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Cimaja Produces Perfect Surf for Groms at Rip Curl GromSearch 4
5 July 2009, Cimaja-West Java: The Rip Curl GromSearch crew returned to the hotbed of surfing on the island of Java, turning up the heat and bringing the hottest young groms boiling up to the surface at the cobblestone right point break in the beachside town of Cimaja, just a few hours drive from the capital city of Jakarta for Gromsearch #4.
After already striking gold in Lombok, Sumatra, and Sumbawa, the GromSearch crew flew up to Java to the home of 2008 Coca-Cola Indonesian Pro Surfing Champion Dede Suryana to look for the boy or girl grommet that would be someday taking his place as the surfing champion of Indonesia.
Although there were no girl grommets participating in this event, the 40+ boy grommets from the Cimaja area and as far away as Pangandaran were fired up and ready to surf their hearts out on this Sunday morning for fun, prizes, prestige, and the ultimate prize of a Ticket to Bali to compete in the GromSearch National Finals on October 24 at Kuta Beach in Bali for first place and runner up in the Under 16 division.
As the sun rose up over the hills above Cimaja, the frothing groms that couldn’t wait for the action to begin were already in the water getting a few early waves in. At just before 8 am they were called back to the beach, and a few minutes later the first heat of the Under 16’s paddled out into the perfect 2-3 foot surf.
Clearly displaying their intimate knowledge of this classic reef point were locals Sandi Slamet, Dwi Nuka, and Atris, all posting early heat wins on their way to their finals berths. Also winning his first heat was Isaac from Pangadaran, whose big powerful turns got him top points from the judging crew, but his run for the final was cut short in the semifinals.
For the Under 16 Final it was a local affair with Sandi Slamet, Atris Jachim, Rock Roy, and Dwi Nuka all battling it out for those two coveted Ticket’s to Bali. During the final 25 minutes Sandi Slamet picked off some great waves and with a combination of hacks, cutbacks and floaters dominated the final, with Rock Roy making some great maneuvers but just not able to overtake the on-fire Sandi.
The Under 14’s showed off their ripening skills in fine fashion, with 11 year old Dian Herdianto from Pangandaran an early standout, ripping each wave apart with studied determination clearly intent on a podium finish. The crowd favorite was Dennis H.S., who knew just where hit the lip on each wave to get the biggest cheers form his fans and the most points from judging crew.
After winning their early heats they met again in the final with Deden Sutendi and Mulya Akmal, and in an impressive display of grom surfing, the youngest competitor of the day, Dian, nabbed the top spot on the podium. Commented Coca-Cola ISC Tour Head Judge Leon Suandhi, “It’s so great to see kids like this so excited about surfing. And to see that the skill level is already so high in kids this young. A kid like Dian will be a future Indonesian surfing champion, without a doubt!”
During a break in the final, some of the older surfers got their chance to win something, namely great gear from Skull Candy, for the Best Wave and Best Trick. The Best Trick award went to Deden for his huge hack and the Best Wave award went to Macan, who put together a couple big turns, a floater, and a 360 on his best wave.
After a full day of surfing and the awards presentation, the spectators and non-surfing groms also had a chance to win some of the many prizes that are up for grabs at every Rip Curl GromSearch like handphones from Fren, stickers, wallets and more from Rip Curl, with a “wheel barrel” race, quizzes, trash collecting, and just plain giving things away, everybody there came home with something.
The Rip Curl GromSearch series is sponsored and supported by Fren, Skull Candy, Eat Sleep Surf (ESS), Light Surfboards, Yayasan Gelombang Udara Segar, Trax Magazine, Surf Time Magazine and the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour.
Also a big thanks to the Cimaja locals, especially Mr. Mumu and Mr. Iwan, for all their help in making this Cimaja event a big success.
The Rip Curl GromSearch Series 2009 is sanctioned by the Coca-Cola ISCTour, so all contestants will receive ISC Junior Division points at each event. The Under 16 surfer with the most points at the end of the year will become the Indonesian Junior Champion of 2009.
Under 16
Sandi Slamet
Rock Roy
Dwi Nuka
Atris Jachim
Under 14
Dian Hardianto
Dennis H. S.
Deden Sutendi
Mulya Akmal
Expression Session
Best Wave: Macan
Best Trip: Deden
The next Rip Curl GromSearch Event will be held in Bali at Medewi Beach on September 13, 2009. Medewi is the last event before the National Finals in Kuta, Bali which will be held to together with the Rip Curl Surf & Music festival on the 24.10.09.
See you there!
"Text and photos by Tim Hain - ISC"