Travis Logie wins Petrobras Open Surf WQS in Brazil

Petrobras Open Surf

ASP World Qualifying Series – 4 star event
ASP South America Tour
Joaquina Beach,Florianopolis-Brazil
16 - 20 October 2002
Us$ 60,000 prizemoney – 1.500 points

Travis Logie wins Petrobras Open Surf event.

Day 5 : Florianopolis, Sunday, 20 October 2002 :

Travis Logie (S Afr) today won the Petrobras Open Surf, ahead of Steve Clements (Aus) 2nd, Guilherme Herdy (Brz) 3rd and Renan Rocha (Brz) 4th. Waves were an inconsistant 3 to 5 feet, fanned by a light offshore breeze under cloudy skies and temperatures were warm.

The spectator crowd of around 5000 included Pro Tennis player Guga Kuerten. Herdy had the highest wave score of the final, however Logie´s 3 wave aggregate total saw him leave the Brazilian trailing. The Petrobras Open Surf 4 star WQS is the first event on the ASP "Brazilian leg". The Coca Cola Surf WCT at Saquarema is the next event 24 - 29 October, followed by the Onbongo Pro Surfing 6 star WQS at Praia Mole Florianopolis 30 October - 3 November.

Travis Logie and Troy Brooks (aus) frustrated the cheering local crowd when they eliminated local idol and hot favorite Neco Padaratz in quarter-final heat #2. Of the ten Brazilians who fought it out for a place in the semifinals, only three advanced. Renan Rocha was the only Brazilian in Semi-final #1, where he secured 2 place behind Tavis Logie, and eliminated Australians Tom Whitaker and Troy Brooks. In the other semi-final Guilherme Herdy took 1st place ahead of Steve Clements (Aus) defeating highest wave scorer (10 points - yesterday) Greg Emslie (S Afr) and Marcelo Trekinho (Brz).

The final was delayed for a short period, and to complicate things further it was decided to change scoring to the three best waves in the 30 minute final. Guilherme Herdy started well, scoring a 5,5 and 7,83, putting him in the lead. But Travis Logie made up the difference and took the lead with a 6,67 and 6,27. He then scored a 5.90 in the dying minutes of the heat to secure his first WQS victory as a professional surfer. Final scores were Travis Logie 18,84 points, vice champion Steve Clements 17,83 points, Guilherme Herdy 15,23 points, and Renan Rocha 14,61 points.

"I dont believe it, I didn´t know I had won, but I am thrilled. I like Brazil a lot, and the waves here at Joaquina are very similar to the waves where I live (Durban, South Africa). That helped me a little, and the board I was using was going well in these waves", said Travis Logie on coming out of the water after the final, and who took the World title at the ISA Surfing Games. The win now puts Logie at sixtieth in the WQS rankings qualifying him for the WCT.

Both Guilherme Herdy and Fábio Gouveia had been in the top 16 places previously this year prior to being dislodged by Tiago Pires (Port) and Eneko Acero (Spn). "I am satisfied with third place, but I want to offset this defeat", said Guilherme Herdy, not content in missing out by only 3,62 points to reach his objective of securing a place in the top 16. He is now placed 17th. Renan Rocha´s 4th place finish jumped him from 36th to 29th in the rankings.

Check out the heats & results.

Top 20 WQS Rankings after the Petrobras Open Surf event:-

1.- 10.357 - Toby Martin (AUS)
2.- 9.840 - Pat O-Connell (EUA)
3.- 9.836 - Jake Paterson (AUS)
4.- 9.140 - Richard Lovett (AUS)
5.- 9.015 - Luke Stedman (AUS)
6.- 8.908 - Tim Curran (EUA)
7.- 8.895 - Victor Ribas (BRA-RJ)
8.- 8.810 - Nathan Webster (AUS)
9.- 8.544 - Trent Munro (AUS)
10.- 8.543 - Paulo Moura (BRA-PE)
11.- 8.405 - Armando Daltro (BRA-BA)
12.- 8.268 - Chris Ward (EUA)
13.- 8.131 - Tom Whitaker (AUS)
14.- 8.111 - Chris Davidson (AUS)
15.- 8.070 - Ben Bourgeois (EUA)
16.- 8.015 - Fábio Gouveia (BRA-PB)
17.- 7.983 - Guilherme Herdy (BRA-RJ)
18.- 7.880 - Danilo Costa (BRA-RN)
19.- 7.753 - Tiago Pires (PORT)
20.- 7.752 - Eneko Acero (ESP)

Upsets and stand outs at Petrobras Open Surf

Day 4 : Florianopolis, Saturday 19 October 2002 : Competitors provided a spectacular show on the penultimate day of the Petrobras Open Surf at Joaquina Beach today in clean 1,5 meter waves, offering good rights and lefts, with light offshore breezes and cloudy skies. crowd was estimated to be 5000 strong. There were many upsets today.

