Round Two Wraps Up At The Sooruz Lacanau Pro

Some perfect waves greeted the first surfers of the event this morning, glassy 4 to 5 ft sets breaking in front of the judges' tower. In order to use most of the clean consistent conditions, all was set to run double banks, going for all even number heats on the southern peak of the contest area. The classic clean sets lasted for three hours, before the on-shore winds rose over the peak, with clouds coming over the surf city of Lacanau.

With two heats running at a time all day, the surfers were happy to get their start as Hodei Collazo, who finished 5th in Newquay last Sunday, qualified for tomorrow's clashes. "This morning was insane, the waves were perfect and we all had some good time either in the event or free surfing. I think it's a pretty good call to go straight into round 2 as the forecast shows some big, maybe too big waves for tomorrow."

The west wind made it a lot tougher for surfers during the second half of the day, surfing in messy solid waves to try and get their ticket for round 2. In the middle of the WQS jungle, a few names came out of the testy and changing conditions. Among them, Danilo Costa and TJ Barron scored some convincing 14+ heat totals during round 1.

Round 2 started at 1 pm, with some of the big names of the event getting their start in the Sooruz Lacanau Pro presented by Playstation. First upset of the day was Darren O'Rafferty's elimination, the former Foster's ASP World Tour surfer losing to outsider Greg Cordeiro; after his quarterfinal result in Newquay, "Raff" couldn't find his rhythm in Lacanau.

Eneko Acero, current ASP European Pro Surf Tour leader, advanced to round 3 with a comfortable lead over Nathan Yeomans, Austin Ware and Sooruz wild card Marc Milliène from the french Caribbean islands.

Young gun Charlie Martin was one of the surprises of the day, when the 16-year-old managed to get through the two rounds despite the changing conditions in front of power surfer Nathan Carroll and Newquay's #9 Federico Pilurzu. "I'm stoked I got through two heats today. It wasn't easy out there but I just have nothing to lose in those big events. I'm on the junior tour in priority so everyone of these big WQS I'm going at is bonus. Every heat is another lesson for me and I hope I can just enjoy a bit more tomorrow," said Martin after his second place qualifier. He will surf against Jérémt Flores when competition resumes tomorrow.

Top European surfer Tim Boal was one of today's standouts, scoring 15.50 pts with confidence in the tricky tide conditions. "I was feeling good out there and I stuck to the inside to try and find the hollower waves." Asked about the surf, Boal said "it was cleaner in the morning but the swell's here so there's definitely enough waves for all of us. Could be worse so let's wait and see how it goes, but there will be consistency according to the forecast."

After securing some solid results in the first half of the year, including a win in the 4 Star WQS in France, Boal is still looking to confirm his potential. "I haven't had any good result since my victory in France and injured my knee before the Maldives event. Since then I have been recovering, went to Huntigton and Japan but wasn't feeling really good.

Talking about his Foster's ASP World Tour views, "I'm 100% focused on a possible qualification this year and as we are getting closer to Hossegor and Ericeira, some of my favourite waves, I'm definitely ready," finished Tim Boal, still running for the ASP European Pro Surf Tour championship with his current regional top 5 ranking.

The day finished at high tide, the waves getting a bit cleaner on both peaks. Fourty eight heats were held today in Lacanau and the call is set at 7 am for round 3 tomorrow. We are expecting solid 6 to 7 ft sets and the best will be ready to rock the show.

--Press Release