The Green Room

Don’t be alarmed if you happen to see a pack of longboarders owning the Point at Steamer Lane — usually the domain of the shortboarders — this weekend. No, you haven’t stumbled back in time to the 1960s. It’s just the Santa Cruz Longboard Club Invitational.

Now in its 24th year, the annual contest on Memorial Day weekend hosted by the Santa Cruz Longboard Union is the longest continuously running longboard surf contest on the West Coast.

Kim Stoner, original founding member of the SCLU, said that the club and contest were started as a way of bringing together all the old time surf clubs from around town when longboarding began to make a comeback in the early 80s after nearing extinction in the previous decade. Some of these classic surf clubs include: the Killer Cowells Surfing Affiliation, the Steamer Lane Surf Club, the Pleasure Point Surfing Association, and the West Wind Surf Club.

“We’re the original group in Santa Cruz that has carried on the tradition and culture of longboard surfing,” Stoner said. “When everyone went from longboards to shortboards, we almost lost a lot of the history. A lot of us switched to shortboards and then came back to longboards.”

The inaugural SCLU contest was held at Cowell’s in 1984 and enjoyed great waves thanks to an epic sandbar from the previous winter. Stoner recalled that the entry fee was a case of beer. The second contest was held at Pleasure Point, and every year since it has been held at Steamer Lane. The Longboard Club Invitational is the only longboard contest that currently runs at the Lane, making it a popular event among all the Coalition Surf Clubs from beach towns up a down the California coast.

“The Lane is a trickier, more powerful wave,” Contest Director Matt Micuda said. “A lot of people come up from Southern California and are used to small beachbreak. This is a different deal. You’ve got thick kelp, the cliff is real intimidating, and the cold water. It’s really neat because people can view it from up close on the cliff. It’s a unique venue. For a lot of the guys from down there, it’s a whole other world up here.”

Unlike other longboard surfing contests around town, such as the Big Stick Logjam and Surf-O-Rama, the Longboard Union contest doesn’t regulate equipment strictly. The only requirement is that boards be “proper” longboards — more than nine feet long. Other than that, pretty much any design is fair game: single fins, tri fins, twin fins, thick logs or thin-railed potato chips. This means spectators can expect to see a more diverse mix of traditional and modern longboarding styles in the water. Surfers are also allowed to wear leashes, as the rocky cliffs at the Lane are notorious for abusing lost boards, often using them like toothpicks to clean the kelp from their pointy teeth.

Along with local standouts like CJ Nelson and Jason “Ratboy” Collins, other big names regularly make the trek up to Santa Cruz for the event. Malibu maestro Josh Farberow and four-time national champion Josh Mohr of Huntington Beach are just a few of the world-class longboarders who have participated in past years.

“People from other clubs down south say they like our event,” Stoner said. “They enjoy coming up to Central California for the camaraderie and good vibes, good food, and good waves. It looks like we should have good waves and good weather this time.”

Through their massive contest raffle and funds generated from the sale of T-shirts and posters, the Santa Cruz Longboard Union — a 501c3 non-profit — has donated thousands of dollars to local charities and good causes over the years. Among them are: the Surfrider Foundation, Ride-A-Wave, the Junior Lifeguard Program, Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Association and upkeep of the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum.

“Almost every surfboard the Junior Lifeguard Program has, we’ve donated over the years,” Stoner said.

In addition to the main contest, this year’s event also features a paddle race, a menehune contest at Cowell’s for the younger kids, and a stand-up paddlesurfing exhibition.

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.

Two weeks ago the City of Santa Cruz replaced another large section of the railing that lines the cliffs above Steamer Lane and Lighthouse Point.The new railing is a few inches taller than the old one, obstructing the view slightly more. It’s also less aesthetically pleasing in my opinion, resembling prison bars. But the main bummer is that those nice sloped over edges on the old railing were perfect for sitting/leaning on and checking the surf or just watching the show in the water.

Pick up any surf magazine and check out the latest water photography inside. Aside from your standard surfer in the tube shots, what stands out?

A view from the shoulder of a skate-ramp-like wave, looking skyward as surfer and board fly through the air against a jungle backdrop.

