Vega & Bernold strong at Trofeo High Tide Costa Rica
Local surfers Isaac Vega and Nataly Bernold, who both live in the town of Villareal outside of Tamarindo Beach, Saturday once again made great strides to defend their current ranking leads - and for Vega, his previous season National Championship title.

At the end of the first day of the 3-star Trofeo High Tide date of the Circuito Nacional de Surf (CNS) in Playa Tamarindo they had surfed the 7 to 8 foot, sometimes barreling waves all along the beachbreak from the rivermouth south just stopping before the rock of Pico Grande.

They both risked with confidence (and bottom turns, off the lips, floaters, cutbacks, and more) to place in the quarterfinals of the Open - for Vega - and once again both the Junior Women’s and Women’s for Bernold.

However, after 18 Open heats, the level of competition will rise significantly Sunday: Vega will face a string of veterans who find waves a comfortable home, but the final berths as well. These include the first heat with Puerto Viejo’s Nino Myrie, Jaco’s Diego Naranjo (who would be a serious worry for Vega’s crown if he didn’t have the WQS and other international contests to hit next year), and the young up-and-coming Colombian who lives in Jaco, Jefferson Tascon.

“I think I did well today, although I know that the next round will be very difficult,” Vega said at Saturday’s end. “I am surfing well, and I feel confident at the time I face the waves.” Currently, Isaac is ranked #1 in the Open, having won 1st place 3 weeks ago in the Pinilla Classic in Playa Avellanas.

As for Bernold, the little 13-year-old has yet to be stopped; she put her board in the water, paddled out, and blasted through to the quarters of the Junior Women’s and Women’s. She won 1st place Junior Women’s at the mid-November CNS season opener Copa Mango Boca Barranca, then followed that with a 1st place trophy at the premier Women’s contest at the late-November Pinilla Classic.

Bernold is already called a “revelation of local surf,” by Antonio Pilurzu, President of Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica (FSC). As her age demonstrates, the CNS has fostered the surfing talent of young people, and this weekend has been no exception.

One of the distinctions of the Trofeo High Tide date, is that there were so many small female children under 12 years of age to inscribe this weekend, that the FSC divided their category of MiniGrommets into Girls and Boys.

“We must emphasize a fact when it happens like that, and stop, and realize its importance,” affirmed José Ureña, Vice Presdient of the FSC. “Perhaps it will be a woman who will take the Costa Rican flag to represent us in the international surfing scene.” The first heat of MiniGromment’s Girls will be disputed Sunday by Marypaz Solano, Leilani Martínez and Naomi Bernold (all Tamarindo kids). And, yes, the last entrant is the younger sister of Nataly Bernold!