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QUIKSILVER THAILAND SURF SERIES 2009
5-6competitors foot winds well on 2 day of the event giving all more challenging to ride Kata wave. nd
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Wraps up with the island crown at Kata beach
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Tim Hain Media Director - Coca-Cola ISC Tour
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ata Beach was the host to the final event of the 2009 Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series, with over 100 surfers from Australia, Japan, France, South Africa, Indonesia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore competing over the weekend of September 4-6 in spectacular but often testing surfing conditions at one of Phuket’s most beautiful beaches. This final Island Crown event saw events winners as well as overall championship winners of the three-event series.
Over the course of the three-day event, the surf at Kata Beach varied from 2-3 foot glassy faces to stormy 5-6 foot non-stop windswell, giving the competitors in each division a challenging test of their endurance and skill. “If I wasn’t in the contest I wouldn’t have paddled out for some of those heats. In all my years of surfing here in Phuket I’ve never surfed in conditions like this. It was really hard work but I’m glad I did it,” said Decha “Day” Sittidej after his heat on Saturday morning. Saturday’s competition was stopped three times when howling winds brought torrents of rain that blasted the beach for several minutes.
On Sunday the weather and the waves made a miraculous turn to produce a sunny and less windy day with more controlled surfing conditions overall. There were still sizeable waves that at low tide made for lots of paddling, but the surfers were up to the challenge and the spectators enjoyed cheering them on from the beach.
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