November 7, 2008 : - - Volcom Stone’s Totally Crustaceous Tour stopped in Europe for the first time in Tenerife for the Lavafish surf series in the Canary Island on Saturday 2nd of November. Punta Hidalgo was the right choice to host the contest according to most of the locals, being the only spot working good that day.

Local charger Vilaita was commentating that this was the worst week end of the year so far…when you think Canary Island you think about dry land but heavy showers, strong onshore winds and huge swell greeted us the whole stay.As usual we got lucky on Saturday with the rain stopping while we setup, what followed was morning sickness with short stretches of sunshine that continued though out the whole day.

With a total of 70 surfers signed up in the morning we started with Girls and Groms before the conditions became to challenging (swell was building up and the tide going down after 2pm was accompanied by strong rip currents).

At noon more and more spectators came to enjoy the show, meet the local scene and support their buddies…The big wall above the spot was full of people cheering when everyone’s good wave during the Groms final. A lot of action went down and the final was really disputed, with local Ivan Gonzales taking the win, throwing some good rollers and a little tube.

Already a VQS veteran Kai Garcia took second place with a very good flow and some nice cutbacks, while little Yael Peña (8 years old) took third place on a wave that he surfs almost everyday. Nico Aguirre couldn’t find the best waves and took the fourth place, congratulations you’re all qualified for the European champs in Anglet!

Surf condition’s were becoming more challenging during the girls final and neither Marta Florit nor Marian Tomas could find any good waves so they both ended up in equal third place, so to make it fair they played Rock-paper-scissors for the custom trophy …

Supported loudly by her fan club, Monica Diaz took off on some bombs and surfed good all day but fell trying radical moves during the final and ended up in second place while Cintia Borges was insuring some backside turns that made her strong enough to take the win, good job! (Apparently she also has a secret fan club and Yael is a platinum member).

The juniors were keen to surf all day, which could be seen in the level of their surfing. At the end of the day after their final it was Victo Machristi claiming first place and the Lava rock trophy for bragging rights was chased by some solid surfing form Nico Kali in second position with Jose Roman in third and Hanniel Bertoni in fourth.

The Opens division was a solid affair almost one sided for the family name of Lopez with it almost being a clean sweep enter Alexander Zirke who was inform all contest and winner of the Electric voltthrower move of the day with a nice clean frontside air which was right on the Lava rock shoreline. Michel Lopez was the man to beat and took the win with his strong attack followed by Alexander in second, Nardo Lopez (senor) was chasing in third position and the last of the Lopez was Marc Lopez who rounded out the final in fourth position.

Big thanks to all the people that helped make this event happening, to Excelentísimo Ayuntamiento de La Laguna, to Sabino (Director Técnico de la Concejalía de Deportes), to Vilaita and Alexander Zirke, to the judges and surfers that were water patrolling to help out groms and girls, to all the locals from La Punta for their help and hospitality, to Yael’s family, to the local bars and restaurants for being so cheap and good and to Electric for helping out with prizes.Maybe see you in the second Lavafish stop in Lanzarote!

Results

Girls
1- Cintia Borges
2- Monica Diaz
3- Marta de Florit
3- Marian de Tomas

Groms
1- Ivan Gonzales
2- Kai Garcia
3- Yael Peña
4- Nico Aguirre

Juniors
1- Victo Machristi
2- Nico Kali
3- Jose Roman
4- Hanniel Bertoni

Open
1- Michel Lopez
2- Alexander Zirke
3- Nardo Lopez (senor)
4- Marc Lopez

Electric Volt Thrower
Alexander Zirke Fs Air

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