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It’s been such a perfect week-end in Lacanau Océan, France, for stop #2 of The European Tour of Longboard 2007 (ETL). Only one week after Faro, Portugal, Lacanau Surf Club and its Swissknife-manager Charly “Shrek” Henno got blessed with perfect, offshore & sunny conditions. The event was launched on Friday morning, with about 60 riders (boys & girls) in three to five foot glassy waves, definitely good for longboard surfing even if during all the contest the sandbars were not at their best, forcing the waves to closing out most of the time.
The three days format was really comfortable for the contestants, letting them time to focus on every heat, day by day, knowing the final heats would be held on Sunday, On Saturday morning, no big surprise after day one, the best Portuguese and French got through, even if not seeded as they missed the first stop at Faro, young Mathieu Maréchal and Hugo Le Frapper, both Junior French Champs as well as Reunion Island Coline Ménard and Longboard Superstar Justine Dupont (Lacanau Surf Club, runner-up World Champion at only 15 years old) made the difference and earned their slot in the next round. The contest stopped for Friday after these first rounds and the contestants (and staff members) were free to enjoy the good high tide surfing conditions.
Contest resumed on Saturday around midday with the semi finals of Tandem Surfing and Girls in overhead, glassy but closing-out conditions. The line up was really far away outside and the paddle out seemed to be really exhausting, as the impact zone was as wide as a rugby field, with strong currents and two feet high foam pillows floating on the surface. Big up to young tandem partners Adrien & Laurie (16 and 10 years old) who got their heads smashed in the impact zone way to many times, but kept on and went through to the finals. No big surprise for Rico & Sarah, Jeremy & Julie (both Lacanau Surf Club), and Julien & Marie (Montalivet SC) who qualified for the final as Caroline & Loïc (Breteam SC), winner of the French Cup of Tandem 2007 couldn’t be there as Loïc has had a hand injury since the World Championships in Hawaii in August. The girls’ semis were no different: Justine Dupont, Coline Ménard, Claire Dereux and Agathe Lassalle all qualified in nerve-testing conditions, as the tide was shifting and the sandbars were not giving a lot of surfing opportunities. Caroline Angibaud got trapped in her outside option, waiting the set that never came and didn’t go through.
Again, a great level of longboard surfing for the girls, and, as the only girls stop on the 2007 E.T.L, let’s hope next year’s tour will include more girls’ contests. In the men’s division, the show was on. The waves became really gnarly, with 6 to 7 foot challenging glassy sections for the contestants. The rounds of sixteen and the quarters were run until dark, after a short break with the tide coming. Huge commitment was shown by the guys who got through, as Remi Arauzo (Vieux Boucau Surf Club, France) who literally flew over the hollow falls, standing on his nose and easily qualified for the semis. Antoine Delperro, (World ranking #5), Timothée Creignou, Ben Skinner, and Alexis Deniel all lit the gathering up with huge carving off the tops, insane endless noserides and committed moves in these overhead waves, breaking a few meters from the sand in knee-high water. The quarter finalists had a ball as the waves went totally bananas, the guys couldn’t help but surf better and better, with high scoring rides until the very end of every heat.
There was huge disappointment for French style master and European Champ Romain Maurin (Boucau SC), who couldn’t get an average scoring ride in the last seconds and got smacked in the quarters.
As the dusk was coming the contest stopped, leaving only 7 heats for the next day. Plenty of time though, to enjoy a good “apéro” in front of the beach, warming up for “The Match”: England vs. France in the semis of the World Cup of Rugby. Lacanau Surf Club had it all, with a huge home made “couscous party” in front of the giant TV screen in the club house. A happy gathering of at least 80 enjoyed the match, in which we found three English lads, proudly representing their colours: Ben “Wilkinson” Skinner, James Parry and Adam Griffith. They smartly kept silence until the final whistle and remained pretty quiet as all the French were down on their knees, disappointed by their loss. We all enjoyed the evening party, sharing a couple of beers before heading to bed to rest for the final day. On Sunday morning, the conditions are as good as possible, no wind, 6 to 8 foot outside sets, loads of people enjoying the sweet beach life of a warm sunny Sunday. The contest resumed with the semis and the pressure was on. Antoine Delperro was the wave magnet of the heat, leaving to his peers only the second slot. Remi Arauzo & Ben Skinner wrestled on high scoring rides but the English got through by 0.2 points. The second semi was also a huge heat with two different approaches of longboard surfing. On one hand were Timothée Creignou and Damien Castera (Basque Country, France) ; all in classical, endless noserides and on the other hand was Alexis Deniel (Seven Islands SC, North Brittany, France), with jaw breaking off the lips and tremendous roundhouse cutbacks. A little bit of modern and classic and Timothée Creignou got first, Alexis second, leaving Damien needing only inches… The final heat was very promising with a confrontation of style and wave approach on perfect overhead conditions. These four guys took a rest during the finals of Tandem Surfing & Girls. The tandem final was a show, held at the beginning of the afternoon in front of a huge gathering, the eight contestants made the show, Rico & Sarah had the best waves and won it easily in front of Jeremy & Julie, super youngsters Adrien & Lorie and in fourth came Julien & Marie. The 30 minutes girls’ final was over after less than 10 minutes. Young Justine Dupont ruled, as the second, third and fourth needed a 15,26pts combination after two excellent scoring rides of the prodigy. She selected the best waves, using her local knowledge, and left the other girls fighting for the second place. Another incredible performance for Justine, who, in front of her audience, proved her easy supremacy. Soon after the men’s final began. All the finalists brought their backup boards down on the beach as half a dozen longboards got snapped during the contest on the infamous sandbar.
Antoine Delperro lit the fire with a 7,5pts ride in the first minute, but it would soon be too low a score as all the guys went crazy, scoring 8 points rides, posting excellent scores on every wave ridden. The pressure went bigger as ETL leader Timothée Creignou nailed two smoking rides, with brilliant noserides and 6 foot re-entries landed with authority. Perfect mix of classic and modern longboard surfing, Timothée won the final, once again against his British Nemesis Ben Skinner, inches-close behind. Antoine Delperro got third, unable to find a good second wave, and in fourth came Alexis Deniel, with two really good rides, but not enough to reach the higher steps. The four finalists were all above the 14 points total out of possible 20 on two scoring rides, showing all their abilities in Lacanau’s challenging waves.
A great show on a fantastic week-end. Everything was perfect, big up to all the lads at Lacanau Surf Club for their commitment to Longboard Surfing and their world class organization. results and heats available here Next stop will be ESTORIL, Portugal next week-end for a possible title for Timmy Creignou.
Keep surfing Julien « Vico » Hamel
The E.T.L on behalf of the European Surfing Federation, wishes to thank: Royal Air Maroc ; les ailes de l’Afrique - Le Crédit Agricole - Hipup - Waff- les pépinières Derly – www.surfingradio.com - Océan surf report- www.viewsurf.com- UWL- centre UCPA de Lacanau- Banana Surf Café - la mairie de Lacanau – le Conseil Général de la Gironde – Le Conseil Régional d'Aquitaine – Le ministère de la santé, de la jeunesse et des sports - le Comité Surf Gironde – Le Comité Régional d'Aquitaine de Surf – La Fédération Française de Surf – www.surfingfrance.com - Surf et Handicap - Ecosurf- L’ Européan Surfing Fédération- ETL – ITSA.
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Longboard Tour - ETL 