LIHU‘E — Pauly Chambers and Krystl Apeles finished in second place in the ITSA World Tandem Tour 6 Star Cocoa Beach National Kidney Foundation Pro, Monday at Cocoa Beach, Fla, states an ITSA press release. Apeles, 22, is formerly a
LIHU‘E — Pauly Chambers and Krystl Apeles finished in second place in the ITSA World Tandem Tour 6 Star Cocoa Beach National Kidney Foundation Pro, Monday at Cocoa Beach, Fla, states an ITSA press release. Apeles, 22, is formerly a Kaua‘i resident and now attends the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Chambers also lives on O‘ahu. The duo is part of the Shaka Laka surf team.
The team placed one spot behind the world-renowned French duo of Rico Leroy and Sarah Burel, better known as just “Rico & Sarah.” The always tough teams leads the ITSA tandem tour world rankings for 2009.
Americans Clay and Kristen Huntington and Hawai‘i’s Christian Bartsch and Aimee Marcia rounded out the final four teams in inconsistent on-shore, one-and-a-half foot waves in front of a massive cheering crowd.
Leroy and Burel, who had impressed their peers throughout what will be remembered as one of the best editions ever, were unstoppable en route to claiming the prestigious third edition of the event.
Grabbing 2414 ratings points and $3,200 for their performance this week, Rico and Sarah’s result rockets the Lacanau natives from No. 2 to No. 1 on the ITSA World Tandem Tour ratings. They became the second French tandem surfers since Eric Andre and Ophelie Fargetas last year to enter the event at Cocoa Beach and the first French team to win an ITSA WTT major event in the United States at the same time.
Paddling out under pressure, knowing a win would significantly ease their ITSA Top 3 inception campaign, Rico and Sarah showed they had the power to tame the poor conditions and kept their opponents away from the top spot by posting a 18.17 heat score out of a possible 20, to seal the deal in front of a cheering crowd.
“We are just so happy right now, we wanted to win so bad, I am really over the moon and can’t really realize the result yet,” Sarah said.
“I felt quite under pressure throughout the event and until the semifinal I was just very focused and anxious but I managed to get over it for the final and I really let go to surf and lift at my best,” said Rico. “Pauly and Krystl never let go of us and they are some impressive competitors so I really played my game and used my best lifts and it finishes perfectly.”
The tandem now has a comfortable lead ahead of Chambers and Apeles by almost 1500 points.
Chambers and Apeles, who posted several of the event’s top scores by delivering exceptional backhand power and heat tactics throughout the event, remained in the race for the title until the last minutes of the heat and posted another solid 17.28-point heat result, just not enough to steal the crown from the French wunderkind.
“I was very happy with the way I surfed and I just didn’t get any of the better waves during the final,” Chambers said. “Rico and Sarah really surfed a smart heat and got the best waves and they had been surfing well all event, so congratulations to them. It’s a great result and that second final in a row is always at the back of my mind.”
Pauly and Krystl, who came up with exceptional power lifting en route to the final, were at ease in some of the best conditions ever seen at Cocoa Beach Pier and commented about the perfection surfed in the last three days.
Netting another excellent result, counting towards their already successful ITSA World Tandem Tour campaign, was California’s renowned competitors Clay and Kristen Huntington, who placed third in the event to add valuable ratings points to their overall total. The Huntingtons, who were considered one of the best tandem surfers of the week showing an impressive variety of repertoire and tactics, were not able to handle the shallow water at the end of the wave at low tide, leaving Chambers and Apeles with the second place.
“I am stoked to make it this far but Pauly and Krystl are great competitors and I kind of made my best today,” Clay said. “Conditions changed fast and I think it was a good call to go at that time and for one hour heat because there weren’t too many waves and it is difficult to adapt to the small waves.”
The final competitors to lose in the finals were Hawaiians Christian Bartsch and Aimee Marcia, the well-respected tandem surfers known for their spectacular progressive maneuvers. However, they did not find any good second wave to counter Rico and Sarah’s smart heat tactics. Christian & Aimee, who came to Cocoa ranked No. 10 on the ITSA WTT ratings, jump to No. 4 after their excellent finish and keeps their 2009 crown hopes alive.
“It’s our second final finish this year and it’s pretty frustrating not to get that chance to win the event,” Christian said. “We are happy still. We had a fourth at Waikiki, a fourth this week and hopefully we can keep that roll going.”
Final results:
Rico Leroy & Sarah Burel (FRA): 18.17 pts (best score of the year)
Pauly Chambers & Kristl Apeles (HAW): 17.28 pts
Clay & Kristen Huntington (USA): 14.50 pts
Christian Bartsch & Aimee Marcia (HAW): 11.46 pts
