final day at confital
The final day of the final event of the IBA world tour finish today in 1-3 foot surf. The morning saw small weak 1-2 foot inconsistant waves great the competitors. Early upsets saw Myself, Local favorite Richard Diaz,and Guillerme Tamega all lose out due to poor wave quality. The quarterfinals started to see a small increase in swell and by the semis and finals the set waves were almost 3 foot. Uri Valadaio took the world title by making the finals as Ben Player failed to advance from his semi. In the final the locals stole the show, taking both 1st and 2nd place. I do not know their names but Uri got 3rd and Hugo Pinerho got 4th. It was a super crowded at the beach bar and I had fun cheering friends on all day with the rest of the peanut gallery. I ended up in the top 5 for the end of the year IBA world tour rankings, not bad I guess, when you figure only 2 of the 9 events saw set waves over 3 foot ha ha and I got 2nd in both those events. It was a tour filled with small waves. I guess that is something I need to work on, but is that really what bodyboarding is all about ......
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you summed up really well what the tour was this year. too bad there wasnt any good / bigger waves to show what bbing is all about and have better contests with big names in the sport.
the simple fact that you dont even know the names of the contestants in the final of a world tour event shows that there's a problem with the tour and the waves. I mean, even if all the contestants were really good and did heaps of manoeuvers can you image not knowing the names of the finalists of any WCT event ? even a 'QS event ?
No money, no sponsors. I guess the tour is as good as it gets considering how poor our sport is. The webcast was really good and the coverage on the IBA site and contest website are good so the problem obviously comes from the lack of money, not the organisation.
"A good bodyboarder has to surf well in any kind of wave, big or small". These are the words of Ben Player, as of yesterday, the former world champion, in a portuguese newspaper in the eve of the Sintra comp.
Damn, of course I prefer bodyboarding in good, thick massive surf, and I know that's were Hubb, and the other superstars of this sport I love, set them selves apart from the crowd.
But to compete is not to free surf,and Player, one of the best competitors as well as one of the best surfers, knows that.
That said, it shouldn't be so extreme. You shouldn't have to surf in some of the waves I've seen you guys try to surf.
Unfortunately, the organizations of the individual events or IBA itself have some prioririties mixed up. I'm portuguese and we have great waves here, but I felt ashamed with the quality of the waves in Sintra in the last few editions, especially this year. But the problem, as Hubbard other experienced guys know, is not the spot.
Next year there's another event here, in Peniche, but the same problem that affects Sintra may affect Peniche: It's in the summer and with no decent waiting period.
So, I'm guessing another show with guys like Hubb or Tâmega, who gave us the final for the best event of 2008 (Arica), struggling in 1 footers. And God, I wish you guys saw Supertubos (in Peniche) in the winter with some off-shore wind and the right swell. They dont call it the portuguese Pipeline for nothing...
So, Jeff, I'm sorry for you and for all the other big names out there, and the fans like myself, but I just want to say, in the middle of all this long boring speech: you're not the only one who's disppointed on the waves you guys got, but Uri won fair and square. And he is a good bodyboarder and a good competitor. He wasn't my favorite, but he won.
Let's just hope next year, whoever wins this, Uri, Hubbard, Player...or super man, it's in decent waves. And if IBA rearranged the calender a bit...
Wouldn't be nice to have more Aricas?
PS: Ask PLC how it was a certain comp in a certain spot he surfed here last year. I'm leaving you a hint:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Die-GSmGdys
Good waves and I'm sorry for the size of the comment.
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