GRANDE PLAGE, Lacanau – France (Thursday, August 16, 2012) – Day 3 of the ASP 5-Star Sooruz Lacanau Pro started in excellent 6Ft surf at La Grande Plage of Lacanau this morning. Conditions graduately cleaned up and culminated this afternoon in pumping surf closer to shore providing quality entertainment for the ever growing Lacanau summer crowds.
Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 18, scored the highest single wave score of the day when he was rewarded a 9.67 out of 10 in the dying minutes of his heat for a combination of two massive turns on an outside bombie. The young Moroccan freshly crowned European Junior Champion showed he was ready to surf amongst the older crowd of international surfers in Lacanau.
“Thankfully we had a 30 minutes heat because I’ve struggled for a while,” Boukhiam said. “It took me ages to paddle back out after my first wave and with one minute remaining I needed a pretty big score. I found this perfect right and I was right in the spot with priority on the white, and I was able to do two big turns. I almost fell on the second one cause this is a small wave board and it didn’t quite stick to it..”
After dedicating himself to the European Junior series this season and surfing small waves at the last few destinations, Boukhiam was relieved to finally have some solid surf to test his skills and legs power in a moving lineup.
“I’m not the best aerialist so to be honest I’d rather have big waves like this, it just gives you more face to play with and more power to push on your bottom turns and hit the lip hard ! I like to be able to display power in my surfing.”
Tristan Guilbaud (FRA) 21, dominated the last heat of the day in Lacanau, netting a 9.00 point ride for three aggressive turns on a running lefthander. The talented natural-footer from Vendee has been living in the Hossegor area for a while and was at ease in the Graviere-like conditions this afternoon in Lacanau.
“I’ve been watching that left since the event started and I knew when the tide’s high it comes through often.. I was paddling back out when I saw two other surfers catch a good left in front of me and then the third one was even better and I got it. I didn’t think my first turn was that good but apparently the judges liked it and I’m happy to get that 9 points for the three turns !”
Balaram Stack (USA) 20, won his second consecutive heat at the Sooruz Lacanau Pro today to qualify for the Round of 64 and move into the money round where surfers will start receiving prizemoney for their efforts.
“It was pretty fun,” Stack started. “I thought it was going to be harder to get waves, but it kind of peaks everywhere so it’s just fun. Once I broke my board I was just trying to paddle back out as fast as I could and I was pretty out of breath after that and right now. We haven’t had any waves in the previous contest so it feels great to finally have some good surf !”
Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 17, ASP Europe Junior Tour runner-up also entered the show today and proved he had his game ready for the big leagues as well. Like a few other competitors today, Ribeiro had to deal with an equipment failure, breaking his leash during the heat he had to swim to shore from the far lineup.
“Conditions are pretty hard to surf, but if you get the good wave you can definitely score high !” Ribeiro said. “It’s difficult for everyone so I guess it’s a fair battle. I actually prefer those waves than small surf where you can’t do much. I broke my leash but I already had a 7.17 so I was a little bit relaxed and I knew I just had to be patient and wait for another good one.”
In the second half of the draw today, Ribeiro surfed the best conditions and beneficiated from a break at mid-tide that saw his heat start right when the waves began breaking on the high-tide sandbank and deliver sandy barrels for the most valorous.
“I’m happy to make it through this one, and I’m happy I surfed this afternoon cause this morning conditions were tougher with the waves breaking way out the back. It’s really hard to paddle all the way out, and with that much space between the sets you just never know what’s coming.. Here you can get some barrels, or some really vertical turns..”
Nicolas Remi (FRA) 23, local hero and event wildcard lit up the crowds later this afternoon when he started on a big lefthander and distroyed it with a couple of powerful backhand hacks in the critical section of the wave.
“I was a little stressed out before my heat because this is one of my first big events” Remi stated. “Conditions were really cool, and I know the spot pretty well but the guys in my heat were really good and seasoned competitors so I’m stoked I could make this one ! There were all my friends there on the beach to support me so I’m happy they got to see me get through. I believe that luck today played a big role in determining who got the bombs and I’m happy it went my way !”
Event officials have decided to meet again tomorrow morning at 9am, for an estimated early start to the Round of 64 at La Grande Plage of Lacanau.
The ASP 5-Star Sooruz Lacanau Pro is scheduled from August 14-19, 2012. in Lacanau. For all results, photos, video highlights, press releases log on to http://www.sooruzlacanaupro.com.
The Sooruz Lacanau Pro is made possible with the support of the following event partners: Airwalk, Ville de Lacanau, Lacanau Surf Club, Region Aquitaine, Conseil Général de Gironde, Fédération Française de Surf, Super U, Sport +, Medococean, Smurfit Kappa, RTL2, 20Minutes, MCM, GoPro, Unbottle Yourself amongst others.
