Confital Pro
Tuesday December 1st through to Saturday December 5th
El Confital, Los palmas, Gran Canaria.
Around 180 of the worlds best bodyboarders have assembled in the Canary Islands for the last event on the IBA World Tour.
This will be the conclusion of an amazing year for the IBA with around 16 events in 10 countries around the globe.
General manager of the IBA (International Bodyboard Association) Terry McKenna said he was very excited about this year and the last event of 2009.
"This year has been amazing for the IBA. In a world economy that was grinding to a hault, we managed to expand the tour to a whole new level. The sport is booming worldwide and the future looks bright for this amazing sport" said Mckenna.
"The event that is on now at Confital could be described as the biggest event in the sports history. Whilst Pipeline (Hawaii) has the best wave, this event has the structure and the presentation that lifts it above all others"
The first three rounds of the contest went down in fun, clean barreling right-hander's and some of the best waves of the day included a deep 10-point tube by Hugo Sanchez or Canary Islands.
Hugo also performed some serious aerial moves off the end bowl today and used the ramps of Confital to showcase his style and end up the day's top scorer.
"Yes, it was a good heat" said Sanchez. "I used my experience at this break to wait for the best waves and it worked well"
The day included several 10-point rides and on the local standard it was below par as far as Confital goes.
"This is an average day at Confital" said local top seed Ardiel Jimenez. "Wait till later in the week when the swell comes and the wind is offshore and you will be impressed"
The competitors are asked to meet at 8am tomorrow and competition kicks off at 9am.
Follow the event live at www.confitalibatour.com/index.php/site/live
Event Brief - The Worlds best riders all consider the event at Confital as one of the main highlights on the IBA World Tour. In years past, the tour would conclude at Pipeline, but in 2007 the tour was restructured to begin in Hawaii and end in Gran Canaria. The company behind the event, Maldito Rodriguez, is a professional marketing business that normally deals with rock concerts with acts like U2 and Sting. They decided to throw their weight behind the sport and finish with a weeklong festival at El Confital, a fast breaking right hand reef that perfectly suits high performance bodyboarding.
Previous event Champions include - Uri Valadao, Neymara Carvalho, Lilly Pollard and Tenerife rider Alvaro Padron!
