San Clemente, Calif., April 25, 2007 - The Jeep® Body Glove Surfbout, the first stop on the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series presented by Jeep, entered its second day of competition and was once again greeted with clean three- to four-foot surf at Lower Trestles. The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) four-star event saw a full day’s worth of competition go down with some of the highest scoring waves of the event as the Surfbout draw narrowed down to 96 remaining competitors.

Chris Abad produced the maneuver of the event this afternoon with an inverted full-rotation air reverse putting the beach crowd of surfers and spectators on their feet. The incredible ride garnered Abad the event-high single wave score of a 9.60 out of a possible 10 and advancement into round four.

“I was just sitting there for ages and wasn’t getting any waves and I was getting really bummed,” Abad said. “Then that right came in and lined up and it just kept going. I was just really lucky that I could let loose on it and I am stoked to get through another round. The set up here at Lowers is so perfect for a competition and I am psyched to be doing well in the event.”

Kilian Garland tore apart the glassy afternoon rights and lefts securing an 8.50 and a 7.50 for the day’s high heat total of a 16.00 out of a possible 20. The 20-year-old natural-footer looked calm and collected despite drawing a wave-barren heat.

“There weren’t a lot of waves coming through my heat but I got really lucky to pick off a pretty good left and then another decent right,” Garland said. “It’s pretty hit or miss today, but when it comes through, you can really go off. I’m stoked to get through to round four and hopefully can keep going.”

Travis Beckmann, current ratings leader on the 2007 ASP North America Pro Junior Series, smashed through his afternoon Surfbout heat today despite nursing an injured arm sustained recently in Puerto Rico.

“I was definitely grimacing out there on that one left,” Beckmann said. “It affects the way I surf and I have to ice it and baby it when I’m not in the water. I haven’t gone to the doctor yet, but all my friends have been telling me that I’ve just smushed the muscle and bruised the bone really bad.”

Beckmann will join the slew of youngsters who are competing in both the Jeep Body Glove Surfbout and Oakley Pro Junior including, Cory Arrambide, Kilian Garland, Jesse Heilman and Adam Wickwire, hoping to still be doing double-duty come Friday.

“I am a bit concerned once the Oakley Pro Junior starts because surfing more than once a day is going to slow the rehab process,” Beckmann said. “It’s Lowers though, and with only four guys out, it’s hard to pass up. Fortunately, the waves are so good that you don’t have to struggle too hard to do good turns.”

As the opening event of the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series presented by Jeep (an ASP North America Specialty Series), the Jeep Body Glove Surfbout will not only award Saturday’s victor with the $10,000 first prize check and valuable ASP WQS ratings points, but also the lead in the three-event series. From Lowers, the Macy’s California Trifecta will then venture to Newport Beach, in September, for the Newport Beach Pro presented by Jeep before culminating in Santa Cruz, in October, for the O’Neill Cold Water Classic presented Jeep. An all-new 2007 Jeep Patriot in addition to a potential cash bonus of over $30,000 will be presented to the Series winner at the final event.

Running in conjunction with the Jeep Body Glove Surfbout, the ASP Grade-2 Oakley Pro Junior will begin Friday with the round of 32 where young up-and-comer Eric Geiselman will be defending his title and trying to continue his winning streak.

Jeep Body Glove Surfbout action will recommence tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. with round four. All action will be webcast LIVE with streaming video and scoring at www.surfbout.com.

FUEL TV will telecast highlights from the Jeep Body Glove Surfbout beginning May 5th on The Weekly Update. For FUEL TV airdates and show times, check www.fuel.tv. Check out the Jeep Body Glove Surfbout and all of the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series surf spots at www.WaveWatch.com.

The 2007 Jeep Body Glove Surfbout is happy to once again have support from Macy’s, Oakley, Ocean Minded, the San Clemente Times, FUEL TV, and PRIMEDIA’s Action Sports Group (ASG), publisher of SURFER, SURFING and WaveWatch.

WAVEWATCH FORECAST 4/26/07
SWELL - New swell from the dateline-Gulf of Alaska region to be in control with swell @ 3.3 ft @ 14-15 secs (4.0-4.5 ft faces) from 300-305 degrees. Risidual southern hemi swell may produce an occasional 2 ft wave.
WIND - South winds forecast at 6-8 kts in the morning, but fading to near calm midday.
TIDE - High tide forecast @ 6:20 AM at 4 ft fading to dead low @ 1:00.

-Story by Dave Prodan