La Torche Pro 2013 | Event Feed - SUPboarder Magazine

Friday 1st November

Kai Lenny takes La Torche Pro win & secures World Title

The La Torche Pro France presented by Naish and Twenty-Nine saw a spectacular finish for the Men’s division, with waves that more resembled Sunset Beach than what you would expect from this North West corner of France. In solid 8ft surf, Kai Lenny (Naish) put on a clinic of high performance stand up paddle surfing, taking the win here at Stop 4 of the Stand Up World Tour, and as a result, securing the 2013 World Title.

With 3 Surfing World Titles and 2 Racing World Titles, Kai has proved himself to be the most dominant figure in the sport, with 5 World Titles in 4 years across both Surfing and Racing. Having just secured the Racing World Title a few short weeks ago at Turtle Bay, Kai completes a stellar year in conditions that were nothing short of epic, making it two out of two.

Caio Vaz caps spectacular year on Stand Up World Tour

Caio Vaz (Art in Surf) finishes the year strong here at the La Torche Pro France, securing another Finals berth and 2nd place finish to add to his second places in Brazil and California. While Caio wasn’t able to secure the World TItle he was looking for, it has been a great year for the young Brazilian, as he has proved himself in both big and small surf, as he will regroup and work towards a possible title in 2014. One thing is for sure, Caio Vaz is a real force to be reckoned with and is one of the most dynamic and charismatic athletes on Tour.

Justin Holland ends the year on a high here in France

With strong performances day after day here at the La Torche Pro France showing that he was one of the on form surfers of the event, Justin Holland (Starboard) from Australia set the standard for the day with some of the most powerful surfing of the event so far, in full size surf.

Unfortunately, he came up against an unstoppable Kai Lenny (Naish) in the Semi Finals and was unable to find the form he had in his quarterfinal heat, relegating him to the consolation final. However, there he once again put on a powerful performance, finishing in an impressive 3rd place in this all important climactic event of the year.

This result puts him into 8th place overall for the year, with two 3rd place finishes, but lacking a 3rd strong result this year to be able to better his overall position. Nonetheless a real statement from the powerful Australian and a testament of what is to come from him in 2014 and beyond.

Leco Salazar finishes strong, moving up into 3rd overall

Leco Salazar from Brazil once again showed that he is one of the best in the world this week, capping a strong year for the 2012 World Champion by reaching the semi finals here at the La Torche Pro France presented by Naish and Twenty-Nine. This 4th place finish, coupled with his win in Brazil and 9th in California propels him into 3rd place overall for the year. While he was not able to defend his 2012 Title, he still made the podium and is right in the mix as we now prepare for an even bigger and better 2014.

Women & Na Kama Kai Youth to run today at La Torche

Make sure to join us today for the culmination of the Women’s World Championship Tour here at the La Torche Pro France presented by Naish and Twenty-Nine. As we come down to the wire here in France, we have 3 Title contenders coming into these final heats, as the first ever Women’s World Champion will be crowned today at La Torche.

We will also be running the semi-finals and finals of the Na Kama Kai Youth event, as the world’s best U16’s will take to the full size surf here at Pointe de la Torche to decide the event Title for 2013.

Thursday 31 October – Day 2 of Competition

Daily Reports from: WWW.WATERMANLEAGUE.COM

La Torche Pro France lights up as Titles on line

A full day of action today at the La Torche Pro France 2013 presented by Naish and Twenty-Nine, starting with the women’s repechage and ending with the first round of the Na Kama Kai Youth Challenge, with Round 3 & 4 of the women and Rounds 4 & 5 of the Men in between.

Title Race intensifies as Kai Lenny and Caio Vaz are still in

As expected, the action was intense, with some high performance conditions on offer providing really technical surf for the world’s best to show what they are made of, with Title hopes being kept alive in the men’s fleet, as both Kai Lenny (Naish) from Maui and Caio Vaz (Art in Surf) from Brazil continue their journey to towards the business end of the draw.

Kai will need to get a 3rd or better to secure the World Title, regardless of Caio’s result and Caio will need to win the event and Kai get 4th or worse in order for him to win the Title, so it will all come down to this final day of competition to decide who has what it takes to be 2013 World Champion here on the 2013 Stand Up World Tour.

Support crews and spectators are kept on the edge of seats

It was not a day without its fair share of triumphs and upsets as well as a string of nail biting moments. After being relegated to the Repechage, Caio Vaz (Art in SUrf) from Brazil kept us on the edge of our seats again in Round 4 today, as a last minute flurry allowed him to secure his place in Round 5, knocking out an on form Sean Poynter (Starboard) from the US.

Australian Stand outs on the second day of the Main Event

Despite going out by the narrowest of margins in Round 5 to fellow and on form Aussie Kai Bates (Fanatic), who made it all the way to the quarterfinals and is still in contention when contest resumes, Keahi de Aboitiz (JP Australia) from Australia put together some of the most dynamic surfing of the day, taking to the air and stringing together critical but at the same time controlled turns to win his Round 4 heat.

Wildcards and dark horses excel here at the La Torche Pro

The dark horse of the event so far has been without doubt Lucas Medeiros from Brazil, who is still in the competition, as one of the wildcards for this event. Meanwhile Antoine Delpero has made his surge as expected, looking sharper and sharper as the rounds progress here, now in the quarterfinals and taking down the world’s very best.

