Zap team riders James Lovett, Jason Wilson, John Akerman, Dave Scott, and Sam McCoy at 10th Street in Laguna Beach a few weeks ago. See more of what the Zap team has been up to on their blog.

By Aaron Peluso

Sam Stinnett won the 2011 Exile / Main St Oktoberfest this year and in the process walked away with his first world title. Sam has been a contender ever since he went pro in 2007 and the Balboa event has always been one of his strongest. This year was no different.

The Oktoberfest which has for so long been plagued rain, seemed to get everything right this year. A forecast that originally called for cloud cover proved inaccurate as attendees woke to clear skies on Saturday morning, a condition that persisted all the way through Sunday. Also in attendance were waves, lots of them. A forecast for tropical hurricane swell proved mostly inaccurate but westerly wind swell that is a mainstay of Balboa skimboarding showed up in abundance making for very fun skimboarding all weekend long. Add in some big smiles and good people and the stage was set for an epic event!

The first round of pros ran first thing Saturday morning as the swell forecast called for declining swell all weekend. The idea was to run the pros as soon as possible to take advantage of the best conditions, and the waves were quite good. Westerly lines with occasional south swell cross ups made for super contestable conditions. After the men’s pro division ran, the female pros stepped up to enjoy some solid waves, then the men’s pro division ran once again. Unfortunately by this time the wind was starting to pick up and the waves for this round were more difficult to pick in the increasingly shifty conditions. By the final heat of the second round the wind was stiff onshore and most expected things only to get worse. Then a funny thing happened… the wind died almost completely.
As the pros had already run their quarter finals, it was now time for the amateurs to enjoy some rippable waves that were for the most part, just as good if not better than what the pros got to skim. And enjoy they did, with some of the most impressive amateur skimboarding I have seen to date.

Come Sunday morning most were expecting smaller waves and difficult conditions. It was not to be. Early arrivals were treated to some extremely fun conditions, maybe even borderline epic. Before the contest even got underway there were well over 20 skimboarders in the water including some pros who couldn’t help burning out their legs before their heats. The waves were just too fun. When the heats did get under way spectators were in for a treat as the pros all but unleashed on the waves in what was some of the most exciting contest skimming I have seen in my 20+ years of watching skimboard competitions.

Semifinal number one featured Sam Stinnett, Morgan Just, Jake Stinnett and local favorite Omar Meddeb. Morgan jumped out to an early lead racking up a couple solid scores and it looked like he would be the one to beat. Then Sam and Omar started racking up scores. Sam running both ways down the beach drawing out long completed rides while Omar was boosting airs as well as getting solid wraps. Jake Stinnett responded with solid wraps and at least one good left but was struggling to put together a final scoring left, then seconds before the buzzer he found what he was looking for and scored the frontside line that very possibly squeaked him past Omar and into the final with his younger brother.

Semifinal number two was equally stacked with Brad Domke, Blair Conklin, Brandon Sears and Tim Fulton. Honestly, I am not even sure what happened in this heat. All analysis like I was able to make in the previous heat just flies out the window. Domke was throwing tech like a madman but apparently didn’t stick enough to make it through. Tim Fulton was throwing frontside airs and scoring at least one high scoring backside wrap that made the crowd go wild. Brandon Sears was getting one liner barrel after another and then boosting huge backside airs on his way back to the other side of the beach… Blair Conklin was linking together frontside trickery and backside power skimming with a smoothness no one could match, culminating in one of the longest driving barrels I have ever witnessed in competition. In fact, I it was one of the longest I can recall period. But what stood out even more than the particular waves was the non-stop action and quality of the competition. Everyone was killing it and it was a great show for all those who witnessed it. In the end however it would be Blair and Sears who moved on to the finals in a particularly memorable heat.

The stage was then set for Sam, Jake, Blair and Sears to meet up in the final heat of the season. And what a heat it was with all four competitors putting on a second show for the crowd and skimming basically evenly all the way across from most spectators’ perspectives. Each rider brought more of the same and even upped it a little bit for good measure. After the final was over, spectators were all of differing opinions on who they thought won and there wasn’t a rider in the heat who didn’t have people who thought they had won. It was exactly the kind of heat that makes skimboarding so fun to watch.

