LUIS VINDAS WINS COSTA RICA'S CIRCUITO NACIONAL DE SURF TORNEO PLAYA CARMEN

LUIS VINDAS WINS COSTA RICA'S CIRCUITO NACIONAL DE SURF TORNEO PLAYA CARMEN

-- GILBERT BROWN CLINCHES NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE WITH 2ND PLACE WIN THIS WEEKEND

BY: ELLEN ZOE GOLDEN/The Bevy EllenZoe@aol.com 800-548-1753

PLAYA CARMEN, Costa Rica March 17, 2008 - After two dates absent in the Circuito Nacional de Surf (CNS), Jaco's Luis Vindas won the Torneo Playa Carmen single-handedly, but in the end it was the placement of Puerto Viejo's Gilbert Brown at 2nd that came with the biggest prize-Brown earned enough points to control his destiny and clinch the 2007-08 CNS National Championship with only two more Circuito dates to go.

This fifth CNS date, with its 4 stars, gave Brown 1,295 points. This puts him at the maximum ranking, and more than Jaco's Jason Torres at #2 or Montezuma's Mattías Braun at #3 could hope to catch up with at the following two tournaments in Playa Dominical on April 5 and 6 or Playa Hermosa Gran Final Terraza-Reef on April 26 and 27.

The final heat of the Torneo Playa Carmen on Sunday, which featured Brown, Juan Carlos Naranjo (Jaco), Vindas and Jairo Pérez (Jaco), was carried out in very difficult conditions, surging waves with onshore wind which obstructed the routes of the athletes. Nevertheless, Vindas and Brown made the best decisions in taking waves, knowing when to risk, to maneuver and to connect at the precise moments. Both scored high and similar, but Vindas managed to move ahead with his slightly superior technique.

"My happiness is endless right now," expressed Brown. "Today I obtained something that I set out to do early in the year, and happily for me Jason and Mattías did not make it to the end. Now the title will come from my own performances and does not depend on the results of the others."

With his CNS 2007-08 Championship trophy to be awarded in April, Brown will have won two Costa Rica National Surf Championship titles; he has the 2001-02 Costa Rican National Surf Championship title . Only one other surfer has matched this record. That would be retired competitor Alvaro Solano of Jaco, who has two national championships under his belt: Solano was 2003-04 and 2004-04 CNS National Champion.

In other big news at Torneo Playa Carman, Jaco's Nataly Bernold finally managed to seize her first victory of the 2007-08 CNS season. She is the defender of the National Women's Surf Championship title, but up until this weekend, had not fared well this season. Yet, with two dates left in the Circuito, the possibilities of revalidating her crown will depend of the performance of Lisbeth Vindas, who has been surfing like the 5-time National Women's Surf Champion she is, and who has won several of the CNS dates so far this year.

The Women's finals took place at noon on Sunday, which complicated their participation more than anyone else who had to compete this weekend. The strong onshore winds wore away their energies each time the ladies ended up inside the waves. Regardless, during the last 15 minutes, Bernold was able to take two waves to remove any doubt she was the winner. Laura Pecoraro, who has been making the category exciting all year, took 2nd, while Lisbeth, came in 3rd.

Fourteen-year-old Carlos Muñoz of Esterillos gained promise in the Junior division over the other finalists in the last heat, including the rankings leader Pérez, Rudy Jiménez and Ramon Taliani, these last two from Playa Carmen. Alone, Muñoz rose above in skill with the best wave in the entire Torneo Playa Carmen. This occurred during the second semifinal of the Junior category: Muñoz divided equally 9.5 in a combination of 7 fluid maneuvers and exquisite handling of his surfboard. Already, he had banked a maneuver of 8 points that caused applause and ovations from the public on the beach.

Pérez came in 4 th place during the Junior finals-an unfamiliar position for the top-ranked surfer looking to regain his National Junior Surfing Championship this year, a goal still very realistically within reach.

In Longboard, Jaco's Diego Naranjo continues to demonstrate that although he is the 2006-07 CNS National Open Surf Champion he is one of the most classic, well-rounded surfers of the Circuito, as well. In this opportunity, he managed to win over the currently CNS Longboard Champion Cedric Auffret of Tamarindo .

And finally, one of the surprises of the date, in the category Junior Women, was the victory of Debbie Zec of Dominical. She managed to beat Bernold, who had taken this division 13 consecutive times.

The 2007-08 Circuito Nacional de Surf International Sponsors are: Powerade, Coca-Cola , RedBull, Billabong, Quiksilver, Roxy, Reef. National Sponsors include: 911 Groovy Radio, Banco Nacional, Witch's Rock Surf Camp, Hotel & Resort Terraza del Pacifico, Bar & Restaurant El Tabacon, Hotel Playa Carmen, Quique Surf Shop, Coldwell Banker Peninsula Trading Co., Banzaii Surfboards, Banana Wax, Remax Surfside, Cala Luna Hotel & Villas, The Backyard Hotel, Mango Surf & Skate, Jass Surf Shop, Roca Bruja Surf & Skate Shop, Carton Surfboards, Chiclets Canopy Tree Tour, Gimnasios Platinum Fitness Center, Chuck's W.O.W. Surf Shop, Shifi Surf Shots, Surfos Magazine.

For the next few days, the selected members of the Costa Rica National Surf Team will be training in Playa Hermosa and then leaving on March 19 for the third annual Central American Surf Championship in Playa Venao, Provincia de Todos Los Santos , Panamá on March 21, 22, and 23. The Tico Team will defend their two Central American Surf Championship trophies against Guatemala , El Salvador , Nicaragua , and Panama .

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The next date of the 2007-08 Circuito Nacional de Surf will take place April 5-6 in Playa Dominical. For more information on the Circuito Nacional de Surf or the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica , please go to the new webpage at www.surfingcr.net .



Results of Torneo Playa Carmen

Circuito Nacional de Surf

March 15-16

Playa Carmen

Open

1- Luis Vindas

2- Gilbert Brown

3- Jairo Pérez

4- Juan Carlos Naranjo

Junior

1- Carlos Muñoz

2- Rudy Jiménez

3- Ramon Taliani

4- Jairo Pérez

Women's

1- Nataly Bernold

2- Laura Pecoraro

3- Lisbeth Vindas

4- Dorothy Bugbee

Longboard

1- Diego Naranjo

2- Cedric Auffret

3- Ross Packman

4- Cristian Santamaría

Boys

1- Anthony Segura

2- Rudy Jiménez

3- Carlos Muñoz

4- Tamas King

Grommets

1- Tomas King

2- Josué Rodríguez

3- Elijah Guy

4- Noemar McGonagle

Mini-Grommets

1- Noemar McGonagle

2- Manuel Mesen

3- Santana Rosales

4- Leonardo Calvo

Mini-Grommets Girls

1- Leilani McGonagle

2- Naomi Bernold

3- Martha Fillingan

4- Avalon Esterak

Masters

1- Cassio Carvalho

2- Marcelos Matos

3- David Madigal

4- Mauro Sergio Oliveira

Novices

1- David Torres

2- Yader Díaz

3- Eduardo Mora

4- Alexis Chamorro

Bodyboard

1- Joan Mojica

2- Yeric Fajardo

3- Jesús Zavala

Bodyboard Women's

1- Anne Leleane Lacoste

2- Lorena Vera

3- Jimena Calvo

4- Jennifer Harder