Thursday, April 26, 2012

ESA Southeast Regional SUP Invitational

The Eastern Surfing Association (ESA) is branching out into the world of Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP). The annual ESA Southeast Regional event hosted the ESA Southeast SUP Invitational. Eighteen of the East Coast’s top SUP Surfers bashed and hacked the waves at the Inlet in New Smyrna Beach.
The event was held over two days with the first round consisting of three heats with six paddlers in each heat. The top scoring paddler from each heat went straight through to the finals. The next two top scoring paddlers in each heat went through to the “death match”. The top three paddlers in the “death match” joined the previous winners in a six paddler final.
The waves on Saturday for the first round started off pumping but with the outgoing tide and a change in wind direction right before the first heat made things challenging. Still some incredible surfing was on tap. Sunday was a different story. The waves died down a notch but clean waist-chest high peaks were coming through to deliver a great final.
Finals:
1st – Rob Bitzkowski
2nd – Giorgio Gomez
3rd – Ty Miller
4th – Evan Magee
5th – Todd Waskuch
6th – Iain McFarland



Monday, April 23, 2012

Help Melbourne Beach Shark Attack Victim Justin Ellingham



Justin Ellingham grew up surfing in Melbourne Beach, FL. On Thursday April 19, 2012, Justin was surfing across the street from his home when a shark latched on to his hand. He now requires reconstructive surgery to save one of his fingers. Justin is currently a full time Ocean Engineering student at Florida Institute of Technology, paying his way through school on his own. Since Justin is uninsured, we need the support of the community to raise the funds needed to pay for the surgery. Justin recently won the NSSA Collegiate East Coast Surfing Championships on behalf of the Florida Tech surf team. Please help us, no donation is too small, we need and appreciate all the help we can get.

To help please go to this page: http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser_details?fundraiser_id=2132&url=melbournebeachsharkattackvictim%3Cbr%20/%3E

2012DAKINE ISA World Jr Surfing Games Panama


DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship Presented by Billabong. There were 300 athletes competing from 31 nations all commencing on Sunday, April 22, 2012 in Playa Venao, Panama.

Results from the ISA World JR Games in Panama. Xtrak had riders representing Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Barbados. Hawaii went on to take the Gold in overall Team standings. Below are the Individual results for the Xtrak team riders:



COSTA RICA TEAM- 11th overall
Boys 16 and under
3rd - (bronze medal) Noe Mar Mcgongale



Girls Under 16
Round 2- Leilani McGongale

PUERTO RICO TEAM- 22nd
BOYS UNDER 18
Round 1- Christain Riveria,
Round 2- Bryan Laide Roca
BOYS UNDER 16
Round 2- Marley Puglielli


BARBADOS TEAM- 16th overall
BOYS UNDER 16
Round 3- Joshua Burke

JAMAICA-26th
BOYS UNDER 18
Round 1- Akeem Taylor , Armani Green, Garren Price
BOYS UNDER 16
Round 1-Ivah Wilmot

Frieda


Corey Howell, Putting In Work


Just got a team update from Corey Howell and I gotta say it's pretty impressive! Awesome to see someone his age working so hard at something he loves. Great work Corey. We're proud to have you as part of the team!

"Well, the beginning of 2012 has been GREAT!!  

To start off, in January I saw my X-trak ad in ESM at the Surf Expo.  I was also featured in the ESA Spotlight in Transworld Surf's April edition.    Ron Jon put up my first billboard on Hwy 528, the main road coming from Orlando into Cocoa Beach.  Even cooler, they also added my picture to the rotating billboard in front of the Cocoa Beach store!   I've also heard there is a large lightbox in the Orlando airport at baggage claims, billboards in Orlando for Festival Mall, and window pics in New Jersey.    There was even a picture of me on the Ron Jon Surf Fest event t-shirt, which my mom bought like 10 of for the entire family....     It's just unreal! 

Competition wise, I've been surfing hard and placing well in the local NSSA and ASF competitions.  Earlier this month, I took 2nd in the Ron Jon Surf Fest Jr. Pro and equal 7th in Mens Pro.  But nothing can compare to this past weekend.... I took home 4 titles in NSSA East Coast Championships - High School Men, Explorer Men, Open Men, and Airshow and also won performer of the day on Sunday!  And now, I have finally gotten NSSA Surfer of the Week!!

