OUR EIGHTH ANNUAL EVENT ONE OF THE BEST

Well, did you make it down to Tourmaline June 3rd for Pacific Beach Surf Club’s eighth annual longboard contest? If you did, than you know that we actually got the job done. It was a process of late nights, teeth gritting and pulling bunnies from hats for our board members, committee chairs and our families. This year was a full body participation event, but, I if you ask anyone of us, we’d say it was fun and a labor of love. Sometimes you create a little magic when you put your efforts to a good cause and pull together with good friends.

OK, it’s not the Academy Awards so I am going to thank some individuals:

Derek “me doctor” Lodico, contest organizer extraordinaire

Richard Steadham and Ron Greene “brains and beauty”, operations maestros

Rich “I’ve got the contacts” Walwood, venerable past president

Glen “no worries” Paculba, supreme judge

Pablo “pick your winning number” Smith, raffle chair

Jim “spinner boy” Cameron, the voice on the mike (loved the windsurfer noises)

Quinton “killin it” Macklin, tabulator and heat builder extraordinaire

Karl “turn the flag” Jaedke, beach marshal

Torrey “seven foot blonde” Brown and Mark “power sell” Hines, merchandise mavens

Dave “there’s gold in them there hills” Washkowiak, sponsor liaison

Travis “lift them higher” Long, team captain and board builder

Josh “shape is everything” Hall, team rider and board builder

Sandy “sign here” Pierce, membership chair

Deborah “just give me a job” Hoyt, team rider and raffle

Thank you also to our sponsors without whom there would be no event. We are pleased to report that we will be donating $2000 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association of San Diego in the name of PBSC. Our hope is that you will join us for future events. We realize there is plenty more fun to be had. And most of all we look forward to seeing you in the water.

Kathy Austin
President, Pacific Beach Surf Club

THE SUMMER LONGBOARD CLASSIC RIDES AGAIN

Good waves, warm water, lots of sunshine, good turnout... did I mention good waves? Yes, this year's Summer Longboard Classic had all that, plus, good food, contest related T-shirts, mugs and posters, raffle items galore, and all the ingredients needed to go down in the record books as one to remember. And I haven't even started talking about the great competition yet!

It didn't take long for the marine layer to disappear, and by the time it did around sevenish, the early heats were well under way with three divisions of the Jr. Men's taking to the water in the first heats at 6:30, 6:45 and 7:00 a.m. Four heats of Men's followed, and for the first time this year, we saw two heats of kneeboarders take their turn in the competition and prove you don't have to stand up to shred a wave and have fun. Three heats of Sr. Men's got wet starting about 9:00 in the morning, followed by the always-fun-to-watch Menehunes. By late morning, the Master's, Jr. Women's and Women's heats were all but finished, leaving only the tabulation of the judges to see who would be advancing to the next round of heats.

Before the noon break, the kneeboarders held their final heat. Taking first place was Shawn Murphy. Taylor Chapatte took second, with Chris Linn coming in third. As it turned out, the kneeboard crew had another event to attend as a group and left early. As a result, unfortunately, no photo was taken of the winners.

During the noon break, five tandem pairs put on a beautiful exhibition of skill and grace, despite the breezy conditions the early afternoon had brought. Brushing that aside and winning first place was Travis Long and Halley Burd. Taking second was the husband and wife team of Brian and Illa McEvilley. Coming in third was Puna Moller and Allison Takao. The McEvilleys left after the Tandem event and were unable to be included in the winners' photo below. The Polynesian dance group known as the "Flowers of the Pacific" were a big crowd-pleaser during the noon hour by performing several traditional dances and ending with an audience participation segment that drew plenty of laughs.

The return to competition in the afternoon saw the Menehunes final heat with David Arganda capturing first place with some great moves in the final minutes. Blake Humann surfed his heart out coming in second. Lucas Dirske followed with third. When the awards ceremony took place in the late afternoon, the young contestants had scattered and werent' available for a photo. Dito for the Jr. Men's finals, though the winners in this category were: Nick Derov placing first. Brian Rigby coming in a close second and Connor Magil taking third.

Increasing afternoon winds didn't hamper the semi heats for the remaining divisions as the SW swell continued to deliver good quality waves throughout the day. Taking advantage of these conditions in the Dog Heat was Omar Metwalli who, in an otherwise pretty tame round compared to previous years' action, grabbed first place on one of his waves with a flying tackle of one of the other competitors. Taking second place was Matt Albers, while Brendon Shackleton came in third. The women on the other hand, began their Cat Heat by pulling out all the stops with a frisky combined moon of the crowded beach as they paddled out. With more coordinated fight in their fifteen minute round, the gals put on an entertaining show. When the white water had settled, Onika Miyashiro came out on top. Makaila Saili battled her way into second, and Michelle Pauley managed third.

Putting on a show in the Men's final and landing at his customary place at the top was Quintin Macklin. Following him in second was Puna Moller with some great rides, while Micah Wood, no slouch here, showed why he continues to be a force in local competition.

Taking multi-tasking to the next level, James "Spinner" Cameron not only did a great job announcing the action all day, but went out and won all of his heats and finished with the first place trophy in the Sr. Men's division. Way to go Jim! Second place in this category went to Nate Cintas (photo not available below). George Popavik took third in a very competitive heat.

Showing they've still got what it takes, the Master's division winner this year produced Bob Gutzler. Whitney Guild surfed great yet wound up with second place. Ron Greene's aggressive wave riding earned him a spot at third.

Late afternoon action saw the finals for the gals as Michelle Pauley wins first place in the Jr. Women's category, followed by Onika Miyashiro in second, with Erin Lewis coming in third. For the Sr. Women's, Eve Allerton takes the top spot. Shelly Pool finished a close second and club president Kathy Austin finished third. Yea Kathy!

At about 5:00 p.m., after all the awards were at last handed out to this year's deserving winners, the last piece of business was yet to be finished: raffling off the five custom-shaped surfboards. As the winning numbers for each board were announced and the proud new owners' came forward to claim their prizes, the entire day's events came to a climax at the raffle off of the Skip Frye/Josh Hall customed-shaped "Skosh" model. Alas, hopes dashed for all but one as a young man came screaming forward to claim his prize. Well done young man. There's always next year for the rest of us. Yeh, next year when we pull this whole crazy thing together once again.

Until then...

Richard Steadham
Editor