Recent Articles
Oxbow World Longboard Championships - McPhillips Displays Title Defense Form
Author: ASP World Tour
Great 4ft (1.3m) waves were on offer all day at La Rocca, ideal conditions for the worlds’ top rated longboarders to perform.
McPhillips, 27, overcame nerves he’d felt yesterday to post both the highest single score, as well as combined two-wave tally of the tournament so far. Against Hawaiian nose riding specialist Noah Shimabukuro, in the day’s final round three heat, the Californian dominated with two 8.25 rides before securing a near-perfect 9.75 in the dying seconds. His overall total of 18-points left Shimabukuro a combination of scores further behind.
“Yeah, I felt better in that heat,” said a satisfied McPhillips. “It was fun out there. A little bumpy, but there weren’t so many closeouts like yesterday.
“Noah’s about as good as they get on the nose, but I don’t think he was hitting the lip,” he offered about his opponent. “Judges liked what I was doing a little bit more. It’s too early to think about future heats, but I’m just trying to keep my nervous legs away. Hopefully it’s clean tomorrow and we can keep this thing going.”
Last year’s Oxbow runner-up Jason Ribbink (SAfr) continued to impress with his aggressive style of modern longboarding. Against Alex Knost (USA), the South African collected a 9.25 and an 8.0 for a series of powerful maneuvers. He will now meet Chris Vandervoort (Haw) in round four, following the Hawaiians two wins today.
“I just had so much fun,” said Ribbink. “My 9.25 and 8.0 were just short boarding, pretty much. I had two waves with long nose rides, but only got sevens, so if the judges aren’t scoring my nose rides I’m going to keep short boarding and give them what they like. I’m just stoked to get through another heat.”
Jeremias da Silva had his Brazilian compatriots ecstatic as he advanced over Australian Sebastien Wilson in round four this afternoon. The Brazilian acknowledged being eager to make it further to repay debts, but said his main desire was winning.
“I felt really calm and relaxed before the heat,” said da Silva. “Then I paddled out thinking about my family, and just went about surfing. I think God has helped me a lot, as I didn’t have the money to come here and had to borrow it, so now I can pay him back and bring some money home. But mainly I want to win some more heats.”
David Simmons put in two commanding performances today, eliminating fellow Australian Dane Wilson in round two, before ousting Kekoa Uemura (Haw) in a close round three battle. Uemura, who had won his clash this morning after posting a 9.0 ride in the dying seconds, wasn’t able to repeat the result.
“I’m stoked,” began Simmons after his second win. “Every heat is like a final. The standard is just that much higher. All credit to Oxbow for bringing it together.”
Jonathon Larcher (Fra) secured a result equaling any he’s achieved in seven previous Oxbow championships by eliminating Grant Thomas (Aus) in round three. The Frenchman made the most of an inconsistent heat, sealing victory with a final 8.25 ride.
“We didn’t have too many waves during the heat, but thankfully I found two good ones at the end,” said Larcher. “I’m happy with equally my best result, but I want to do better (laughs).”
Three-time (1993-95) Oxbow champion Rusty Keaulana set the Hawaiian pace this morning in round two, taking out the heat of the day against Josh Baxter (USA) with a two-wave total of 17.65 points. Having secured a brilliant 8.9 score, as well as another 8.75, he managed to close the door on his opponent, in what proved a fantastic duel. He will now face 2000 Oxbow world champ Beau Young (Aus) in a highly anticipated round three match-up.
“I was just trying to enjoy myself,” said Keaulana. “Me and Josh are good friends, so I just went out there to do what I have to do.”
Fellow Hawaiian Duane DeSoto won the first heat of the day, eliminating Italian Leo Ranzoni. The former world #3 (1997) now faces Paulo Kid (Brz) when round three recommences.
“I started a little slow,” explained DeSoto. “Then got an 8.5 on my second wave and was leading, with Leo needing a combination of rides.”
Zack Howard (USA) was another to earn two wins today, eliminating Keegan Edwards (Haw) and then fellow Californian Darren Ledingham afterward. Ledingham had beaten Romain Maurin (Fra) this morning, but against his friend was searching for a 7.01 at heat end.
“I’m stoked I made it,” said Howard. “We’re good friends, but that’s how it goes in competition.”
Lucas Proudfoot (Aus) held off Andrew Logreco (USA) in round two. The indigenous Australian put his powerful backhand turns through their paces for the judges’ nod. He is up against David Kinoshita (Jpn) in round three, after the Japanese surfer advanced past Thibault Dussarat (Fra) this morning.