After the men’s pro final the women’s pro final came up and took advantage of what may have been even better conditions than the men had. The women’s pro division is progressing at an impressive rate and even critics would have to concede that these ladies are getting good. It’s also worth noting that there was a great female turnout at this year’s event filling out both the pro and amateur division. Female skimboarding is growing and progressing at an impressive clip, and it’s a great thing to see.

Men’s Pro Results
1. Sam Stinnett
2. 
Blair Conklin
3. 
Jake Stinnett

4. Brandon Sears

5. Tim Fulton
6. 
Omar Meddeb
7. 
Morgan Just

8. Brad Domke



Women’s Pro Results
1. 

Anna Prophet
2. 
Silvia Garavito
3. 
Steff Maggs
4. 
Tia D’Ambrosio

For more information about the full 2011 UST results, visit www.unitedskimtour.org!

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More pics care of Main Street Surf Shop http://www.orangecounty.com/articles/newport-27677-oktoberfest-photos.html

By Aaron Peluso

The first trans-continental UST competition went down over the course of the last week in Seignosse, France.

I have been attending skimboarding competitions for more than 25 years now and I can say without a doubt that this event has opened up a door for skimboarding’s future. More than any skimboarding competition I have ever attended, this event was a full on skimboarding adventure. New places, new people and new friends made for a truly historic trip.

But it was not all so easy to plan. American skimboarders are usually surprised to learn that tides in this region of Europe swing about 17 feet. The weather changes hourly. The sand changes daily. Planning a skimboarding event with these kinds of challenges is no easy feat. Luckily, skimboarding had two ace’s up its sleeve for this years’ France contest. Our first ace was contest organizer Herve Le Doux. Doud (as he is commonly called) put everything he had into making this inaugural UST event everything it was. Free beer at welcome party? Check. Free breakfast each morning? Check. Free Lunch every day? Check. Free water, red bull and even beer on the beach each day? Check Check and Check. All of this would be impressive for any UST event, but this was not your normal 2 day weekend event. This was a full 6 day waiting period event, the first true waiting period competition in UST history. Rain or shine, skim or not, Doud kept the smiles flowing the entire time with a whole lot of hard work, solid planning, and I am sure money spent out of pocket.

The waiting period proved to be skimboarding’s second ace up its sleeve. Day one of the waiting period was met with a solid 20’ swell. Hossegor was doing its best Waimea impression complete with tow-ins on quadruple overhead bombs. The skim was all but non-existent and the beach was flat from the massive swell. The swell would last through Wed so the contest was postponed until Thursday morning. That was no problem at all as light offshores, sunny skies and a solid swell meant everyone could drive down to San Sebastian and enjoy a particularly special right hand sider set amongst buildings dating back to the Middle Ages. And that’s exactly what everyone did for the next two days scoring barrels and memories that will last a lifetime.

Come Wed the swell was starting to taper down and the weather had turned a little sour, with thick clouds and a slight onshore wind putting a damper on the mood. There were still no waves that I could see. We were eating a late breakfast watching the surf when we got a call from Doud at nearly dead low tide. Apparently there was some skim going on a mile up the coast. We arrived on the beach where a local TV crew was filming French rider Axel Cristol with only Doud on the beach watching. The waves looked horrible for skim. We went down, took a seat and waited a few minutes. Sure enough, from out of nowhere waist high liners that almost looked like siders started coming in down the beach. It was truly rippable. A few more riders jumped in and made a good session out of what could have been really contestable waves.

The next morning the competitors awoke to sunny skies and light offshores. Unfortunately the high tide was making an insanely unrideable trough out of the waves that made it to shore. The heats would run as the tide fell and we all had our fingers crossed that the skim would improve. Unfortunately the first round of pro heats did its best impression of flat low tide Vilano. There were a couple waves to trick off, but it was very far from epic. At the time us Americans feared that the waves for the rest of the contest would look like this. Thankfully, the conditions in Seignosse are constantly changing.

