tuvo que enfrentar en el heat final a Gilbert Brown, Germaine Myrie y Anthony Flores.

Con esta victoria Torres sumó 1.500 puntos al ranking ya que esta fecha era cuatro estrellas y eso lo ubica en el primer lugar de la tabla por haber quedado segundo en la primera fecha, más que Diego Naranjo, ganador en Playa Hermosa quien ayer quedó rezagado en semifinales.

Según Brenes, “Torres, actual número cinco del mundo, se mantuvo muy pasivo durante los primeros 15 minutos de la gran final, de 20 que programó el cuerpo técnico del evento. Hasta esas instancias parecía que dejaba a Germaine Myrie y Gilbert Brown luchar por el primer lugar heat, cuando estos se servían olas a su gusto hacia la izquierda y hacia la derecha en cada minuto de la batería. No obstante, a falta de cinco minutos que terminara esa gran final se le abrió la derecha que quería y solo la raideó en busca de velocidad y la parte crítica de la ola para desprenderse muy alto, sujetar su tabla con ambas manos, girar 360 grados y aterrizar perfecto, el cuerpo de jueces calificó esa ola para arriba de los nueve puntos.

“En ese momento Jason gozaba de su primera mejor ola; no obstante, precisaba otra regular y asegurar el heat, lo cual consiguió de una manera muy similar, esta vez en una ola con menor producción de velocidad pero que reformó donde debía para lograr lo mismo y agregar esa segunda mejor para arriba de los ocho puntos”.

De esa manera, el actual campeón centroamericano ya con una combinación casi de 18 puntos y a falta de dos minutos para acabar el heat, descansó al dejar sin posibilidades a sus contrarios. Con esta victoria, Torres reiteró su claro objetivo por ganar un título que ha dejado escapar los dos últimos circuitos nacionales.

En femenino, Bernold, del team Red Bull logró coronarse venciendo en la final a la internacional Lisbeth Vindas y a Lupe Gallucio y Mariana Samudio.

 En Junior, por segunda vez consecutiva ganó Carlos Muñoz además de la sub 16. Estas dos divisiones son dominadas por el surfista de 15 años de edad a la perfección, quien se enfila así rumbo a la revalidación de estos dos títulos.

Ganadores de ayer:

Categoría Open: Jason Torres y Nataly Bernold.

Junior: Carlos Muñoz y Nataly Bernold.

Boys (sub 16): Carlos Muñoz.

Grommets: Noe Mar McGonnagle

Mini – Grommets: Bruno Carvalho y Arisha Grioti

Longboard: Cedric Auffret

Master (Mayor de 35): Giancarlo Loría

Grand Masters: Cassio Carvalho

Novatos: Francisco Dagapitti

Bodyboard: Reymar Ramírez y Jimena Calvo.

Article announcing the event:

COSTA RICA’S SECOND DATE OF CIRCUITO NACIONAL DE SURF DAYSTAR 2008-2009 MOVES TO PLAYA JACO THIS WEEKEND DECEMBER 12-13 FOR TORNEO COCA COLA ZERO

Nighttime Instruction and Judging Instruction Will Compliment The Weekend

photo by Shifi

Playa Jaco, COSTA RICA  December 11, 2008 – José Ureña, President of the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica (FSC), announced today that the second date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf DAYSTAR 2008-2009 (CNS) will take place this weekend, December 12-14, in Playa Jaco. Called Torneo Coca Cola Zero, the 4-star tournament will begin Saturday and Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. in front of Hotel Bahía Encantada. Winners in all the divisions will receive 1,500 points toward the CNS rankings.

The Torneo Coca Cola Zero will also include the participation of some of the Top 16 Latin American Surfers as designated by Surfos magazine, the premier Latin American surf publication. The athletes confirmed, so far, include: Ángelo Lozano and Christian Corzo of México, Raúl Hernández of Venezuela, Gabriel Escudero of Puerto Rico, and finally, the Peruvian,  Gabriel Villaran—the national champion of his country, as well as 2003 Latin American champion, and 2004 Pan American champion and considered the top Hispanic surfer of the moment. Villaran, Escudero and Lozano are on Team Quiksilver, Red Bull and Reef, respectively, brands that are also sponsors of the Circuito this present season.  It is noted that the fact that foreign surfers who come to Costa Rica for competitions like the past week’s Association Latinamerica de Surfistas Profesionales (ALAS) Latin Pro Grand Finals, will stay and take advantage of this country’s waves, and then participate in the CNS. This only raises the level of the Tico surfers who must compete against them.

For this weekend, the swell predictions are for 2- to 3-foot waves, which means Jaco will have conditions that are optimal for the Torneo Coca Cola Zero.  Also expected to be surfing this weekend in this break that has become like a second home, is Germaine “Nino” Myrie, who has relocated to Jaco from the town where he grew up, Puerto Viejo. Myrie was the winner of the last date in Jaco, during the CNS 2007-2008.

Inscriptions for the Torneo Coca Cola Zero will take place Friday, December 12 at Jass Surf Shop in Jaco, between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.

This contest brings to a close the most active month of the year for surf competitions and activities. The first date of the CNS DAYSTAR took place the last week of November, followed the next weekend by the ALAS Latin Pro Finals. And now the Torneo Coca Cola Zero, the second date of the CNS. Between the competition hours, in the mornings on Friday and Saturday, Alex Valverde, Head Judge of the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica, will be offering a course for Level 1 judges, guaranteed by the International Surf Association (ISA) and Surfing Australia. This will give those who pass the tests, the opportunity to be official judges of the ISA and the power to then judge any surf competition in the world. (This course will be taught in the Christian Surfers meeting room located 400 meters north of Pops in Jaco beginning Friday. The course lasts eight hours and the second part of the course takes place Saturday. The cost is $100.)

The surf contest will be accompanied by a lot of partying for the lovers of the sport. Friday from 8 p.m. in the Bar Ganesha, there will be a fiesta to say farewell to the Top 16 Latin American Surfers who are in Costa Rica doing photo sessions for Surfos and ESPN. Saturday night, Gabriel Villaran will premiere his DVD biography at Hotel Doce Lunas, where over 1,000 people are expected.

The CNS DAYSTAR 2008-2009 International Sponsors are: Billabong, Coca-Cola Zero, Powerade, Quiksilver, Redbull, Reef, Surftech. National Sponsors include: DAYSTAR, 69Slam, 911 Groovy Radio, Balance Nature, Banana Wax, Chiclets Canopy Tours, Christian Surfers, Day & Night Beach Club,  Gimnasio Platinum, Gorila, Hotel Backyard, Hotel Terraza Pacifico, Ibarquero Design, Jass Surf Shop, Mango Surf Shop, Quique, Remax Jaco, Roca Bruja, Surfos Magazine, Tabacon, Banzaii, Carton, Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, W.O.W. Surf Shop.

For more information on the Circuito Nacional de Surf DAYSTAR 2008-2009 or the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica, please go to the webpage at www.surfingcr.net.