It's crunch time at the Caraïbos Lacanau Pro as we moved into the top seeds' Round Four of the men's event in punchy, three-to-four foot waves. The sandbank kept delivering the goods, with a fun-looking lefthander breaking at most tides, and giving goofyfooters a clear advantage on Day Four.
Top seeds enter the show as competition moves into the men's Round Four in Lacanau.
Jordan Lawler started a long line of upsets, defeating the current best European on the QS, Jorgann Couzinet, in the opening heat of Round Four. The Aussie, who's just come off his best result of the season -- an excellent fifth place at Boardmasters -- put on a solid effort for a 14-point total when his opponents were barely breaking the average mark.
"It was good fun, that left's a lot like my home break at North Narrabeen so I felt really comfortable," he said. "I'm pretty relaxed and just looking to have fun, pick the right waves and so far it's been working for me. This place is awesome, there are so many people at the beach and everyone's really nice. It makes a huge difference when you're feeling good and happy somewhere."
Jordan carves his way back to the power source and into Round Five. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
Timothee Bisso was a perfect candidate to light up the lefts and did not disappoint as he let his powerful and progressive surfing do the talking. Tim's breakout performance was a runner-up at the World Juniors last year and since then he's been trying to find his mark on the QS like many others. Currently in 63rd place, the 20-year-old from Guadeloupe is in a perfect position to give the world's top surfers a good run for their money.
Tim is getting bigger and better as he grows into a full-time QS contender. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"I had a hard time finding my flow at first but I managed to get into it and scored well on my last two waves," he explained. "A full season is long and you're not going to do well in every single event, but overall I'm satisfied with how I'm doing so far and I'll try to build on that. I'm riding Superbrand boards right now that I got in California and they're great."
A little less of an obvious star who shined bright was Dean Bowen. His surfing was on par with the best of them today, well actually even a touch higher as he belted the round's top performance with 14.60 on the board when the buzzer rang.
It wasn't all lefts either. A couple of fun rights came through as well: Charly Quivront in action. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"The waves were pretty punchy and fun and it felt like it suited me," he said. "I like coming here to Lacanau, the place is very alive and it's always a party with plenty of friendly people. We haven't had great waves this year on the QS and waves got really fun here today, and it looks like it's only going to get better. I've had a tough season so far, it felt like I surfed well but I couldn't keep a good rhythm throughout a whole contest so I'll try to change that."
Earlier in the day, the last three heats of the women's Round Two were completed with the red and white jerseys claiming most top spots into the next round.
Competition will resume with a 7:30 a.m call Saturday for the men and 9:30 a.m for the women. Two rounds of both divisions are in the cards to set up the finals on Sunday.
Check out all photos, videos, updates and tune in to the live webcast when the event resumes right here.
Goofies Dominate in Fun Lacanau Lefts
Nicolas Leroy
It's crunch time at the Caraïbos Lacanau Pro as we moved into the top seeds' Round Four of the men's event in punchy, three-to-four foot waves. The sandbank kept delivering the goods, with a fun-looking lefthander breaking at most tides, and giving goofyfooters a clear advantage on Day Four.
Jordan Lawler started a long line of upsets, defeating the current best European on the QS, Jorgann Couzinet, in the opening heat of Round Four. The Aussie, who's just come off his best result of the season -- an excellent fifth place at Boardmasters -- put on a solid effort for a 14-point total when his opponents were barely breaking the average mark.
"It was good fun, that left's a lot like my home break at North Narrabeen so I felt really comfortable," he said. "I'm pretty relaxed and just looking to have fun, pick the right waves and so far it's been working for me. This place is awesome, there are so many people at the beach and everyone's really nice. It makes a huge difference when you're feeling good and happy somewhere."
Timothee Bisso was a perfect candidate to light up the lefts and did not disappoint as he let his powerful and progressive surfing do the talking. Tim's breakout performance was a runner-up at the World Juniors last year and since then he's been trying to find his mark on the QS like many others. Currently in 63rd place, the 20-year-old from Guadeloupe is in a perfect position to give the world's top surfers a good run for their money.
"I had a hard time finding my flow at first but I managed to get into it and scored well on my last two waves," he explained. "A full season is long and you're not going to do well in every single event, but overall I'm satisfied with how I'm doing so far and I'll try to build on that. I'm riding Superbrand boards right now that I got in California and they're great."
A little less of an obvious star who shined bright was Dean Bowen. His surfing was on par with the best of them today, well actually even a touch higher as he belted the round's top performance with 14.60 on the board when the buzzer rang.
"The waves were pretty punchy and fun and it felt like it suited me," he said. "I like coming here to Lacanau, the place is very alive and it's always a party with plenty of friendly people. We haven't had great waves this year on the QS and waves got really fun here today, and it looks like it's only going to get better. I've had a tough season so far, it felt like I surfed well but I couldn't keep a good rhythm throughout a whole contest so I'll try to change that."
Earlier in the day, the last three heats of the women's Round Two were completed with the red and white jerseys claiming most top spots into the next round.
Competition will resume with a 7:30 a.m call Saturday for the men and 9:30 a.m for the women. Two rounds of both divisions are in the cards to set up the finals on Sunday.
Check out all photos, videos, updates and tune in to the live webcast when the event resumes right here.
Jordan Lawler
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