Results:
1st James Lovett
2nd Bill Bryan
3rd Paulo Prietto
4th Brad Domke
5th Sammy Stinnett
6th Morgan Just
7th Harley Nelson
8th Brandon Rothe

Big Thanks to the sponsors especially Brian and Lori at Main St. and Exile.

Thirty six pros showed up at the fouth annual Oktoberfest at Balboa pier.  The conditions were windy, but contestable.  The pros took to the water and impressed the judges and spectators.  The forecast tomorrow is expected to be better.  By the end of the day, the swell had picked up significantly.  The wind is predicted to be offshore in the morning for round 2 of the pro heats.  There is a lot at stake for the pros.  This is the final stop of the UST and will determine who will be finishing where on tour.  Beaker has locked up first place, but the other top spots are up for grabs.  Stay tuned, this event should produce some very exciting skimboarding.

Click the image below to initiate lightbox.

All photos courtesy of S. Czerepka

Day 2 of the Santa Cruz contest saw a drop in swell but no drop in competition.  The remaining pros (18) were excited to get in the water early before the wind picked up.  The pro level these days has increased making each heat close.  Due to a heel injury obtained at the Sacramento flatland contest, Victoria’s Brandon Rothe was unable to compete and left the door open for Paulo Prietto to skip forward into 2nd place on the UST.  Bill Bryan clinched 1st place on the UST after he advanced into the final making it impossible for anyone to surpass him on the tour.  Congratulations to Bill and all the top finalists!

For a full write up, check out the next issue of Skimboarder Mag next month.

RESULTS

Round 2: ——————————QuarterFinals:

Heat 1:                                         Heat 1:

Beaker – 1st                                 Mathieu Thibaud – 1st
Mathieu Thibaud- 2nd                  Beaker – 2nd
Scott Flores – 3rd                          Brendan Stevens – 3rd

Heat 2:                                         Heat 2:
Brendan Stevens – 1.5                 Jaime Lovette – 1st
Koty Lopez – 1.5                          Paulo Prietto – 2nd
Brandon Rothe – 3rd                    Koty Lopez – 3rd

Heat 3:                                         Heat 3:
Paulo Prietto- 1st                         Stephen Bradford – 1st
Harley Nelson- 2nd                      Harley Nelson – 2nd
Jason Wilson – 3rd                       Brad Domke – 3rd

Heat 4:                                          Heat 4:
Brad Domke – 1st                         Brandon Sears – 1st
Jaime Lovette – 2nd                      Mo Just – 2nd
E.J. Sanico – 3rd                           Isaac Zoller – 3rd

Heat 5:
Morgan Just – 1st
Isaac Zoller – 2nd
Corbin Dull – 3rd

Heat 6:
Stephen Bradford – 1st
Brandon Sears – 2nd
Ben K. – 3rd

Semi Finals:

Heat 1:
Beaker – 1st
Brandon Sears – 2nd
Stephen Bradford – 3rd
Harley Nelson – 4th

Heat 2:
Mo Just – 1st
Paulo Prietto – 2nd
Jaime Lovette – 3rd
Mathieu Thibaud – 4th

Finals:

Paulo Prietto – 1st
Beaker – 2nd
Brandon Sears -3rd
Mo Just – 4th

Day 1 of the 9th annual Santa Cruz Contest was full of high hopes.   On Friday, the day before the contest, all of the visiting skimboarders were welcomed with clean 2-4 foot surf at 26th Ave.  Everyone was convinced that the good conditions would follow for the contest, but just like many other events, the conditions turned for the worst.  Contestants were greeted with glassy conditions in the morning, but soon thereafter the sun and wind came up along with a nasty trough.  That didn’t stop the pros from making the most of the conditions.  All the big names made it through the first round despite the sloppy conditions.

