Brown leads surfing rankings after latest qualifiers

PORTLAND NATIVE Javaun Brown has leapt to the top of the rankings following the third qualifier of the 2023 National Open Series in the Jamaica Surf League, which culminated last weekend at the Peenie Wallie Beach in Buff Bay, Portland.

The Boston, Portland native scored 6.60 and amass 670 points to finish fourth in the final, but those points meant he jumps to the top of the rankings after securing 870 points at an event at the Makka Beach and another 870 at Boston Beach.

Brown’s 2,410 points after three events are 410 more than second-place Icah Wilmot, who won Saturday’s final after amassing a score of 11.93. Wilmot has only participated in the last two events, winning both to pick up 2,000 points.

Rounding out the top three are Ronald Hastings, who finished third last weekend with a total score of 9.33. That score counted for 730 points to push Hastings to a ranking total of 1,900.

Elishama Beckford, who won the opening event of the series is in fourth place, with 1,870 points, this after finishing second on Saturday’s final.

In the meantime, series leader Brown was pleased that he was able to make it to the final and rack up more points, despite not having the best performance in the final.

VERY PRODUCTIVE

“The last two events were very productive for me, despite the last event where I was a bit nervous. I would usually take two boards to each competition but I only had one in Buff Bay and it wasn’t the right one for the conditions, but I made it work,” he said.

There is a tie for the top spot on the female side with Zoe Bain and Imani Wilmot both sitting on 1,730 points after three events. The tie was facilitated after Bain took the opening event while Wilmot came good to secure the Buff Bay qualifier. Both surfers missed the second event in Boston Bay.

Gabrielle Chung, with 1,670 points, sits in third place with Aimi Gordon and Aaliyah Alkateeb tied for fourth with 1,480 points.