Next Contest THIS SUNDAY... At 4TH STREET!!!

The next contest is THIS SUNDAY... At 4TH STREET!!!

Before we go into the contest details, we must congratulate Nick Isabella -- The #2 Mens Longboarder on the entire East Coast!

Nick just came in Second in Mens Longboarding at the ESA Eastern Surfing Championships held in Nags Head, North Carolina.  He was the top finisher from the First Coast Florida ESA.

Nick got tubed on his longboard in his heats...

When he wasn't longboarding, he caught some big ones on his shortboard...

And he tucked into some thick barrels...

Congrats again Nick on 2nd Place!

Okay... back to this weekend's contest...

You guys asked for it... You got it... Our next contest is at 4th Street on Sunday! The first heat is at 10am.  (Later than usual.)

You can save money by signing up early... Sign up in advance at local shops including Pipeline, Driftwood, or FlipSwitch. The cutoff for early signups is end-of-day Friday, September 30th.  For this contest, all late-entry beach signups must be completed by 10am Sunday.

In order to run the contest at 4th Street, we need your help. We only have about three hours of tide to work with. So please know your heat time. The heats board will be posted online and updated on the beach.  Here are the tentative start times... subject to change based on the number of signups:

Please help us set up and tear down. Everything needs to be carried over the dune and back. If you want to do more contests at 4th Street, please pitch in.

The surf forecast is for building surf throughout the day... starting at waist high with northeast winds, then picking up to chest high with stronger winds in the afternoon.

See you Sunday morning to set up!

Rick and Steve

Contest #4 Sunday at 8am at Sadler

Good evening fellow surfers!

Well, the good news is that we will have nice clean waves for the contest this Sunday.

The contest is ON, and will be held at the Sadler Beach access (the roundabout at Sliders restaurant).  Check-in starts at 7:30am. First heats at 8am.

The bad news is, our hurricane swell is all but gone...

The hope is gone for the hurricane to create the Best Contest Day of 2011. So the prizes for "Best Surfer, Best Day, 2011" (the Open shortboard winner) will be held off for another day.  It's still early in hurricane season.  We should have another shot at "Best Surfer, Best Day, 2011" before this season ends.

For now, let's enjoy the clean, contestable, waist-high-plus surf in the forecast on Sunday morning.

See you Sunday at the Sadler Beach access!

Rick & Steve

info@firstcoastsurfing.com

Contest #4 This Weekend: Hurricane Swell Possible

POSSIBLE DATE CHANGE TO SUNDAY THE 7th...

POSSIBLE PRIZES TOO

Good news fellow surfers!  We have our first chance at a Hurricane Swell this year on a contest day.

We would really like to make the most of it... It's not often that we have swell potential on a contest weekend.  We really want to give the best surfers in our area the chance at competing in the best possible conditions.  

To entice the best local surfers to come compete, if the hurricane swell forecast pans out, we are working to offer prizes worth in excess of US$100 for the winner of the Open Mens division.  (no details here yet)

It's too early to tell how good the swell might be.  But at this moment, based on the forecast, the best chance for quality surfing conditions in our contest available is on Sunday.

Sunday's surf could be dramatically bigger than Saturday's.  So chances are good the contest will move to Sunday. 

If everything goes right for the surf forecast, the wave generating storm would be off our coast, on Sunday, with the surf building throughout the day.

Based on the forecasts, we will make the final call on Thursday about the day and the start time, so you can properly plan your weekend.  At this point, we recommend penciling in Sunday, with possibly a late morning start time.

The contest will be at Sadler Beach access, along with the SunSplash Music Festival (www.SunSplashMusicFestival.com).  

We plan to have some fun as well... with a hot dog cookout... divisions for "micro-menehunes" again (if it's safe for 'em), and for SUP.

See you (likely) on Sunday!  (Exact day and time will be confirmed on Thursday.)

Your directors,

Rick and Steve

info@firstcoastsurfing.com

P.S. Here are two different wave models showing the waves should start arriving on Sunday... but keep in mind that tropical storms typically change their tracks dramatically as the days go by.

Notice how the swell size dramatically improves from Saturday morning (1-3 feet) to Sunday afternoon (3-4+ feet).  The buoy forecast goes from 3.0 feet on Sunday morning to 5.6 feet at 10 seconds on Sunday afternoon:

This other forecast has the storm on a different more easterly track, but again the swell is just starting to arrive Sunday.

Lots could change in the forecast... but it looks good for now....

Surf Contest Tomorrow at Sadler Beach Access

We have waves!

Come join us on Saturday, July 9th (tomorrow) for the third official First Coast ESA surf contest of this season!

It's at the Sadler Beach Access this time.

In order to make the most of the conditions (taking the tides, wind, surf, and potential bad weather into account), we are pushing the start time back, to 9:00.  Check in will start at 8:30. 


Entry fee is $10 for each division you want to compete in.
(For the details, click here: http://www.firstcoastsurfing.com/schedule)

See you there!

Steve & Rick

Stokin' Shots

Cathy Chapman shot a few of the boys ripping yesterday.  Thanks Cathy!

Fly-gou

Jesse Chapman... I think he surfed ALL day...

Smooth surfing from Bradley Dunham

Rorrey, displacing some agua

Stylin' Ryan

Kyle, making something out of nothing as usual

A couple from the last fun contest...

At age 10, Sutton Kerlin once again did extremely well in Open Mens...

 We also had more girls than ever... including 7-year-old Katie Rogers (in the first pic):

See you tomorrow at Sadler Access!

Any questions, email us at info@firstcoastsurfing.com

Results of Event #2, Official Rankings Now Out, Improvements Made, Next Contest SATURDAY June 4th at SCOTT ROAD

We got lucky on Sunday morning... Scott Road delivered clean, contestable surf for a couple hours.  So we hustled, running heats back to back, and we managed wrap up the last heat just before the wind messed up the surf.