After the first rounds there was a break for lunch. That meant that the contest organizers cooked us all free lunch. Not just competitors, everyone. No tickets, no hassle… just get in line and receive a freshly cooked baguette hamburger some chips and a drink. Pretty epic. What’s even more epic is that after lunch 100m down the beach there was shoulder high skim coming in with the rising tide. And so the second round of pros ran in shifty, but definitely rippable skim. While this was happening the weather changed from “sunny skies” to full on Cabo style scorcher heat. I am not sure how hot it was, but it was very very nice out. After the second round of heats the pros decided not to skim again as the tide was getting higher. Some of the pros left for the day while others hung out for a bit. Within an hour or two Sam Stinnett noticed that a few of these high tide trough monsters were looking makeable and grabbed his board. Ten minutes and three barrels later, Brad Domke, Axel Cristol and a few others joined in to skim what had become totally Cabo-esque skim conditions. Powerful barreling waves, light offshores, and 100+ degree weather, what else could a skimboarder ask for?

While I was photographing this session I spoke with a few of the elder French skimboarders about the conditions for the following day. Bear in mind that I had already “checked the weather” which predicted sunny skies throughout the weekend. Talking to locals Olivier Harrault and Doud however, they seemed quite confident that the next day the wind would be onshore and that the pro heats would be off and that the only opportunity for good skim was Sat morning. It was amusing to watch these guys debate the matter with some of the younger French skimboarders who seemed to think that tomorrow it could be good. This being my second trip to France, I knew from experience that Doud and Olivier knew exactly what they were talking about when it came to predicting the skim conditions. However, looking at some of the best waves I had seen in Europe to date, it was hard to believe that the following morning could be so bad.

I awoke the next morning to sunny skies and dead calm wind conditions. I thought to myself that the young French skimmers may have called it correctly. As I walked over the dune I expected to see something much like yesterday morning, ‘maybe even a little better’. And just as I finished that thought I was blasted with a cold gust of onshore wind and the sad visual of whitecaps at sea. It looked absolutely nothing like the day before. It looked like crap. I smiled to myself and continued down to grab myself a free chocolate croissant and say bonjour to some friends.

The decision was made to delay the pros until Sat morning, the last day of the waiting period. The weather report said it would be worse on Saturday as I read it, but by this point I put my complete trust in the locals. I have never been so baffled trying to predict good skim conditions as I have been in France. Some of the pros and ams took turns winching into some waves on Friday before calling it a day.

On Saturday the skies were overcast early on. But that was ok, because the onshore wind has subsided and it was now dead calm. The waves were good size with minimal trough and all in all this was looking like the best contest conditions yet. The pro quarterfinals were scheduled to start as soon as the tide was low enough and run back to back until finished. There was no time to wait for the rising tide according to Doud, as the wind was supposed to pick up in a few hours. I have never seen a wind forecast that is truly accurate to the hour, but again, all faith in Doud…

As in most contests the quarter finals are where things really start to get interesting. This quarter final was more interesting than most as it was the first time that so many of the top riders from the United States, France and Portugal faced off in competition, ever. Many could have predicted which riders would make it into the top 12, there were no big surprises at least.

In the first quarter final Sam Stinnett faced off against two French brothers Matthieu and Nicolas Thibaud (Nicolas is Matthieu’s older brother). Everyone skimmed solid but in the end it was Sam and older brother Nicolas who made it through heat one.

In the second heat there were two Americans (Domke and Jason Wilson) squaring off against one of France’s best riders, Olivier Chabert. This heat was even closer but in the end Olivier just couldn’t find the high scoring waves he needed to best the Americans.

The third heat was all European with Portugal’s Hugo Santos and Simao Pinto squaring off against Axel Cristol. Hugo is essentially the Bill Bryan of Europe, winning more events than anyone else in a skim career measured in decades, not years. Simao and Axel are both perhaps the top young riders from their respective countries. The home field advantage appeared to be strongly in Axel’s favor during this heat as he was able to find big scoring waves that Hugo and Simao were missing. Simao, who had been a standout on Thursday, fell by the wayside and Hugo was able to find the waves he needed to make the heat.

