The men's final of the Caraïbos Lacanau Pro looked a whole of the same as the women’s final – being between two powerful goofy foots, except well, the ending was even more dramatic.
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Marc Lacomare and Gerroa’s Dean Bowen were the strongest surfers on finals day, exploiting every inch of wave face on offer to do huge turns on their backhand.
Bowen got the best of their first exchange with an excellent 8.17 over Lacomare's 7.33.
They went again blow for blow on back-to-back waves but this time the Frenchman found a cleaner face that stayed vertical longer and he was the one with an advantage, 8.50 over 7.07 for the lead.
In a similar scenario than the women's final, it all seemed written in stone until Bowen found a good wave with two minutes on the clock.
He surfed it all the way to shore and actually came in, thinking he had done the job.
The next minute and a half were probably the Frenchman's longest of his life, as he had to wait it out in the lineup, hoping the judges would call a small score.
7.30 which was Bowen's second-best score, and a great one, but just 0.37 shy of what he needed to turn the heat, and so Marc's arms went high up in the air.
He was denied a final in Lacanau twice in the past and finally made it all the way.
Bowen's surfing was pretty much on par with Lacomare's and it eventually really came down to wave selection, and probably a little bit of luck.
"I left it all out in the water and gave it everything I got," Bowen said.
"I've always admired Marc's surfing and I'm stoked to have surfed a final with him.
“I had a lot of fun and it gets the ball rolling for me.
“I've had a pretty rough year and surfing such good waves like that, with heat scores over 14 in almost all my heats feels really good."
This World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 1,500 result, which is a season-best, leaves the Werri Beach Boardrider in 114th in the 2017 QS rankings, with 11 heat wins next to his name and average wave score of 11.95.