NSSA Southwest Open Season event #6

NSSA
54th Street Newport Beach
21 - 22 November 2009

The 54th Street sandbars come alive with 4-6 foot grinding hollow rights and classic California late fall conditions.  

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 3 December, 2009 : - - The 2009-10 Southwest Conference Open Season continued at Newport Beach for the sixth stop of the season and the competitors were welcomed with one of the first potent winter swells of the season.  Newport’s 54th street sandbar turned into a hollow right-hand wonderland looking like an Orange County version of the famed Australian “Superbank”. Along with the perfect swell, weather conditions were ideal under sun-drenched skies and a slight off-shore flow.

The waves were ideal for our kids to showcase their talents and they didn’t hesitate to blow up.  Parker Coffin and Jake Halstead, who are both under 16 years of age, thrived in the flawless Newport environment.  While Coffin continued to look like a mini version of Bobby Martinez with his goofy-footed backside attack on the grinding right handers, Halstead eagerly chased the hollow cylinders that were reeling down the sandbar. He pulled into two nice tubes earning near-perfect 9.60 scores on both waves. 

Halstead’s stand-out barrel riding and lethal carves pushed his wave scores and heat totals through the roof.  He earned the top four wave scores of the Juniors division (9.60, 9.60, 8.83, 8.83) and his 19.20 heat total in the Juniors semis were the highest of the entire contest.  Coffin and Halstead met up with No. 1 ranked Trevor Thornton and Colin Moran in a stacked Juniors final.  Coffin opened up with a solid 6.0 score and then unleashed on a roping right earning an 8.17.  He bested his opening ride posting a 6.30 in the final minutes to seal his second straight Juniors win and his third of the season.  

Open Men’s frontrunner Conner Coffin strengthened his control of the rankings taking his second win of the season and jumping out to a 1,300 point lead.  In the past year, the elder Coffin brother has stamped himself as arguably the most powerful surfer in the amateur leagues.  He once again proved his point posting the only perfect 10 of the event in the Men’s final. 

Despite the big-time displays of finalists Parker Coffin and Jake Halstead, and the local favorite Taylor Thorne who was ripping up his home break throughout the Men’s prelims, Coffin was in complete control of the Men’s final.  He wasted no time picking off a perfect 10 on his first ride and then added another decent 6.5 score.  The 16-year-old power-phenom put his three opponents in combo-land for most of the 25-minute final until Halstead scored a 5.0 which still left him needing a huge 8.51 to take over first.

From the opening round of the Womens, it was clear that Lani Doherty was the standout.  Doherty, who is from Maui but is now making her home in San Clemente, looked right at home in the steep, barreling waves.  She commanded all of her heats winning every round en route to her first ever Open victory.   

The talent pool in the Open Boys division continued to amaze.  All the boys were belting out big turns but it was Kanoa Igarashi who shined in one of his favorite surf spots.  Igarashi loves to surf the Newport sandbars and he capitalized on the incredible conditions.  He looked relaxed and confident throwing up big off-the-lips and solid carves on the steep, hollow rights unfolding down the beach.  His winning 17.34 total on two excellent 8.67 rides was the highest of all the finals.  In the Mini Groms, Kairi Noro has been unstoppable the past couple months and he continued to put on an impressive performance claiming his third straight win.  In the Longboard division, Tony Bartovich took his first win of the season.

COMING UP IN CALI:  The contest venues are shifting north with back-to-back Gold Coast and Northwest Conference events.  Gold Coast event #6 will be held on December 5th followed by Northwest #3 on December 6th at California Street in Ventura.  The West Coast College Season will continue with event #3 at Ventura Harbor on December 5th and 6th.  The following weekend, the Gold Coast will journey north to Santa Cruz’ epic Steamer Lane on December 12th for event #7 followed by Northwest #4 at 26th Avenue on December 13th. 

RESULTS

OPEN MENS
1. Conner Coffin-Santa Barbara 16.50
2. Jake Halstead-Lo Jolla 13.07
3. Parker Coffin-Santa Barbara 7.00
4. Taylor Thorne-Newport Beach 4.97

OPEN JUNIORS
1. Parker Coffin-Santa Barbara 14.47
2. Colin Moran-Costa Mesa 12.80
3. Jake Halstead-La Jolla 12.70
4. Trevor Thornton-San Clemente 10.00

OPEN BOYS
1. Kanoa Igarashi-Huntington Beach 17.34
2. Jacob Davis-Capistrano Beach 12.20
3. Colin Deveze-San Clemente 9.77
4. Griffin Colapinto-San Clemente 8.13
5. Jake Marshall-Encinitas 6.60
6. Kairi Noro-San Clemente 4.60

OPEN MINI GROMS 
1. Kairi Noro-San Clemente 12.50
2. Tyler Gunter-Newport Beach 9.16
3. Ryland Rubens-San Diego 9.00
4. Sam Wickwire-Seal Beach 7.67
5. Cole Houshmand-San Clemente 6.33
6. Nicholas Marshall-Encinitas 4.94

OPEN WOMENS 
1. Lani Doherty-San Clemente 11.17
2. Tara Franz-San Juan Capistrano 9.57
3. Taylor Pitz-Laguna Beach 9.13
4. Alexa Frantz-San Diego 7.06

OPEN LONGBOARD
1. Tony Bartovich-Huntington Beach 9.74
2. Justin Brand-Seal Beach 9.20
3. Lucas Foster-Carlsbad 7.93
4. Bryn Lutz-Carlsbad 4.70

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