Riptide Magazine

The First Day of the '11 Arica Challenge

Last Updated on Thursday, 23 June 2011 10:24

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

All Photos // IBA / Nick Bannehr

Arica Chilean Challenge - Day Three
The final day of the Arica Chilean trials was contested at El Gringo this morning with the top 7 riders securing a birth in the main event. The morning started with some smaller but cleaner 3-5 feet waves as an early offshore groomed the waves into perfect peaks.

The trials were used to showcase a new 4-man priority system that would see less hassling and more focus on getting the best riders on the best waves.
IBA World Tour manager Terry McKenna explains. “This was driven by the riders that wanted a system that would be user friendly and make sure that no waves were wasted by excess jostling in the line-up, and it worked perfectly”

First up was the semi finals of the trials and the main mission of the remaining competitors was to get the 2000 GQS points on offer as well as steer clear of 8th position, as this was the only spot that would not be going through to the main event.

Semi 1 was a heavy exchange between 4 of the most consistent competitors in the event going at it with Jones Russell (Aust) & Charly Chapelet (Reunion) proving too strong for the South American trio of Roberto Bruno (Brazil) and Emiliano Tabre (Argentina).

The second semi was a battle of the heavy hitters with the Australian duo of Mitch Rawlins and Thomas Rigby sneaking past the two locals Alan Munoz (Chile) and Renato Arellano (Chile) to set up a predominately Australian final.

Semi 1
Charly Chapelet, Reunion, 2
Emiliano Tabare, Argentina, 4
Jones Russell, Australia, 1
Roberto Bruno, Brazil, 3

Semi 2
Thomas Rigby, Australia, 2
Renato Arellano, Chile, 4
Mitch Rawlins, Australia, 1
Alan Munoz, Chile, 3

By this time the waves were pumping and El Gringo was serving up some perfect lefts & rights in the 1.5 – 2 mtr range providing a spectacular arena for the competitors to showcase their skills. Mitch Rawlins looked hungry for a win and picked the best waves to claim victory and snatch the 2000 GQS points that were up for grabs. “Finally it all came together” laughed Mitch. “It’s been a while and it feels good, but with the first round of the GSS coming up, I don’t have much time to enjoy it” said Rawlins.

The Trials final results are as follows:


With the surf still pumping and the crowd building organizers decided to run straight into the first round of the main event. The first heat of the GSS leader-board round set a blistering pace with former World Champion Damian King (Australia) firing in the gaping tubes. “I lost my board when I was in front and just kept cool” said King. “There are a lot of young guys coming through the ranks so that challenges me to keep on top of my game and keep fresh” he added.

The leader-board section of the event offers riders 6 points for a win, 4 points for second, 2 points for third and 1 point for last across the first three rounds with the Top 16 moving into the round 4 man-on-man heats.

Heat 1
Mark McCarthy, Sth Africa, 2
Diego Cabrera, Canary Is, 4
Damian King, Australia, 1
Roberto Bruno, Brazil, 3

The second heat was a see-sawing affair with all 4 riders holding first place at various stages of the heat but in the end Ben Player (Australia) showed great determination and contest savvy to come home in the dying seconds. “I saw that wave coming and knew it had the potential to get the score” said Player.

Heat 2
Jared Houston, Sth Africa, 3
Ben Player, Australia, 1
Manuel Centeno, Portugal, 4
Alan Munoz, Chile, 2

Other results from round 1 were as follows:

Heat 3
Magno Oliveira, Brazil, 3
Dallas Singer, Australia, 1
Mitch Rawlins, Australia, 2
Thomas Rigby, Australia, 4

Heat 4
Jeff Hubbard, Hawaii, 1
Michael Novy, Australia, 3
Jake Stone, Australia, 2
Cristian Fernandez, Chile, 4

Heat 5
Ryan Hardy, Australia, 4
Uri Valadao, Brazil, 3
Dave Hubbard, Hawaii, 1
Jose Otavio, Brazil, 2

Heat 6
Guilherme Tamega, Brazil, 3
Mike Stewart, Hawaii, 4
Guillermo Cobo, Spain, 1
Jones Russell, Australia, 2

Heat 7
Pierre-Louis Costes, France, 1
Eder Luciano, Brazil, 3
Lucas Nogueira, Brazil, 4
Charly Chapelet, Reunioin, 2

Pierre-Louis Costes (France) wooed the crowd with a fearless approach on the shallow reef that included a deep barrel and a highflying invert to post the day’s highest combo of 16.40 out of 20. “I like the 4 man priority” said Pierre. “It let me focus more on high performance riding rather that positioning”

In the final heat of the day current World Champion Amaury Laverhne (Reunion) looked like he owned the break stamping his authority all over the lefts to take first place.

Heat 8
Amaury Lavernhe, Reunion, 1
Dave Winchester, Australia, 2
Gastao Entrudo, Portugal, 3
Renato Arellano, Chile, 4

To see the leaderboard head to the IBA Live site.

Tomorrow’s forecast is shaping up well with a strong chance of the second round getting underway.
Here is the plan for the rest of the event:

Day 2
Round Two (8 x 4 man heats, 30minutes)
7:30 - 11:30

Round Three (4 x 4 man heats, 30minutes)
11:30 - 13:30

Day 3
Round Three (4 x 4 man heats, 30minutes)
7:30 - 9:30

Round Four (8 x 2 man heats, 25minutes)
9:30 - 12:50

Day 4
Quarter Finals (4 x 2 man finals, 30minutes)
7:30 - 9:30

Semi Finals (2 x 2 man finals, 30minutes)
9:30 - 10:30

Expression Session
10 minutes
10:30 - 10:40

Final (30minutes)
10:40 - 11:10

Presentation

International Timeline Guide - 9am Chilean time is
11pm Australia
3pm Sth Africa
2pm Spain
6am Los Angeles

When the contest is off, fans can have fun playing the wave of the event on YouRiding Bodyboarding online game.

For regular updates go to the IBA Facebook page where you can win World Tour paraphernalia just for joining facebook.com/ibaworldtour
All the action from every IBA World Tour event is made available for viewing live via redbull.com with finals available at redbull.tv.