School's going really good.   I will be finishing my sophomore year in high school in May and I will also have 4 college credits completed.  I hope to finish this semester with straight A's and President's list as I did last semester. 

Thank you so much for all of the support you all give me.   I can't wait to go out to Cali in June for Nationals and US Championships!

Thanks,
Corey"













ASF March Contest:

Ron Jon Easter Fest:


NSSA East Coast Championships:

NSSA Surfer of the Week 4/16/12:

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Rachel Presti - NSSA Southeast Regionals


Rachel surfed the NSSA Southeast Regionals in New Smyrna Beach last weekend and made it through tree rounds into the finals. She was the youngest (9) to make it to the finals, surfing against 14 and 15 year olds. Rachel ended up placing 6th in the final. Get 'em Rachel!




Tuesday, April 17, 2012

NSSA East Coast Regionals-Team results


2012 NSSA EAST COAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY NIKE
APRIL 12-15 NEW SMYRNA BEACH INLET, FLORIDA
CONDITIONS: Waist to chest high peaks with fair to good conditions throughout the event.
More than 400 surfers contend for Regional titles in one of the largest ever East Coast Championship fields.



COREY HOWELL STEALS THE SHOW WINNING FOUR TITLES!
OPEN MENS
EXPLORER MENS
HIGH SCHOOL MENS
AIRSHOW



TOMMY COLEMAN- MINI GROM AND SUPER GROM CHAMPION!
EXPLORER GIRLS
5. Rossi Klein-Summerfield, FL 7.60
6. Rachel Presti-Melbourne Beach, FL 3.24

COLLEGE WOMENS
1. Amy Nicholl-UCF 13.00

EXPLORER MENEHUENE
5. Mike Vanaman-Sicklerville, NJ 7.90



Noe Mar McGonagle From Pavones Wins The Quiksilver King of The Groms


Noe Mar McGonagle and Kevin Montiel are going to Mexico! Noe Mar McGonagle's smooth style of surfing prevailed here in Playa Hermosa. NoeMar Gonagle took first place and held the best wave score of the competition with 8.67 points. This was the second time Quiksilver held The King Of The Groms event in Playa Hermosa and it was well attended with over 24 participants and is sure to grow in the future! http://quiksilverlive.com/kotg11/blog,16,post.en.html

1st Place Noe Mar McGonagle


Honey Badger Don't Care!

Some recent shots of local SUPer Jon E.B. riding his infamous Honey Badger from Stu Sharpe of http://www.sharpesurf.com/. Jon will be on hand at next week's ESA Southeast
Regionals Invitational SUPsurf in New Smyrna. Yeeewwwww! 

SUP traction pads available here:   www.suptraction.com or www.supgrips.com






Monday, April 16, 2012

Jimmy Lewis SUP Invitational


Details on The Jimmy Lewis SUP Invitational
at ESA Southeast Regionals, April 22

by Steve Sjuggerud, Contest Director for the Jimmy Lewis SUP Invitational

My friends, it's finally here!  SUP in the ESA is a now a reality!
Stand up paddle (SUP) surfing will make its first ever appearance at an ESA regional championship on Sunday, April 22nd, with the Jimmy Lewis SUP Invitational in New Smyrna Beach.
The top standup paddlers in the Southeast will battle for bragging rights, prizes, and for a slot at "Easterns" -- the East Coast surfing championship -- in North Carolina in September.

We still have a slots available for this April 22nd contest... more details below.

We are proud to have Jimmy Lewis as the title sponsor... 

Jimmy Lewis was truly one of the very first companies to produce legitimate high performance standup boards.  As proof, take a look at this page from the very first issue of Standup Journal magazine (a magazine that I founded in 2007 with Clay Feeter and Glenn Dubock).  The top picture has three different Jimmy Lewis production boards, and I am actually surfing a Jimmy Lewis production board in the bottom picture.  Again, these shots are from 2007.



It looks like the level of competition will be off the charts...

