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Oakley Saquarema Prime Starts in Good Waves at Itauna Beach
Author: ASP World Tour
ITAUNA BEACH, Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro / Brazil (Wednesday, May, 25, 2011) – The ASP World Prime Coca-Cola presents Oakley Saquarema Prime was begun in good waves at Wednesday at Itauna beach. The first call at 7am was observed in near flat conditions. However, in the second call at 11:30am, the low-tide brought clean and consistent 3-5 ft. (1-1.5 meter) waves which increased in size throughout the day with light winds. Feeling right at home in the peeling lefthander point break, current No. 20 in the ASP World Ranking, Jadson Andre (BRA), scored the day’s highest heat-wave total with an 18.20 out of a possible 20 points.
On his first wave, he started off with a floater and connected it with a huge full rotation air to earn a solid 9.17 points. On his second wave, he began with a big front side punt, followed by several cutbacks all the way to the shore, for a 9.03 to punch in the day’s highest scores; only to be topped by Raoni Monteiro (BRA) in the following heat.
“This event is really important for me,” said Jadson Andre. “Not just because it’s a Prime, but also because it’s being presented by my sponsor (Oakley), so I really want to do well here.”
When asked about how easily he won his heat by using his aerial attack, Jadson commented: “Actually the conditions aren’t that great for throwing airs because the wind is blowing sideways, away from the lefts. But I’ve got a magic board, I feel confident and I’ve got a special way of setting up aerials when the wind is like this. I just let the board follow the wind and the wave. Everything went right and I’m happy to begin this event well.”
Raoni Monteiro (BRA), who lives in Saquarema, threw a powerful backhand hack with total commitment and a high degree of difficulty to get the event’s highest single-wave score, a 9.40 out of 10. “I had some good scores, so I tried to catch the biggest waves of the set because they were really good, opening-up and with a nice face,” said Monteiro.
On the day’s highest single-wave score, Monteiro said: “That high score came off of a left that opened up well and I made that first turn the way the judges like to see them, by really blowing-out the tail. Afterwards, I just kept surfing powerfully until the end of the wave.”
The first heat of the day saw currently ranked #11 ASP World Ranking surfer Michel Bourez (PYF), take control of the smaller waves in the beginning of the contest to win by a small margin over Jay Quinn (NZL) who obtained second-place, 11.50 to 11.27 points. Bourez was questionable to partake in the contest due to a shoulder injury in a wipeout during the Brazilian ASP World Tour in Barra da Tijuca last week.
“It’s still really difficult to surf,” said Bourez. “I’d say I’m at about 60% right now, but the ocean helped me out a lot today. The waves weren’t that powerful, which was good for me because I’m still in a lot of pain”.
Another elite surfer who made it directly to the Round of 48 was Australian, Matt Wilkinson. Wilko qualified in second-place behind Nathan Yeomans (USA), eliminating Shaun Joubert (ZAF) and young surfer Caio Ibelli (BRA).
“The waves were really tough during my heat,” said Wilkinson. “I ended up making a bunch of mistakes, but I was still able to qualify. The waves started breaking in different directions and it was a really difficult heat. I hope the next few days bring bigger and better waves so I can surf better than I did today (Wednesday).”
The second heat of the day was an all-international affair, with Marc Lacomare (FRA) getting the day’s first single-wave high score of an 8.5 out of 10 to defeat Yadin Nicol (AUS), Alain Riou (PYF) and Maxime Huscenot (FRA) respectively.
“It’s my first time here in Saquarema,” said Lacomare. “These kinds of waves really suit my style, I like them a lot. So much so that I was able to win the heat with one really good wave which I rode to the end. I like this place a lot. It´s really beautiful and I want to do my best here.”
Heat 3 of the day saw each surfer finish in the 12 point range. Granger Larsen (HAW) who was sitting at #31 of the ASP World Ranking (the first 32 qualify for the elite tour after the mid-season rotation) was eliminated from the event. The closely fought heat was won by Lincoln Taylor (AUS) with 12.90 points and Ben Dunn in second place with a 12.40. Larsen with 12.24 and Chris Waring (USA) with an exactly 12 points were eliminated.
Leading the hunt for the ASP World Tour title, #1 ranked surfer, Adriano de Souza (BRA), was scheduled to surf in the last heat of the day (Heat 12) at Itauna beach. However, due to the setting sun’s diminishing light, the heat will be the first to start off tomorrow (Thursday) at 7am local time against Hodei Collazo (EUK) and fellow Brazilians, Junior Faria and Gilmar Silva.
The Coca-Cola presents Oakley Saquarema Prime 2011 is sponsored by Coca-Cola and Oakley with support from the State of Rio de Janeiro through the Secretary of Sport and Leisure, the City of Saquarema, CCR and the Surfing Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro.