Circuito Hits Dominical

AS the Feb. 12and 13 dates of the2004-05 CircuitoNacional de Surfmake up the fourthleg of this countrywidesurf competition,it’s perfectthat the organizershave christened thePlaya Dominicalevent “4 Fechas, 4Estrellas” (FourDates, Four Stars).Entrants will startthe first heat for this particular rivalrytomorrow at 7 a.m., at the Playa Dominicalbeach break, where the expected 100-plussurfers will vie for rankings based on pointsvalue-rated for a four-star surf contest.With Esterillos, Negra and Tamarindoon the books, the landscape of this year’sCircuito looks very similar to last year,with Jacó’s Álvaro Solano the top-rankedsurfer going into Dominical.“Álvaro is dominating still, but it’sgood to see the younger competitorsattacking the leader right now,” saidChristophe “Kiki” Commarieu, publicationdirector of SURFOS Magazine, whichhas sponsored the Circuito Nacional sinceits inception five years ago. He is, ofcourse, referring to the high rankings of17-year-old Juan Carlos Naranjo of Jacó,at number three, and 14-year-old JairoPérez, also of Jacó, ranked number six.“The younger guys are more hungrythan the other guys, and they are showinggood progress,” he added.But, according to Commarieu, Solanoneedn’t worry too much.“The real threats are Federico Pilurzu(Tamarindo) – but he’s out of the countryright now in California – and DiegoNaranjo (Jacó), who is doing the ALAS(Latin American Surf Association) contests.As are Nino (Jacó’s Germain Medrano) andGilbert (Brown, of Jacó), both of whomwant to win the ALAS title now, so they aretaking off a lot of the Circuito this year.”As for the 4 Fechas, 4 Estrellas contest,Dominical’s waves are known to be powerfuland hollow, and Commarieu expects“a good contest, and a challenge from theDominical surfers such as the excellentRonnie Obando, who would do even betterat the national level if he were sponsoredand could afford to travel to theother contests.”After completion of the first day ofcompetition, surfers and their guests willbe feted at Club Roca Verde, beginning at 9p.m. The party will once again be hosted byCircuito sponsor 91.1 La Radio, and willfeature music spun by the station’s DJs.Registration for 4 Fechas, 4 Estrellaswill take place today from 5-7 p.m. atTortilla Flats Bar and Restaurant, and willcost ¢5,000 ($10.85) for Open, Women,Junior (18 years and under), Boogie,Longboard and Masters (40 years andover) categories, and ¢3,000 ($6.50) forBoys (16 years and under), Grommets (14years and under) and Mini-Grommets (l2years and under).Additional sponsors include Quiksilver,Moh’s, Jammin’ Surf Camp, Carton,Banzaii, Mango Surf & Skate, Roxy, CalaLuna Hotel & Villas, Tamarindo VistaVillas, Dakine, Fischer Bros., Shifi SurfShots, Bevy Media Corp, Rider, Jass,Surfos, Chica Surf and Red Bull. For moreinformation, call 244-3756 or visitwww.surfingcr.com.Circuito Nacional de Surf Rankings, Open 2004-2005Esterillos Negra Tamarindo Pts. to Date RankÁlvaro Solano 1000 2000 1290 4290 1Federico Pilurzu 610 1340 1500 3450 2Juan Carlos Naranjo 555 900 1005 2460 3Germain Medrano 860 1460 X 2320 4Bryan Vega Leal 355 1000 833 2188 5Jairo Pérez 555 1110 510 2175 6Gustavo Strasser 488 1000 600 2088 7Luis F. Hernández 555 800 675 2030 8Mauricio Umaña 355 900 750 2005 9Freddy Camacho 555 720 675 1950 10