China World Longboard Championships
Razman chaired up the beach by Team Skindog – Ben Skinner and Grasey
Rajzman Claims His Second World Longboard Title in China
Skindog finishes fifth
Riyue Bay, Wanning/CHN (Sunday, December 11, 2016) – Nine years after his first Title, Brazilian Phil Rajzman has taken out the 2016 Jeep World Longboard Championship presented by Wanning. Rajzman overcame Steven Sawyer in the Final, which was held in 3-5-foot waves at the left hand point break at Riyue Bay on the .
Rajzman surfed a solid event but left his best performance till last displaying huge commitment to nose rides and smooth flowing power turns to post a huge heat total of 17.34 (out of a possible 20). Sawyer, needing an excellent single wave score of 8.85 (out of a possible 10) took a number of waves under priority but was unable to find the score he needed, leaving Rajzman to take his second WSL
Earlier Razman had taken out Britains hope Ben Skinner in the quarter finals.
Skindog fifth in the world
Steven Sawyer second place.
Tory Gillerson had taken the womens title on the Saturday.
Longboard World Title.
“This does not feel real,” Rajzman said. “I feel like it won’t hit me properly for a few days. This event is so amazing because us Longboarders only catch up a few times a year and we are like a big family. Coming and seeing everyone is great and then to win and have all of this support is just unbelievable. I am just so happy.”
Rajzman made history in 2007 becoming the first Brazilian Surfing World Champion. Nine years later he has done it again and believes this one is the sweetest.
“In 2007 I was young and didn’t work too hard for it and didn’t think to much about winning the Title. This one is different – it’s nine years later and I have been working so hard to keep surfing at a high level. All of the work has paid off and it is so important to me, this is the greatest win of all.”
Harley Ingleby
Skindog safely through to round four. Bearman exits in round three despite scoring highest wave.
Skindog was uncharacteristically nervy during his opponant 18 year old Californian logger Kevin
Skvarna but came through on experience.
Bearman went down fighting in round three losing by 0.08 of a point against Saffa Mike Moir and even had highest scoring wave of the heat. Tough loss for the big man as his scores were up with the best though the comp.
Heat 5 of Men’s Round 3 was the most anticipated of the event so far with Two Time World Champion Harley Ingleby coming up against France’s style-master Antoine Delpero. Delpero controlled the heat until the dying minutes when Australian Ingleby took the lead. With only seconds to go, Delpero took off and went to work, riding the nose and carving stylishly. He earned the score and moved into first, but only momentarily, as Ingleby was behind him hanging-ten for what felt like an eternity. The judges loved Harley’s commitment to the nose ride and awarded him an excellent 8.37 to win the heat.
“That was such a gnarly heat,” Ingleby said. “Coming up against Antoine so early in the contest was crazy as he is always a favourite to win the championship. I was struggling to find the sort of wave I wanted all heat so it really came down to the last exchange. I heard his score first and was gutted but then heard mine and am over the moon. The close heats are always hard but it’s great when you come out on top.”
After entering the event late as an alternate, Thomas King was stoked to have made it to Round 3. That was until he came up against Reigning world Champion Piccolo Clemente. Clemente wasted no time dropping two excellent scores early in the heat to put King in a combination situation. He then continued to increase his lead dropping the first perfect 10-point ride of the event as part of his heat total of 19.80. Clemente’s near perfect heat total is the highest of the event so far.
“The waves are pumping today, it is amazing to have waves like this for a competition,” Clemente said. “As I said earlier, this wave is similar to where I have been training so I feel confident to pull the moves I do on a wave like this. I definitely have a lot of confidence after that heat, posting the scores I did feels good.”
Heat 8 of Men’s Round 3 was an all Hawaiian affair with nose-riding extraordinaire Kai Sallas taking on Ned Snow. Sallas meant business taking off on sets and moving straight to the nose through the most critical sections of the wave. Sallas’ aggressive yet poised nose riding saw him take the heat with a solid total of 18.16.
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Bearman safely through to round three
In one of the windier heats of the Day, Englishman Adam Griffiths had to be more tactical than ever if he was to progress into Round 3. Keeping busy and not waiting on just set waves was the way to go and that is what Griffiths did. Griffiths rode some long hang tens to post a modest heat total of 13.84 and progress into Round 3 to equal his 2015 WLC result.
“That was a really tough heat,” Griffiths said. “Round 2 heats are always really nerve-racking, you really want to just make it to Round 3. I knew Augusto (Olinto) would be a tough competitor and luckily I got a couple of good ones and locked in my scores early. I really got lucky in that one.”
Heat 1 of Men’s Round 2 saw an unexpected appearance from two time World Champion Taylor Jensen. The San Diegan struggled to find his usual dominating form but scraped through the heat with a total of 12.67 (out of a possible 20).
“No heat should be taken lightly even a Round 2 heat against a wildcard,” Jensen said. “I feel I have been surfing pretty average this week, I felt a little better in that heat so I just hope I continue to build momentum. It’s nice to see some swell here so hopefully it keeps running and I can keep building on my performance.”
