Warm Santa Ana offshore winds combined with clean, overhead surf.  Click on image to view hi-res version.

This past Saturday the commanding officers of Naval Base Ventura County opened up the guard gates, and more than 100 civilian surfers from as far away as Monterey and San Diego flooded in, taking advantage of the opportunity to surf one of California's most-storied/least accessible surf breaks.  Contestants and spectators alike were greeted with ideal conditions for a surf contest, and before long, surfers were stroking into surreal hollow A-frames, the likes of which many had never had the opportunity to surf before.

Throughout the contest the crowd was entertained by the announcers as well as live rock bands.  A long list of sponsors included Proctor Surfboards, One Way Board Shops, American Red Cross, Quicksilver, FRS Energy Drink, Visalus Energy, Shaka Laka, Wet Sand, Java Joes, and Simple but Mental.


Contest Results

Open Men:

1. Yves Bright
2. Sean Hayes
3. Scott Clark

Jr. Men:

1. Chance Lawson
2. Skylar Lawson
3. Charlie Fawcett

Military Men:

1. Jeffrey Easson
2. Doug Rippe
3. Terence Juergens

Women's Open:

1. Tara Dunlay
2. Jane Lee
3. Sally Saenger

Body Board:

1. Matt Meyer
2. Felix Rivas
3. Mick Ostrovsky


A quick note to say THANK YOU to the United States Navy for pulling off the first and only surf contest in history this year at NBVC.  A date has already been set for next year's event; be sure to mark it on your calendars -- Saturday August 22nd, 2009.

To view more images of this history-making event, click here.

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Santa Barbara Independent Covers Local Surf Sites



Be sure to check out the current edition of The Independent to read about the local online resouces that cover our surfing world, including my personal favorites www.santabarbarasurfing.com and www.goletasurfing.com  The online version of Ethan Stewart's article can be found here.