credit : © BiC Surf
The awards dinner. (ltor) Mike DOYLE, Brad VETTER, Joey CABELL, Peter PAN, Ronald REYES 
credit : © BiC Surf
Results (CLICK TO ENLARGE) 
credit : © Bic Surf
Friendly locals in Costa Rica
credit : © Bic Surf
He looks happy! 
credit : © BiC Surf
Brad VETTER running during his heat
| In the past when it came down to the actual location of the Bic? One Design ? World Challenge, I have always pushed hard for a country with a completely different culture,. Primarily because we have always had at least half of our troop being young men who have not traveled that much and both the management of Bic Sport and I have concurred on this important ingredient in choosing the location. I believe that going into a really foreign country is important for the development of young professional surfers. The first year the Bic Challenge was in the Mentawai?s, up till then, like 90% of our invited surfers I had not surfed those fabled islands, we all enjoyed a great 10 day boat trip and plenty of quality waves. In 2003 we took the event to Peru, I had not been there since 1965 and it was even better than I remembered, an incredible rich backdrop of Inca culture, old friends and long running lefts, it was a classic.
This year we went to Costa Rica, although I had been there 3 times before I was still really impressed with the beauty of the country and the warm smiles of the people. With free medical and free education, it is easy to understand why they call it the Switzerland of Central America. On the total amount of land mass they have more National Parks than anywhere in the world and a stable democratically elected government since the end of the Second World War. Costa Rica does not have taxation as we know it but you do pay 100% GST when you buy any white goods or cars, I guess that is why the rent a cars are so expensive, and come to think of it, that is probably why the roads are in such poor condition, without a constant flow of revenue how does the government maintain essential services like roads. Speaking of which, it is an interesting that Costa Rica has the largest % of road fatalities per capita of anywhere in the world. In the first three days traveling the main road between Bocca Barranca and surf break a half hour down the coast we saw two cars rolled over on their backs. In the most recent accident we came around a curve and the car that passed us out of control five minutes ago was now a raging fire ball, thank goodness the driver and passengers were safe, standing by the fire looking bewildered but really the manner the driver had passed us we were not at all surprised that he had rolled it.
We were based at the Fiesta Hotel in Boca Barranca. The hotel is a spacious, comfortable, one size fits all, Latino tourist resort. When you check in they attach a wrist tag, which gives you excess to all the food and beverages you desire. Lying around in the pool and being able to wade over to the bar for a tropical drink has definite attractions for the first couple of days. The original game plan was to have to contest on the long left 100 meters south of the hotel or if the Boca was not breaking we would move to Playa Hermosa, a beach break another hours drive down the coast. With the lush green jungle background, lack of crowds and warm water all year round make surfing down here very easy to take, however the lack of big waves and brown tinted ocean are not as inviting as other locations I can think of. For some reason every time I have visited Costa Rica it has been in the rainy season which goes from July till December, perhaps this is why the water is always brown, whatever I find it very comforting that it rains every afternoon, it gives me confidence that Mother Nature still has control when the seasons are still well defined.
So After 10-days and countless kilometers in our four mini vans? we now have a winner. Brad VETTER from California narrowly beat local Costa Rican long boarder Ronald REYES in the 30-minute final at Bocca Barranca. VETTER surfed his heart out from the 1/4-finals right through to his well deserved place in the final, surfing the long lefts all the way to the shore, exiting the water and sprinting back to the paddle-out zone all despite a deep cut he had from stepping on a sharp submerged rock. Brad is a 20-year-old collage student who is majoring in Mechanical Engineering near his home in San Diego. He is from a third generation surfing family, with a father and Grandfather who regularly surf. Brad started surfing at San Onofre when he was just 5 years old. It was a dream finish for Brad who was a lucky entrant in this year?s final. After coming in 5th at his regional qualifying event at Oceanside back in May of this year, VETTER had thought it was over, but it was not to be. When Hawaiian Dwayne DESOTO bowed out of his place in the US-team due to family commitments it opened up a place for VETTER as the next highest place getter. VETTER went on to clean up and pocket himself $2000 in cash and this year?s BiC Challenge, One-Design world title.
Ronald Reyes, the ex-Venezuelan now living at the famed beach break of Playa Hermosa also surfed well through out the event, determine and focused from day-1 despite having to juggle the event with his surf school commitments. ?This guy surfs really well,? commented Mike Doyle, ??. he gets better and better every heat he surfs. You can tell he wants to win, $2000 means a whole lot more to this kid than the others?.? REYES, who has lived in Costa Rica for nearly 4 years after emigrating from Venezuela has recently set-up a surf school, www.wavescr.com with his Tica ( local ) wife Andrea. The two of them have been working hard on their business over the past 12-months and had their eyes on the 1st place prize to help pay for new BIC surfboards for their surf school. REYES? 2nd place in this year?s event is going to make that a whole lot easier.
It was a particularly tough fought battle in the Semi-Finals surfed in 2-3ft left-handers at Bocca Borranca. In the first of the semis Frenchman Antoine CARDONNET was truly at home. With three BiC Challenge finals behind him (the only competitor to have surfed in all BiC Challenge final events) the goofy footer was enjoying yet another classic left hand point break, but it all came to an end as eventual winner Brad VETTER beat him by 2-points. The other semi-final saw 17-year old Tommy WITT (the only surfer to score four 1st places in Round 1) up against the determine Costa Rican, Ronald REYES. REYES proved too strong for WITT who at that point had to settle for equal 3rd place with CARDONNET.
In the teams division the USA was convincingly in the lead by the ¼-finlas. With 3 team members in the 8 possible places, they looked sharp. 2nd place was still up for grabs, Australia & France both having 2 competitors still in the contest. By the semi-finals it was a surprisingly different story. The highly acclaimed Australian team, who were early favorites for the teams title had gone down; no Australian?s made the semi-final meaning they had been relegated to 3rd place in the team?s division, the top place went to the young American team, 2nd to the Europeans. In their defense, the Aussie team had a rough time throughout. Although the entire team put in a strong yet sometimes unlucky effort, only narrowly missing points in the heats that mattered, it was Grant THOMAS who had the toughest of times. It started with him loosing 3 minutes in one of his 1st round heats due to a timing error (no fault of his own). That led to an unfortunate chain of events for THOMAS. The timing error was followed by a tough seeding in Round 2 which put him up against the hot Hawaiian Kai SALLAS. Going into what was already a tough heat, THOMAS then had a non-competitor drop-in on him on his best wave. That affected his overall points score for the heat which he eventually lost by just ½ a point, concluded Grant?s hopes, going down to SALLAS in the 2nd round.
A special thanks goes to all involved in this years BiC Challenge. Especially: The Fiesta Resort in Puntarenas Costa Rica, Jim RENOLDS (Head Judge), Joey CABELL, Mike DOYLE, Peter PAN, Gerard DABBADIE (the judges), Jane PAN, Martine MEOT (tabulators) and Scottie (assistant time keeper).
Individual Placing:
1st Brad VETTER (USA) $US2000
2nd Ronald REYES (Costa Rica) $US1500
3rd Antoine CARDONNET (France) $US1200
3rd Tommy WITT (USA) $1200
5th Antoine DELPERO (France) $US575
5th Seb WILSON (Australia) $US575
5th Jackson CLOSE (Australia) $US575
5th Kai SALLAS (USA) $US575
Team Challenge:
1st USA (17-points)
2nd France (10-points
Words: NAT YOUNG |
