Saturday, November 28, 1998 - Fuerteventura, Canary Islands -- Californian Joel Tudor, of La Jolla, fulfilled his destiny today when he won the ASP Oxbow World Longboard championship in brilliant two meter Waves. The result made a dream come true for the 22-year-old who has been trying to capture the world title for the past six years.
Surfing against close friend Beau Young, of Australia, Tudor put on a show of classic longboarding with magical nose-rides and smooth carving turns. "This has taken me six years," said Tudor, dripping wet and beaming as he emerged from the pounding surf at El Hierro, Fuerteventura. "Just coming all this way and going through everything imaginable to win this thing - I'm going home happy and ready to celebrate."
Despite monopolizing the US national title for the past four years, the World title had so far eluded Tudor in the face of Hawaiian domination for the past five years. "It's the one thing in my life that has been haunting me - 'you haven't won the world title'. Now I'm happy."
Tudor looked relaxed and comfortable throughout the final, only catching four waves in the 35-minute heat to bring up the three scores he needed. Young, by contrast, rode the full quota of 10 waves but fell on several crucial maneuvers and scrambled around for smaller inside waves in Desperation. Tudor advanced to the final ahead of Hawaiian Lance Hookano. Tudor took that heat by relentlessly working over the left-hand waves that had suited his style so well all week.
On the opposite side of the draw, Young, 24, son of 1966 world champion and three time professional longboard champion Nat Young, quietly built up his own momentum while the big names bombed out. Young only barely scraped through the earlier rounds but began to hit his Straps in the man-on-man quarter finals. He peaked in his semi-final today When he toppled one of the stand-outs of the tournament, Californian Geoff Moysa.
"It feels unreal," said Young. "I was so stoked to get through that semi and surfing with Joel's great." The pair politely traded waves and chatted between sets like the old friends they were. "We talked about everything from family, to the waves, to me needing mine."
The nine point ride that Young needed to take the lead never came his way. But the result still came as a welcome step out of the shadow of his legendary father in the quest to establish himself as a world class surfer in his own right.
While never featuring in the final, the powerful Hawaiians won the team title for the best performed nation throughout the event, with six team members making the final 16.
Next year's championship, likely to be in Australia, promises to be the most competitive in the event's history.
Home