The next heat had Americans Morgan Just and Jake Stinnett squared off against Portugal’s Mega man (Emmanuel Embaixador). Both Morgan and Mega set a pace in this heat that Jake could not keep up with, finding waves where there were none and really putting on a show. Jake skimmed well, and might have made it through in a different heat. But not in this one.

This brought the finals eight down to four Americans, two Portuguese and two Frenchmen. UST top contenders Sam Stinnett and Brad Domke were placed in heat one versus Portugal’s Mega and Hugo Santos. Hugo and Mega seemed to struggle to find the waves in this heat while Domke and Sam seemed like they were tuned in to everything mother nature was throwing at the beach. This was particularly strange to watch in the case of Mega as he had just run a few minutes prior and was killing it. If he would have just been able to do as well as he did in his quarter final he could have made it easily, but this was a different heat and it had a whole different result. In the end, Brad and Sam moved on setting the stage for an all-out rematch in 2012 I am sure!

In heat two of the semis it was France vs the USA. This heat appeared to be a little closer in this observers opinion with lots of good waves being caught by all the riders. Morgan appeared to be a standout but the battle for second seemed wide open. Anticipation was high as results were tallied to see if a Frenchman would make it to the final of the first French UST event. Accordingly, the disappointment was high as Jason Wilson sneaked by to form and all American final at the first European UST event.

The top five waves counted in what has to be the longest final I have ever seen. I am not sure how long it was exactly. All I know if that when I thought the heat must be half over they called out that 12 minutes were left. This was a good thing as it allowed the competitors plenty of time to get some real waves in the quickly changing conditions (the tide was dropping out at about 1 foot every 20 minutes). Jason Wilson didn’t get a lot of waves but the few he did get seemed to be really solid. Domke seemed like he had a few more counting waves but most involved highly technical riding and it was unknown how it would score. Sam was all over the beach getting good rides but had wasn’t able to match the wave selection of his prior heats and was struggling to find the really high scoring wave he needed. Morgan Just made the most of the time skimming the best well rounded heat with plenty of waves in both directions, and as such he deservingly walked away with the win at the first ever European UST event.

The finals for the amateurs followed after the pros and as if on cue the breeze began to within minutes of the event coming to a close. By afternoon it was completely un-contestable again.

The results were announced in the evening at and after party which included free drinks and dinner for the competitors. If there is one thing that was truly epic about this event it was just being there to witness the awards ceremony. First of all, everyone in France is a winner. The awards for a division start with last place, and then work their way all the way to first. The person comes up, receives their prize and basically enters a contest to share the most stoke with the audience possible for the next 10 – 60 seconds. This started rather innocuously with the women. There was singing of the national anthem (I think?) by the crowd while Doud’s wife stood at attention with her hand over her heart. There was the leading of French songs of a very “French” nature on stage while the crowd stomped their feet to the beat, nearly tearing apart the wood deck in the process. And then when the Am’s came up there was the crowd surfing. Yes, come up on stage in France to get your prize and 9 times out of 10 you are leaving via ‘crowd surf’. It was all pretty epic with smiles all around, and that’s when the French turned it up a notch. It all started with the announcing of an amateur Frenchman. I don’t know his name but when it was called it seemed at first as though he wasn’t present, a common occurrence at US contests. But off in the distance we heard screaming and shouting and turned to see four Frenchmen carrying the competitor shirtless from the parking lot screaming as if he had just won the world cup. This Frenchman went into crowdsurf on his way TO the stage and in the process somehow lost his pants and arrived on stage totally naked. He accepted his prize and went right back into naked crowdsurf mode on the way out. This started an round of one upsmanship amongst the French riders continuing all the way through the pros where nudity was not something to be ashamed of, and crowdsurfing is a god given right. In all I think the awards must have lasted nearly two hours, and I wasn’t bored once. The stage was set for an epic afterparty that has been called the best ever by many of the US pros.

