NATALY BERNOLD TAKES WOMEN’S, CEDRIC AUFFRET CAPS LONGBOARD
 
PLAYA JACO, COSTA RICA December 15, 2008 – After what one beachcomber named a “720” because of the 360 aerial and then the 360 slider that followed upon landing, Jason Torres (Jaco) sealed the deal and won the second date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf DAYSTAR 2008-2009 (CNS) in Playa Jaco yesterday. The International Surfing Association’s (ISA) #5 surfer in the world was spectacular in the Final Heat of the Torneo Coca-Colo Zero in front of Hotel Bahía Encantada. Torres began in the first few moments, on one wave doing 7 snaps ending with one so vertical you could set your watch to noon, and then he lay back for a while, as the current Costa Rica National Champion Gilbert Brown (Puerto Viejo) and Nino Myrie (Puerto Viejo) showed the style and class of veteran surfing.

Meanwhile, the fourth surfer in the heat, 18-year-old Antony Flores (Jaco)—a surprise entry in the Open Finals anyway—also took to the air with 360s and waves with sliders, but certainly never was able to match the feat of Torres single wave “720” that ultimately capped the Heat in its latter moments.

The waves cooperated, pulling up to a nice height and better faces of 3-4 feet that afternoon, after conditions suffered all weekend, smaller and closed out.

Torres won 1st place, with Myrie 2nd, Brown 3rd, and Flores 4th. With this 4-star trophy, Torres added 1,500 points to his CNS ranking.

Flores for his part, debuted in the Longboard division earlier on Sunday. Following in the footsteps of 2007-2008 Costa Rica Longboard Champion Diego Narango, the 2006 Open National Champion who made the shift to Longboarding for the Costa Rica National Team, Flores has hopes to grab the attention of the Federacion de Surf Board of Directors for the National Selection in the Longboard Category. His performance Sunday, steady, walking the nose, turning his log 360 degrees , is coming along, and was enough to place 2nd behind Cedric Auffret.

Auffret, who was the 2006-2007 Costa Rica National Longboard Champion, was determined and confident in his surfing on Sunday, handling his board much like a shortboard, whipping it around, doing floaters, walking the nose, and more.

“Oh yeah, I’m happy,” Auffret said afterward. “I want to be National Champion again.”

The Women’s Final also took place in the good tide and open faced waves, and once again it was a gunner between Nataly Bernold (Jaco) and the 6-time National Women’s Champion Lisbeth Vindas (Jaco), even as surfers Lupe Gallucio and Mariana Samudio demonstrated excellent surfing levels. This time, however, it was Bernold who had the better wave selection, and she was able to get off more maneuvers, a strategy, ultimately, that resulted in her receiving the 1st place trophy at the end of the heat. Earlier in the day, the Women’s division saw the return of Andrea Diaz to competition. Diaz was the very first Costa Rica National Women’s champion; she won the title in 1999.  Andrea has been away from competition for four years, and is hoping to make the Costa Rica National Team for the 2009 ISA World Surfing Games in Hermosa in August.
 
The next date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf 2008-2009 DAYSTAR will be the Torneo Witch’s Rock on January 9, 10 and 11, 2009.
 
The CNS DAYSTAR 2008-2009 International Sponsors are: Billabong, Coca-Cola Zero, Powerade, Quiksilver, Redbull, Reef, Surftech. National Sponsors include: DAYSTAR, 69Slam, 911 Groovy Radio, Balance Nature, Banana Wax, Chiclets Canopy Tours, Christian Surfers, Day & Night Beach Club,  Gimnasio Platinum, Gorila, Hotel Backyard, Hotel Terraza Pacifico, Ibarquero Design, Jass Surf Shop, Mango Surf Shop, Quique, Remax Jaco, Roca Bruja, Surfos Magazine, Tabacon, Banzaii, Carton, Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, W.O.W. Surf Shop.
 
For more information on the Circuito Nacional de Surf DAYSTAR 2008-2009 or the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica, please go to the webpage at http://www.surfingcr.net