Contestants are crossing their fingers that the conditions will switch back for the better when the contest resumes early Sunday morning.  Here are the first round pro results:

Photo: D’Eliscu

Heat 1:

EJ Sanico 1^st

Beaker 2^nd

Jake Stinnett 3^rd

Heat 2:

Harley Nelson 1^st

Brandon Rothe 2^nd

George Bryan 3^rd

Heat 3:

Paulo Prietto1st

Koty Lopez 2^nd

Tommy D’Eliscu 3^rd

Heat 4:

Brad Domke 1^st

Matthieu Thibald 2^nd

Keith Peery 3^rd

Heat 5:

Morgan Just 1^st

Scrappy Flores 2^nd

Brandon McCormick 3^rd

Heat 6:

Brendan Stevens 1^st

Brandon Sears 2^nd

Brent Gretch 3^rd

Heat:7:

Jason Wilson 1^st

Stephen Bradford 2^nd

Ryan Parola 3^rd

Heat 8:

James Lovett 1^st

Corbin Dull 2^nd

Nate Zoller 3^rd

Heat 9: (Sorry, I’m not sure how this last heat went)

Isaac Zoller

Ben K.

Adam Loero

Vilano Beach is a tiny beach town located on the northeast coast of Florida. The town is just a couple miles north of St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States. Situated on the north side of St. Augustine inlet, this little community started as a fishing village in the 1920’s. Up until 1995, you still had to take the original rickety drawbridge across the Tolomato River to get to Vilano Beach. In the past ten years, the area has grown into a little beach town with a budding tourist industry.

Vilano Beach is visited by people for one of three reasons mainly: to fish, to escape the crowded beaches of St. Augustine or to ride waves. Over the past decade, more and more skimboarders, surfers and bodyboarders have been finding their way to this beach for the amazing waves and unique atmosphere. The St. Augustine Inlet creates strong currents on the main beach access, making the water very deep right up to the steep coquina slopes, which is made up mostly of a mixture of ground down rocks, seashells and sand. Vilano beach is somewhat of an unintentional secret escape, meaning that unless you are actually looking for it, you would probably drive by and never know you were there.

Type of wave

Vilano is known for heavy A-frame waves and long lines from the south. The beach and waves are very rare for a break in Florida. The beach is very deep close to shore year-round, although still subject to changes from big storms, hurricanes, swells, etc. There are several spots in Vilano, but the most famous spot is Vilano Beach Access – the main beach access in the town. Also, you can actually drive your cars out onto the beach year-round, although it does close early in the summer because of turtle nests.

Vilano is a unique wave in Florida for a couple reasons. First, it is one of the most powerful shorebreaks in Florida. Through years and years of currents, tides, and storms moving the sand onto the beach in addition to the adjacent inlet, there are almost no outside sandbars. This allows any primary swell in the ocean to maintain its power and speed all the way to beach. Most other break have sandbars – whether they are 30 ft or 500ft out – that detract from the primary swell energy, and that energy is weakened by each sandbar the swell encounters.

When the beaches are perfectly formed, the beach is usually very steep – about 30 to 40 degree slope or so. The currents created by the inlet errode a very smooth transition from the slope of the beach into the water. The ocean floor itself at the shoreline is smooth and flat, which allows for waves to roll in cleanly and open up. The currents create certain variations in the sandbars that create an A-framing wave. This is not because of the tiny jetty on the main beach, but simply because of a combination of ocean floor contours and swell direction and winds (see more in Physics article). The break is best known for hollow A-frame barrels and

Food

Being a small town, there’s not a whole lot of variety in Vilano Beach. Toucan Terry’s is located on the northeast corner of the town main intersection and is within easy walking distance. Their menu has a wide selection of tasty and decently-priced food, like quesadillas, burgers, wraps, nachos, hot dogs, wings and fish tacos. Make sure you say hi to the owner, Terry, who usually has a good joke or two up his sleeve to tell customers.