A shot of a powerful turn off the lip, board slicing through the wave just inches in front of the camera’s fisheye lens, sending beads of sun-sparkled spray flying at you, and all three fins popping out from the page like they’re about to smack you in the face.

These are the shots that draw you in and give you the feeling of being out in the water, witnessing the world’s most progressive surfers in action.

And you can thank Tony Roberts for pioneering such unique and inspiring images.

TR, killin’ it. photo: Subterra Films

TR, as he is known throughout the surf industry, is the man when it comes to getting those up-close and aggressive, skate-inspired surf photos. He was one of the first surf photographers to utilize the fisheye lens to capture radical new angles from the water. The trademark TR style fit perfectly with the new movement of aerial and big-maneuver surfing that would turn the status quo of performance upside down during the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Now the talented Santa Cruz native is the focus of a new documentary, “Gusto, Tony Roberts,” playing at this year’s Santa Cruz Film Festival. The film, which won Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Independent Television Festival in August, plays at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Riverfront Twin in Santa Cruz.

TR has a better understanding than 99 percent of the surf photogs out there of how to effectively capture the improvisational genius of the most progressive surfers, and that’s because he is one of those elite surfers.

“He rips really hard,” said local pro Ken “Skindog” Collins, who’s done many photo shoots with Roberts. “He surfs better than half the people he shoots, and he’s getting a lot better since he moved down [to Central America]. I was down there a while ago and he was killing it. I was blown away.

“My opinion is that surfers take the best surf photos, and that’s why he does a great job of coaching guys on what they need to do, where they need to be to get the shot. Personally, I think he put Santa Cruz on the map.”

Imagine if Bob Costas could step out of the announcer’s booth, into the batter’s box, and hit a big league fastball. What if Roger Ebert could give up his seat at the movie theater and direct a cinematic masterpiece? How awesome would it be if, instead of just writing about surfing for the newspaper, I could actually go in the ocean without the aid of my inflatable water wings? Sigh … one day.

Mike Maniglia, director and producer of “Gusto,” met TR almost 15 years ago when the two were sharing an editing bay while working for Surf Video Network in Southern California. TR was putting the final touches on the O’Neill surf flick “Jacked” and Maniglia was working on his own project. Both avid surfers and skaters, the two became good friends.

“I knew he had a reputation,” Maniglia said. “Everybody I talked to, whether they were a pro or a fan was like, ‘Tony rips harder than anyone he shoots.’ He’s someone who’s an exemplary photographer, surfer and cinematographer. A multifaceted charger, that’s what he is. And that’s what the ‘Gusto’ series is all about.”

The film — only 30 minutes long — focuses on the major turning points of TR’s career: His first experiments with shooting black and white photography of friends skating around Santa Cruz back in the early ’80s, his documentation of the aerial surfing movement in the ’90s, and, eventually, his securing a position as Senior Staff Photographer for Surfing Magazine.

TR honed his surf photography skills by shooting with local surfing legends, such as Nate Acker, Anthony Ruffo, Adam Replogle, Chris Gallagher and Peter Mel. Meanwhile, TR’s many surf films — “Mental Surfing,” “Progression Sessions,” “Jacked,” “Above And Beyond,” “Players,” “Skills” and “The Path” — to name a few — were playing to sellout crowds around town. The movies remain cult classics, relics from an important era in the evolution of modern shortboard surfing.

“Santa Cruz is a cultural mecca,” TR said in an e-mail from his current home in southern Nicaragua. “Growing up there, the surf and skate scenes were very intertwined with all the music and everything. The beginning of punk rock was happening [there], as well as the best reggae bands playing. It was pretty wild.

“The progression of modern surfing took place in Santa Cruz, and it was very satisfying to present that to local audiences in my … film shows and then bring that to surfers worldwide with my videos and work in Surfing Magazine.”

The man behind the lens. photo: Subterra Films

TR’s water photography and movies also helped promote the careers of many professional surfers around Santa Cruz. Guys like Darryl “Flea” Virostko and Shawn “Barney” Barron provide feature interviews for the documentary and gave big props to TR for helping them gain more exposure in the competitive surf media.

In 1996, Roberts moved to Central America, turning his back on a position as one of the top dogs in the surfing media and falling off the mainstream radar in order to fully dedicate himself to the progression of his surfing and skating. He continued to push the limits of performance — now in relative obscurity — building a cement half-pipe in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle.

