With 3 of the 8 contests in the bag, the UST moves on to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina this upcoming weekend of July 12th & 13th.  The Outer Banks offered great contest conditions last year and this year’s forecast is looking even more promising.  With Hurricane Bertha stirring things up, Surfline is projecting 4-6 foot waves for the weekend.  According to Surfline.com, “Hurricane Bertha is east of the Bahamas and on a slow 10kt WNW track. This compact storm is moving along the edge of the Atlantic ridge.  As a result, small forerunners begin to show on Thursday – this should be enough to produce fun little waves for the longboarders. A bit more swell will be impacting the region by the late part of the day.  By Friday more Bertha swell train moves in with plenty of fun surf expected. This holds and peaks on Saturday before slowly backing down some Sunday into Monday. As Bertha lifts north, the swell will decrease while becoming more inconsistent. The swell may be pulsey at times given the nature of tropical systems. ”

With the swell up, this will most likely be a very fun and exciting event.  So far this year, the UST contests have scored with good contest conditions.  Cabo started things off with a bang with excellent conditions at Lover’s Beach.  Soon thereafter, Dewey Beach showed the contestants how the east coast is done right with off shore winds and clean waves all day long.  New Jersey is the only exception so far, but even Barnegat had glimpses of glory.

This year the UST race couldn’t been much closer.  Beaker has a strong lead with two firsts and a second place.  Morgan Just is looking ripe this year nipping closely at Beaker’s tail with Paulo Prietto in striking distance behind.  It will definitely be exciting to see the action unfold.  Stay posted for news and highlights!