UPCOMING SOORUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND OF 64 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA), Adrien Toyon (FRA), Marlon Lipke (DEU), Derek Peters (USA) Heat 2: Jack Freestone (AUS), Leonardo Neves (BRA), Ty Watson (AUS), Miguel Blanco (PRT) Heat 3: Jesse Mendes (BRA), Matt Banting (AUS), Vicente Romero (ESP), Ethan Egiguren (EUK) Heat 4: Joan Duru (FRA), Gony Zubizarreta (ESP), Tim Macdonald (AUS), Ryan Callinan (AUS) Heat 5: Romain Cloitre (FRA), Marc Lacomare (FRA), Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Frederico Morais (PRT) Heat 6: Tanner Gudauskas (USA), Nathan Hedge (AUS), Balaram Stack (USA), Thomas Woods (AUS) Heat 7: Billy Stairmand (NZL), Jay Thompson (AUS), Connor O’Leary (AUS), Steven Pierson (PYF) Heat 8: Glenn Hall (IRL), Carlos Munoz (CRI), Ugo Robin (FRA), Matt Pagan (USA) Heat 9: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Medi Veminardi (REU), Gavin Gillette (HAW), Teppei Tajima (JPN) Heat 10: Mitch Crews (AUS), Lincoln Taylor (AUS), Vasco Ribeiro (PRT), Jose Ferreira (PRT) Heat 11: Mitchel Coleborn (AUS), Hodei Collazo (EUK), Alan Jhones (BRA), Bino Lopes (BRA) Heat 12: Charles Martin (GLP), Perth Standlick (AUS), David Do Carmo (BRA), Michael Dunphy (USA) Heat 13: Tomas Hermes (BRA), Peterson Crisanto (BRA), Marco Fernandez (BRA), Nicolas Remi (FRA) Heat 14: Dion Atkinson (AUS), Thiago Camarao (BRA), Michael Powell (USA), Luel Felipe (BRA) Heat 15: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Stu Kennedy (AUS), Garrett Parkes (AUS), Davey Cathels (AUS) Heat 16: Flavio Nakagima (BRA), Vincent Duvignac (FRA), Tristan Guilbaud (FRA), Norman Landa (EUK)
SOORUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND OF 96 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Marlon Lipke (DEU) 14.50, Miguel Blanco (PRT) 5.83, Matt-Lewis Hewitt (NZL) 5.44, Ruda Carvalho (BRA) 3.60 Heat 2: Ty Watson (AUS) 12.06, Derek Peters (USA) 10.97, Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 9.30, Ricardo Ferreira (BRA) 8.50 Heat 3: Vicente Romero (ESP) 12.34, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 9.90, Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) 6.40, Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 5.67 Heat 4: Tim Macdonald (AUS) 11.63, Ethan Egiguren (EUK) 8.50, Yujiro Tsuji (JPN) 7.46, Leandro Usuna (ARG) 4.60 Heat 5: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 15.17, Thomas Woods (AUS) 14.94, Pablo Gutierrez (ESP) 12.04, Miguel Tudela (PER) 7.63 Heat 6: Balaram Stack (USA) 15.07, Frederico Morais (PRT) 13.10, Davey Brand (ZAF) 10.04, Jordin Watson (AUS) 9.30 Heat 7: Connor O’Leary (AUS) 9.10, Matt Pagan (USA) 8.33, Romain Laulhe (FRA) 7.94, Felix Messias (BRA) 6.03 Heat 8: Ugo Robin (FRA) 11.37, Steven Pierson (PYF) 11.07, Manuel Selan (CHL) 7.94, Halley Batista (BRA) 5.40 Heat 9: Gavin Gilette (HAW) 10.84, Jose Ferreira (PRT) 10.40, Jason Harris (USA) 10.00, Andre Silva (BRA) 8.50 Heat 10: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 13.24, Teppei Tajima (JPN) 10.33, Lucas Santamaria (ARG) 7.96, Alexandre Chacon (BRA) 6.37 Heat 11: Alan Jhones (BRA) 11.73, Michael Dunphy (USA) 7.65, Dege O’Connell (HAW) 7.60, Chris Tucker (USA) 6.90 Heat 12: David Do Carno (BRA) 11.67, Bino Lopes (BRA) 9.62, Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) 8.13, Kieran Bulard (REU) 7.30 Heat 13: Marco Fernandez (BRA) 11.10, Luel Felipe (BRA) 10.43, Eneko Acero (EUK) 9.00, Mateia Hiquily (PYF) 7.13 Heat 14: Michael Powell (USA) 12.27, Nicolas Remi (FRA) 10.50, Chase Wilson (USA) 8.40, Cahill Bell-Warren (AUS) 4.50 Heat 15: Garett Parkes (AUS) 12.83, Norman Landa (EUK) 9.87, Alan Donato (BRA) 8.23, Rudy Marechal (FRA) 6.47 Heat 16: Davey Cathels (AUS), Ian Crane (USA), Tristan Guilbaud (FRA), Indar Unanue (EUK)
