The Italian-Costa Rican resident of Malpais in Puntarenas, Ramón Taliani prevailed Sunday at the premier date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf DayStar in Playa Westfalia in Limon, beating in the finals the Jaco residents Luis Vindas and Jair Pérez, not to mention Tamarindo’s Luis Castro.
In front of Hotel del Pilón, close to 1,500 people watched the finals and semi-finals from 11 a.m., with waves of at least a meter in size.
It was sunny in Limon and the atmosphere was great, adding tremendous support for the last heats, as Castro mounted a lead for the first 10 minutes, while Taliana lacked a better wave only scoring 8.00 points in the first minutes.
He eventually added two better waves - rights with strong maneuvers initiated on the routes. Vindas and Pérez had bad luck in each of their decisions, lacking the ability to find waves. Castro put in some of the highest combinations, but Taliani ultimately obtained the highest points in the race surfing 14.67 in the finals.
The support of the group from Malpais and Santa Teresa was present with shouts and pats on the back since it was the first time that a surfer from this región won a 1st place trophy in the Open category of the Circuito. Previously, Olman Morales of Santa Teresa had been the best winning 4th place last season.
“First I want to be thankful for God, family, and to the people of Malpais who take the credit to a large extent for this win. This is the best moment in my surfing, and the reason why I want to dedicate the win to the zone is that it has good waves and excellent surfers there,” said Taliani, who adds 1,500 points to his rankings with this win.
With Sunday’s win in the Women’s category, Lisbeth Vindas has now won all three of the Circuito Nacional de Surf DayStar 2009-2010 dates, and that makes her a favorite for her eighth title for Women’s National Surf Champion. The three wins were all 4 star wins, and according to the rules, she can keep the best four results, and eliminate the three lowest.
Nevertheless, to gain a win, and shut Lisbeth out, Nataly Bernold and Jordan Hundley still have the power to overcome her results by winning the remaining dates, which have higher ranking point stars. That could bring a fight for the title to the finals at Playa Hermosa.
At the end of the day on Sunday, the present Women’s National Champion, Lisbeth, gave indicators of defeat in the last two minutes in her final series, when she pulled a long left and earned 5.50 points that she needed to command the win and push Bernold to the 2nd position of the heat.
“I do not even feel like the favorite, especially since Jordan and Natalie make things happen and the level of both of them is very high, even Mariana (Samudio). Yes, I am going to be in all the dates of the Circuito and I want to win the title,” affirmed Lisbeth.
And finally, in Junior Carlos Muñoz, who did not classify in the last rounds of the Open, was concentrating on winning the Under 18, where he devated with the highest combination of the date. He came away with a 16.00 and 9.17 respectively in his last two heats.
With this, the Junior, in this third date of the Circuito, sees a new winner after Maykol Torres took Esterillos and Jaco.
The next date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf DayStar will take place in Tamarindo on March 13 and 14. The Torneo Witch’s Rock will be a 4-star contest awarding 1,500 to winners in each category.
The Circuito National DayStar 2009-2010 is sponsored by: DayStar Properties, LimeCoral Apparel Company, Red Bull, 911 Groovy Radio, Quiksilver, Britt Iced, Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, Mango Skate & Surf, Banzaii Surfboards, Carton Surfboard, Odessa Clothing, Ibarquero Design, and Surfos Magazine.
Open
1 - Ramón Taliani
2 - Luis Castro
3 - Luis Vindas
4 - Jair Pérez
Junior
1 - Carlos Muñoz
2 - Jordon Hernandez
3 - Anthony Fillingim
4 - Danny Bishko
Women’s
1 - Lisbeth Vindas
2 - Nataly Bernold
3-Mariana Samudio
4-Jordan Hundley
Longboard
1 - Anthony Flores
2 - Carlos Muñoz
3 - Esteban Leitón
4 - Adolfo Gómez