Greg Emslie (S Afr) scored the only perfect 10 point wave score so far. Four Australians, two South Africans and ten Brazilians qualified for the quarter finals scheduled to start at 10h00 Sunday, the crowd´s favorite, Neco Padaratz, amonst them, as well as Greg Cordeiro 18 years old, and Tiago Bianchini, only 15 years of age.

Saturday started with the unexpected elimination of Fábio Gouveia in the first heat by Australian Adrian Buchan and Márcio Farney. In an exciting follow-up heat in round 4 Buchan took the lead with a 9,6 note, and minutes later Lucinho Files replaced him with a 9,7, but Files nevertheless finished in last place, behind Márcio Farney. Buchan won the heat with scores of 9,6 and 6,5, and Marcelo Trekinho took second place with an 8,00 and 7,87 for his two best waves.

Two heats later Greg Emslie scored a perfect 10 pointer, and on his last wave scored a 7,83 and recorded to highest heat score of the event to date - 17,83 points out of a possible 20. "The waves were very good, after I scored that 10, I was expecting another one good enough to guarantee advancing", said Emslie, who came to participate in the event at the last minute, with the objective of gaining points to try and re-qualify for the elite world of the WCT via the WQS.

Cheering resounded with the qualification of little Tiago Bianchini, barely 15 years of age, who eliminated Claudemir Files and Australian Andrew King, behind Guilherme Herdy in the last heat of the day. "When I finished a wave and I saw the crowd cheering I couldn´t believe it, it was very exciting", said Tiago. Big local favorite Neco Padaratz, was defeated by Australian Troy Brooks, but also advanced to the quarters.

Check the Heats & results.

New generation standouts in Round 2/Padarataz eliminates Rosa

Day 3 : Florianopolis, Friday 18 October 2002 : After a day of cancelled action, the Petrobras Open Surf rrecommenced today in still inconsistant but improving cconditions, with set waves of up to 1,5 meters. Round # 2 and half of Round # 3 were completed, in the 3 to 4 foot conditions with a light onshore breeze, under cloudy skies, and in front of a large crowd on hand for Neco Padaratz in round 3.

Highlight of the day went to the new generation of Brazilian surfers, that eliminated several favorites. Surfers barely 15 years old, such as Adriano Mineirinho and Thiago Bianchini. They both won their heats in round 2. Jean da Silva 17, Greg Cordeiro 18, Bernardo Pygmy 19, and Marcondes Rock 19, all also advanced to round 3 which started in the afternoon and continues at the restart of action on Saturday morning.

Other highlites from today were Neco Padaratz just returned from taking 2nd place at the Mundaka WCT and 1st place at the Quiksilver Pro France. He won his heat to the uproarious applause of the spectator crowd ahead of Diego Rosa 2nd, eliminating Peterson Rosa in the process.

Check out the heats & results

Contest postponed due to small conditions

Day 2 : Florianopolis, Thursday 17 October 2002 : Event has been postponed today due to small conditions. Checck in tomorrow/Friday at 08h00 (loccal time)

Contest kicks off in small conditions

Day 1 : Florianopolis, Wednesday 16 October 2002 : The 4 star WQS Petrobras Open Surf event kicked off today with 2 to 3 foot waves and a stong offshore (northeast) wind under sunny sky and with hot temperatures. The spectator crowd included enough girls and bikinis.

Round #1 (round of 128) was completed today.
Heats, results, and LIVE SCORES are available here

All round #1 competitors except for 2 US surfers were Brazilian. Matt Yates (USA) placed 2nd in heat #7 and Tarik Kashogi (USA) 3rd in heat # 13. Check in on Thursday morning is at 09h00

The Petrobras Open Surf is a 4 star event and carries 1.500 points in the rankings, offers OR$ 60 thousand in prizes with sponsorship from the Petrobras and Itch Bonds, support of the Government of the State of Saint Catarina, Municipal city Hall of Florianópolis, Municipal Foundation of Sports, and Magazine Soul Surf, with support from Net Atlântida FM in an extraordinary achievement by the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) in putting together sponsorship.

Translations by O´Boards Surfing News from reports by :-

João Carvalho
Assessoria de Imprensa do Petrobras Open Surf
(48) 232-5696 e 232-4338
jcarvalho@abrasp.com.br

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