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.

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All photos courtesy of S. Czerepka

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

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

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BLUE INDICATES RIDERS WHO ADVANCED TO THE NEXT ROUND

1st  Corbin Dull
2nd Brandon Sears
3rd Woody Harris
4th Zack Smetts

1st Stephen Bradford
2nd  Chris Marciniak
3rd  Chris Splendore
4th  Mathieu Thiabald

1st  Morgan Just
2nd Jaime Lovett
3rd Grady Archbold

1st  Joey Vavala
2nd Paulo Prietto
3rd  Austin Bleiweiss

1st  Brandon Rothe
2nd  Brad Domke
3rd Koty Lopez

1st Sean Stratton
2nd  Jon Howell
3rd Jason Wilson

1st Bill Bryan
2nd Cheyne Terjeson
3rd  Bill Baxter

The rule was imposed at the 2007 VIC at the last minute, without consulting with any of the competing athletes. The rule itself was simple: A 10 wave limit per competitor per heat. (This was again changed on the beach: upped to a 12 wave limit in the final) It was imposed with the hopes that the limit would decrease interference between riders running for waves simply for the sake of running for waves and blocking other competitors from completing a scoring ride.

Below is the Petition in its entirety:

The Victoria Contest is arguably the most prestigious event in skimboarding. The format of the contest is an important facet to determine a winner. The proposed 7 scoring ride requirement and 12 wave maximum rule discourages progression and is not the best way to prevent interference. In fact, it may stimulate more close calls and interference because riders will be overly selective and bunch up on certain waves.

It is very difficult to catch 7 scoring waves on any given day in 12 minutes. We do not feel it is ample time to perform high scoring maneuvers in such time when dealing with the uncontrollable force of nature. Judging 7 scoring waves out of 12 total waves in 12 minutes calculates that a rider must catch 1 wave every minute.

We, the professional riders, believe that judges want to see progression and high scoring maneuvers. Furthermore, we believe that focusing on high scoring progressive maneuvers in skimboard contests is important for the growth and relevance of competitive skimboarding. With that in mind, we would like to amend the rules of the Victoria Contest by returning to a no set wave limit and reducing the number of scoring waves to 4.

Since the presentation of the petition, contest directors have been very positive in their reception of the athletes comments and they are currently working together towards a resolution. Stay tuned for the results!

The VIC aside, it is Skimboarder Magazine’s opinion that all contest sanctioned by the UST need to adopt a unified judging, scoring and priority system that is consistently enforced at every contest to further legitimize the entire contest season and the crowning of an overall champion.

Well informed, paid judges are a necessity. In surfing’s WCT, Judges are visually separated and not allowed to talk to each other, talk to athletes and via versa. There is a single head judge who overseas the scoring judges and handles any disputes. A single priority judge or a pair of priority judges keeping track of who has priority using highly visible, color coded flags that match competitors jerseys is a viable option. To enforce priority a unified system of scoring and penalties for interference must be created and adhered to. Without all of the above, Competitive skimboarding will have a very difficult time growing and reaching a larger audience.

With the Cabo and Delaware tour stops in the bag, things are heating up to be the most competitive season ever on the UNITED SKIM TOUR.

1. Bill Bryan 2000 Points
2. Morgan Just 1556 Points
3. Paulo Prietto 1431 Points
4. Brandon Sears 1385 Points
5. James Lovett 1240 Points
6. Woody Harris 1039 Points
7. Brandon Rothe 872 Points
8. Toby Lehman 818 Points
9. Scott Flores 810 Points
10. Chris Marciniack 684 Points
    
11. Dominic Prietto 590 Points
12. Stephen Bradford 578 Points
13. Sam Stinnett 522 Points
14. Teddy Vlasis 478 Points
15. Grady Archbold 445 Points
16. Brad Domke 412 Points
17. Mathieu Thibaud 349 Points
18. John Howell 343 Points
19. Hunter Poller 315 Points
20. Connor Willem 314 Points

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

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