On October 18^th, 2003, 70 competitors in six divisions came to Fort Walton beach, Florida to compete in the NW Florida Skimboard Invasion. The wave conditions were not the best but was said to be better than Panama City, with shin to knee high conditions in the morning. At least you could launch some airs as Shaun Gaiser did, landing a kick-flip in his first round of heats for the Jr. Men’s division. It also landed him on the cover of the local section of the North West Florida Daily News who covered the event. Fluid surf shop, skimflorida.com, and skimonline.com had sponsored and advertised the event and the turn out for the all-amateur contest was great.

The competition was stacked in three of the six divisions. Jr. men’s, Sr. men’s, and men’s were all really fun to watch all day. Jr.’s and Men’s had the most excitement and the tightest points spreads of the contest. Excitement was also generated by performances of Jed Currington of team Zap/RDS and by local pro Derek Pryor. Jed the shred had the competitors amped for the semi-final and final rounds to come. Even the girls were fired up with Megan Murr hucking 180 shuv-it airs to victory in her division. There was only a half point separating Zach Radliff and Luke Nehamias in the men’s division. And the new point restrictions on failed ride attempts made the competitors realize that they needed to ride smooth and consistent. This rule was implemented to try and make the contest fair for the more consistent and experienced rider. I would have to say it worked.

RESULTS

Menehunes
1^st Richard Jones
2^nd Cooper Preston
3^rd  Dillon Cole

Girls/Womens
1^st Megan Murr
2^nd  Alicia Cantie 
3^rd Casey Williams

Boys
1^st Jesse Lawhorn
2^nd Kyle Shannahan
3^rd Stephan Saer
4^th Will Wable

Jr. Men’s
1^st Corbin Dull
2^nd   Shawn Gaiser
3^rd  Matt Zimmer
4^th Lance Richardson

Men’s
1^st Ryan Winters
2^nd Zach Radliff
3^rd Luke Nehamais