Over the weekend of September 11 & 12, we went to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo’s annual Torneo de Surfing, Surfing Tournament, held south of Petatlán. Originally set for Playa Loma Bonita, this year’s Circuito Milenio, “Millenium Circuit” was moved just down the road to Playa Loma Barrita, because recent rains had washed out the Playa Loma Bonita road. We found it without incident and marveled at the picturesque vistas en route. The rains have once again brought out the lush greenery of the surrounding hill sides and any trip down the Acapulco road is always a treat. At Loma Barrita, we found a pretty beach with beach front restaurants, a good sized crowd with many familiar faces, blaring pop music, an abundance of cheap cold beer and some excellent surfing. Local and National Surfers and Body Boarders competed in three categories: Open, Junior and Body Board.
A competitor at last month's Torneo de Surf at Loma Bonita, just south of Petatlan, Photo By Hans Nystrom
Although, I know nothing about the sport of surfing, there were quite a few surfers in the audience and I asked a lot of questions. By the end of the weekend I had learned standing up is good, standing up for a long time is better; if you’re on a body board, spinning around is good, flipping over two or three times without falling off is better (and it looks pretty cool too!).
Despite my ignorance, I enjoyed myself immensely and I can say with great authority, everyone did a fine job! The winners in the Open category were: 1st Oscar Chino, 2nd Julio Cesar Palma, 3rd Roberto Barrera, the Junior category: 1st Fred Axel Cruz, 2nd Enrique Osorio, 3rd Jose Luis Flores and in the Body Board Category: 1st Carlos Alberto Carbaja, 2nd Salvador Perez and 3rd Angel Roman. Winners received some excellent prizes and merchandise. There was also a bikini contest after the competition that was a real crowd pleaser, I, myself, did not enter. The tournament was a huge success and everyone, spectators and competitors alike, seemed to enjoy it. I have every intention of going to next year’s and hopefully by then I will have learned what all the horns and flags mean. Until then, I’ll leave the serious surf commentary to the professionals!
-October 1999
