A Competition for the Ages: They Call it "The Classic" for a Reason...
Greasy-Slick, Glassy Calm Saturday Preceeds Heavy Offshore Maelstrom Sunday
Kilian Garland Defends Title Once Again as "King of the 'Con"
Standing Room Only
Wind, Weather, Swell & Talent Provide Quite A Show For Local Surfing Fans
The stage was set on the day that Chris Keet decided to bump the contest forward by a couple of months from last year's contest. In a year marked by seemingly endless days and weeks of flat surf, Mother Nature kicked up her heels and let loose at Rincon Point this weekend, much to the stoke of anyone connected to it. I shouldn't need to remind anyone about the swell forecasts leading up to the event. DOH. Well, we didn't receive what was promised, but Saturday morning the event opened up with The Queen looking as good as she has at any time over the past 11 months. Chest-high waves peeled from Indicator to The Cove, with not so much as even a ripple to be found on the seas' surface. Last February's monster swell was the last one with enough juice to rip out the footholds of the kelp fronds, so the presence of a thick forrest all along the point made for some remarkable imagery (as well as wreaking havoc on the surfers). For the first time ever there was a live web-cast of the event, so fans from as far away as the North Shore could watch their favorite surfers.
As the heats began to unfurl, people showed up en masse along with a remarkable contigent of surf paparazzi. Anyone who owned a camera and was interested in surf was at their battle stations as the Junior's heats began. Boys names like Curren, Coffin, McAllister began shredding with abandon, followed by the older kids, the men, the masters, and the grand masters. Of course the group drawing the most attention was the Bud Lite Pro, staring legend Tom Curren, his brother Joe, Chris Brown, Kilian Garland, and oh, yeah, some guy who signed up under the name of "Vane Venyolds". He he. There were some amazing battles during those heats, including killer performances by Brian Aresco, Pete Mussio, Tyler Anderson, Tarik Khashoggi, Nathan Winkles, and Adam Lambert. None of the contestants in the pro division failed to deliver high-caliber surfing. Spectacular is an understatement. At the end of the day were the longboard heats. Not to disrespect the amazing surfing of guys like Cole Robbins, or Brett Robbins, or even J.P. Garcia, but in my opinion it was Wayne Rich (yes, you read that correctly, the guy who less than a year ago underwent surgery to fuse his cervical spine) who stole the show, pulling several amazing off-the-lips on top of some power surfing who stole the show. The judges must not have been watching; somehow Wayne didn't receive a "pass" to the finals...
Sunday morning brought with it a change in the weather. The swell had continued to build overnight, but with morning also came stiff, howling offshore/sideshore winds pushing 35 mph. By 8:00 am the conditions deteriorated to the point of survival. Trying to paddle into a wave with bullets of water pelting their eyes, and fighting the resistance of the wind, surfers had one hell of a time even catching a wave let alone carving or catching some air. By mid day the wind turned onshore, but it was too late as the bump persisted and continued to wreak havoc on wave organization. The Red Bull Air Show had a few highlites by notable pilots like Vane Veynolds (lol!), but it was not the same as what we've had the past few years. It wasn't until late afternoon when conditions got good again, just in time for the women's finals, the longboard finals, and the pro finals. As a matter of fact, the wind went offshore again for the last hour or so, creating an amazing texture on the canvas of color and light, with translucent barrels bending around the Indicator and down into The Rivermouth.
Contest Results
The Pro division was won by Kilian Garland who was the defending champion. Way to go Kilian!! Second place was awarded to Brian Aresco. Third place went to Tarik Khashoggi. For complete contest results, click here.
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Regarding pictures. If you surfed or if someone that you know surfed this weekend, and you'd like to get some prints made of images taken, chances are I've got them. I shot 32 gigabytes (roughly 5,000) pictures over the two days of the event! Just shoot me an email: rinconsurfblog@gmail.com.
