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Joe Surf: Tight race for world champ continues

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It’s getting down to the nitty gritty in determining who will become the men’s and women’s world surfing champions of 2015 as crowned by the World Surf League (WSL).

Both the men and women are in the water this week and next in France, the men competing in the ninth of their 11-contest tour and the women in the ninth of their 10-contest tour.

Australia’s Mick Fanning is the current No. 1 men’s surfer, followed in order by Adriano de Souza and Filipe Toledo, both from Brazil, and Australia’s Owen Wright and Julian Wilson. Kelly Slater is No. 6.

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Santa Ana’s Courtney Conlogue, a Sage Hill School alumna, is the women’s leader, followed by Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons, Santa Barbara’s Lakey Peterson and South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag. Buitendag, by the way, is coached by Bill Sharp, who runs HB Surf School next to the pier.

“It’s been an unbelievable year and to have the Jeep Leader jersey at the second-to-last event feels great,” Conlogue told worldsurfleague.com. “It’s far from over though. All the girls have been surfing amazing this year. There are no easy heats and Carissa is right there.”

A world title would be the first for Conlogue and the first by an Orange County woman in nearly 50 years. A world title for Moore, however, would be her third. (She has a ways to go, though, to catch Layne Beachley, a seven-time world champ from Australia).

“It’s been quite a battle for that No. 1 spot this year,” Moore said. “Courtney had it heading into Trestles, then I grabbed it heading into Portugal and now Courtney has it back. I guess it’s my turn to take it back here in France. Hoping the waves turn on and we have a good event.”

HB CITY SURF CONTEST

A belated congrats to the winners of Huntington Beach’s city surf contest held at the pier last month. Here are the top finishers in their respective divisions:

Grand Masters — 1. Shawn Voorhees; 2. Darren Limbaugh; 3. Harry Handy.

Senior Men’s — 1. Greg Eisele; 2. Daniel Horgan; 3. Wyatt Simmons.

Super Grand Masters — 1. Bob Shlaudman; 2. Keith Tobin; 3. Daren MacDonald.

Boys — 1. Ben Seaberry; 2. Jovan Smith-Scott; 3. Matthew Undlin.

Junior Men’s — 1. Dustin Voorhees; 2. Chase Voorhees; 3. Max Vandermeulen.

Women’s — 1. Samantha Cendro; 2. Mara Morales; 3. Liz Speirs.

Legends — 1. Robin Bewsee; 2. Mickey Ester; 3. Michael Thomas.

Masters — 1. Cody Wehrer; 2. Kelly Kraushaar; 3. Ibere Luppi.

Menehuene — 1. Mahteo Gonzales; 2. Petey Romaniuk; 3. Juliana Romaniuk.

Men’s — 1. Dylan Aragon; 2. Ash Reed-Kraus; 3. Nick Campbell.

KEEPING UP WITH KANOA

Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi had another rough go of it in his most recent contest in the WSL’s Qualifying Series.

Igarashi, who just turned 18, had a great start in the Allianz Billabong Pro Cascais in Portugal last week, winning his Round 1 heat in large part to a near-perfect 9.87 score on one of his waves.

But he finished fourth in his four-man Round 2 heat and was eliminated from competition. The event was won by San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino.

Igarashi dropped from No. 6 to No. 7 in the QS rankings. He needs a top-10 finish to qualify for next year’s World Championship Tour.

BEING BRETT

Brett Simpson, the only Huntington Beach surfer currently on the World Championship Tour, is struggling through a rough year and fighting to keep his spot on tour.

He currently sits at No. 35 in the world rankings heading into the WCT event in France. He also surfed in the QS event in Portugal but didn’t make it out of Round 1.

A local surf coach and someone who follows Simpson closely told me Simpson is still a great surfer, but his problem has been wave selection. When he has priority, he gets too anxious and takes waves he shouldn’t take, instead of waiting for a better wave that will give him a higher score.

JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.

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