ARICA, Chile - Day 1 of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 3-Star Rusty Arica Pro Challenge began early this morning with the 44 registered contestants from France, Australia, Hawaii and from all over the latin continent, working together with event organizers, decided to call competition off for the day in hopes that conditions will improve at the infamous El Gringo.

One by one, competitors paddled out this morning to familiarize themselves with El Gringo, famous world-wide for its consistent perfect and tubing waves. Its fame has increased to the point of being compared to Pipeline in Hawaii, with several calling it the ’Latin American Pipeline’.

This morning’s decision was to put the competition on hold until conditions improve, with event organizers confident that competition will tomorrow in front of the event’s national and international judging panel.

“My expectations are to reach the Final as I already know the area well and the wave here in Arica," Cristian Merello, heavily-favored Chilean, said. "It seems that the waves that are coming tomorrow, Wednesday, aren’t very big but I hope that the good ones will come to me."