Hats off to Doud and the French contest organizers for putting together such a seamless event and welcoming travelling skimboarders with open arms.

PRO RESULTS
1 MORGAN JUST USA
2 SAM STINNET USA
3 BRADLEY DOMKE USA
4 JASON WILSON USA
5 AXEL CRISTOL FRANCE
6 NICOLAS THIBAUD FRANCE
7 HUGO SANTOS PORTUGAL
8 EMMANUEL EMBAIXADOR PORTUGAL
9 MATTHIEU THIBAUD FRANCE
10 JAKE STINNET USA
11 OLIVIER CHABERT FRANCE
12 SIMAO PINTO PORTUGAL
13 TRISTAN LAMY FRANCE
14 MARCOS CASTELUBER BRAZIL
15 CLEMENT ELLISALDE FRANCE
16 MAXIME VIMOND FRANCE
17 NICOLAS BERNARD FRANCE
18 ALEX MARRETTE FRANCE
19 FLORENT MOURONVAL FRANCE
20 GUILLAUME DETANT FRANCE
21 MARTIS AVILES SPAIN
22 ANTONIN LANGEARD FRANCE
23 JOHAN VIE FRANCE
24 BENOIT DESPLEBIN FRANCE
25 REGIS FRACHON FRANCE
26 GARRIDO MARC FRANCE
26 DAN HORAN GB

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More Pics and coverage in Portuguese available at SkimBrazil.com

Friday afternoon started off hotter than ever when a nearby BP station exploded into a giant fireball. The same couldn’t be said about the conditions for the 2011 Vilano Pro/Am, but that didn’t stop the stoke. Skim stickers on every other car, boards resting on hotel balconies, and sponsor tents scattered across the shore. One couldn’t cross the street without having their field of vision filled with skimboarding identity.

Saturday lacked waves but made up for it in vibes. With over 40 pros competing and live music from the band I-Vibes, Vilano Beach was the place to be. The beach was flat, the waves were far, and the wind was onshore. Tech was the key to winning this year. Virtually every variation of shuv-it was thrown along with nearly gravity-defying airs off practically nothing. Even after the sun went down there was still more skimboarding entertainment in store. At Beaches Bar and Grill, the latest 10th Street Bros movie, “Bringing the Vibes,” premiered.

The waves picked up a little bit on Sunday, but were still far from good. Most contestants were free skimming south of rocks, where the waves were actually breaking onshore. The pro finals held some of the best tech in the sport. Austin Keen threw 540 shuv-its on the way out with Brad Domke answering back with switch big spins down the line. In the end it was Domke taking home first with Austin in a close second.

Final Pro Results:

1st Brad Domke
2nd Austin Keen
3rd John Akerman
4th Dave Scott
5th Bill Bryan
6th Blair Conklin

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I started skimming when I was around 10-years-old but didn’t really get into it until I was about 13. I wanted to show my friends the waves I skimmed because I knew they wouldn’t believe Fort Lauderdale got above knee, so I got my first camera and started shooting in 2004. Soon I was having more fun taking photos than actually skimboarding.

My setup right now is a Canon 50D with 18-200mm Canon lens. I also own Canon AE-1 with 50mm f1.4 Canon lens, but that’s mainly for school. Cameras I’ve owned include a Nikon D80, D70, and Canon Powershot S2 IS.
I’m currently a staff photographer for ForeverSkim Magazine, which has been kind enough to run over 100 of my photos since 2007. Aside from that, my photos have been used for advertisements, contest flyers and just about everything in between. Exile Skimboards, Zap Skimboards, Skim Invasion, the National Collegiate Skimboarding Association, ForeverSkim Magazine, Skimboard Magazine, SkimOnline, a few local shops are a few of the companies that have published my work.

