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Excellent Opening Day at Ferrolterra Movistar Pantin Classic by Billabong |
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Written by ASP Europe
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Friday, 27 August 2010 |
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Ricardo - Image Aquashot / ASP
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PANTIN, Spain (Tuesday, August 24, 2010) – The opening day of the Ferrolterra Movistar Pantin Classic Presented by Billabong saw several excellent performances from the strong international field in Round One of competition which was completed late this afternoon at the main event site of Pantin.
Excellent Opening Day at Ferrolterra Movistar Pantin Classic by Billabong
Consistent 3-4ft (1m) waves were on offer and improved during the day with the higher tide. Early cloud cover cleared producing hot summer weather with long rippable lefts and rights peeling off the main peak allowing all athletes to show their full array of manoeuvres.
An inform Richard Christie (NZL) 21, fresh from a 3rd placing last week in France charged everything in sight during his first-up appearance in the Ferrolterra Movistar Pantin Classic Presented by Billabong an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) sanctioned event. Kicking off with an 8.17 out of a possible 10 on his first wave Christie was on fire and followed up shortly after with a 9.10 combining powerful rail-turns with modern aerial attacks.
“It was a great heat for me again and somehow I managed to get all the waves that came through so I'm stoked. Definitely my result last week has given me heaps of confidence going into this event. I go out there to have fun and surf like I free surf so that is what I did and it worked.”
“I really like the wave here,” added Christie. “It is similar to the beach breaks we have at home and here is so beautiful and relaxed so I can hear myself think and can concentrate of the event.”
Jean Da Silva (BRA) was another standout performer continuing his recent good form since the European leg of ASP events commenced three weeks ago. Being left alone by his opponents Da Silva caught many waves during his 25-minute clash and felt afterwards that his ion of waves could improve leading into the next round.
“I'm stoked with the heat and I just wanted to keep it up through all the heat from the start to the end but I was catching all the waves I saw so if I could wait a little bit more I might have got better scores. I got some good waves but when I saw those other waves coming through I realized I should have waited a bit more. I'm stoked to surf and I am getting better and better and with my best result this year in Lacanau last week I know I can still go better so I want to stay focused and make more heats against all the competitors.”
Billy Stairmand (NZL) 20, has also maintained his consistent results by easily advancing along with Tiago Camarao (BRA) to Round Two and the ning of another successful event for the young natural-footer. Performing his trademark mixture of speed turns combined with progressive airs to finish with a two-wave combined total of 16.13 out of a possible 20 Stairmand is gaining confidence and momentum on this his first time in Europe.
“It was a fun heat out there and I have this new board it's a little nugget and there were perfect conditions out there so I took this board out there and it went off. I am getting through a lot of heats and I am not getting nervous at all because you have to get through so many heats from the start. I am travelling with some friends and everything is going well and we are having a good time here in Europe.”
The ASP European summer leg is a new experience for Stairmand and he is adapting to the different events and wave types with relative ease despite his inexperience of the locations.
“It is my first time here and the waves are really fun with little wedges off the rocks and it is a cool vibe here because everyone is nice and we are staying in a good house so it's all cool.”
David Weare (Durban, ZAF) 29, 2009 ASP Dream Tour member stormed through his Round One clash scoring two solid rides to comfortably advance to the next round. Currently sitting way down on the ASP World Rankings, Weare is looking for a result here to try and get the second half of his year's campaign up and running.
“Obviously, starting in round one is never the best thing so it is nice to get that first heat out of the way. It is hard out there to find the right waves but I guess I caught the two best that came through so I am very happy about that.”
With so much experience and the swell predicted to increase over the following days Weare is a danger to all the top seeds in Round Two and could quite easily advance to the business end of the event.
“I am fairly happy with my performance because when conditions are a little difficult you have to try and find the best waves and fortunately that paid off for me this time.”
Another call has been made for tomorrow Day 2 of the official waiting period at 09:00 (local time) for competitors of the Ferrolterra Movistar Pantin Classic Presented by Billabong and the Cabreiroa Surfing Girls.
All athletes are in search of valuable points for the ASP World Rankings. The Cabreiroa Surfing Girls is the final stop of the ASP European Women's Series and will eventually crown this year's ASP European Women's Champion while for the men it is stop number 7 of 12 for the ASP European Men's Series.
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