“I wanted to incorporate surfing into my daily life and leave the rat race,” said TR, who now lives at the beach with his 3-year-old daughter, Xia. He said the decision to become a full-time expat was easy because it promised “better waves and a better life.”

In addition to collecting archival footage and interviews from around Santa Cruz, Maniglia and the “Gusto” film crew went on location to Costa Rica, where TR was living at the time, to get footage of him surfing and working. Watching clips of TR, now 43, ripping the Costa Rican beachbreak — there is some footage from waves in El Salvador as well — with speed and flair begs the question: Why did TR choose to remain behind the camera instead of performing in front of it as a professional surfer?

“Simply put, he was too busy behind the lens trying to make a living,” Maniglia said. “That’s why he moved to Central America. He basically said ‘Screw it. I want to do more surfing. And if the camera happens to be there, so be it.’”

Whether in the urban surf environment of his hometown or the jungle fringed beaches of Central America, Tony Roberts has always been determined to live his passions of surfing, skating, film and photography.

“Hopefully [the documentary] will inspire people to follow their heart and live their dreams,” TR said. “Some people are happy in the 9-to-5, working for the system. Others aren’t and should do what makes them happy.”

Two surf-themed movies have been selected for this year’s Santa Cruz Film Festival, May 9-17, and will show together at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14th at the Riverfront Twin.

The feature presentation comes from the lens of Maine filmmaker Ben Keller who takes a close look at what draws so many of us to the ocean in his documentary “BlueGreen.” Narrated by Santa Cruz’s resident Hollywood surf star Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, BlueGreen “explores many different facets of our bonds with the ocean and delivers a powerful warning about the threat we face by abusing and exploiting this powerful presence on our planet,” according to the film’s press release. Keller interviews scientists, religious leaders, evolutionary theorists, fishermen and, of course, surfers, including seven-time women’s world champion Layne Beachley, Keith Malloy, Robert August, Liz Clark, Sean Collins.

Showing alongside the feature is “Gusto: Tony Roberts,” a documentary profiling Santa Cruz native and current Central American expat Tony Roberts. TR, as he is known throughout the surf industry, was one of the first surf photographers to utilize the fisheye lens to capture innovative skate-style surf shots and radical new angles from the water.

His photos and movies captured the new school of aerial and big-maneuver surfing in a way no one had seen before during the late ’80s and early ’90s and helped forge the careers of many professional surfers around Santa Cruz. The film won Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Independent Television Festival in August, 2007. Check out next Sunday’s Green Room for a full article on the TR documentary.

“Mr. Pipeline” himself will be at the UC Santa Cruz Media Theatre on Saturday, May 3 from 7 to 8 p.m. for a book signing and reading from his new work, “Surf Is Where You Find It.”

Lopez launched his book tour Tuesday night in Hawaii and saw over 300 people show up to the event. He also sold out all 200 copies of the book he had brought with him! It’s safe to say that the interest in a surf town like Santa Cruz for a book penned by the man synonymous with the Pipeline will be comparable to what was seen in the islands. Lopez is still in Hawaii and will return to his home up in Bend, Oregon before heading to NorCal for Saturday’s event.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet one of surfing’s most revered and influential characters. Check out the full details by clicking the banner below.

If you are a registered voter in Santa Cruz County District 2 (Aptos, La Selva Beach, Corralitos, Freedom, and portions of Capitola and Watsonville) and want to learn more about District 2 supervisorial candidate Dan Young–or if you just want to rock out to some roots reggae rhythms–don’t miss Young’s ”meet & greet” concert party this Saturday in Aptos.

This is an excellent opportunity to get to know Young–a lifelong NorCal surfer–learn more about his grassroots campaign to become one of the County’s five supervisors, and how you can help this historic effort to get the first surfer into local public office on June 3rd. For more on Young and the focus of his campaign platform, check out this interview.

Roots rock reggae music will be performed live by Aptos locals Coastal Sage.

The event is happening Saturday, April 26 from 1-5 p.m. at the Aptos Grange (2555 Mar Vista Drive off of Soquel Drive).

