COSTA RICA’S 4TH DATE OF CIRCUITO NACIONAL DE SURF DAYSTAR 2008-2009 PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA ZERO MOVES TO NOSARA THIS WEEKEND FEBRUARY 7-8 FOR COPA BALANCE NATURAL

JASON TORRES LOOKS TO LOCK IN THE NATIONAL TITLE

CONTACTS:

*Ellen Zoe Golden/The Bevy PR- EllenZoe@aol.com 1-800-548-1753 International 506-8346-7643 Costa Rica
*Carlos Enrique Brenes/Federacion De Surf- carlos.enrique.brenes@gmail.com  506-2235-6400 Costa Rica

Tamarindo, COSTA RICA  January 7, 2009 – José Ureña, President of the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica (FSC), announced today that the fourth date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf DAYSTAR 2008-2009 presented by Coca-Cola Zero (CNS) will take place this weekend, February 7 and 8, in Playa Guiones in Nosara. Called Copa Balance Natural, the 5-star tournament will begin Saturday and Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. in front of Playa Guiones, with winners in all categories receiving 2,000 points.

With a sizable lead in the rankings, Jaco’s Jason Torres moves into the Copa Balance Natural date of the CNS with the possibility of taking the National title.  However, with this high-point contest at a premium wave beach, along with the opportunities afforded at the next tournaments of Santa Teresa (5-star Torneo Day & Night Playa), and Playa Hermosa (6-star, 2,500 points Gran Final Terrazas Reef Playa), the concluding stretch of the Circuito still may reveal another champion of the present season. Regardless, Torres was able to secure 1st place wins in Tamarindo and Jaco, and a 2nd place win in the 2008-2009 opener in Hermosa, boding well for the dynamo. He is at the top of the rankings table with 4,750 points—1,100 more than 2nd place Diego Naranjo (Jaco) and 1,800 higher than 3rd place Germaine Nino Myrie (Puerto Viejo), both past National champions.

Matias Braun of Montezuma, is currently the #4 surfer in Costa Rica. It was in Nosara last year that Braun dominated all others and earned the 1st place trophy.  Yet, Torres is gunning for him.

“I have already previously won in Nosara at a level of surfing that is less than I feel that I am doing nowadays,” Torres said. “Thanks to the international participation that I have realized in the last 14 months with good results, I have earned greater confidence, a factor that in the past stopped me from advancing further in the Circuito.

It is a fact that this second part of the CNS is the most important part of the championship for all the participating surfers, not only because of the amount of points awarded for the winners, but because of the quality of battle they will face as the technical body of the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica assesses everyone for the National Selection of the team that will compete for Costa Rica at the 2009 International Surfing Association (ISA) Billabong World Surfing Games Costa Rica 2009 in Hermosa this August.  As added value, the confirmed presence of the surfer Federico Pilurzu (Tamarindo) to the Copa Balance Natural will up the ante in the action in the Open category as well. Pilurzu—the only Costa Rican surfer to compete annually on the Association of Surfing Professional’s (ASP) World Qualifying Series circuit and to regularly make the Top 100—is also a Costa Rica AND Central America surfing champion. He will also be joined in Nosara by two-time Costa Rican National Surf champion Alvaro Solano from Jaco, who has been making the 2008-2009 journey has well with hopes of making the Costa Rica National Surf Team.

The date at Playa Guiones in Nosara is one of the most popular of the Circuito Nacional de Surf DAYSTAR 2008-2009, and in the past three seasons over 300 surfers have shown up to compete. “We hope to have the same luck that accompanied us in the past and gave us an excellent turn out of competitors, and also rewarded us with a large public turning out to enjoy a true spectacle,” declared Ureña.

For this weekend, waves between 3- and 5-feet are expected, and this is a beach that grants good waves in low tide as well as high. The area of competition is also a government protected zone for turtles.

Inscriptions for the Copa Balance Natural will take place Friday, February 6 at Harbor Reef Lodge  in Tamarindo, between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.

After this date of the Circuito, the FSC board will make its National selection of the Juniors (Less than 18 years of age) who will attend the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Junior Surfing Games 2009 in Salinas, Ecuador between March 28 and April 5, 2009. Currently, Costa Rica’s Juniors are placed #12 in the rankings of 30 countries, and it will be in this new opportunity that the Federacion plans to take the team to the next level.

The CNS DAYSTAR 2008-2009 presented by Coca-Cola Zero International Sponsors are: Billabong, Coca-Cola Zero, Powerade, Quiksilver, Redbull, Surftech. Reef, National Sponsors include: 69 Slam, 911 Groovy Radio, Balance Natural, Banana Wax, Banzaii Surfboards, Carton Surfboards, Christian Surfers, Day & Night Beach Club, DAYSTAR, FCS, Gimnasio Platinum, Gorila, Hotel Backyard, Hotel Terraza del Pacífico, Ibarquero Design, Jass Surf Shop, Mango, Quique, Roca Bruja, Surfos Magazine, Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, WOW 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.

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The Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica recently finished a workshop with the Costa Rican national media who will be covering the 2009 ISA Billabong World Surfing Games Costa Rica 2009. The 25 journalists of the mainstream mass media were present from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and were grateful for the surfing instruction offered by the technical body, among them surfers Federico Pilurzu, Diego Narango, and Lisbeth Vindas (Jaco).