Pancer Point Hosts Pacitan Surf Club's 5th Annual UnHidden Surf Series Event

31 May 2010, Pacitan East Java: Pancer Point at the scenic seaside town of Pacitan in East Java played host to the Pacitan Surf Club's 5th Annual UnHidden Point Surf Series over the 28th and 29th of May 2010.

30 dedicated Javanese surfers, some from as far away as Cimaja, Pangandaran, and Batu Karas in West Java, joined with the Pacitan locals for two days of surfing and camaraderie at the rivermouth lefthand point break known as Pancer Point, which proceeded to both test them and treat them with weather and wave conditions that ran the gamut from fun to frenetic.

Day One of competition began at just before 2 pm on Friday the 28th with the Girls division battling it out under sunny skies in 2-3 foot milk chocolate colored surf, courtesy of the previous two days of rain.  The diminutive Salini on her forehand picked off the longer waves to post the top scores and come back to the beach with the win, as there were just four competitors.

Next followed the first rounds of the Beginners and Juniors, with the Men’s Open competitors finishing things up at just before dark, leaving the semifinals and finals of the Juniors and Men’s Open to be run the following day as well as the Beginners final.

As Pancer Point breaks best at low tide, the call was made for a 1:30 start on Saturday afternoon. Saturday morning saw rain showers until around 10 am, then the clearing skies appeared to signal good weather for the remainder of the day.  First up was the Beginners Division, with local Anang proving himself worthy of moving up to the Open Division next year by taking out first place.  The waves were in the 2-3 foot range with consistent sets rolling through, held up by the offshore winds.

Next was the semifinals and final of the Junior Division.  The offshore winds began to bring some clouds and drizzle, but the wave size was picking up and giving the boys some great waves, so when the final horn blew it was Pacitan’s Supri who took the victory over a hard charging Agustina from Pangandaran.

After pitched battles in both the Men’s Open semifinals for those coveted spots in the grand final it came down to four surfers, each representing a different surf area in Java.  It was last year’s winner Apex from Cimaja (West Java) up against last year’s runner up Kitar from Pacitan, with Gilang from Batu Karas (West Java) and Agustina from Pangandaran (West Java) rounding out the final four. 

But by the time the starting horn blew, gale force winds had picked up and brought with it horizontally driving rain, which forced the judges to really hunker down under their a tent on the beach as several helpers acted as anchors to keep it from being blown out to sea.  But the swell had cranked up another foot with solid 4-foot sets reeling down the point, thus giving the finalists the best waves of the competition in which to do battle.

Last year’s winner Apex got off to a great start on his first two waves, blasting big turns in the critical sections and squeezing every point possible, taking them all the way to the inside.  But local knowledge and patience was the key to victory, so after a couple of good scoring waves Kitar saw his chance then slotted into the only real barrel of the event, nabbing a couple of seconds of tube time right off the drop, then went on to blast several big turns and take the win away from Apex with the highest scoring wave of the final.

The awards presentation took place later that evening at Harry’s Homestay, with all the contestants being treated to a fresh fish dinner before receiving their trophies and prizes. Prizes included cash as well as products from Billabong, Von Zipper, Kustom, and Nixon.

Commenting on the event, runner up Apex said “I had a great time at this event and even though I didn’t win it was still worth the trip.  It took me over 15 hours to get here, and I even had to sleep on the floor of the train, but I really love to surf and compete with my friends, so I’m stoked that I came.”

“Sure the trip home will be long, but at least I won just enough money to pay for it,” he added with a grin.

Didin from Pangandaran echoed Apex’s sentiments, saying, “I really enjoy traveling to different places to surf and compete with the other guys.  I traveled here with my little brother Dian because we live to surf, and the crew in Pacitan is great to surf with.  They always come when we have a surf comp, and we always come here for theirs.  We support each other.”

The UnHidden Point Surf Series was organized by the Pacitan Surf Club and sponsored/supported by Billabong, Nixon, Von Zipper, Kustom, Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, the Coca-Cola ISC Tour, Surfrider Foundation Europe, SurfTime Magazine, Magic Wave Surf Community Newspaper, Indoeco Surf, Whyzien, Kapent, Sastro, Anatara Photography, Harry’s Homestay, Srikandi Hotel, Happy Bay Bungalows, Nutrition, and Mekar Jaya

Special thanks to crew at Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia for the tents and drinks, which were well utilized and enjoyed by the contestants, organizers, and spectators alike in the variety of weather conditions that were experienced during the event!

For more information about the Pacitan Surf Club and the Pacitan area, contact Momon by email at momonsurf@yahoo.com and check out their Facebook site as well as www.isctour.com.


UnHidden Point Surf Series Results

Mens Open

1st Place – Kitar (Pacitan)
2nd Place – Apex (Cimaja)
3rd Place - Gilang (Batu Karas)

Juniors

1st Place – Supri (Pacitan)
2nd Place – Agustina (Pangadaran)
3rd Place – Gilang (Batu Karas)

Girls

1st – Salini (Pacitan)
2nd – Yuli (Pacitan)
3rd – Yuyun (Pacitan)

Beginners

1st – Anang (Pacitan)
2nd – Aji (Pacitan)
3rd – Heru (Pacitan)


Text by Tim Hain – Media Director, Coca-Cola ISC Tour
Photos: Tim Hain, Anatara Photography(podium photos)

For high resolution versions of these photos, send your request to tim@isctour.com