Just 100 yards north or so is Benito’s Pizza, a local restaurant specializing in Italian food and –you guessed it – pizza. Their specials change year round, but the food is always good and the beer nice and cold. Other than that, there is a BP about half a mile north of Vilano Rd. to get some refreshments. For fancier fare, you can try The Reef restaurant or Caps waterfront restaurant. Both have good food, but are a little too pricey for most skimboarders on a budget. You can also go into St. Augustine for a greater choice in restaurants and food.

Lodging

There are four main hotels in Vilano Beach: Hampton Inn and Suites, Ocean Blue Motel, The Ocean Blue motel II, and the Magic Beach Motel. The nicest (and most expensive) is the Hampton Inn and Suites. This hotel is located on the Southeast corner of the town’s main intersection, right across from Toucan Terry’s. It has regular rooms as well as suites with ocean views, and a pool and a much need hot tub for those long days in the water.

The Ocean Blue Motel is next to the main beach access and has probably the best view in Vilano beach. It’s a little less expensive than the Hampton, but just as comfortable and close to the beach. The Ocean Blue Motel II is the exact same, except it is located just south of the Hampton Inn. The Ocean Blue II has a pool to relax in as well. The Magic Beach motel is located next to the Ocean Blue Motel on Vilano Rd. It also has a pool, but I’d recommend one of the other three hotels (or just somewhere else in general) than staying at the Magic Beach Motel

Nightlife

Basically, there isn’t much of one in Vilano Beach. Just drive over the bridge and head into downtown St. Augustine for some things to do at night. There are ghost tours and nighttime graveyard walks for the family, as well as an eclectic bar scene for some more adult fun. I’d suggest A1A Aleworks for the delicious food, great local beer and a nice showcase of the local talent. If you happen to be in town for the first Friday of the month, definitely check out the Art Walk, where all the local museums and art galleries open for free and provide free snacks and beverages.

Locals

There are really only a handful of true, live-on-the-beach skimboard locals at Vilano, but there are others that are at the beach almost daily from St. Augustine and Jacksonville. Everyone who skims Vilano on a regular basis knows each other, so if you’re not from around their, they’ll know. Most of the time, the locals skimboarders are more than happy to share waves with visitors. However, there is a line-up on the beach, especially when the waves are good. The local skimboarders will usually take the choicer sets, but as long as you are observant, respectful and – MOST IMPORTANTLY – don’t hit any of the tourists or other skimboarders, you’ll get plenty of good waves and board claps.

See ya on the slopes! – Tad Mask

Stay tuned for a full write up and photos in the next issue.

After the contest on Sunday, be sure to hit up the Out The Back Wrap Up Party @ 7 Degrees in Laguna Beach (Laguna Canyon) which will feature Live music, Video montages, Awards ceremony, and 10th St. Bros. video premiere 7pm – 11pm Sunday July 27, 2008. Don’t miss out.

The conditions were challenging with the presence of hurricane Bertha offshore, however there were still good waves to be had if you could make it over the dead water. Look for expanded coverage in the next issue of Skimboarder Magazine.

The Top Six:

1. Brandon Rothe
2. Paulo Prietto
3. Morgan Just
4. Brad Domke
5. Bill Bryan
6. Jason Wilson

1. Bill Bryan 2900 Points
2. Morgan Just 2556 Points
3. Paulo Prietto 1909 Points
4. Brandon Sears 1815 Points
5. James Lovett 1522 Points
6. Brandon Rothe 1462 Points
7. Stephen Bradford 1307 Points
8. Woody Harris 1307 Points
9. Brad Domke 1222 Points
10. Chris Marciniack 1071 Points
11. Corbin Dull 938 Points
12. Toby Lehman 818 Points
13. Scott Flores 810 Points
14. Joey Vavala 716 Points
15. John Howell 657 Points
16. Grady Archbold 651 Points
17. Dominic Prietto 590 Points
18. Mathieu Thibaud 578 Points
19. Sam Stinnett 522 Points
20. Teddy Vlasis 478 Points

For a full list of the results please visit the United Skim Tour home page.