Volcom’s Totally Crustaceous Tour 2015 Indonesian Final Rocks Kuta Beach
Volcom Indonesia’s home break of Halfway on Kuta Beach was already buzzing with excitement yesterday morning just after sunrise as the 60 plus competitors from the previous two qualifying events (Geckofish Sanur and Grillfish Pecatu) eagerly anticipated who would finish on the top podium spot at the end of the day, and come home with their share of the Rp 35 million in cash and all those goodies that the Volcom crew had readied for them.
The morning’s low tide conditions offered up some challenges to the competitors in the first half of the day, but as the tide crept in the swell began to build, as well as the offshore winds, so conditions improved substantially, providing excellent scoring opportunities for those with good wave selection and positioning skills coupled with their natural talent and energy. And those kids put on quite a show all day long, starting with the 13 & Under Boys, then the 16 & Under Boys, the Girls 20 & Under, the Pro Am’s, and during the intermission between the semi’s and the finals, the highly entertaining Hydro Coco Air Show, which saw Bali’s best aerial specialists vying for their share of the Rp 10 million cash prize pot. On the beach it was all fun and frolicking with the kids running around in the Volcom Stone costumes, eating copious amounts of hotdogs and corn-on-the-cob from the all day BBQ pit and quenching their thirst with all the Hydro Coco they could pour down their throats, but out in the water it was serious business, for it was go-for-it-time and all thoughts were only of winning once their feet left the sand and they started paddling out into the lineup.
Surfing way beyond his years, Kuta local Dhani Widianto absolutely devastated his competition in the 13 & Under Boys final, jumping into the lead with his first wave and then going on a massive tear to combo (the other competitors all needed a combination of scores to beat him) the field with his two highest wave scores a 7.9 (out of a possible 10) and a 7.5, which even his closest rival Kian Martin from Canggu just couldn’t match, having only a 5.5 and a 3.6. Dhani was chaired up the beach by his Halfway Boardrider members and fans, with a smile on his face as bright as the mid day sun. In the highly competitive Under 16 Boys final, the smooth style and aerial proficiency of Padma Beach’s Raju Sena propelled him into the lead early, which resulted in some fireworks between competitors Rio Waida (Padma) and Ivan Sudena (Kuta), who were called for interference against each other, not once but two times during the final! After the second incident they were told to exit that water, leaving Raju and Made Tedi the pick of the waves and first and second place.
Winning her first ever surfing competition in the Girls 20 & Under division was Hayana Iguchi from Canggu, who after waiting patiently during the first part of the final found a perfectly shaped lefthander and on her backhand blasted a series of meaty power hooks right in the pocket to earn a whopping 7.9 points from the judges…the highest girl’s heat score of the day’s competition, then adding to it a 5.7 to seal the win. Runner up Diah Natasha used her local knowledge and smooth style to earn a respectable 5.8 and then added 6.0 for her second place finish.
“Wow, I can’t believe it…that I won my first comp,” said Hayana. It’s almost unreal, like a dream. Out there in the final I knew that I had to do something big, as those girls are all so good…so when I got that left I just went as hard as I could. Even when I heard the MC say I was in first place I was still nervous, but finally when the horn blew and I was coming into the beach knowing I’d won…it was the best feeling! Then seeing my best friend coming out to greet me….wow…I’m so happy!”
Also winning his first competition was Kuta’s Mega Artana in the Pro Am division. The stylish and powerful little goofyfooter proved to the field and the fans on the beach that he’s well on his way to big things, attacking each wave and executing a variety of aggressive maneuvers from big hacks and cutbacks to floaters and airs, taking out the final with his top two waves scores of 6.25 and 7.25. Giving chase was Nusa Dua’s Koko Mitsua, Bingin’s Tommy Sobry, and Nusa Lembongan’s Komang Satrawan who finished in that order.
“I’m so stoked…thank you god, my sponsors and my family, it was a great final,” said Mega.” “I’ve never won a final before, this is my first, and so I’m so happy. This is my home break, so I knew I had to stay focused, choose the best waves, and keep up my power..and pray to god to help me.” When asked what he was going to do with his newfound wealth of Rp 12,500,000, he replied, “I’m going to keep it in the bank so when I need it I can use it…probably for surf travel somewhere.”
Last but not least was the Hydro Coco Air Show, which after four heats between the semifinals and finals, saw the final 4 surfers airing it out above the wave line for an exciting 20 minutes. Nailing the biggest air of the final and earning a perfect 10 points from the judges, to add to his already impressive pair of 7’s was Padma’s Darmayasa, who on his forehand with favorable winds took to the sky and landed his big air very cleanly to the cheers of his fellow Padma Boys and the fans on the beach to best runner up Rio Waida, with Made “Bol” Adi Putra in third and Darmyyasa’s twin brother Darmaputra Tonjo in fourth.
Though having a few years on the other finalists in the Air Show, Volcom’s Made “Bol” Adi Putra was a happy man with his third place finish, saying “I had a great time out there today…even though I was the oldest guy out there. Age doesn’t matter for me, I just do what I want anyways. I was out there with the kids and I showed I can still perform…I got on the podium in third place, so how good is that? Kuta Beach is my home break, where I’ve been surfing my whole life, so to be out here and surfing at my sponsors event is perfect…it’s been a great day!”
Volcom Marketing Manager Raymond Jansen seconded that sentiment at the end of the event, saying “This event was bigger than last year, as we’re moving on from the previous theme-type of event that we’ve done in the past so we created this big set up to make a new beginning and to set tone for the future, taking things up another level” said Jansen. “In the competition part of today, it started out small but the waves just got better and better through the day. Especially impressive to me was the air show, I really enjoyed that, but all the competitors were ripping really and everyone I talked to said they were having a great time…so that’s the most important. For next year I’m hoping we can have a few more events in the series and have an even bigger final” he added.
This is the first Volcom event to every receive Indonesian Surfing Championship (ISC) sanctioning, specifically in the Under 16 boys division, under the supervision of ISC Head Judge Wayan Pica. A live computer scoring system was used for all divisions, so that the competitors and audience were told of their scores and what scores they needed in order to progress by the MC during each heat.
“This was a great comp today,” said Pica after the finals. “I was happy to be working with a great judging panel and everything went really well…glad to with the Volcom guys and to see this event get ISC sanctioning in the junior division for the first time. We all worked together very well and had a great event, so I hope it can continue on next year,” he concluded.
Volcom…always True to This… “Let the Kids Ride Free!” The Volcom Totally Crustaceous Tour 2015 was supported by: Cipta Jaya Surfing, Hydro Coco FCS, Vestal, Sector 9, and Surftime Magazine.
Volcom Stone Totally Crustaceous Tour has traveled around the world since 1999, and became one of the first free surf event series dedicated to young children. Since the beginning, the Totally Crustaceous Tour has always “Let The Kids Ride Free”, a campaign that brings a fun atmosphere and surf competition at no cost to the participants or spectators. Totally Crustaceous Tour is all about contributing to the local community and giving young surfers the opportunity to participate in a surfing competition.
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