The Green Room

Congratulations to the Harbor High Surf Team. The Pirates completed a perfect undefeated 2008 Interscholastic Surfing Federation Santa Cruz season by beating Half Moon Bay on Sunday, May 11 at the Hook. The waves were pretty lackluster but all the teams still showed up in force to enjoy the fifth and final meet of the ISF season. The final standings are as follows:

1. Harbor  5-0

T-2. Scotts Valley 4-1

T-2. Aptos  4-1

T-3. Half Moon Bay  3-2

T-3. Soquel  3-2

T-5. Santa Cruz  0-5

T-5. Menlo Atherton  0-5

Here are the full results from the last contest of the season…

Team Results
Aptos 56, Soquel 39
Harbor 71, Half Moon Bay 54
Scotts Valley 50, Santa Cruz 18

Individual Results

Coed Bodyboard
1. Kurt Selander - SV
2. Jonathan Poore - SV
3. Grady Brannon - SV
4. Rachel Graham - HMB

Womens Longboard
1. Lexie Hinn - S
2. Kelly Edmonds - S
3. Rachel Graham -HMB
4. Audrey Bullwinkel - MA
5. Samantha Vingo - HMB
6. Alex Beck - A

Mens Longboard
1. Kai Medeiros - H
2. Pat Shaughnessy - SV
3. Jordy Pastor - S
4. Kyle Alreck - SV
5. Jonathan Poore - SV
6. Michael Joshua - HMB

Womens Shortboard
1. Elena Quinjano - S
2. Carly Wilson - H
3. Lexie Hinn - S
4. Kelly Edmonds - S
5. Samantha Vingo - HMB
6. Paige Reeder - H

Mens Shortboard
1. Shaun Burns - SC
2. Ben Frisby - H
3. Kyle Alreck - SV
4. Hunter Koronkowski - H
5. Logan  Banks - SC
6. Tyler Gottsegen - SC

Local middle school and high school surf teams will celebrate the end of the 2008 Interscholastic Surfing Federation season with an awards dinner on Friday (5/23) at the Shoreline Middle School multipurpose room. There will be trophy presentations for both individual and team accomplishments along with a slideshow of highlights from the season. Local pros Jason “Ratboy” Collins, Josh Mulcoy, Matt Rockhold, and Robert “Wingnut” Weaver will be on hand to present the awards to the kids. Food will be provided by Aloha Island Grille and Pizza My Heart for a killer deal. Click the thumbnail pic for more info or talk to your team’s coach.

Logjam logs stand at attention. photo: Neil Pearlberg.

Few surfing contests are better suited for small waves than the Big Stick Surfing Association Logjam.

If a standard shortboard surf contest had attempted to run this weekend at Pleasure Point — which saw hot and glassy conditions and a nice low tide, but relatively small, weak waves — there would have been a lot of bobbing around, griping, and surfers pumping their boards spastically in futile attempts squeeze some juice out of the little waves.

However the “logs” at the Logjam — which requires contestants to ride leashless boards made prior to 1970 and weighing at least 20 pounds — were perfect for catching even the most meager little lines that lapped through First Peak Sunday, allowing surfers to dance gracefully up and down their planks as they sped down the line.

Back-to-back women’s champion, Chris Chiechi. photo: Phil Matthews

Big Stick member CJ Nelson had no problem catching waves, as he navigated a 1967 Hap Jacobs aircraft carrier to victory in the Senior Men’s division. Nelson decided that the contest was as good a time as any to test out the antique longboard.

“I’m borrowing the board and I’m potentially going to buy it, so I wanted to try it out,” Nelson said. “I liked it. I’ve been doing this contest since I was 14 and had the opportunity to ride hundreds of old boards. This contest is all about finding your dream board.”

Nelson beat out good friends Vince Felix of Ventura, who took second, and Marciano “Chango” Cruz. Felix gave Nelson a good run after he somehow managed to cram his nine foot, six inch Hap Jacobs noserider circa 1966 inside a quick First Peak barrel and score the only tube ride of the event.

“He stuffed a turkey into a toaster,” Nelson said of his friend’s feat.

With the Logjam’s board requirements limiting surfers to often hard-to-find and expensive antique longboards, many competitors relied on the aloha of others to borrow a stick for the contest. Kai Medeiros, 15, surfing in just his second Logjam, said he was especially thankful to Mark and CJ Nelson for providing him with a beautiful 1966 David Nuuhiwa noserider for the event. In the process of surfing the Nuuhiwa all the way to the Junior Men’s finals, the young longboarder said he fell in love with the board.

