Ocean & Earth Pro called off for third day

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Jonathan Gonzalez (left, CNY) and Evan Valiere (HAW) on Day 3 of the Ocean & Earth Pro at El Confital. Photo: ASP

It has been another long day for all Round 1 competitors waiting to get the dust off their boards but officials had to call the event off for the third consecutive day. The Ocean & Earth Pro pres. La Caja de Canarias, an ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) 4-Star event, has yet to commence at the world famous venue of El Confital and tomorrow's expected swell pick-up might get the first sixteen heats done.

Some three to four foot (1 to 1.2 meter) consistent waves are expected to reach the north shore of Gran Canaria during the night and the first pulses of that new swell already delivered a few small but definitely better waves than yesterday.

From tomorrow morning, the event will have to use its four remaining days and if El Confital does not allow any action over its reef, the event will go mobile to the good beachbreak of La Cicer that should be getting more swell.

"We are very confident of getting things running tomorrow morning very early at El Confital as all forecasts show a significant increase in swell," said contest director José. "If El Confital does not deliver its classic righthanders, we will move to the beachbreak and get Round 1 underway."

Round 1 features sixteen 4-man heats and ASP Top 45 members Aritz Aranburu (EUK), Daniel Ross (AUS) and Jay Thompson (AUS) will paddle out against low seeds the three Dream Tour surfers having lost their seed rights due to a late entry.

Looking at the European contingent, top seed and last year's finalist Jonathan Gonzalez (Tenerife, CNY) will surf in Round 2 against Hawaii's Nathan Carroll (HAW) in Heat 4. Gonzalez, who had a stellar start this year on the ASP WQS, suffered a serious injury to an ankle and is slowly getting back to its best level. El Confital is definitely one of his favorite waves and he will be much expected by the usually cheering Canarian crowd when he paddles out.

Competitors and officials will meet at 7.30 AM (GMT+1) to assess conditions and hopefully witness some good contestable waves eventhough some side-shore winds are expected as well.

The Ocean & Earth Pro pres. by La Caja de Canarias is webcast LIVE at www.aspeurope.com