Partin wins women's title at O’Neill Freak of the Reef

Michaela Partin © Tim Hain / ISC

O'Neill Freak of the Reef Challenge

6-Star Coca-Cola ISC Men's Event
Scar Reef West Sumbawa, Indonesia
28 June - 1 July 2012

Michaela Partin Takes Women’s Division Win on Day 2 of the O’Neill Freak of the Reef Challenge in West Sumbawa

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 29 June, 2012 : - - 29 June 2012, Jelenga Beach, West Sumbawa: Day Two of the O’Neill Freak of the Reef Challenge got started with the Women’s Division contestants paddling out at Yoyos to decide who would be victor. At the end of the 25-minute final it was Michaela Partin of the USA who paddled in as the Women’s “Freak of the Reef” winner over second place Salini Reggannis of Java and third place Alia of Kalimantan.

“I feel really lucky to have won here today,” admitted Partin. “I’ve never surfed here before and so at first I had a hard time finding the right place in the lineup, but after I figured it out I started catching some good waves and it got much more fun. I’m super happy to have won another event, especially in such a beautiful place where the water is so clear and clean, I’m really stoked to be here for sure,” she added.

Partin won a previous Coca-Cola ISC event held at Macaronis in the Mentawai Islands just this last May, and the goofyfooter looks to be equally adept on her backhand with this win at Yoyos, now having won at both a lefthand and a righthand reef break.

Just after the Women’s final, strong winds begin to pick up speed and along with the receding tide created some challenging conditions for the start of Round 3, with rippable waves still presenting themselves but not with ideal consistency.

Lee Wilson © Tim Hain / ISC

Current rankings leader Lee Wilson was the first victim of the inconsistent conditions in Heat 1, failing to fully complete an air reverse on his first wave and then falling on a couple more, leaving him in last place by mid heat. With less than 10 minutes to go he finally completed an air reverse for 5.5 points, which left him only needing a 2 point wave to knock Made Darmayasa into third place, as Tipi Jabrik had a solid lock on the lead with to medium scores.

Unfortunately for Wilson, time ran out before another scorable wave came his way. “Looking back on it, maybe I shouldn’t have gone so hard on those first couple of waves,” he said. “But yesterday was so consistent I figured I had plenty of time and lots of waves would be coming through for me. Then with time running out all I could do was wait. And it just didn’t happen today,” he explained.

West Java’s Dede Suryana posted the morning’s best scores in Heat 2, with an air reverse getting him a 7.5 and then an Alley Oop a 6.0 to (of course) also rack up the highest combined heat score of the day a 13.50. Fellow West Javan Sandi Selamet won Heat 3 with Bali’s Raditya Rondi coming in second to advance to Round 4, and in the final heat of the day it was Kuta duo Made Widiarta and Devis Ratif also making it through.

With the side to on shore wind picking up speed and at one point almost blowing the judges tent off its moorings, Contest Director Tai Graham decided to call it a day and run the rest of the Round 3 heats early tomorrow morning when the winds will be lighter and the swell due to increase.

Beach clean at the reef © Tim Hain / ISC

Consistent with the Coca-Cola ISC’s “Keepin’ it Green” program of leaving each beach cleaner and greener than they found it, each day during and after the competition Curtis from the ROLE Foundation and several of the ISC surfers went around picking up trash around the contest site.

Plants were brought from Bali by truck and will be planted around the Scar Reef contest site, as Yoyos already has plenty of natural shrubs, trees, and other greenery in its still natural state. You can follow the O’Neill Freak of the Reef Challenge on isctour.com/events/scarreef and on Facebook at Indonesian Surfing Championship (ISC)

The O’Neill Freak of the Reef Challenge is sponsored by the Government of West Sumbawa, PT Newmont, and O’Neill Indonesia, with media coverage by Coca-Cola ISC partners Surfersvillage.com, Lines Magazine, Alam TV Bali, SurfTime Magazine, BaliBelly.tv, Baliwaves.com, RVM, the Outdoor Channel, MyLifeOnBoard.com, and assisted in the Coca-Cola ISC’s “Keepin’ It Green” program by the ROLE Foundation, GUS, and Climate Wave.

Dede Suryana © Tim Hain / ISC