“It’s one of the best noseriders I’ve ever ridden,” Medeiros said tenderly. “I think of the board as being innocent since it was made before the shortboard revolution. I’m thinking about buying it. We might have to dip into the college fund.”

Quinn Pearlberg surfs with his father Neil Pearlberg in the Aloha Team final of the Big Stick Log Jam. photo: Dan Coyro/Sentinel

In the Women’s final it was Big Stick’s Chris Chiechi taking first place for the second year in a row, picking off a number of set waves and scoring some nice tip time. Cathy Meyerhoffer, meanwhile, took the Junior Women’s final against a talented field that included Santa Cruz’s Micaela Eastman and Nelson’s girlfriend, Jill Hansen. Hansen, who grew up surfing in Hawaii, said the small surf was an adjustment, but that she enjoyed her first Logjam.

“We’re kind of a team,” Hansen said. “To surf with CJ in the same contest was really special for me.”

Another team at this year’s Logjam was the father-son duo of Neil and Quinn Pearlberg, who rode together in the “Aloha Team” heat, where two members from the same club surf the same wave at the same time.

“Instead of him dropping in on me, now we have to share the wave,” Neil Pearlberg joked before the two paddled out together.

“But I’ll still be in front,” added Quinn.

Keeping with the theme of celebrating surfing’s past, this year’s Logjam also featured a “Super Legends” heat of surfers all over 70 years old. 72-year-old Vince Pando of the Pedro Point Surf Club has been surfing since he was 24. Surfing, he said, has helped keep him feeling young.

“This is the first time they let guys our age surf,” Pando said. “Anything we can do to help encourage senior fitness is great. If you don’t keep it moving, you’re gonna lose it, and surfing definitely is moving it.”

Vince Pando, 72, talks about his super legend session with the other seasoned surfers at the Big Stick Log Jam Sunday in Pleasure Point. photo: Dan Coyro/Sentinel

Bill Bragg, 71, of Ventura, surfed with Pando in the Super Legends heat on the biggest, and possibly oldest, board at the event — an 11-6 Hobie shaped in the 1950s. Bragg said the camaraderie and community of the Logjam reminded him of the way surfing in California used to be.

“It reminds me of coming up here 45 years ago, when Kelly’s Cove in San Francisco was the place we always went because that was where you could always find somebody to surf with,” Bragg said. “Back then you were always looking for someone to surf with, as opposed to now where you go to check the surf and it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s too many people out.’”

Click here for the full results from the 2008 Logjam

As one of the longest-running “old board, no cord” surf contests around, the Big Stick Surfing Association Logjam — technically an offshoot of the original Surf-O-Rama — has created plenty of memorable moments over the years for contestants and spectators alike.

Along with Surf-O-Rama — which still runs every Labor Day weekend — and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in February, the Logjam is one of the few surf contests that celebrates the spirit of surfing’s past by requiring contestants to ride boards made prior to 1970 and without leashes.

Between the graceful, old-school longboarding that goes down in the water, the antique boards on display from collections up and down the coast, and the legendary surfers in attendance — past winners include a who’s who of longboarding, including: Joel Tudor, Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, Ashley Lloyd, Terry Simms, Bob Pearson, Jay Moriarity, Dane Perlee, CJ Nelson, and Michel Junod — the Logjam is brimming with surfing history.

The latest chapter will be written April 26 and 27, when the Logjam returns to Pleasure Point for another weekend of classic longboard nostalgia, camaraderie and fun. This year’s contest will also include a “Super Legends” heat of surfers over 70 years old — and one as old as 77! — as well as “Aloha Team” heats, where two members of the same team will surf the same wave at the same time.

To get everybody in the mood, here’s a random sampling of memorable moments and classic stories from years past, offered up by Logjam surfers young and old…

Michel Junod, 59, veteran Logjam surfer and past winner:

“There have been a couple of rainy, funky ones, and there have been some with really good waves. I guess the one that stands out the most was the one I won. I’ve got a trophy around here somewhere, I don’t know where it is. I think it was ‘95. But the surf was great the whole day. It was head high on the sets and just perfect. The waves were breaking at First Peak and going through to Second Peak. It was just an open contest back then [no separate divisions] so everyone surfed against each other, from the young guys then like CJ [Nelson] and Jay [Moriarity] all the way to the older guys. It’s super fun because it’s competitive, but not dog eat dog.”

