Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro Underway
Photocredit:Aquashot/aspeurope.com
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria - Spain (Wednesday, September 21, 2011) - The ASP 2-Star Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro by Gran Canaria started today in clean 3-4Ft waves at 'El Confital', Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Competitors were greeted with clean, crisp conditions for the first day of competition.
Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 31, got the most out of the perfect 3-4Ft waves today, securing the best heat total of the day, a 15.15 out of 20. The Canarian ambassador navigated through barrels and long powerful walls against a field of young up-and-coming locals to qualify for Round 2 of competition.
"It's kind of a mixed feelings right now because I had friends in the water, young local kids and I want them to win too and get through because they don't have that many events around here. But obviously I had to surf, it's sad for them but I'm happy to go to Round 2. It was a great heat with so many good waves coming, and the tide was perfect."
Gonzalez, currently sitting in 11th position on the European rankings, jumped from the neighbour island of Tenerife to come compete on one of his favourite breaks in the Canary Islands.
" I think end of September is not always the best time of year for here, and Frederico Garcia (contest director) is very lucky once again with the conditions ! I won two years ago so I came here to enjoy a friendly vibe at home, see everyone, specially the young junior surfers coming up in the Canary Islands and hope they do well here. My family's also coming during the weekend so it's good to be here !"
Eduardo Acosta (CNY) 42, the veteran of the 2011 Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro by Gran Canaria, posted the highest single wave score of the day, an impressve 8.50 out of 10. He perfectly read the wave with a strong turn on the outside before finding one of the best cover-ups sections of the event so far.
"Today the conditions were perfect and apparently it's going to get even better, bigger tomorrow, probably heavy at mid-tide ! I caught a perfect wave, went for a strong snap-cutback and then I saw the barrel section lining up perfectly. It was very difficult because the wave is so strong and fast but I'm happy I got an 8.50."
Acosta, a local surf instructor and respected surfer on the island, used his long-time experience to qualify to Round 2 of competition, falling just short of a 0.25 points finishing second to Carlos Marques (CNY).
"I've surfed a lot here in the past but it's been like a year since I last surfed here so I'm very happy to do good in these conditions. That's the only event I do because I'm very busy with my surfschool and all but I love it here and I would love to do great, like a semi-final or even win the event !"
Carlos Marques (CNY) 28, was the first local canarian to impress today in Heat 2, posting a solid two-wave heat total of 14.50 out of a possible 20. Marques collected an 8.00 excellent score with three solid turns in a very steep faced wave.
"It's very glassy and the face of the wave is so clean it's so nice. The wave is really powerful and has its own way of projecting and becoming shallow so the wall gives you lots of speed. The tide was a little bit low for my heat and the wave was very shallow but for me it was better on my backhand to just do turns rather than looking for a tube."
Marques, a Gran Canaria local and crowd favourite, took the lead of the heat with his first wave ridden scoring a 6.00 and kept his momentum to find two better scores and finish the 25mn bout in first position.
"I began surfing in competition 3-4 years ago but i had a hip injury with a serious operation that forced me to quit for a while. Now i'm just coming back for fun. This wave is the best on the island but usually i don't surf here because it's too crowded so i came to this event to be able to surf El Confital with only three other guys out !"
Jaymes Triglone (AUS) 27, was another stand-out today, scoring a solid 7.50 on one of the best scoring barrel of the day. The Australian competitor managed to quickly get a good back-up score to secure the heat win.
"It was just off the take-off, kind of a staircase into the barrel and it was clean, I don't really remember what I did on the open face but it was a good wave. The heat before the sets looked a lot cleaner but when the wave stands up like that you got to go ! Everybody else had a wave so I was thinking I really got to get this one and luckily enough I was in the right position"
Following a difficult European campaign, Triglone felt good in the clean powerful righthander and qualified for the second Round of competition tomorrow. Building confidence through this first round win, Triglone is hoping to keep the ball rolling in the perfect conditions expected tomorrow.
"I didn't do so well in Newquay, couldn't get in the Lacanau event and then I went on to Pantin after injuring myself before Zarautz. I surfed alright in Round 1 in Pantin but couldn't get through the second round. All of a sudden I'm just amped up to do all these contests and I'm glad I did because that's making me feel fit and well. The goal is just to do as well as I can and better my surfing."
Contest officials will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7.30AM with a possible start of Round 2 as early as 8AM. Conditions are looking to improve during the night with a bigger swell punching in and offshore winds staying in place.
The ASP 2-Star Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro by Gran Canaria is scheduled from September 21-25, 2011. For more information, and all upcoming results, photos, video highlights, press releases and LIVE webcast log-on to;
Upcoming Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro by Gran Canaria Round Two Matchups
Heat 1: Adrien Toyon (REU), Kai Garcia (CNY), Felix Ortega (CNY), Eduardo Acosta (CNY)
Heat 2: Tom Cloarec (FRA), Luis Eyre (GBR), Carlos Marques (CNY), Mario Gonzalez Candela (CNY)
Heat 3: Abdel El Harim (MAR), Nelson Cloarec (FRA), Alejandro Ruiz Garcia (CNY), Damian Moro Ceballos (ESP)
Heat 4: Norman Landa (EUK), Ander Mendiguren (EUK), Luciano Casillas Dorta (CNY), Saul Torres Ruano (CNY)
Heat 5: Leandro Usuna (ARG), Javier Medina (CNY), Jaymes Triglone (AUS), Will Davey (GBR)
Heat 6: Robertson Goncalves (PRT), Steven Pierson (PYF), Jose Roman Grau (CNY), Ivan Monaga Torres (ESP)
Heat 7: Alexander El Naib (DEU), Rudy Marechal (FRA), Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Igor Munian (ESP)
Heat 8: Romain Laulhe (FRA), Stuart Campbell (GBR), Ian Fontaine (FRA), Alberto Garcia Deniz (CNY)
Round One Results
Heat 1: Felix Ortega (CNY) 9.50, Mario Gonzalez Cancela (CNY) 7.25 , Juan Trujilo (CNY) 4.10, Manuel Sayabeira Mir (CNY) 2.00.
Heat 2: Carlos Marques (CNY) 14.50, Eduardo Acosta (CNY) 14.25, Aritza Sarachaga (EUK) 5.40, Javier Ascanio Fernandez (CNY) 5.05.
Heat 3: Alejandro Ruiz Garcia (CNY) 7.35, Saul Ruano Torres (CNY) 5.65, Gary Gonzalez Dominguez (CNY) 4.65, Luca Dioguardi (CNY) 4.00.
Heat 4: Luciano Casillas Dorta (CNY) 13.25, Damian Moro Ceballos (ESP) 9.25, Manuel Lezcano Cruz (CNY) 8.55, Marcelino Botin (ESP) 6.50.
Heat 5: Jaymes Triglone (AUS) 13.00, Ivan Monagas Torres (CNY) 10.15, Natxo Gonzalez (EUK) 9.85, Mandy Sanz (CNY) 9.50.
Heat 6: Jose Roman Grau (CNY) 7.45, Will Davey (GBR) 6.90, David Sosa Gonzalez (ESP) 6.05, Miguel Villalba (ESP) 5.90.
Heat 7: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 15.15, Alberto Garcia Deniz (CNY) 9.00, Bentor Gonzalez Dominguez (CNY) 8.35, Luis Urejola (ESP) 5.55.
Heat 8: Ian Fontaine (FRA) 13.00, Igor Munian (ESP) 10.75, Cristiano Guimaraes (CNY) 8.60, Kosme Fernandez (EUK) 8.35.
Source: ASP Europe