9 March, Padang Sumatra: The historic port city of Padang in West Sumatra is well known for its position as the gateway to the world famous surfing destination of the Mentawai Islands, so the Rip Curl GromSearch crew was stoked to be able to come from Bali to put on a contest for the growing local Padang surf community.
A beautiful stretch of sand with coconut trees lining the beach and deep green forested hills in the background, Air Manis (Sweetwater) with its sand bottom beach break was the perfect venue for the over 50 groms that came from as far away as the Mentawais, as well as from the local areas such as Purus, Air Manis, Parkit, and Pariaman.
With the invaluable assistance of Harry Algamar and his Substance crew, the comp site was set up and ready to go by 8:30 am. The skies were clear and blue and the waves were averaging 2 foot early but picked up towards the end of the day, reaching the 3 foot mark at times. There were lots of waves, and most heats saw at least one of the groms reaching their 10-wave limit and having to exit before the horn blew the end of the heat.
The beach was very busy all day long, with the spectators and fans on the beach cheering on their favorites when they would pull off a big maneuver and then hooting when they would fall. The groms all seemed very competitive and serious about winning, and were pulling out their best tricks for the judges, headed up by Coca-Cola ISC Tour Head Judge Leon Suandhi.
In the Under 14 final, Afinas pulled out to an early lead, which he took to the finish line with a total points score of 15.7. There real battle was for second place, with less than a point separating second, third, and fourth positions.
Air Manis local Charly Andrian fought a pitched battle with Deri Palar from Purus and came out with the win, narrowly besting Deri by .4 of a point. Charly locked into several nice left handers, which he blew apart with radical turns on his forehand.
After the finals were finished MC Dedi Gun staged some games and handed out a bunch of Rip Curl and other sponsor goodies, before the competitors were called up to the podium and the order of the winners was announced. They were all extremely stoked, especially the winner and runner up in the Under 16 Division, who in addition to their other prize goodies received a Ticket to Bali.
The Ticket to Bali is an all expense paid trip to Bali to participate in the special Rip Curl Grom Training Camp and then compete against the winners of the other Indonesian GromSearch events at the Rip Curl GromSearch National Final in Kuta Bali this coming October.
Earlier in the day before the action started Rip Curl Surf Team Manager Yudha and Rip Curl Event Manager Dhanny gave all the contestants a talk on how to care for their environment, and handed them pamphlets from GUS to take home to share with with their friends an family.
After the awards presentation, Harry Algamar said, “This the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at a surf contest here. It’s great to see that more and more local people are getting interested in surfing here, and I’m really grateful to Rip Curl for coming here and have a GromSearch.
Rip Curl Indonesia would like express their gratitude to Harry and his crew at the Substance Surf Shop for their great hospitality and assistance in Padang and to Rip Curl Indonesia GromSearch Series sponsors LIGHT Surfboard, SKULL CANDY, FREN (murah, tidak repot), ESS (Eat Sleep Surf), TRAX Mag, SURFTIME Mag, and GUS (Gelompong Udara Segar) for their generous support.
And special thanks to TAKANORI MIURA (Koordinator Akademik in Padang) for throwing in a ten day Mentawai boat trip for the Winner of the U-16 division.
The Rip Curl GromSearch Series 2009 is sanctioned by the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour, and the participants are given points that add to their tally in their run for the 2009 Coca-Cola ISC Junior Division Championship.
Results
Under 16
1. Charly Andrian
2. Deri Palar
3.Dhani Ismaedi
4. Okferdian D
Under 14
1. Afinas
2. Maho Reza Putra
3. Hari Kresdiato
4. Rahmad Fausan
Espression Session
* Best Maneuver – Dony
* Best Trip – Febri
Text and Photos: Tim Hain, Coca-Cola ISC Tour
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