Bill Bryan Wraps Up A Dominant Season Winning Oktoberfest
By Aaron Peluso
After a stellar first day of Oktoberfest, expectations were high for day two. Mother nature did her best to pull through, but simply couldnt muster a truly worthy follow up to day one. Thats not to say it was bad. It wasn’t, it was actually pretty good. The skimming conditions just weren’t epic like day one.
The forecast called for morning marine layer clearing to sunny skies for the afternoon. The marine layer showed up on schedule, but the sun did not. The waves were solid in the morning but gradually became less and less consistent as the day went on, resulting in some heats with solid waves and some heats with smaller, technical launch ramps. Of course the real news here is not the weather, but the performances.
Bill Bryan. What else can be said…? The man is a machine, taking on challengers less than half his age, and everywhere in between, he still emerges victorious almost every time. Despite close competition in every single heat, Bill somehow manages to remain .5 points ahead everytime. He not only the best skimboarder of all time, he really is one of the best competitors of all time. If this guy had picked up golf instead of skimboarding you would be watching him sink 40′ puts for eagle on ESPN to take home the cash. If I had only one word to describe him, that word would be “clutch”. The man is just clutch.
The only real question is how long can he keep it up for? Another year? Another decade? Laugh all you want about the possibility of another decade… people were talking about Bill getting old “soon” in 1999.
But no he is not getting any younger and the competition is always getting better. Omar Meddeb skimmed explosively to a solid 6th place finish, his highest yet in a major event but probably a sign of things to come. New dad Paulo Prietto impressed all weekend long but came up just a little short in a challenging semi-final which opened up an opportunity for the likes of Teddy Vlasis to make his second final in a row, after making some impressions of his own Saturday and Sunday! Sam Stinnett who won lasy years event was a points leader in more than one round leading up to the final, but came up a couple points short in the final, placing third. Brandon Sears skimmed solidly in the final but did not have enough strength on his forehand and wound up settling for 2nd place for the 2nd year in a row. Hey, thats not all bad… but in the end there can be only one. At this event, as in most events this year, that was Bill Bryan.
Congratulations to all. It was a pleasure to spend time with you at one of the most memorable events in quite some time.
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Pro Results
1. Bill Bryan
2. Brandon Sears
3. Sam Stinnett
4. Teddy Vlasis
5. Paulo Prietto
6. Omar Meddeb
Photos By Jaleesa Koevoet
My boy bill hitting it hard again congrats
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