Surfs Up On Lanzarote
October 23, 2009 by Nick Ball
Filed under Destinations
Lanzarote hosts the closing leg in the European surf season when the Islas Canarias Surf Pro Championship arrives on the island on November 1st. As in previous years, the six starred World Qualifying Series (WQS) event is a vital stage for those surfers hoping to qualify for the ASP World Tour.
The tournament takes place at San Juan, the stretch of coastline just beyond Caleta de Famara on the wild north west coast of Lanzarote. This is where the surf is sufficiently challenging to provide an ideal testing ground for the participants. Providing a fantastic spectacle for the many thousands of tourists spending their holidays in Lanzarote next month.
Amongst those appearing this year is the latest prodigy from the United States, Clay Marzo. He has already won accolades from the nine times winner of the ASP World Championship, Kelly Slater, who reckons that Marzo ‘knows more about surfing than I do’. It will be Marzo’s first outing at a European event and should attract plenty of interest from fellow participants as well as spectators.
Also taking part and holding the number two and number seven WQS rankings respectively are Jadson André from Brazil and Joan Duru of France. These two surf enthusiasts will be hoping to scoop the 145,000 dollar prize as well as gaining qualification for the ASP World Tour, which holds tournaments each year in Brazil, Hawaii and South Africa amongst other places.
Local participants include a number of Canarian surfers, such as Francisco Saénz, Leny Perdomo and Jonathan Gonzalez. They will be joining international competitors from the US, Brazil, Hawaii and Australia, such as Nic Muscroft (AUS), the three Gudauskas brothers, Patrick, Dean and Tanner (US) and Heitor Alvés (BRZ).
The women’s rankings are dominated by French surfers, led by Justine Dupont and six of her fellow countrywomen in the top ten slots. Amongst the senior World Tour exponents, the women’s rankings are mostly filled by Australian and Hawaiian women, with Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) currently leading the field.
The surfing heats start at 10.00 and last until 17.00 every day and the event extends from November 1st until Saturday 7th. On the closing night there will be party in the evening, featuring live music. This is usually popular with local youngsters as well as participants in the surf event and last year was attended by 7,000 people.
During the week, a variety of activities will accompany the sporting action, with workshops demonstrating surfing skills, beach football tournaments and skateboarding. There is also a strong emphasis on protecting the local environment with participants and spectators urged to leave the beach in a pristine state. Famara isn´t well serviced by public bus – but car hire in Lanzarote is very affordable, making it easy to take in this fantastitc event.