The most stoked I’ve been from a skim shot is either the FSM cover shot from issue #23 or the use of my photo in an Exile ad, which had some sweet compensation to go with it. Being nominated for Photo of the Year in the Skimboarder Poll Awards in 2007 was pretty awesome as well, even though I knew no photo could beat Ryon Graf’s Wedge shot of Paulo.

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By Aaron Peluso

The most competitive skimboard contest in the world went down this weekend under sunny skies and challenging small conditions.  This year marked the second year in which the contest was broadcast live on the Internet worldwide for all to see.  This year the video feed was accompanied by live narration which made the watching the feed all that much more enjoyable.  For those who missed it or are interested, all the heats are still available to watch, so its not too late to see the action for yourself.  Props to Victoria Skimboards for making this happen.  The live video feed is truly a great step in the right direction for skimboarding.

The event this year seemed to represent somewhat of a changing of the guard.  Big name established pros were present and competitive throughout all the rounds, but they often overshadowed by the young pros who seemed to catch the most attention each day.  Indeed, when it all came down to it, the final had four of the youngest pros I have ever seen at this event.  It was refreshing and exciting to be in new territory. 

Blair Conklin turned heads all weekend long reaching impossibly far out wraps mixed up with a tech prowess well beyond his sixteen years of age.  He wound up at a very respectable fourth place his first time skimming pro in the event.  Teddy Vlasis proved he was a force in this contest and on the tour in general by finding barrels and liners where others saw nothing.  He skimmed with a stylie smoothness all his own, and the judges took notice. 

After years of settling for semi final and quarter final placings, Jake Stinnett stepped up to the plate this year and didn’t let anyone throw a fastball by him.  Anyone who has seen Jake in a skim video knows he has the skills and this year he put them into competitive form, beating everyone in the world, save the one person he wouldn’t mind losing to.

Sam Stinnett isnt exactly a rookie on the tour, but at 19 years of age he is still a baby brother to Jake.  Sam took everything he has learned during a lifetime of growing up in the center of the skimboarding world, and put every drop of it to good use.  Round after round Sam was a standout, skimming well and importantly skimming smart.  He consistently reached the furthest out wraps, got the big scores and in between sets he got all the little scores to boot.  In the end, it was nothing short of a winning strategy.  For nearly two decades skimboarding has watched the brothers Bryan dominate the professional ranks.  Seeing the brothers Stinnett in first and second brought back some powerful memories for this old skimboarder.  It was a special moment for all who were there.

The top eight professionals were:

1. Sam Stinnett
2. Jake Stinnett
3. Teddy Vlasis
4. Blair Conklin
5. Brad Domke
6. Paulo Prietto
7. Bill Bryan
8. Brandon Sears

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By Brett Mahon

Sunday Sunday Sunday!!!! A slight overcast set the “ominous” tone for the final day of competition at the Southside of the Indian River Inlet. Again, the dolphins and bluefish were active right outside the contest area, but unfortunately the swell had lost a little of its muster overnight from the offshore breeze. The wind hadn’t been a factor throughout the contest thus far and that would remain true through the final heats of the day. The professionals started the day off with some small scale punters surging into the contest area. The liners from the day prior were replaced with peaky, punchy, knee high waves creating a skate-inspired showdown. Some super serious competition broke off and when the dust finally settled, we were left with a 5th/6th skim off between Tim Fulton and Teddy Vlasis, and a stacked heat with Bill Bryan, Blair Conklin, Brad Domke, and Austin Keen in the finals. Tim and Teddy traded off new school trickery with some solid late-aerials from Mr. Fulton, while Teddy used his high-tech sorcery to find some contestable down-the-lines to below sea-level mini barrels. After the 12 minutes heat, Tim came up with the 5th slot.

The final was almost too much for this MC’s little eyes to handle; an absolutely incredible heat considering the conditions, with a few first-time maneuvers being performed. Beaker was charging switch more often than regular with an array of maneuvers. Austin Keen was working these little invisible liners and popping off huge down the line airs with precision and textbook lofty shuv’s. Blair was showcasing completely outrageous style, hucking around a few insane frontside and backside 360′s out the side with ease. Domke utilized his ridiculous switch skills to blast off a switch 540 shuv-it, switch bigger spin, and a switch frontside 360 shuvit, amongst a few other great waves throughout the heat.