Thank You to Chris Keet, the sponsors, and the surfers for making the 2009 Decker's Rincon Classic a huge success! See you at The Point!
Kilian Garland Defends Title Once Again as "King of the 'Con"
Standing Room Only
Wind, Weather, Swell & Talent Provide Quite A Show For Local Surfing Fans
The stage was set on the day that Chris Keet decided to bump the contest forward by a couple of months from last year's contest. In a year marked by seemingly endless days and weeks of flat surf, Mother Nature kicked up her heels and let loose at Rincon Point this weekend, much to the stoke of anyone connected to it. I shouldn't need to remind anyone about the swell forecasts leading up to the event. DOH. Well, we didn't receive what was promised, but Saturday morning the event opened up with The Queen looking as good as she has at any time over the past 11 months. Chest-high waves peeled from Indicator to The Cove, with not so much as even a ripple to be found on the seas' surface. Last February's monster swell was the last one with enough juice to rip out the footholds of the kelp fronds, so the presence of a thick forrest all along the point made for some remarkable imagery (as well as wreaking havoc on the surfers). For the first time ever there was a live web-cast of the event, so fans from as far away as the North Shore could watch their favorite surfers.
As the heats began to unfurl, people showed up en masse along with a remarkable contigent of surf paparazzi. Anyone who owned a camera and was interested in surf was at their battle stations as the Junior's heats began. Boys names like Curren, Coffin, McAllister began shredding with abandon, followed by the older kids, the men, the masters, and the grand masters. Of course the group drawing the most attention was the Bud Lite Pro, staring legend Tom Curren, his brother Joe, Chris Brown, Kilian Garland, and oh, yeah, some guy who signed up under the name of "Vane Venyolds". He he. There were some amazing battles during those heats, including killer performances by Brian Aresco, Pete Mussio, Tyler Anderson, Tarik Khashoggi, Nathan Winkles, and Adam Lambert. None of the contestants in the pro division failed to deliver high-caliber surfing. Spectacular is an understatement. At the end of the day were the longboard heats. Not to disrespect the amazing surfing of guys like Cole Robbins, or Brett Robbins, or even J.P. Garcia, but in my opinion it was Wayne Rich (yes, you read that correctly, the guy who less than a year ago underwent surgery to fuse his cervical spine) who stole the show, pulling several amazing off-the-lips on top of some power surfing who stole the show. The judges must not have been watching; somehow Wayne didn't receive a "pass" to the finals...
Sunday morning brought with it a change in the weather. The swell had continued to build overnight, but with morning also came stiff, howling offshore/sideshore winds pushing 35 mph. By 8:00 am the conditions deteriorated to the point of survival. Trying to paddle into a wave with bullets of water pelting their eyes, and fighting the resistance of the wind, surfers had one hell of a time even catching a wave let alone carving or catching some air. By mid day the wind turned onshore, but it was too late as the bump persisted and continued to wreak havoc on wave organization. The Red Bull Air Show had a few highlites by notable pilots like Vane Veynolds (lol!), but it was not the same as what we've had the past few years. It wasn't until late afternoon when conditions got good again, just in time for the women's finals, the longboard finals, and the pro finals. As a matter of fact, the wind went offshore again for the last hour or so, creating an amazing texture on the canvas of color and light, with translucent barrels bending around the Indicator and down into The Rivermouth.
Contest Results
The Pro division was won by Kilian Garland who was the defending champion. Way to go Kilian!! Second place was awarded to Brian Aresco. Third place went to Tarik Khashoggi. For complete contest results, click here.
######
Regarding pictures. If you surfed or if someone that you know surfed this weekend, and you'd like to get some prints made of images taken, chances are I've got them. I shot 32 gigabytes (roughly 5,000) pictures over the two days of the event! Just shoot me an email: rinconsurfblog@gmail.com.
Thank You to Chris Keet, the sponsors, and the surfers for making the 2009 Decker's Rincon Classic a huge success! See you at The Point!
looks awesome!
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