Starboard Rider Sean Poynter Scores a Magnificent 9.87 and Books His Ticket to the ISAs!

Last weekend Starboard rider Sean Poynter won his 2nd consecutive US championship and booked his place for ISA in Brazil held later on in the year.

Sean was super stoked about his victory telling totalsup “This past Monday was a great day. I was able to take out my consecutive USA Championship win, making it 2017 and 2018 USA SUP Surfing Champion. I did it in the final with a heat total of 17.87 and on the Starboard 7’4” and the small Enduro blade. Coming into the event I knew it was going to be big and wasn’t exactly sure how the beach break would shake out with the swell. Well, it was pretty much maxed out, making wave selection and surfing execution critical on your final result.”

The event held in Oceanside southern California produced some hectic waves but rider Sean did some homework before the event “”I put in time prior to the event understanding the waves, the locations of where the waves were breaking, understanding what type of surfing I could do on each defined wave in the seemingly slop conditions and because of this, I was able to string together a great strategy in my heats. My strategy going into each heat shifted slightly depending on the tide but, in general, there were 3 peaks amidst the chaos that I would bounce between and a jetty that I would use for assistance to get in and out of the break in the difficult conditions. Each heat I was able to put the strategy into practice and advance through to the final.”

Scoring a career high of 9.87 points with a trio of front side turns, two time ISA SUP Surfing Gold Medalist (2013 & 2015) Poynter booked his ticket on the plane “It wasn’t easy, but I was able to find my scoring waves on one of the right-hander peaks connecting with 3 powerful frontside turns on one wave and two frontside jams on my back up wave. The three turns led to one of my career highest single heat wave scores, a 9.87 and my back up wave an 8. This put me in a position where all the finals competitors needed two new scores to have potential to take the win over me. This lasted up until the final moments when Anthony Maltese broke the combination situation by scoring a 9.4, but given the dying minutes of the heat, he wasn’t able to back it up. This left me with the victory and my second consecutive US Championship win and my seventh consecutive USA Team inclusion that will compete at the ISA World Championships.”

Finishing off by adding “After flying home with the trophy in hand, I ran into a sports psychology specialist and he reminded me that to succeed in sports and beyond, you must be here and now and associate your thoughts with only things you can control. As he said, bring your mind to your feet and think of all victories, losses or wins, as a dart on a dartboard… You may not hit the bullseye every time, but you are getting points each time you hit the board. Discover the victory even in your losses and be in the moment all the while. I can’t tell you how stoked I am on my victory and my excitement in keeping it going.”

Check out the board that helped book Sean’s ticket to Brazil here the new 2018 Pro model with a new rocker shape and downtturned rails, allowing him to power through the heats at Oceanside.