A FAST BOARD TO CHINA: New Zealand longboarder Sasha Brownlie catches a wave off the coast of China. ISA/Tim Hain picture
NEW Zealand longboarder Sasha Brownlie finished 17th-equal in the women’s division of the ISA World Longboard Surfing Championship in China.
Brownlie, 38, has family links with Gisborne and Wairoa. She travelled to China having just won the women’s longboard title at the national surfing championships at Makorori Beach this month.
In small surf at Riyue Bay, in Wanning, Brownlie (now of Auckland) finished third in her Round 1 heat with a score of 5.84. Emily Lethbridge, of Australia, won the heat with a score of 13.5 and South Africa’s Christy Gilmour scored 6.87.
In Brownlie’s first repechage, she finished second, with a score of 5.8, to Italian Francesca Rubegni, who scored 8.43. In the second repechage, Brownlie scored 5.67 to finish third behind Hawaii’s Kelis Kaleopaa (7.96) and Argentina’s Teresa Gil (7.56).
That ended her run at the championship. New Zealand’s other open women’s entrant, 16-year-old Gabi Paul (Piha), was also eliminated in her second repechage. She was fourth in her Round 1 heat, second in her first repechage and third in her second. Brownlie and Paul both finished 17th equal. In the open men’s division, New Zealand surfer Zen Wallis (Piha) made the last 18 yesterday, but teammate Hugh Ritchie (Christchurch) was eliminated, placing 31st.
