Connor Baxter & Angela Jackson make it a clean sweep at the Alagoas Pro World Series
Connor Baxter makes it a clean sweep at Stop 1 of the 2014 Stand Up World Series
Connor Baxter (Starboard) put on a dominant performance today on the second day of action here at the Stand Up World Series component of the Alagoas Pro Grand Slam.
The technical long distance course saw athletes face a bit of everything, from upwind to downwind legs and from a buoy turn in the surf to a fast paced section in the lagoon in front of the Hotel Ponta verde, the course provided a test of the athletes’ complete skill set.
A dramatic start saw the usual suspects power of the beach, with Connor Baxter soon establishing the lead, with a core pack of the World’s best such as Jake Jenson (Fanatic), Kai Lenny (Naish), Kody Kerbox (Naish) and Zane Schweitzer (Starboard) right on him through the first leg.
As the fleet headed down the downwind stretch, Connor started to break away, and only strengthened his position through the rest of the course to take a dramatic win here on day 2 of the Alagoas Pro Grand Slam. With a 1st in the sprints and long distance, it was a clean sweep for the young Champion.
Angela Jackson puts on a great show here at Stop 1 in Brazil
Angela Jackson (Fanatic) starts the year off in style here in Praia do Frances, with a first in both the sprints and long distance races here at the Alagoas Pro Grand Slam, taking the overall win for the event.
Angela’s winter training is certainly paying off, as she built a healthy lead throughout the technical long distance course and powered her way through both the upwind and downwind legs of the course to take the victory. There is no doubt that Angela will be a major threat here on the World Series in 2014
Jake Jenson finishes 3rd in long distance and 2nd overall
Jake Jenson (Fanatic) continues where he left off in 2013 to put on a solid performance here at Stop 1 of the 2014 Stand Up World Series. WIth a 3rd place finish in both the Sprints and the Long distance, Jake secured 2nd overall for the event, ensuring a great start to the year for the young Australian.
Jake, Paul Jackson (Fanatic) and Angela Jackson (Fanatic) have been on a rigorous training program over the winter, and it is already paying off, as Jake looks destined for great things in 2014. Stay tuned to www.watermanleague.com for more on Team Australia as they head over to Abu Dhabi this week for the next stop on the Series.
Barbara Brasil finishes in an elated 2nd place in front of a home crowd
Back in 2013, Barbara Brasil showed herself to be one of Brazil’s fastest paddlers and a force to be reckoned with on the global stage at the Ubatuba Pro Grand Slam back in April of last year.
This year Barbara once again proved her worth, finishing in 2nd place in both the sprints and the long distance races giving her a well deserved 2nd place overall. Barabara is certainly a name to watch out for looking forward on the Stand Up World Series.
Kody Kerbox secures a 2nd place in the long distance, boosting him to 3rd overall
After an impressive performance in the Surfing World Tour event leading into this weekend’s racing (where he finished in 5th place), Kody Kerbox (Naish) has demonstrated that he is a serious force to be reckoned with in racing too, with an incredible 2nd place in the Long distance, which combined with his 6th place in the sprints from yesterday puts him into 3rd place overall for the event.
Kody is one of the new breed of talented Stand Up Paddlers who are showing themselves to be phenomenal all rounders, able to excel at the top of both surfing and racing disciplines in this incredibly diverse sport. He is clearly a major force to be reckoned with in 2014 and we are expecting great things from this young Maui talent.
Laura Quetglas wraps a successful event campaign, finishing in 3rd place overall
Laura Quetglas from Spain managed to complete a successful event here at the Alagoas Pro Grand Slam, with 3rd place finishes in both the sprint racing and long distance disciplines, to make it an impressive 3rd place overall.
Laura is one of Europe’s leading racers and will certainly be one to watch out for as we head towards the European Cup this summer, starting in her home country of Spain with the Bilbao World Paddle Challenge in June.
The Alagoas Pro Grand Slam sees record entries in 2014, across all fleets
While the Elite division saw over 50 athletes taking to the start line across both the Sprinting and Long Distance Races, the entry level and open fleet racing brought the number of racers here in Brazil to over 350 for the event.
This combined with the 120 surfers across both men and women divisions, make for an impressive footprint for the sport here in Brazil (just under 500 athletes).
This clearly demonstrates just how much the sport has grown over the past year here in Brazil and the event has been a showcase of the excitement surrounding it, with the Brazilian enthusiasm at every startline and finish and crowds flocking to see the World’s best in action.
There is no doubt that Brazil continues to grow as a major global hotspot for the sport: with the increasing hotbed of talent coming from Brazil to take part in the global competitive scene, the country is stepping up to be counted.
A big thankyou to all our event Partners and World Series Patrons
A big thank you to the Regional Government and State of Alagoas for their warm welcome, as well as Hotel Ponta Verde with their beautiful position right on the beach at Praia do Frances. Thank you also to Art in Surf, New Advance, Devassa Beer and Red Bull, not to mention our local partner Fluir Magazine and all those who helped make this incredible event happen here in Brazil.
Finally thank you to our World Tour Patrons for their continued support of the Stand up World Tour and Series, as well as our Official Hotel and Headquarters for the Waterman League, Turtle Bay. Join us again later this week in Abu Dhabi for the All Stars Grand Slam live at www.watermanleague.com
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