At the end of the day, the $2,200 First Place Prize was awarded to Brad Domke, with Bill Bryan following him in 2nd Place, followed by Austin Keen and Blair Conklin respectively. Big shout-outs to the amateur rippers as well; there was great skimming throughout the weekend from Girls Division ripper Catherine Squillante, Boys winner Pat Monigle, Jr. Mens AND Semi-Pro king John Webber, Mens 1st place NJ ripper Chris Brown as well as local Dave Bracht keeping the Senior Mens trophy in Dewey.

Overall, aside from less than optimal conditions, the 5th Annual South Side Shootout was an incredible success, with killer skimmunity comradery, nice weather, and plenty of laughs and smiles being shared by everyone involved. The weekend ended in typical Dewey fashion with a straight up dance-off at Hammerheads. Hope to see you all again next year!

The next contest on the Skim USA tour will be the Sea Bright SkimBash on June 25th-26th in Sea Bright, NJ. The next contest on the UST will be the West Coast Championships on July 16th-17th in Laguna Beach, CA. Get stoked! 

Videos by Shawn Kenny and Alley-Oop Skim

DAY 1

DAY 2

Photos by Skylar Wilson

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The 2011 Cabo Clasico contest took place during a giant south swell for the second year in a row.  Unlike last year, the decision was made to throw caution to the wind and hold the event at Solmar, one of the most exposed beaches in the region.  It turned out to be a good decision.

Wind was a problem this year, to varying degrees. On the morning of day one, the wind was a no show and the competitors and attendees made the best of it.  As the contest was being organized upwards of 40 riders made the best of the sheet glass straight wave conditions.  Many of the best waves of the event were during the freeskimming session on day one.

As the initial heats got under way a slight breeze could be felt.  As the round progressed the slight breeze developed into a stiff westerly wind (sideshore).  This mixed things up for the competitors, but with many of the best riders in the world pushing their own personal limits, there were still plenty of waves to be had.  After the first round was over however, the call was made to break for the professionals until 5pm to see if the wind woul lie down in the evening.  Come 5pm however, the motivation level was low and the wind still strong.  The pros took a vote and decided to run the next heats in the morning.  That may or may not have been the best decision, since the wind did die down considerably shortly thereafter, resulting in good to epic conditions.  But what was done was done.  The freeskimming made up for it, for those who stuck around.

On Saturday morning the conditions were a good deal smaller, the sky was partly cloudy and the breeze was there, though not as strong as the day before.  With the second round of competition things really started to heat up as the three man heats were all stacked.  A few big names dropped out and a few relative unknowns made their way through by skimming solidly and consistently.  The change-up was refreshing.

The next round of competition had us down to four heats of three and every heat was a tight one.  In the end however, four of these guys would not make the cut, and then there were eight.  At this point the contest shifted to a man on man format, which is something pretty unique to Cabo, afforded by the lack of huge amateur divisions found in many other UST events.  There were some particularly interesting match ups. 

Mainland Mexico standout professional rookie Chopa was paired with Bill Bryan,the biggest name the sport has ever seen.  Down here in Cabo the crowd was clearly rooting for Chopa and for the initial minutes of the event, he clearly had the lead.  Chopa was linking up with very difficult to reach waves and riding them with skill beyond his years as Bill Bryan faltered on his first rides.  The crowd was going nuts.  Bill finally found what he was looking for in the form of a solid backside wrap followed by a textbook Beaker wrap on a head high frontside.  The crowd wasnt swayed as Chopa continued to rack up many solid scores.  In the end however, only three waves could count, and Bill found the the three he needed to make it to the next round.  Still, a solid performance by Chopa, what will surely be the first of many.

Sam Stinnett was paired with his older brother Jake Stinnett in a man on man battle for perhaps more than “just a trip to the finals”.  Jake continued his impressive performance while younger brother Sam waited patiently and in the end prevailed in a heat that was too close to call for this observer.  When I asked Sam about it after his heat he simply said with a smile ”any way you cut it there will be a Stinnett in the finals”.  And so it was.

