| Huge waves and strong winds in the 2009 Reunion Wave Classic |
| Wednesday, 09 September 2009 09:58 |
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We've had another epic session in Ravine Blanche with incredible barrels during all the afternoon, and some very extreme commitment and hot actions from all the riders who did not dare facing the elements, as the wind was also very strong. Great actions, great conditions, great public and great ambiance here in La Reunion!!! We could not expect more... Well, what can we say ? It was another classic journey of intense waveriding today in Ravine Blanche and another 3rd round could have been completed. « But not so classic » would say the locals : «it’s a long time we haven’t seen monster waves like this in Ravine. It can be big, but when it’s big it’s usually messy and today it was very clean, with beautiful opening sections…». So it did not took much time to the organization to send the first heat around 1pm. In mast high sets and wind pumping up to 30/35 knots outside, « daddy » Taboulet proved in this heat that his single fin board was still efficent against the quads of Zabala, the thrusters of Goffinet, and the twinzer of Godet. With powerful carving and great aerials launched on the best waves of the heat, Taboulet took the honour of the judges. Results of heat #1 : 1/Taboulet 2/Godet 3/Goffinet 4/Zabala In heat #2, 19 years old rider Camille Juban from Guadeloupe, showed the best of his commited style and did not dare hitting the fat lips for huge aerials or 360. Only Traversa could stop him as he had a perfect wave choice to score the best moves with his own efficient surfing style. Fernandez did his best but could not fight against these two, while McKercher was not really into it today. Results of heat #2 : 1/Traversa 2/Juban 3/Fernandez 4/McKercher Heat #3 saw battling Sifferlen against Mussolini, Caste and local Van Woerkens. With great airs and powerful surfs from the first mn of the heat, the Caledonian Sifferlen proved one more time that he did not came here for holidays! Efficient style, fluid and fast, he got washed way before the end of the heat but already has scored enough points to take the first place in this heat. Spanish Mussolini was not at his best, but charged some clean barrels insuring him more points than Van Woerkens and Caste. Results of heat #3 : 1/Sifferlen 2/Mussolini 3/Van Woerkens 4/Caste In the last heat, it was interesting to see Traversa going again for his team as Clancy was injured yesterday (5 stitches on his foot), battling against local Pichot, Voget and Bruch. But from the beginning, german Klaas Voget put some pressure and showed all his experience with a very good wave choice, solid rides on monsters and a huge aerial off the lip. Traversa also found some good barrels to ride and could express himself one more time, after he borrowed a sail to his friend Musso. Bruch showed a good aptitude and commitment, but lost a bit of time swimming after his (broken) equipment, while Pichot was doing his best to ride these giant waves today… Results of heat #4 : 1/Klaas 2/Traversa 3/Bruch 4/Pichot So that was another epic day in La Reunion, and that was surely the biggest of all. Sick waves, insane action, commitment, wipe outs, broken gear and great ambiance were the ingredients of this incredible day. And we want more !!! Let’s see if tomorrow’s forecast can allow us another different journey as it could be good to check the other spot, Etang Salé… Keep in touch and come back in tomorrow for another « hot » live from La Reunion Island… Team Results after 3 rounds completed: 1st - PICHOT/FERNANDEZ/TABOULET/SIFFERLEN. Total = 34 pts
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