Rachael Tilly and Taylor Jensen Won the Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships. Photos: Tommy Pierucki // WSL
The 2024 WSL Longboard Tour has come to a close. In three-to-five-foot conditions at the El Sunzal surf break in La Libertad, Rachael Tilly and Taylor Jensen won the Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships to claim 2024 World Longboard Titles.
Tilly’s path to victory began in Match 3, where she came up against three-time WSL Longboard Champion Honolua Blomfield and prevailed with a 15-point total. From there, she went into the Title Match against number one seed Soleil Errico and managed to pull off two back-to-back heat wins for the overall victory. The win was Rachael Tilly’s second time wearing the Longboard Tour crown. The first was back in 2014, when she became the youngest WSL Longboard Champion ever.
“I can’t believe it. I’ve dreamed of having a second one and it’s been almost ten years,” said Tilly. “I didn’t know if it could happen and now I can’t believe we’re here. There were maybe years where I didn’t have the focus but this year I just tried to start trusting in my ability and that I could win, and with that came my win at the US Open. It was really hard to maintain the focus and energy of this event but here we are.”
On the men’s side, Taylor Jensen started off the event in the Title Match, due to his status as the first-ranked longboarder, going into the competition. There, he faced off against defending champion Kai Sallas twice, winning both times. The win marked Jensen’s fourth time wearing the World Longboard Champion crown.
“I’m still in shock, but a lot went into this one, so it feels good,” said Jensen. “It’s a crazy format. I’ve been down the bottom coming up, and to sit at the top and watch everybody surfing amazing all day just thinking I hope they run out of steam or something. I’m just glad I had some legs left, and it seemed like the other guys got tired. I had a lot of wanting-to-surf energy and just went out there, picked a good one, and got lucky right away. I try not to get emotional, but having my family here is everything.”
