Curran Watches, Learns, Then Wins

Tim Curran paid close attention to the women’s championship heat of the Body Glove Surfbout XII at Lower Trestles Saturday.

From his vantage point in the VIP grandstands, the Oxnard surfer intently studied the wave conditions and strategies used during the women’s final, hoping to use the information for his own championship heat that would follow.

Wave conditions were smaller than normal for Trestles so Curran was looking for an edge over the other three finalists. However, Pat O’Connell of Laguna Niguel, Keith Malloy of Ventura and defending champion Rob Machado of Cardiff by the Sea, were also keeping tabs on the women’s final.

Curran apparently took the best notes; he won the title.

“With the conditions the way they were, and by watching the women’s heat, I knew I had to go out there and take it on,” Curran said. “I needed to get that first wave and start going from there. I couldn’t wait for the perfect wave.”

Machado was also prepared for a rapid succession of rides, and the two went back and forth with Curran usually taking off on a right-hander and Machado on a left.

The rights were far more suited to Curran’s style as he sliced and cut wave after wave to score points.

Machado didn’t have as much success on the lefts, which were setting up shorter rides. Machado was still able to record the day’s highest individual score with 9.10.

Said Curran: “Rob is a great surfer. I had to keep the pressure on. And you can’t just sit on a lead, not with Rob, or Pat and Keith for that matter.”

Curran, who won his first Trestles contest, finished with 30.33 points. Machado was second with 28.30. Malloy was third (22.49) and O’Connell fourth (19.40).

Australian Yvonne Rogencamp easily won the women’s title, using a similar strategy to Curran’s.

“I almost didn’t advance out of my round on Friday because I sat back and waited for the perfect waves,” Rogencamp said. “This time, I took everything that came my way and made the best of it.”

Rogencamp finished with 25.34 points, more than five points ahead of second place finisher Pauline Menczer of Australia. Hawaii’s Megan Abubu was third (17.23), followed by 16-year-old Julia Christian (17.07), a junior at Carlsbad High.

Kevin Connelly of Carlsbad won the men’s longboard title with 24.36 points. Joel Tudor of La Jolla was second (23.54), San Clemente’s Colin McPhillips was third (22.57) and Craig Briggs of Irvine was fourth (18.20).

In bodyboarding, Hawaii’s Paul Cooper won with 25.07, followed by Brian Press of Palos Verdes (21.20) Warren Anderson of Simi Valley (18.33) and Tyson Okazaki of Hawaii (18.10).