For more info go to http://votedanyoung.com/

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.

There’s a good chance at least one of the antique longboards on display or in the water at this year’s Logjam will have been crafted by the hands of Johnny Rice. The Santa Cruz master shaper, who has been providing surfers with beautiful wave riding tools since 1954 after studying under Dale Velzy, celebrates his 70th birthday tomorrow.

Rice continues to actively surf and shape after all these years, and remains “very stoked” according to his wife, Rosemari Rice, who celebrated her own birthday exactly one week before her husband’s.

“We get in the water as much as we can,” Rosemari said. “I was in last Monday on my birthday. At our age, Cowell’s is best, or 38th. He has a hard time standing up because he’s had two major back surgeries, but he still goes out there.”

Folks, this could possibly be the most dangerous experiment ever undertaken in the history of the theatre–or it could be pretty funny.

On Friday, April 11 “Point Break Live!” began a three-month San Francisco engagement at Xenodrome. “‘Point Break Live!”‘ is the absurdist stage adaptation of the 1992 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze extreme-sports blockbuster “Point Break” (just admit it, we know you’ve seen it). The drama unfolds as former college football star-turned FBI agent, Johnny Utah (Reeves), goes undercover as a righteous surfer dude on the beaches of Santa Monica in order to infiltrate a wild gang of bank-robbing, skydiving, bare-hand-fighting, adrenaline-junkie surfers lead by Zen-master, Bodhi Sattva (Swayze). Epic, indeed.

Since it’s Seattle debut in 2003, “Point Break Live!” has entertained sell-out crowds in Minneapolis, New York City and Los Angeles. As strange as it may sound, here are some rave reviews from legitimate print and online publications.

* “In a nutshell: About the most dead-on dose of hilarity to ever be
on stage.” - LA.COM

* “So hideously over the top, you can’t stop laughing.” - LA WEEKLY

* “Can only be described as all-encompassing, wet, interactive, loud,
extreme, and altogether awesome.” - LA2Day.com

* “PBL! shamelessly rides the gnarly breakers of travesty until
viewers wipe out on the shoals of helpless laughter.” - LA TIMES

According to the play’s press release:

“Point Break LIVE!” features armed robbery, big-wave surfing, car chases, explosions, no less than two extended skydiving sequences and an indoor monsoon.  This “action” play offers a true cathartic experience, putting you in the water with the surfers, throwing you out the door of an airplane, and robbing you at gunpoint.  Add in the hotness factor - surfer dudes and female stunt doubles - and you have a night of live theater that rivals anything by Samuel Beckett in terms of pure excitement and energy.

What makes the play really unique, though, is this twist: the starring role of Johnny Utah is selected from the audience each night. The impromptu Keanu then reads their entire script off of cue-cards. This method manages to capture the “rawness” (i.e. complete lack of acting ability) of a Keanu Reeves performance, even from those who generally think themselves incapable of acting. The fun starts with the “screen test,” wherein the volunteer Keanus (usually 5-15 men and women vie for the role), go through a grueling audition process.  The part is then cast based on Applause-o-Meter. At the end of the performance, the “volunteer Keanu,” is handed a VHS tape of his or her performance.

The rest of the audience also plays a role in the produciton. “Survival Kits” are issued before the start of the show, containing items to help audience members participate in “the ultimate ride,” including a plastic emergency poncho to protect themselves from the action that literally spills forth from the stage.

The play could potentially land into the “so stupid it’s funny” category–and it looks like that’s the intention here–but it could also very easily wind up being ”just plain stupid.”

For now, you’ll have to judge for yourself. If you have the courage to go check it out please let me know what your final verdict is. I’m still building up the nerve to confront this reincarnation of one of the classics of the canon of Failed Hollywood Surfing Blockbusters. Look for a pull-no-punches theatrical review in the Sentinel soon.

“Point Break Live!” plays at the Xenodrome, 1320 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110. Tickets are available for $25.00 each at www.theatermania.com, or by calling 1-866-811-4111.  If not sold out, tickets are also available at the door for $25.00. ”Point Break Live!” will continue through June 2008, and possibly beyond, every Friday night at 8 p.m. with two performances on Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.  For more info, cast photos, and video, please visit www.pointbreaklive.com.