Fourth Date of Costa Rica's Surf Competition To Kick-Off Next Copa Mango Contest
Antonio Pilurzu, head of Costa Rica’s Federacion de Surf (FS) , announced today that the fourth date of the 2005-06 Circuito Nacional de Surf (CNS) will take place this weekend, February 11 and 12 in Playa Dominical, beginning at 7:00 a.m.

Called Copa Mango, the tournament is the second of three dates sponsored by the Costa Rican chain Mango Skate & Surf Shop, and begins each day on the beach in front of Hotel Tortilla Flat at 7 a.m. For this 4-star contest, inscriptions will take place Friday, February 10, between 5 and 7 p.m., also at the Tortilla Flats. (The price is c6000 for this date only, with c6000 to register for the entire year if you did not pay the annual fee at a previous contest.)

With the CNS moving past the half-way mark in this year of competition, according to records kept by the FS the amount of females participating in the 2005-06 edition has grown 50 percent since last year. In the last date of the tournament, the Copa Mango Playa Hermosa, between the Women’s and Junior Women’s categories, a total of 40 girls and women registered to participate, in comparison to the 15-20 total inscribed in the same locale last year.

“We noticed there is a huge interest from girls to become part of the amateur and competitive surf community and that was one of the reasons we made the Junior Women’s division,” explained Pilurzu. “But, no one expected this kind of response. We are very happy about it.”

Three Circuito dates in, the Junior Women’s rankings are led by Colombian Angie Forigua, who now lives in Jaco. “I believe that the fact that a lot of girls from all over the country—and from foreign locations—helps to raise the girls’ surfing level in competitions. It is a fact that that then motivates other girls to try to get up on a board,” explained Forigua.

According to the official CNS rankings gathered by the FS, Forigua maintains 1st plance with a total of 4005 points, while Lupe Gallucio (also of Playa Hermosa) has 2nd place with 3980 points. “You perform better when you are under pressure, because you know you’ve gott place well in order to stay in 1st place,” stressed Angie prior to the Dominical date.

In the Women’s division, Ana Garaway, from the US, leads with 3,500 points, followed by Zephyr Robb, of Jaco, with 2,780. In the Men’s Open category, Tamarindo’s Isaac Vega remains the leader in 1st place with 2,950 points, but still followed at his heels by Pavones’ Durby Castillo with 2,885.

Maintaining their stranglehold are the Rancho Coral team from Playa Esterillos. According to the official FS records, the Muñoz brothers—Carlos and Alberto—occupy the 1st place spots in Boys, Grommets and Minigrommets.

“The results that the team have obtained,” coordinator Arturo Quirós explained of the Muñoz’s boys, along with Danny Bishko, Anthony Segura and Anthony Segura, “are very important for the boys of our community of Parrita. In Costa Rica, there are not many surf teams; nevertheless, we are already seeing the fruits of our labors here and we have a good chance of seeing the some of our kids with a National Championship.”

“We have big plans for our talent, including our desire to take them to compete outside of this country to the United States or Hawaii. It is necessary for us to offer them the opportunity to know other countries and their surfers in order for these kids to obtain more experience,” Quirós made clear.

The Boys leader, Carlos Muñoz, has 3,820 points in 1st place and also 4,230 points at the top spot in Grommets. His sibling Alberto Muñoz, rests at #1 MiniGrommets with 4,500 points.

“At the end of the contest at Playa Hermosa, I was under a lot of pressure during my last heat,” recalls Alberto Muñoz. “I lost my concentration because of the small waves. In Dominical, I hope to gain a good position because I trained very hard in the last few days.” Also showing excellent form from the Rancho Coral team is Bishko, who occupies the 2nd spot in Boys with 3,286 points and Grommets with 3,650 points.

“This season I have seen that my competitors are stronger than before and there are kids who are taking very good waves. But I trust that I will be able to end up in a good ranking at the end of the Circuito,” added Alberto about his challengers from his own team and others. The Copa Mango in Playa Dominical will reward all 1st place winners in each of the 11 categories 1500 points.

The international sponsors for Copa Mango are Red Bull, Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, and Freestyle. Costa Rica’s sponsors are: Mango Surf & Skate, Tamarindo Vista Villas, Cala Luna Hotel & Villas, Hacienda Pinilla Beach Resort & Residential Community, The Backyard, Chuck’s W.O.W. Surf Shop, Shifi Surf Shots, Liquid Solutions, Bevy Media Corp, Fischer Bros Surfboard Designs, Banzaii, Carton, Teletica 7, 911 La Radio and Surfos Magazine, Roca Verde, Río Lindo, Tortilla Flat, Cabinas San Clemente, and Cabinas Don Erick.