The situation room here at the final stop on the 2013 Tour

In the women’s division, the two favorites coming into this event, Ratings leader Nicole Pacelli from Brazil and Candice Appleby from the US went down early, leaving the door open for current number 2 Aline Adisaka from Brazil and the young lady from Hawaii, Vanina Walsh (Starboard), the latter who perhaps stands in the best position to take the World Title here in France. Both these impressive athletes are still in the competition, as when competition resumes, they will compete in their semi finals.

We are now down to the final 4, and if Vanina Walsh can get 2nd or better, she will be 2013 World Champion, while Aline needs to win the event in order for her to clinch the 2013 World Title. If Aline finishes in 2nd or worse and Vanina finishes in 4th, then Nicole Pacelli, current ratings leader will seal the deal. So it is down to the wire here in the women’s division as we witness history in the making as the World”s first ever Women’s World Champion will be crowned right here at the La Torche Pro France presented by Naish and Twenty-Nine.

Stand outs in the women’s division of the La Torche Pro

Standouts at this event however have been France’s Caroline Angibaud and Florida’s Izzy Gomez (Starboard), who have been posting the highest scores amongst the girls heats so far in this final and climactic stop on the 2013 Stand Up World Women’s Tour.

At just 13 yeas old, Izzy has momentum coming off her win at the last stop on Tour in Huntington Beach, while Caroline is right at home here in France, so make sure to tune in live to watch it all go down here at the La Torche Pro France presented by Naish and Twenty-Nine.

Na Kama Kai Youth Challenge: the youth don’t disappoint

In one of the most competitive fields yet for the Na Kama Kai Youth Challenge that looked more like a main event heat draw, we saw stand out performances as expected from the likes of Mo Freitas (Focus SUP/Body Glove), Poenaiki Raioha (Naish) and Yuri Daberkow (Art in Surf), the youth of the event so far has to be the 14 year old Leo Etienne, who has been tuning heads all week with his phenomenal talent and performance level in both the Main Event, but also the opening rounds of the Na Kama Kai. Leo’s committed and radical approach to stand up surfing has impressed judges and athletes alike and he is certainly a major talent to watch out for in the future here on the Stand up World Tour.

Forecast & outlook: be prepared for the unexpected

We still have until Sunday to complete the main event, with a series of low pressure systems lining up to unleash on this exposed North West corner of France. At the moment, a significant 4m swell with a massive period of 17 seconds is already building at La Torche, as we await to see what the conditions will have in store for us in the morning.

This swell will carry through the weekend, with a new pulse coming through on Saturday. So while it looks as though competition will resume in the morning, it is not 100% that we will conclude these final and all important heats yet, so stay tuned for the next call which will take place at 8am tomorrow morning.

One thing La Torche has taught us this week: be prepared for the unexpected! So make sure to stay tuned right here at www.watermanleague.com as we come to the closing stages of the 2013 La Torche Pro France presented by Naish and Twenty-Nine and World Titles for both Men and Women will be decided this week.

30th October – Day 1 of competition

Blue skies, calmer winds & good surf provide great action

The Main Event got underway today here at the La Torche Pro France, presented by Naish and Twenty-Nine, as the performance level just went through the roof. The first round saw great action as the Top 8 trialists faced the 8 wildcards to provide a final 8 athletes that would move onto face the World’s Top 24.

Local and international standouts alike provided some great performances today, inclusive of kiting talent Kevin Langeree (Naish), but also local wildcard Theo Vigoroux (Naish), who ended up putting on a heroic performance in the repechage round against two of Brazil’s leading lights: current World #2 Caio Vaz (Art in Surf) and 2012 World Champion, Leco Salazar. While he missed out on advancing by 0.1, his presence was felt, as he put the world’s very best on the ropes at a critical stage of the event.

The Brazilians stay in play after 2 intense Repechage heats

After disappointing Round 2 heats, World number 2 Caio Vaz (Art in Surf), 2012 World Champion Leco Salazar and World number 6 Ian Vaz (Art in Surf) came back with a vengance in the repechage round in one of the most nail biting heats of the day. With the sun setting dramatically behind the Pointe de La Torche and the World Title on the line, Caio put on a strong performance to take the win, with Leco Salazar right behind him, both athletes advancing through to Round 4, thereby keeping the Title Race alive

Likewise Ian had to step up his game, putting together a strong heat to take the win and make it back into Round 4. A close call for the Brazilian contingent, but they are back in and will be up again once competition resumes in the morning.

The women’s division sees big sets and dramatic action

The women’s division saw some great performances across the board, with stand outs being Caroline Angibaud from France, Candice Appleby from the US, Izzy Gomez (Starboard) from the US and Tinina Etienne from Guadeloupe.

World Ratings leader Nicole Pacelli narrowly missed out on the heat win, coming in 2nd behind local stand out Caroline Angibaud, but still advances out directly to Round 3. So the Title Race is still very much alive and intensifying, as key contenders Candice Appleby and Nicole Pacelli will meet in Round 3.

27th October – The Trials

Action from the trials of the 2013 La Torche Pro, where the competitors are battling one of the biggest storms to hit Europe in 20-30 years.

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La Torche Pro 2013 | Event Feed