Sierra Partridge, 19, surfed in her first Logjam last year:

“My dad and I had to share the same board for the contest. It was an old Rick Irons longboard. It wasn’t a problem in the beginning of the contest, but later on his final was right before mine so we had to switch off. After his heat, he forgot that I was going to be waiting on beach to switch off with him, and he rode his last wave all the way past Second Peak down to 38th. He just blanked and forgot. So I had to run all the way down to Second Peak. He finally saw me running and realized what was going on and started running towards me with the board. I ended up only being about five minutes late, but I was so tired during the heat. I got fourth place out of six, I think. He apologized later. It was pretty funny.”

Pete Ogilvie, former BSSA president:

“Big Stick’s Logjam is the only surfing competition that features an ‘Aloha Day’ in which competitors of all ages and genders are in the same heats, not competing against each other but just trying to surf each wave with as much skill and power and fun as they can bring to that moment. Surfers don’t even know who will be in their age/gender division when and if they advance to the semifinals on the next day. Everyone surfs twice and their scores are totaled to determine who goes on to the serious competition, but the divisions are gerrymandered so that almost all of the surfers in the contest make it to the semifinal rounds and earn points for their clubs.”

Terry Simms, 2006 Logjam. photo: Phil Matthews

Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, four-time Logjam winner:

“Back in the old days, when it was the Surf-O-Rama, first place used to be a ticket to Hawaii. I used that ticket to go to Hawaii with my then girlfriend — she had to buy her own. We went to Kauai and I proposed while we were there. Eighteen years later and we’re still married.”

Gioni Pasquinelli, 34, former BSSA President:

“When I first competed in the contest [2004], it was really like no other contest I had ever seen before. In the same heat we had contestants of all different ages, women and kids. Everyone was friendly and saying hi. So that was my first impression, I was just really shocked to see people hooting for each other out in the water, saying ‘go for this wave,’ in the same heat. It was fun. You really don’t see that in any other contest. It’s a very different attitude.”

Kackie Cohen, current BSSA President:

“My first Logjam — and first Big Stick event — was in 2006. I’d seen a posting on Surfline recruiting volunteers for the contest, and I figured since I was going to be hanging out at the Point watching the contest anyway, I may as well pitch in and help. I worked a shift selling raffle tickets and set up tables and chairs for the banquet with Gary Silberstein [Big Stick Secretary for Life] and Beth Colyear. Every single club member I met that day had so much aloha and was so welcoming that it was totally love at first sight for me. Long story short, I joined the club, and in the summer of 2007 I was asked to join the Board of Directors. Now I’m honored to be serving as the first woman president in the history of the club. I can’t say enough good things about this group of people. Pete says there’s a lot of heart in the contest, and that is because the club itself is all heart.

“BSSA has awarded over $50,000 in scholarships to local surfers from funds raised by Surf-O-Rama and the Logjam. This week, when Gary Silberstein and I were out hanging a few contest posters in surf shops on 41st Avenue, we ran into a previous winner — Hunter Young, whose dad Dan Young is running for County Supervisor. Hunter is an EMT instructor at Cabrillo and works one day a week at the Freeline shop. He saw our poster and told us both he and his sister had been awarded scholarships from Big Stick. It was really great to hear that and to see what a positive impact this club and — indirectly — this contest are having in the community.”

If You Go

WHAT: The Big Stick Surfing Association Logjam, one of the premier classic longboard surfing contests in the world. More than 100 competitors from the top Coalition Surf Club organizations up and down the West Coast will be in attendance.
WHEN: April 26-27, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Pleasure Point (Saturday is in front of Jack O’Neill’s house at East Cliff Drive and 36th Avenue and Sunday is at First Peak at East Cliff Drive and 32nd Avenue).
ON THE NET: www.bigsticksurfing.org.

Sentinel Staff Report 

Ashton Madely scored the highest score of the day in the final period, and the Soquel High surf team advanced to the Red Bull Riders Cup national finals with a 54.6-53.7 win over Harbor in the Santa Cruz regional finals on Thursday at Pleasure Point.

Madely was named MVP of the game and also won the Most Radical Maneuver award. He led all surfers with a total score of 20.5 on the day, including his single-wave score of 8.7 in the bottom of the third and final period.

The Soquel High surf team, the 2008 RBRC Santa Cruz regional champs. photo: NSL

Jason Hdez had a total score of 13.6, the second highest score on the day for Soquel. The Knights secured the win with 6 minutes, 17 seconds left in the game.

