Professional surfer and all-around waterman Gilbert Brown was a clear favorite at the first day of competition in Costa Rica’s Kolbi National Surfing Circuit; after all, the heats took place in break that is very familiar to the native from Limón: Playa Cocles. Brown is the current champion, but it was Anthony Fillingim who took the lead in this highly competitive tournament.

According to a report filed by Adrián Mendoza of online news daily CRHoy.com, the heats in the Men’s Open category were dominated by Brown and Fillingim as well as by David Herrera and Anthony Segura. In the end, Fillingim came away with a solid score of 15.83, closely followed by Brown. Fillingim is from Santa Teresa, where he is used to a cleaner type of surfing conditions.

In the Women’s Open category, Lizbeth Vindas did not disappoint. As one of the best female pro surfers in the world, Vindas was a clear favorite, although it was not an easy victory for her. The young Leilani McGonagle obtained scores that were very close to catching up with Vindas, and her performance on the last set of the heats was very energetic.

The Playa Cocles tournament date is the first of seven in the Kolbi National Surfing Circuit. For the second stage of this professional surfing tournament, the competitors will move to the Northern Pacific coast in the Guanacaste region, specifically the expat enclave of Playa Tamarindo, which is also known as Tamagringo due to its high population of North American and European residents.

Surfing conditions in the breaks of Playa Tamarindo are expected to improve for the next stage of the Circuit, which will take place on February 21^st and 22^nd; current conditions are strong in terms of wave force, but the sets now are a bit sloppy instead of the glassy conditions typically enjoyed by surfers in Guanacaste.