Isaa Zoller and Morgan Just squared off in a close heat with Morgan racking up many scores while Isaac searched for the big score.  When the opportunity came, Isaac came up short on the wave he would have needed to possibly grab a spot in the final four.

Finally Cabo San Lucas local Juan Carlos Nazario (bullo) took on three time UST champ Paulo Prietto.  Bullo took the lead early and never looked back demonstrating impressive skill and wave knowledge while veteran Paulo Prietto struggled to find a good score for the first time in the contest.

Then there were four.

Conditions for this round were not the best of the event but the skimboarding skill made up for it as each heat was too close to call for this observer.

First Bill took on Morgan, with Morgan getting the edge.  Next Sam Stinnett squared off agains Bullo with Sam somehow getting the waves the judges preferred.  Bill edged out Bullo for third in a man on man heat followed by the showdown between Sam and Morgan for first, with Morgan taking the heat and the contest.  Congtratulations to Morgan on his first Cabo win and Sam on his second consectutive runner up placing.

Final Results:

1. Morgan Just
2. Sam Stinnett
3. Bill Bryan
4. Juan Carlos Nazario (Bullo)
5. Isaac Zoller
6. Paulo Prietto
7. Jake Stinnett
8. Chopa

Thanks to the sponsors of the 2011 Cabo Clasico for their support again this year.

Victoria Skimboards
Exile Skimboards
Main Street Surf Shop
X3M.com
Invaders
Lands End Skimboards
Freak Traction
Planeta Surf
S7
JanSport
Sea Eye Cabo San Lucas
Baja California Sur Secretary Of Tourism
Skim City
Sector 9

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Article and Photos by Aaron Peluso

Gorgonitas Skim is the premiere Spanish skimboarding organization that has been pushing the sport’s progression in Spain’s relatively new skim community. They have a website that provides riders in Spain with news and media from the skimboarding world, and they also put on contests like the 2011 Gorgonitas Compeonato taking place in Barcelona his September.

Gorgonitas started out of a necessity for growth and progression within the Spanish skim community. They attempted to spread skimboarding in Spain rapidly, but made sure to create good foundations while doing so, as the sport is very new in Spain. By putting on contests, they aim to improve the skill level of local riders who have been skimming for many years while at the same time providing instruction to new skimmers in the community.

They work hard to do all of this by helping new skimmers in Spain by providing instruction at the beach, putting on contests, and providing information on their site about the bests spots to ride. They also help those who speak Spanish all over the world by creating videos with skimboarding instruction and posting them to their site. Gorgonitas helps more advanced riders with sponsorship proposals and providing a competitive atmosphere in which they can prepare for international competitions.

Their overall goal is to expand the Spanish skimboarding community while at the same time remembering their roots.

Last years Gorgonitas Championship was not graced with great conditions but had support from international sponsors like Victoria Skimboards as well as professional skimmers, including Miles Grobman. The contest grows every year, and with more support from the international skim community, including sponsorship from Exile Skimboards, this year’s contest promises to be even better than last year.

Check out the flier and footage from last year’s contest below. Best of luck to our Spanish friends!

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Most people in the skimboarding community would never expect to see their sport reaching the developing nations of Africa. Surprisingly, there is a group of young children in Angola, a country on Africa’s Southwestern coast, who have taken to the beach to skimboard. The ‘boards’ they use are not something most people would consider a skimboard. They use whatever they can find from pieces of scrap wood to old street signs.

Tchiyna Matos is a woman in Angola who has started a movement in the country to keep young children away from the violence that has plagued the nation for over 30 years by providing a safe environment for the children to express their passion for skimboarding. Shein of Gorgonitas Skim interviewed Tchiyna to see what her project was all about. Check out the full article in Spanish here. It can also be read in English by using Google Chrome’s ‘Translate’ feature. We’re stoked to see skimboarding reaching all parts of the world!

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