Cheyne Pearson and Tyler Morrish each scored a 15.6 to lead Harbor, and Cody Frank added a 12.8. Pearson [7.7] and Morrish [7.2] each had their highest wave score in the final period.

Soquel moves on to the RBRC national finals, held June 13-15 in San Onofre, San Diego County, where the Knights will compete to be become the best high school surf team in the country.

Aptos’ Brandon Barnes was named the meet’s MVP with a total score of 19.99 as the Mariners beat Scotts Valley 52.87-44.05 in the first round of the Red Bull Riders Cup held at the Hook on Monday.

Look for big things from Aptos’ Brandon Barnes in the near future. photo: Mike Hushaw

Aaron Godfrey of Aptos was awarded the Most Radical Maneuver after boosting a huge air. He finished with an individual score of 12.96.

Scotts Valley was led by Pat Shaughnessy’s score of 15.43 and Kyle Alreck’s 14.99.

Aptos benefitted from some bigger waves in its half of the third period, where it posted two of the highest scores of the day.

The Cup will continue today when Santa Cruz and Soquel meet in a rematch of last year’s finals. Aptos will face Harbor on Wednesday.

This Saturday, April 5th Hurley is hosting the first annual Spring Fling Surf Contest at Pleasure Point. Divisions include an Open Women’s, Boys 14/Under, and Juniors 15-17 all for only a $15 entry fee. There will also be a Pro/Am event for a $20 buy-in. All entrants receive a t-shirt as well.

The contest kicks off at 8 a.m. For more info or to sign up, contact Pacific Wave Surf Shop at 831-458-9283 or Bubb@pacwave.com.

There is also an after-party going down later in the evening at the Crow’s Nest with live performances by Machete Fight and Sour Grass.

The third annual Red Bull Riders Cup, formally known as the Red Bull High School Cup, kicks off its first game at Hermosa Beach, California on April 1st and then comes to Santa Cruz April 7-10 at Pleasure Point. Presented by The National Surf League, The Red Bull Riders Cup bills itself as the USA’s “premiere high school surfing tournament, bringing together the best young surfers in each region.”

Thirty two schools from eight regions will battle it out in games sanctioned by the National Surf League until a champion is crowned. The winner of each region will be invited to San Onofre for the national finals on June 13th-15th for the chance to be crowned the best high school surf team in the country.

Surf teams from five local high schools—Aptos, Soquel, Santa Cruz, Harbor and Scotts Valley–will vie for the Santa Cruz regional title and the opportunity to compete at the national finals in San Onofre.

The Red Bull Riders Cup will use “The Game” format for its tournament. The format is modeled after traditional team sports like basketball and football. The Red Bull Riders is the first step to bringing a new outlook to the sport of surfing through the community and a structure people are familiar with.

“The Game creates an easier understanding of surfing as a sport. The entire game spans less than two hours, with three periods, coaches and time outs. Family and friends are encouraged to come out and show support,” said NSL founder Brad Gerlach in a statement.

The Red Bull Riders Cup will feature professional surfers coaching each high school team during their competition. Some of the pros on hand for next week’s Santa Cruz game will include Hawaiian chargers Jamie Sterling and Ian Walsh, as well as local legends Omar Etcheverry, Ratboy, Peter Mel, and more.

Look for daily coverage and results from the Santa Cruz regional game in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and The Green Room.

Following is the full list of participating high school surf teams as well as the full season schedule:

(more…)

This just in from Kim Clary, beach marshal for the ISF and founder/director of The Core. Since Kim took the reigns of the local ISF contests halfway through the season, we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback from the groms and the parents. Thanks Kim!

Here are the results for Sunday’s (3-16-08) Jr High ISF Contest at the Hook:

Team Results:
1. New Brighton - 216 points
2. Mission Hill - 108 points
3. Scotts Valley - 94 points
4. Aptos - 73 points
5. Shoreline - 52 points
6. Gateway - 31 points

Individual results:

Girls Longboard:
1. McKenzi Stair - New Brighton
2. Sarah Shaughnessy - Scotts Valley
3. Nikki Hiltz - Aptos
4. Asia Carpenter - Mission Hill
5. Saige Manier - Shoreline
6. Hannah Everett - Gateway

Coed Bodyboard:
1. Roman Kluck - New Brighton
2. Scott Ueberhein - Aptos
3. Sage Engbers - New  Brighton
4. Rylee Rentschler - New Brighton
5. Henry Young - Mission Hill
6. Austin Park- Scotts Valley

