DAY 2 COVERAGE
Wed, 27 Apr 2005
Body Glove Surfbout Day Two Wrap Up
- Machado Dominates Again as the Early Rounds Grind On-
By: Alex Wilson
Day two of the Body Glove Surfbout presented by Adio commenced this morning
under overcast skies that gave way to sun by midmorning. Light onshore winds
were on tap, but Lowers, which is like pizza in the fact that even when its
bad its good, was looking fun with chest to head high peelers.
Evidence of increasing competitiveness due to the progression of the early
rounds was evident, Aaron Cormican, who blew a few minds yesterday with a
stellar appearance in the first two rounds, failed to advanced from his
third round heat as he was soundly bested by a confident looking Asher
Nolan.
Infrequent sets midmorning left several competitors stranded for good
scores, but as noon approached, some nice sized split-peaks began rolling in
fairly steadily. Heat 9 saw Peter Devries continue his winning form, and
Heat 10 saw Che Stang post a high 8 on his first wave.
Former Surfbout champ Rob Machado surfed the 2 nd heat of Round 4, and
managed to take full advantage of the small and bumpy conditions with a low
slung and smooth backside attach that earned him another 9.5 and an 8.1.
Machado dominated his heat for the second day in a row, and after hitting
the beach, commented on surfing the best heat of the day despite the
challenging and small chop. "I didn't think I would be able to post scores
that high when I was looking at it before the heat," said the reserved
legend, "it seems like the wind has really been peaking at this point in the
day so it can be tough. But Trestles is a ripable wave no matter what, so I
was just looking for the ones with a good line and a nice wall.²
As the afternoon wore on, Machado's wind observations proved correct as
conditions improved from those seen during his heat. Consistent and cleaner
peaks began to push back through on the lower tide and it seemed as if a new
swell was beginning to show in the water.
Canadian Peter Devries took full advantage in Heat 9, and continued to roll
along posting a 7.5 on his first wave with an ally-oop followed by a nice
hook in the pocket. Devries then immediately got into position for another
set wave, this one a left, and tore it to the inside with a brutal series of
snaps for an 8.6 sealing the win.
Conditions continued to improve as the day wound down, and had many crossing
their fingers that scheduled bad weather for tomorrow won't show. Perhaps
they will and perhaps they wont. Regardless, log on to Bodyglove.com for Day
3 updates of Rounds 4 and 5, as well as Round 1 for the women. Check
Wavewatch.com for scheduled conditions for the week to come and log on this
Friday and Saturday to the Surfbout mini-site for live scoring.
Surfbout LIVE WEBCAST
DAY 1 COVERAGE
Tues, 26 Apr 2005
The prestigious Body Glove Surfbout presented by Adio kicked off at Lowers
this morning under blue skies and dead winds. Slightly inconsistent but
glassy 3 to 4 footers had expectations running high as competitors checked
in for the opening rounds in the crisp Southern California morning air. By
days end, those expectations had been fully realized as several competitors
put in some insane early round appearances.
Round 1 got under way as scheduled, and quickly rebounded from a slow start
as Aaron Cormican and Peter Devries put in a pair of impressive performances
in successive heats. Aerial expert Cormican hit the water for Heat 4 and
proceeded to light up the shifty peaks with a below the lip attack that
demonstrated his often overlooked versatility. Taking advantage of a nice
left and a following right, Cormican linked a savage series of backside and
frontside hooks that handily allowed him to take the heat, advancing into
the next round along with 2 nd place finisher Flynn Novak.
In the following heat, Heat 5, Canadian Peter Devries swept in posting the
highest score of Round 1 with a textbook display of contest surfing. Picking
off a set wave, the regular footer reeled off a succession of frontside
snaps, eventually connecting to the inside for a smooth 360 spin off the end
section to conclude a wave that garnered him an 8.17, a score that proved to
be the anchor of his heat winning performance.
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