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Princess Continues Dominance of the Field
Dana and Wilson behind her, Princess focuses on Luxon
Wilson Beach, Grand Duchy of Ananto
July 1, 5671


Princess Nicolette Ananto-Collins turns in a nearly flawless performance at Kali Pipeline

Her Highness, Princess Nicolette Ananto-Collins has cleared the final hurdle before the Luxon Invitational. She placed first over all last week at the Kali Pipeline Tournament at Wilson River. The victory adds to her string of wins this season including the Dana Open in Late May. Her goal now: to focus on and train for the Luxon competition, where she hopes to complete her quest for the elusive Triple Crown.

"I have set that as my goal, as my life's goal," she said. "The Triple Crown is the highest honor in the competitive surfing world, and only two other people in the last century have won it. I hope to be the third, and the first woman to do so." Assuming nothing major happens during Her Highness' training regimen, she is the betting favorite in Luxon, though he odds are close to even.

"Now that the Kali Pipeline competition, which the Princess won handily with her near perfect performance, has completed, and no other surfer really stood out, she could win Luxon without much serious competition," said Sulari Book Maker Charles Miles, of the Bookmaking Syndicate. "But that said: there are still two qualifying competitions left in July, so someone could emerge from the field as a dark horse which can throw our lines off from where they stand right now. Her Highness sits at +115, which is just about even odds. We think she'll win, but a number like +115 suggests a lot of uncertainty in the outcome."

One surfer who could in theory upset the field at Luxon is Dana surfer Zeke Phillips, who placed a close second in the Dana Competition in May and finished a clear first in the Male Competition. "Phillips is sitting at about a -185 right now," said Miles. "If anyone that we already know is going to Luxon is going to actually overtake the Princess it will be him. But we have also seen upsets which even we could not predict. Last year Callie Rogers was at -1265. The few who actually bet on her to win made a killing. Most betters, including a lot of the Syndicate, lost a ton of money."

The Princess says she intends to relocate to Luxon and surf the swell every day between now and the Competition. "The Swell," she says, " has a special feeling to it. It's very much like a living breathing being. The peaks and the troughs of the wave are regular this time of year. But like a living being, it takes time to get to know, to become familiar with, to understand. The Ocean at Luxon kills people every year, but usually that's because people do not treat it with respect and the appropriate fear and reverence. This is one of the reasons why Luxon does not permit kids to compete. More maturity and experience is needed to ride that Swell with any hope of survival." She said she wants to spend her time before the competition.

The competition finale of the season will take place in late August, when the Swell is traditionally at its peak for the year and the waves are both regular and challenging. After the beginning of September, the North Ananantonese Current drifts too far into the Strait for the waves to be flat at Luxon, leading to very poor and very dangerous surf conditions and inclement weather until the next Spring when the warm regular Swell rolls back in from the South West off the Suldanoran Coast to bring warm weather and long flat waves back to Ananto. Princess Nicki says she's ready. "I've been waiting my entire life," she said. "I got so close last year. This year I'm going to be ready for it."

@LaModa