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Good weather and waves graced this years O'neill SkimBash in Santa
Cruz CA. Wind, which is usually a problem in Santa Cruz,
never picked up beyond the 5mph mark, which was appreciated by
organizers and contestants alike. On Saturday we even had
some sunshine in the morning, which is even more unusual.
What was not unusual however was the great atmosphere on the beach
and the super fun waves rolling through.
Upon arrival it looked like the waves were not going to be so
good though as the beach was flattened out quite a bit.
However right around the corner the waves were much better with
makeable overhead set waves rolling through every now and then.
After everyone got situated the contest began. First up
were some of the grom heats while the pros warmed up down the
beach. The groms were ripping and you could see the
potential in the waves. The first pro heat was probably one
of the best with Bill Bryan, Erik Christensen and Brandon Rothe.
Wave after wave rolled through with Erik and Bill battling back
and forth on the regular foot waves while Brandon had some of the
goofy foot waves to himself. While taking photos I could
hear locals in amazement at the high flying tactics of these out
of town skimmers. It was a great heat to start off the pro
competition with.
And the pro competition in this contest was almost guaranteed
to be fierce. Santa Cruz was the last stop on the UST
Points Tour and the only spots in the top ten that were secure
were the Bill and Paulo in first and second. Everything else
was up for grabs.
And grab they would. Competition was close all the way
through the event but the top six were no surprise, with perhaps
the exception of Jeremy Kaiser. Jeremy is a great skimmer
from San Diego that sometimes competes pro and sometimes competes
amateur. There was no doubt that he was skimming like a pro in
this event though as he earned sixth place and almost knocked out
Bill Bryan in the semi-finals for what would have been the upset
of the year. But it was not to be. Bill Bryan squeaked
by in the semi's and then made up for it in the finals skimming a
great heat. Paulo was again pushing Bill to do his best,
ready to take the top spot at the slightest mis-step by
Bill. Miles and Erik were battling wave for wave for third
and fourth, which would eventually result in a tie breaker on the
scorecards. But in the end Erik just barely squeaked
by. Jus skimmed like the machine he is, earning himself
another top six finish with his unique style and bag of tricks.
This is how the pros placed:
- Bill Bryan
- Paulo Prietto
- Erik Christensen
- Miles Grobman
- Jus Martel
- Jeremy Kaiser
- Brandon Rothe
- Brandon Sears
- Jason Wilson
- Jamie Lovett
- Aaron Peluso
- Brendan Stevens
- Ben K
- Joey Pasquali
- Morgan Just
- Dave Medal
- Eric Roush
- Koty Lopez
- Ivan Ashauer
UST SHOWDOWN
As I mentioned before, this contest was about more than one
event. The placings for most of the UST top 10 were about to
be decided. Jason Wilson was had a pretty good hold on a UST
third place but with local favorite Miles Grobman and Brandon
Sears on his tail he definitely couldn't take a break.
However, by making it out of his first heat he locked in the
number three spot on the points tour. Brandon Sears and
Miles however were still locked in a battle for forth and fifth in
points. Brandon, who was trying to defend his fourth place
ranking, skimmed well in the quarter finals but didn't quite make
it to the semis (top 6). Miles made it all the way to the
finals and almost pulled off a third place, but lost it in the tie
breaker. Brandon's results weren't known at the contests
conclusion. Upon closer inspection Brandon needed a seventh
or eighth place to keep his fourth place ranking. If he got
a ninth place he would lose it to Miles by one point. After
returning to Laguna the results were tabulated and Brandon managed
to pull off an eighth place, giving him the points he needed to
keep his fourth place ranking, barely. On the other side of
the tie breaker was Erik Christensen. By getting the nod he
was able to overtake Jus for the sixth place by only 6
points. Had that tie breaker gone the other way it would
have changed four spots in the UST top 10. Needless to say,
the competition on the points tour was tight between all these
competitors. One can only imagine what we are in store for
next year.
Thanks To The Sponsors
O'neill, Exile Skimboards, Victoria Skimboards, Zap Skimboards,
Roush Skimboards, Astrodeck, Skim City, 10th St Bros, Block Surf,
and Skim Mag
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