“Very similar,” agreed Proudfoot, of La Rocca resembling his home break of Cabarita. “I did feel a little bit at home, even though I’m 10,000 miles away (laughs).”
Michael Gredon (SAfr) greatly improved on his first round showing to defeat Elliot Dudley (GB) today. The South African was all smiles as he ensured more US prizemoney to exchange into his nations’ struggling Rand.
“Elliot got stung by a blue bottle at the beginning and I just waited for the sets,” explained Gredon. “I’m about a foot bigger than him, so I tried to stamp some authority (laughs). I got 13-points for that heat and only 6.75 my first one, so I’m stoked to double my scores. It’s hard traveling the world on the Rand, but Oxbow look after us here.”
Despite losing to Sebastian Wilson this morning, Mexico’s sole representative in the Oxbow championships, Angel Salinas, was still extremely grateful to have been invited. Hailing from Puerto Escondido and renowned for his big-wave abilities, Salinas gave praise to the top rated surfers.
“I feel happy that Oxbow gave me the wildcard and am glad to be here,” said Salinas after his defeat. “I want to say thanks again for them having the contest here in Mexico. It’s good because in the future there are going to be more longboarders. For myself, it was a pleasure to be part of this in Cabo San Lucas. I come from big waves in Puerto Escondido, so I did the best I could here. These guys are great though, everybody deserves to win.”
The Oxbow World Longboard Championships boasts a 10-day waiting period from August 22-31. Only 33 hours of competition are required to determine the 2002 champion, with detailed releases and digital images available daily.
Live heat scores are available on www.oxboweb.com & www.aspworldtour.com during competition hours.
Official results of the Oxbow World Longboard Championships
Round Three
H1: David Simmons (Aus) 16.45 def. Kekoa Uemura (Haw) 15.4
H2: Jye Byrnes (Aus) 16.9 def. Taylor Jensen (USA) 14.5
H3: Chris Vandervoort (Haw) 15.0 def. Ian Bell (Aus) 14.6
H4: Jason Ribbink (SAfr) 17.25 def. Alex Knost (USA) 10.1
H5: Jonathon Larcher (Fra) 15.5 def. Grant Thomas (Aus) 11.75
H6: Jeremias da Silva (Brz) 15.1 def. Sebastian Wilson (Aus) 12.9
H7: Zack Howard (USA) 14.75 def. Darren Ledingham (USA) 13.0
H8: Colin McPhillips (USA) 18.0 def. Noah Shimabukuro (Haw) 14.0
Round Two
H1: Duane DeSoto (Haw) 15.5 def. Leo Ranzoni (Ita) 8.85
H2: Sebastian Wilson (Aus) 11.75 def. Angel Salinas (Mex) 7.5
H3: Noah Shimabukuro (Haw) 14.75 def. Josh Constable (Aus) 13.95
H4: Kekoa Uemura (Haw) 16.0 def. Sam Bleakley (GB) 14.0
H5: Ian Bell (Aus) 16.25 def. Eduardo Bage (Brz) 13.25
H6: Lucas Proudfoot (Aus) 12.75 def. Andrew Logreco (USA) 8.25
H7: Rusty Keaulana (Haw) 17.65 def. Josh Baxter (USA) 17.1
H8: Darren Ledingham (USA) 14.0 def. Romain Maurin (Fra) 12.5
H9: Zack Howard (USA) 16.5 def. Keegan Edwards (Haw) 12.25
H10: Michael Gredon (SAfr) 13.25 def. Elliot Dudley (GB) 12.0
H11: Alex Knost (USA) 14.2 def. Augusto Saldanha (Brz) 13.6
H12: David Kinoshita (Jpn) 13.5 def. Thibaut Dussarat (Fra) 11.75
H13: Chris Vandervoort (Haw) 16.5 def. John Lee Ryan (GB) 13.85
H14: David Simons (Aus) 15.6 def. Dane Wilson (Aus) 13.0
H15: Taylor Jensen (USA) 15.25 def. Yoshinori Matsuyama (Jpn) 12.6
H16: Paulo Kid (Brz) 14.8 def. Devon Howard (USA) 12.4
Further information:
Jesse Faen
Media Director, ASP Int’l
jesse@aspworldtour.com
www.aspworldtour.com
Mobile (on-site): +61-(0)-407-189-289
ASP Int’l office (Aus): 617-5599-1550
Oxbow
Christelle Séguy: christelle.seguy@free.fr
Tel: +33(0)-556-82-0715; Fax : +33(0)-55770-2449
Digital images will be available free of charge from Pierre Tostee/ASP: tostee@aspworldtour.com