Yesterday saw the surfing action at this years Relentless Boardmasters Festival in Newquay kick off with the ASP 6-Star Tuaca Ladies Longboard Pro.  The girls opened proceedings at this year’s Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans in testing wind affected 4-5ft peaks. The women’s competition will decide the top two ranked female longboarders for the 2012 ASP Women’s World longboard Tour.

Jennifer Smith (California, USA) 25, former two-time ASP Woman’s World Longboard Champion, showed her true skills in the testing conditions to move through to the semi-finals where she will face Emilie Liber (Vieux Boucau, FRA) 21. The talented natural footer had to fight hard to find a high scoring wave after failing on several earlier attempts to get her heat account underway.

“I am thrilled to be through to the semis for sure. I have never surfed in England before so it is interesting to come and see how the waves are in other places. Today it is like ‘victory at sea’ out there. Yesterday it was beautiful and glassy and today it is big and
onshore. I am glad that I got two good waves out there. It was really hard to first of all to get outside and to second of all pick a good wave. It took me more than half the heat before I got a good one.”

Smith amassed a two-wave combined total of 15.60 out of 20 which included and excellent 8.33, the highest single wave score of the Tuaca Ladies Longboard Pro. A combination of nose rides, carves and a close-out floater demonstrated her ability where other competitors struggled with the conditions. A recent visit to family members in England has not taken the edge of her competitive skills. “I was already in Europe from the Roxy Pro and I have a cousin in Surrey,” explained Smith. “So it was cool to go visit before coming here. I got to stay out in the country between France and this event for a week and that was great.”

Upcoming ASP 6-Star Tuaca Ladies Longboard Pro Semi-final Matchups
Heat 1: Jennifer Smith (USA) Vs Emilie Liber (FRA)
Heat 2: Georgia Young (AUS) Vs Candice O’Donnell (GBR)

ASP 6-Star Tuaca Ladies Longboard Pro Quarter-final Results
Heat 1: Jennifer Smith (USA) 15.60 Def. Alice Limoigne (REU) 5.83
Heat 2: Emilie Liber (FRA) 5.50 Def. Natalia Smith (HAW) 2.67
Heat 3: Georgia Young (AUS) 7.77 Def. Victoria Johnson (GBR) 1.80
Heat 4: Candice O’Donnell (GBR) 5.13 Def. Rebecca Stanhope (GBR) 4.83

ASP 6-Star Tuaca Ladies Longboard Pro Round One Results
Heat 1: Jennifer Smith (USA) 7.33, Natalia Smith (HAW) 4.74, Claire
Smail (GBR) 2.30, Nicola Bunt (GBR) 2.03
Heat 2: Emilie Liber (FRA) 4.70, Alice Limoigne (REU) 4.36, Emma
Neuschwanger (REU) 3.63, Grace Davies (JEY) 2.80
Heat 3: Georgia Young (AUS) 12.34, Rebecca Stanhope (GBR) 5.27,
Victoria Vergara (FRA) 2.00, Marine Ah-Kouen (FRA) 0.67
Heat 4: Candice O’Donnell (GBR) 6.60, Victoria Johnson (GBR) 2.24,
Ashleigh Bennetts (GBR) 1.97, Anna Gooding (NZL) 1.90