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SURF CITY, FRANCE
Shaun Cansdell beats Dane Reynolds to win Rip Curl Pro Super Series in Hossegor
By:
Paul Evans
Photos: All photos Sylvain Cazenave
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August 26, 2007
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It wasn't an easy week here in the Bay of Biscay.
A meteorological melange of hurricane-force winds, torrential downpours, thunder and lightning as well as the more customary blazing sunshine complete with topless bronzing mademoiselles concludes a two weeks of WQS action in Hossegor.
While the weather and ocean threw up plenty of surprises, with conditions ranging from 6ft+ and howling onshore to head-high summery midday glass, the Form Guide turned out much more dependable than the atmosphere, with stand out performances coming from rising galácticos Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith as well as the 2001 World Champion CJ Hobgood and ultimately 24-year-old Australian Foster's ASP World Tour surfer Shaun Cansdell. |
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Rip Curl's he impressive contest set-up at Plage des Bourdaines in Seignosse was under heavy siege early in the week, early rounds held between violent squalls as a series of angry Biscay storm fronts pelted France's west coast. The torrential downpours saw all Basque Coast beaches of Biarritz and Anglet closed to the public due to high levels of toxic bacteria in the run-off, which with Hossegor blown-out meant no practice time for many competitors like Aussie danger men Ace Buchan and Jay Thompson (chased off the beach by pistol-toting Gendarmes twice in one morning in Anglet), but then following day 20 miles up-current back in Seignosse, the challenge remained physical, rather than biological. With strong swell and heavy onshores, for the entire first two days, every competitor proned in to run up the beach after every wave caught. "Wow that rip is so heavy, bru," confirmed early-round standout Jordy Smith. "You've got to get out and do the run-around after every single wave, there's no paddling against it at all." Fresh from victory days earlier in the final of the Sooruz 6-Star Prime up the coast in Lacanau, an event also largely held in dumping onshore beachbreaks, man-of-the-moment Smith, accompanied by his dad, was the picture of relaxed confidence between heats, during them absolutely emphatic on a sticker-less JS and Merrick, his unabridged ripping bringing record-levels of webcast instant messages coming in from online fans from Durban to San Diego to Shanghai and everywhere between. Throwing his big 85kg frame around with apparent ease Smith delivered a series of stunning performances to salivating spectators with Andy's aggression, Parko's arcs and Taj's punts seamlessly blended into one heat strategy that would surely have had any Top 45-er regardless of rank quaking in their booties. "Wow, that's awesome. I guess it hasn't really sunk in yet. That's what it's been all about, so yeah, I'm really pleased they say I've made it."
-- Dane Reynolds after being reminded he qualified for the 2008 ASP World Tour
Reynolds' relatively straight-forward amassing of the required 11500 points tally in 2007 -- as well as his stunning performance in the man-on-man clash with 17 year old local French ripper Marc Lacomare - makes you wonder how he ever managed to make such labor of it all in seasons previous. He put on as good a display of speed, flair and creativity a beachbreak WQS event has seen this year. Simultaneously, powerful Australian regularfoot Jay "Bottle" Thompson was also informed he's made the cut, taking the number of confirmed qualifiers to five (along with Smith, Portugal's Tiago Pires and Ben Bourgeois.) In the Quarters, Top 45 strugglers CJ Hobgood, Shaun Cansdell and Luke Munro stood out. CJ, who'd looked pretty much unbeatable all event disposed of Jordy, before ultimately bowing out to Cansdell in the Semis. Reynolds' Quarter's opponent was San Clemente's Patrick Gudauskas, who, whilst being one of the form guys all week could do little to halt Reynolds on a roll. "Sure, I'm bummed I lost," grinned the apparently ever-stoked Gudauskas post heat, "but quarters in the biggest event of the year is still pretty cool, plus Dane is absolutely on fire right now." Reynolds then disposed of Brazil's tenacious Rodrigo Dornelles to meet Cansdell in the final. "I've been trying to just free-surf my heats," explained Reynolds on what's made the difference for him in 2007 after defeat by Cansdell in diminishing conditions in the final. "But in this one, I started to think about it too much. I fell early on - maybe I was trying a little too hard." When reminded he'd officially qualified, "Wow, that's awesome. I guess it hasn't really sunk in yet. That's what it's been all about, so yeah, I'm really pleased they say I've made it." Cansdell netted 3500 pts and $20 000 in his career-biggest win to date, helping his cause of requalification through the WQS backdoor, while Reynolds goes 2nd on the WQS and into the big leagues for 2008 while America dares wonder if it might indeed have a brand new 2008 World Title contender. RIP CURL PRO SUPER SERIES FINALS RESULTS Final: Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 16.00 pts defeated Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.33 pts Semi-Final #1: Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 14.33 pts defeated CJ Hobgood (USA) 12.00 pts Semi-Final #2: Dane Reynolds (USA) 16.10 pts defeated Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 11.67 pts Quarter-Final #1: CJ Hobgood (USA) 16.04 pts defeated Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.17 pts Quarter-Final #2: Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 13.50 pts defeated Royden Bryson (ZAF) 12.00 pts Quarter-Final #3: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 13.37 pts defeated Luke Munro (AUS) 13.10 pts Quarter-Final #4: Dane Reynolds (USA) 14.66 pts defeated Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.84 pts MORE SURF NEWS SURFLINE HOME PAGE |
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