Highlights from Day 2: Huntington Beach Pro Main Event (Sprint Racing)
Kai Lenny and Ke’ale Dorries secure convincing wins in the sprint racing
With a rising swell throughout the day, the World Series Sprints saw spectacular racing for both athletes and spectators alike, as the world’s best took on pounding surf to make it around the ‘M’ course to the finish. Drama was at a high, as clean up sets rifled through the course at times, providing a major show for the assembled crowds and spectators online. Make sure to check out the highlights from the whole day of racing, but also the sprints Final on the home page right here at www.watermanleague.com
Kai Lenny (Naish) dominated his heats all the way through to the final, popping up and over the breaking surf and then riding it in to cross the line in first place: a strong finish for the 2013 Huntington Beach Surfing Champion from yesterday, clearly benefitting from his surfing and ocean skills to be able to navigate the tricky surf to secure the victory.
Brenan Rose (Rogue) put on a stellar performance today, with some incredible sprints across the finish line and a well navigated Final heat that saw him cross the line in a clear second place to bolster his position in the Overall coming in to the Long distance racing coming up today. Clearly loving the surf conditions in these World Series Sprints, Brenan will be looking to capitalize today and get another strong result in the Long Distance, that will also see one leg of each lap going through the surf.
Casper Steinfath (Naish) puts on another strong finish in the World Series Sprint Racing, to finish in a well deserved 3rd place, only strengthening his position coming into the Distance Racing. Currently lying in 3rd place overall in the World Ratings, Casper is looking to consolidate on this position prior to the prestigious World Series Finals to take place at Turtle Bay next month.
Jake Jensen (Fanatic) and Slater Trout make up 4th and 5th place in the Finals, both finding their ways though the elimination and bracket to make their presence felt here in Huntington Beach. Slater in particular came from behind in the earlier rounds, showing grace under pressure as he pulled himself back from some difficult situations. Meanwhile Jake Jensen once again demonstrated his racing skill and prowess, regardless of the conditions, posting another strong result on the Series.
World Series Ratings Leader Connor Baxter (Starboard) makes an uncharacteristic mistake in his semifinal, falling on the final leg to miss out on qualification for the all important final here in the Sprint Racing of the Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam, presented by Starboard. Connor will be looking to make up for this tomorrow in the long distance course.
The theme in the women’s division of this Huntington Beach Pro event so far has been the young talent coming through the ranks to take on the established international talent, and the sprint racing was no different, as Australia’s Ke’ale Dorries (Fanatic) stormed to a convincing victory, winning 2 out of 3 Sprint Races in the best of 3 format for the women.
Meanwhile the other young standout was Halie Harrison (Focus SUP) from Hawaii, who won one out of 3 and second and fourth respectively in the other two races, clearly demonstrating her prowess in this form of sprint racing and drawing on her impressive surfing skills to take second place. In 3rd, Caroline Angibaud continues her great form here at the Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam, with this strong finish prior to the Final day of action.
So a lot more to come here at the Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam, as we get underway with a Na Kama Kai Youth shootout, featuring amongst the world’s best up and coming young talent (U16) from all over the world at 10.30am Sunday morning, a Pro Exhibition Surfing event at 12pm and the World Series Long Distance at 2pm. So make sure to join us live from Huntington Beach as we go live at 10.15am with the Starboard Morning Show. Keep it right here at: http://watermanleague.com/events/2013-huntington-beach-pro/
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