Photos By Giordano Ciampini

Hundreds of surfers, supporters and sponsors flocked to Guiones beach early on Saturday January 12th to kick off the 2nd annual Nosara Triple Crown surf contest.

The contest opened up in the early morning, with surfers and supporters arriving with boards, coolers, tents, umbrellas and towels to set up for the day-long event, and while most were enjoying the sunny beach during the early morning, the powerful rays drove most of the dedicated fans into shade, however conditions for surf were ideal, with a good surf coming in and giving competitors some great sets to ride.

“This morning the waves were good and clean,” said local resident and surfer Patrick Kearn. “but they started blowing out early. There were still enough peaks to show a good contest, though, because good surfers will be able to use the surf.”

The crowd engaged well with the competition, with applause, “oohs,” and “aahs” sounding off for the major competitions for women's and men's open, longboard, and master's categories. Judges sat by stone-faced as they watched competitors surgically carve up waves like so much fish with a razor-sharp knife.

Judges took 2-hour turns, categorically bringing up surfers on waves caught, distance surfed, and completed moves. Some of the judges were local-known surfers like Nosara Tico Surf School's Luis Montiel.
           
“There was a high enough level of surf,” he said. “We had competitors who represented Costa Rica internationally, like my brother Kevin and Jair Perez Quiros, we had competitors from Jaco, Tamarindo, Americans from both coasts, California and Virgina Beach, Italians and other foreigners who live here in Costa Rica.”

Sponsorship was an early concern for the hardcore surfers who made this competition a reality, however four tents were set up by those businesses to both provide adequate shade for spectators and contestants, and have their name brands big and bold to advertise their services.

“This is the second year of the competition,” said Zacc Pollit, a representative from local clothing company HKTK. “For Nosara to have a large-scale competition is really important, considering that we had famous surfers like Jair Perez Quiros, who's a national level surfer here in Costa Rica, the Nosara Triple Crown has paved the way for touring comps like the CNS tour.”

The competition lasted hard into the evening, with surfers battling the odds to catch waves before the sun went down. Following the festivities, the beach was cleared up and restored to pristine condition, a major goal of event organizers was to have a “zero-impact” competition in Nosara, and some spectators were clearly impressed.

“It was great,” said Adrian Sosa Kneeland. “All the surfers did great, and the music and ambience was wonderful. Most of all, afterwards everyone cleaned up the beach, and that's more important.”
           
The next leg of the Nosara Triple Crown will be held at Garza Beach on the 9th of February, 2013.