Boys Longboard:
1. Nathan Keane - Scotts Valley
2. Austin Martindale - Shoreline
3. Barrett Hegerle - Aptos
4. Erik Segura - New Brighton
5. Jesse Lopez - New Brighton
6. John Robinson - Shoreline

Girls Shortboard:
1. Brooke Giuffre - New Brighton
2. Anissa Torres - Aptos
3. Asia Carpenter - Mission Hill
4. Aria Leonard - Scotts Valley
5. McKenzi Stair - New Brighton

Boys Shortboard:
1. Garrett Colfer - New Brighton
2. Jake Logan - New Brighton
3. Satchel Dauphine - Shoreline
4. Ryan Fulton - Mission Hill
5. Wille Eagleton - Mission Hill
6. Sam Anderson - Mission Hill

Surf kayakers endure a lot of abuse.

We’ve all heard the elitist — but clever — cliché that surf kayakers, along with bodyboarders and kneeboarders, are all less evolved sub-species of standup surfers, lagging behind on their knees, bellies and butts in prehistoric times while surfers shred on two feet millions of years ahead (by that logic I guess SUP surfers represent the final stage of surfing evolution since they remain standing upright at all times, never paddling on their stomachs).

“‘Go back to the river.’ That’s one you hear all the time,” said Graham Meese, 20, a ten-year surf kayak veteran and a founding member of the UCSC Kayak Club.

Even during the opening rounds of this weekend’s 22nd Santa Cruz Kayak Festival — the largest surf kayak competition in the world — Meese and his fellow surf kayakers couldn’t seem to get much respect in the Steamer Lane lineup. While the main competition area at Middle Peak was left clear for the kayakers to run their heats Friday morning, eight surfers monopolized the waves off the Point, occasionally connecting a longer ride through the Slot and surfing right through the competitors’ area.

Imagine if a kayaker tried to pull something like that during the Cold Water Classic. The offender would probably be dragged out of the water and have his kayak and paddle burned bonfire-style in Lighthouse Field.

Aside from the three days out of the year when the kayak festival comes to town, you rarely ever see surf kayakers out at the Lane, or at most other heavily trafficked surf breaks for that matter. Why? Well, quite frankly, because surfers make it clear that they’re not welcome.

For example, if you look at one of the city’s warning signs by the staircase at the Lane, cautioning the public of the “unstable cliffs, high water and slippery rocks” that can all “badly injure you,” you’ll notice that someone decided to add “kayaks” to the list of hazards with a permanent marker.

Demany Smith, who first took his kayaking skills from the river rapids to the waves eight years ago, said that it’s not impossible for surf kayakers to earn a spot in the lineup, so long as they show the prerequisite skills and respect to fellow surfers.

“Like anywhere, you have to prove yourself,” he said. “Don’t come in and paddle straight out to the main peak and try and catch all the waves. First you have to prove you can control your kayak and then try and dazzle the crowd a little with your skills. Then guys will let you surf.”

“I’ve surfed up and down the coast at places like Swami’s, Sunset Cliffs … some hardcore, localized spots. You might get some bad looks at first, but once they see you can surf and aren’t hogging all the waves, eventually they’re hooting you into waves.”

Most surf kayakers around Santa Cruz, however, tend to frequent the less glamorous, more out of the way spots up north, according to Meese.

“You have to go where other people don’t want to go because we’re not the dominant, accepted group,” Meese said.

While many of the kayakers I spoke to said surf kayaks and wave skis are big in other parts of the world, especially Europe and Australia, the consensus was that the ranks in California are still small.

“Locally, I don’t know that it’s so big,” said Dennis Judson, a 30-year surf kayaking veteran competing in the International Class Masters Division this weekend.

While he said that Santa Cruz is an epicenter for surf kayak design, Judson estimated the total number of surf kayakers in Northern California to be only 200 or so.

Because of that, surf kayakers are a more close-knit group, said Judson. These days while it seems as though everyone and their dog surfs, most of the surf kayakers at the kayak festival know each other, even though they come from all across the U.S. and as far away as England, Ireland, Scotland, Costa Rica, and Japan.

“It’s kind of like a big family get together,” Judson said of the Santa Cruz Kayak Festival. “We’ve all known each other forever. I think surfers have lost that.”

Check out the Sentinel’s full coverage of the 2008 Santa Cruz Surf Kayak Festival:

Contest preview story on Bettie Crandall and the “Kayaker Hotel” by Julie Jag

Day 2 coverage by Hayley Hinz

Final day coverage by Julie Jag