The biggest upset of the contest so far came in Heat 3 when 18-year-old Peruvian Lucas Garrido Lecca took down American stalwart Tony Silvagni. In his first WLC, Garrido Lecca had nothing to lose displaying incredible poise on the nose and amazing style on rail. Silvagni surfed a solid heat but could not overcome the excellent scores dropped by Garrido Lecca including an 8.67 and 8.50 (out of a possible 10). Garrido Lecca moves into Round 3 where he will meet current World Champion and mentor Piccolo Clemente.
“The waves were so fun today,” Garrido Lecca Said. “Being my first year at the WLC I feel like I have nothing to lose. I just went out to have fun and catch lots of waves with no pressure. My next heat I will surf against Piccolo (Clemente) who is not only my hero but my coach so that will be really interesting, I can’t wait.”
Another former World Champion who found himself in the unfamiliar position of surfing in elimination Round 2 was Brazilian Phil Rajzman. The powerful natural-footer was on the ropes early with young Aussie Nic Jones posting a solid heat total of 14.67 on his first two waves. Rajzman slowly built momentum to overcome Jones with the biggest heat total of the Round, a 17.87 including a near perfect 9.50.
“Yesterday the waves were a lot smaller and harder for me to perform so I felt a lot more comfortable out there today,” Rajzman said. “The wind is super strong so nose riding was tough. I have been working on my classic style over the last few years to meet the new criteria. I really enjoy surfing to the new criteria it is great for longboarding as it is a good mix of powerful and classic style.”
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Day one
Bearman to surf in round 2 after being pipped in close heat despite an 8 the highest scoring wave of the heat .
Skindog makes it through to round three comfortably,
Kevin Skvarna who posted the 3 highest single-wave scores of the day.
The Jeep World Longboard Championship mens division kicked off last night with the completion of Men’s Round 1. The Men were treated to clean 2-foot surf for their opening non-elimination round.
Reigning two-time World Champion Piccolo Clemente surfed his first heat at Riyue Bay since his victorious final in 2015. The Peruvian looked in good form, posting a near excellent heat total of 15.93 (out of a possible 20). The win wasn’t an easy one however with young Australian Jack Entwistle nipping at his heels and only missing the top spot by 0.26 points.
“The conditions today are pretty tough with the strong off-shore wind but I’m happy because there are waves,” Clemete said. “It’s good to be back here, I have a good crew I’m travelling with from home, my boards feel good and I have been training hard in the lead up to the contest. I feel confident and want to take the title back to Peru.”
Another Former two-time World Champion to have success in his opening Round Heat was Australian Harley Ingleby. The powerful natural-foot looked in good sync riding long hang-tens and throwing buckets of spray on his big roundhouse cutbacks to post one of the highest heat total of the day, an excellent 16.87.
“That was the best surf I have had in ages,” Ingleby said. “It looks so good out there but it is pretty tough. The forecast is looking really good so we should get a bit more energy on the point. The next few days should be good, it will be great too have some big open walls to play with.”
The hands-down standout of Round 1 was 18-year-old Californian Kevin Skvarna who posted the 3 highest single-wave scores of the event so far in his opening heat; The top two of these being a near perfect 9.67 and a 9.73 for an amazing heat total of 19.40. After coming last in his first World Championship appearance in 2015, the talented natural-footer put his traditional style to the judges and showed that surfing with poise and grace on a single-fin can not only win you heats but see you dominate them.
“I feel like I have a lot more left in me,” Skvarna said, “I still feel like I’m not in a total rhythm yet so for sure could surf beyond what I just did. It’s really nice to see that you can ride a single-fin the traditional way and get scores. This is the way I surf a longboard and I’m not going to change it for anybody. I’m just having fun.”
Having spent a few weeks getting in tune with the long lefts of Riyue Bay, Steven Sawyer of South Africa finally got to put his put his practice into play when he hit the line-up in Heat 5 of Round 1. The silky smooth natural footer was a rank-outsider in his heat as he drew former two-time world title-holder Taylor Jensen. Sawyer never looked in trouble however as he nose rode and switch turned his way to first with a solid 16.27 heat total.
“I’m having the time of my life,” Sawyer said. “I’ve been here for two weeks and have been scoring amazing waves the whole time then to get that heat win, I can barley speak. My focus is a more, single fin, soulful traditional longboarding so to drop such high scores with that sort of game is a great feeling.”
In 2015, Ben Skinner had a dream run and equal 3rd in the world finish. With that experience he has shaped himself the equipment that could take him all the way in 2016. This was proven in Round 1 as he cruised through the tricky conditions and directly into Round 3.
“It’s always nice to get recognition from the judges,” Skinner said. “When you paddle out for your first heat you never really know what you will get scored for so to get rewarded for your surfing is great. The board I’m riding at the moment suited the waves today really well, I made the board for this wave on days like this and it worked a treat. It was able to lock in when the wave stood up and still stay loose in the flatter sections.”
Check back tomorrow to see if competition will continue at Ruiye Bay as we move into the eliminationRound 2 across both men’s and women’s divisions.
The 2016 Jeep World Longboard Championships hosted by Wanning Province with support from Corona waiting period runs from Dec 4-13 and will be broadcast live at www.worldsurfleague.com. Visit the site or the WSL App in the lead up to the event for more information.
