RICK FIGNETTI
It was thunder down under in South America at the World Championship
Tour's $260,000 Nova Schin Surf Festival in Brazil, held at Imbituba,
Santa Catarina.
The surf was dropping, but still a fun 2 to 3 feet with offshore
conditions as thousands of spectators hit the beach to watch
Australian Taj Burrow take the crown with the big win. Burrow -- a
winner in Brazil in 1999, 2002 and now again in 2004 -- was
unstoppable, opening up with an 8.5 wave to set a fast pace over
fellow Aussie Tom Whitaker. In the later goings, Burrow threw a huge
air reverse that scored big time (9.33) in the excellent zone and
sealed the deal again, winning $30,000 and also moving up to fifth in
the overall standings.
Whitaker, with his best performance thus far, moved up 13 spots to
No. 13 as he tried to secure a spot on the elite tour next season.
Two Brazilian wildcards lost in the semis, placing equal third,
Renan Rocha and Tanio Barreto. The U.S.' Kelly Slater lost in the
quarters for a fifth place finish, but was heard saying he'd love to
finish the season off with a win at Pipe.
Here it is, the big news. Two-time world champ Andy Irons made it
to round four, and Australian Joel Parkinson, the only guy with a
slight chance of stopping Irons in the points race, needed to win the
event, but lost out in round three. So, A.I. does it again, another
world title with a super consistent season, some big wins, lots of
finals and, of course, some huge time ripping!
Irons joins a select few, with three or more world titles, Santa
Barbara's style master Tom Curren won three, Australian twin fin
extraordinaire Mark Richards has three and Kelly Slater, the surfing
freak of nature, has six in the men's.
The tour now heads for the North Shore of Hawaii for the
ever-legendary Banzai Pipeline. The pressure is off since the world
title has already been resolved. Last year, it was who ever beat each
other, A.I. or Slates in the final. If there's a swell, this could be
a big free-for-all for those final placings.
The Western Surfing Assn. held event No. 4 way down south at Ponto
in Carlsbad over the weekend. The surf was in the 2- to 3-foot range,
with a few line drivers and a few close outs too.
In the women's division, Surf City resident Cheryl Christofaro was
rippin' it up, taking first place honors. In the senior men's
division, Huntington's Troy Bertrand and Kelly Stevens made the
final, placing fourth and fifth respectively with a couple of nice
