Joe Surf: Conlogue takes WCT event in Australia

Santa Ana’s Courtney Conlogue is showing that finishing No. 2 in the world last year was no fluke.

After coming in second place last month in the Roxy Pro Gold Coast at Snapper Rocks in Australia — the World Surf League’s first World Championship Tour event of the year — Conlogue, a Sage Hill School alumna, followed with a contest victory last week in the second WCT event of the year, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, also in Australia.

The victory put her atop the world championship leaderboard in the 10-event competition for the world title, ahead of second-place Tyler Wright of Australia and third-place Carissa Moore of Hawaii, the defending world champion.

“I am really happy to be starting the year with this momentum, a first-place win here and a second-place win at Snapper,” Conlogue told worldsurfleague.com. “It is a long season ahead, and after experiencing last year’s roller coaster of emotions, this is definitely a high, but I know it is going to be a grind. Obviously I want to win a world title, but it is not going to be an easy feat. I know I had a good start, but there are still eight more contests ahead.”

Conlogue defeated Wright in the quarterfinals and Tatiana Weston-Webb of Hawaii in the semis, setting up a showdown against Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons, who is a two-time winner at Bells.

Conlogue and Fitzgibbons went wave-for-wave until Conlogue’s 9.03 late in the heat pushed her over the top, edging Fitzgibbons by just one-tenth of a point, 16.53 to 16.43.

“I definitely wanted to get the score on that last wave, and I wanted to put a little more pressure on,” Conlogue said. “I knew I needed an eight, but I wanted a nine. I figured I might as well lose the event knowing that I threw everything I had into it.”

The win at Bells Beach had extra significance because it was at Bells Beach two years ago, while free surfing before the event, when Conlogue suffered an ankle injury that derailed her 2014 season.

Now, Conlogue leads the world and has the added confidence going into the next contest — the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro in western Australia — knowing that she won the event there last year.

*

Keeping Up With Kanoa

Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi finished equal-13th at Bells Beach and now stands tied for 17th in the world championship rankings heading into the third contest of the season at Margaret River starting next week.

The 18-year-old is one of seven rookies on the WCT this season, and so far is being overshadowed by another local that is off to a fast start.

Santa Barbara’s Conner Coffin, 22, sits in second place in the world rankings after an impressive performance at Bells Beach. Coffin reached the quarterfinals at Bells before being eliminated in a close heat against three-time champ Mick Fanning of Australia.

Coffin’s equal-fifth at Bells following his equal-ninth in the first contest bumped him up to No. 2, behind world leader Matt Wilkinson of Australia.

*

Bay Boys Sued

Lunada Bay in Palos Verdes is known for having a great wave, but also known for the extreme localism carried forth by the Bay Boys, who have a reputation of harassing anybody who dares surf their home break.

It’s gone on for years, but local authorities haven’t done much, if anything, to prevent it. Now, according to theinertia.com, the Bay Boys have been hit with a federal class action lawsuit.

The city of Palos Verdes Estates is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, which outlines eight separate causes of action, including assault, battery, civil conspiracy, violation of coastal act, and public nuisance.

The lawsuit names several defendants, each of whom could be fined $30,000 if a federal judge rules against them. The city is also named as defendant because, according to the complaint, the Palos Verdes Police Department has done very little to alleviate the problems.