John EB will come up from Central Florida with a group of other well-known talents from the area.  John pioneered ultra-short SUP surfing, and he competed in the Standup World Tour Hawaii finals event.  Here he is ripping recently at home:



Eddie Toy is one of a couple rippers coming down to represent St. Augustine.  Eddie has run SUP contests, taught lessons, and charged all over the world, spreading the stoke.  Here's a nice shot of Eddie at home, absolutely charging:



These older well-known chargers need to look out for lesser-known young guys... like teenager Steven McLean. Steven surfs with incredible style and has the added advantage of having New Smyrna as his home break.

A few Jimmy Lewis teamriders (Todd Waskuch from the Treasure Coast area and Tony Malara) will be competing as well.  Here's Tony competing on his Jimmy Lewis board:



It is a stacked field... as it should be... battling it out for a potential chance to move on to Easterns!

Here are the details of competition

-No entry fee...  because this is not an official ESA championship event this season, it is an invitational exhibition event. 

-You must be an ESA member however, and be able to prove it.  If you are not a member, print out this form and bring it with your membership fee: http://www.surfesa.org/regionals/ESAforms/2012/ESA_join.pdf

-Competition starts at 9am, on Sunday, April 22nd, next to the ESA competition area.

-The format is three preliminary heats of six competitors.  The three winners will advance directly to the finals.  2nd and 3rd in each heat advance to a death heat.  The top three in the death heat advance to the finals.

-Judging will be based on the ISA criteria, which emphasizes shortboard style over longboard style.
The critical part is here (click on it to enlarge):



-  This event will be self-judged -- Who knows how to judge progressive SUP better than the guys doing it? The competitors that are NOT in the water will help judge the competitors in the water.

I will act as head judge and Contest Director for this SUP event...

Through Standup Journal I've been fortunate to surf some of the world's best waves.  Here's a recent photo of me in Fiji on a custom 8'8" from a trip to Tavarua for the magazine:



 I am also the co-Director of the ESA's First Coast Florida district.  In our district, I ran six SUP contests in 2011.  Here's a recent clip of me at home in Florida trying out an 8'2" (I'm 6'4" 240 pounds).

                    

                   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD_hIwEj3VQ
With plenty of SUP surfing experience and plenty of ESA SUP contest directing experience, the Eastern Surfing Association put me in charge of the Jimmy Lewis SUP Invitational at Southeast Regionals.  I'm stoked to do it!

Again, we are thankful that Jimmy Lewis has stepped up as the lead sponsor for this event and for the season.  (For more on Jimmy Lewis boards, visit:  www.facebook.com/JimmyLewisBoards  We are also happy to report that longtime ESA supporter XTrak has kindly offered up one of it's excellent SUP deck pads as a prize... And Standup Journal magazine has contributed a free subscription as well.

So to wrap it up...

It's on!  The Jimmy Lewis SUP Invitational at the ESA Southeast Regional Championships is on!
The top SUP surfers in the Southeast will be there... competing for bragging rights and for a potential spot at Easterns.  

I look forward to seeing you there!

All the best,

Steve Sjuggerud
Contest Director for the Jimmy Lewis SUP Invitational at Southeast Regionals
cell phone:  904 - 556 - 7785
email:   standupjournal   @  gmail.com

P.S. An important note:  A few invitational spots are still available... Please email me if you want one of them... and please make your best case why you deserve to be in... Thanks!  Also, if you know someone that belongs in the event, that is not in yet, please make sure they're aware of the event, and let me know about them...  Thanks!

(Please note, this is not an official communication from the ESA, this is an update from me about the Jimmy Lewis SUP Invitational to district directors, competitors, and prospective competitors.  In short, this email was not approved by the ESA in advance, so anything below can be over-ridden by the ESA... This is simply my opinion of where we stand now, getting the word out, one week away from the event!)

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Jon Warren 52nd St. in Newport

Boot!


Jeremy Johnston In Hawaii




Ron Jon Easter Surf Fest

Sophie Falzone was in Cocoa Beach over the weekend at the Ron Jon Easter Surf Fest, surfing in the girls 12 and under division (a Field of 16 girls). Saturday was a drifty choppy 4-7 ft. day and she managed to win her round 1 heat and move to the semi-finals, with 2 really solid waves she won that heat and moved to sundays finals. On sunday the wind backed off and we had super fun 3-5 ft surf. Sophie surfed a good heat ending up in 4th place overall. 






Josh Burke SoupBowl

Josh throwing some water around at SoupBowl!