We had four standouts on Sunday...

-10-year-old Sutton Kerlin came in 2nd in the Open Mens division

-Gage Kropff won his age group in both longboards and shortboards

-Skyler DeBerry also won his age group on both longboards and shortboards

-Mike Nichols really ruled the SUP division, for his second victory in a row

Official Rankings are now out...

Before we issued Official Rankings, we wanted to make sure we had the correct system for breaking ties and for tallying judges scores.  The correct system is now in place.  Ties are now broken and some placings are different than what was written in marker on the beach scoreboard.  Go to www.FirstCoastSurfing.com and click on "Rankings".

Necessary improvements...

Separately I (Steve) want to apologize for the Boys division results that were posted in marker on the beach.  They were incorrect, and it was 100% my fault.  I was hustling to run the heats, gather contestants, choose the order, time the heats, and and tabulate scores... all at the same time.  It was too much to do, and I made a mistake tabulating the scores.  I'm sorry about that.

To fix that, for the next events, we will now have will have a designated tabulator in place.  

Once again, I apologize... it was my mistake.  But we now have the correct ESA scoring system in place and we will now have a tabulator on the beach to help avoid mistakes like that in the future.  

We should now be able to have correct final results on the beach going forward, and the Rankings up on line are now correct.

Thanks again everyone for coming out... the cheers from the parents and spectators on the beach were the loudest we've had yet!  Special thanks to volunteers Charlie DeBerry and Mike Nichols, for working the entire event.

The next event is scheduled for Saturday, June 4th.  After our success at Scott Road, we will be holding our June 4th event at Scott Road as well.

Event #2 Results:

 Menehune

 1 Sutton Kerlin

 2 Bailey Dougherty

 3 Zack Sjuggerud

 4 Emmett Dougherty

Boys

 1 Gage Kropff

 2 Matt Kane

 3 Scotty Rivenbark

 4 Robby O'Hagan

 5 Jesse Chapman

Girls

 1 Kayla Duggan

Jr Men

 1 Skyler DeBerry

 2 Bradley Dunham

 3 Trevis Wallace

 4 Zach Church

 5 Seth

 6 Travis Mills

Open Men

 1 Chris Igou

 2 Sutton Kerlin

 3 Skyler DeBerry

 4 Trevis Wallace

 5 Jesse Chapman

Menehune Longboard

 1 Gage Kropff

 2 Jesse Chapman

 3 Emmett Dougherty

 4 Zack Sjuggerud

Junior Longboard

 1 Skyler DeBerry

 2 Lucas Duggan

 3  Trevis Wallace

 4 Zach Church

 5 Noah Sanford

 6 Bradley Dunham

Mens Longboard

1 Chris Igou

Stand Up Paddle, Exhibition Division*

 1 Mike Nichols

 2 Joy Anderson

 2 Spencer

 4 Skyler DeBerry

 5 Matt Badiali

 6 David Rogers

 7 Mike Boler

Surf Contest #2 is ON for Sunday, at Scott Road

Contest #2 for the ESA First Coast District is ON for this Sunday!

The contest is at the Scott Road beach access.  Check in starts at 7:30, first heat at 8am.

Scott Road has been working pretty darn well in recent months.  We'll set up off to the LEFT of the lifeguard tower.  And we plan to start at 8am to make the most out of the favorable tide and winds.

The wind forecast is excellent, with light offshore winds in the forecast for contest time. The surf forecast is for fairly-small-but-contestable surf, so you might want to bring a bigger shortboard if you have one to use.  See you Sunday!

You can Register Online Here for the contest.

Some random First Coast ripping below...

Bradley Dunham, displacing some water

Wakeskate air at the North Jetty, frame grab from Gonzo

FCFL ESA co-director Rick, on a clean one

Register Online Here for the contest.

See you Sunday!

Surf Contest #2 is ON for Sunday, at Scott Road

Contest #2 for the ESA First Coast District is ON for this Sunday!

The contest is at the Scott Road beach access.  Check in starts at 7:30, first heat at 8am.

Scott Road has been working pretty darn well in recent months.  We'll set up off to the LEFT of the lifeguard tower.  And we plan to start at 8am to make the most out of the favorable tide and winds.

The wind forecast is excellent, with light offshore winds in the forecast for contest time. The surf forecast is for fairly-small-but-contestable surf, so you might want to bring a bigger shortboard if you have one to use.

You can Register Online Here for the contest.

See you Sunday!

Some random First Coast ripping below...

Bradley Dunham, displacing some water

Wakeskate air at the North Jetty, frame grab from Gonzo

FCFL ESA co-director Rick, on a clean one

Register Online Here for the contest.

See you Sunday!

May 8 Contest Rescheduled to May 22, New Judging Criteria, SUP shot!

The contest this weekend is canceled...

With the tiny surf in the forecast for Sunday, the contest is canceled...
Sunday is Mother's Day, so do something nice for your Mom instead!

The contest is rescheduled to May 22nd at Scott Road.  Check-in at 7:30, first heats at 8am.

Stoka Boka!
(Here's a pic to get you fired up to surf!)

SUP Shot!  Your 6'4" co-Director Steve,
battling a chunky one in Fiji in early 2011

New judging criteria?

Your co-Directors spent hours in the judges tower during the ESA Regional Championships a couple weeks ago.  We heard over and over again what the judges were looking for.

While there isn't a new judging criteria, we do want to judge our local contests more like they judged at Regionals, to get our local competitors ready for that type of competition.

While in the judges tower, I heard Sutton Kerlin get a huge score for a one-maneuver wave... Meanwhile, Bradley Dunham was given an average score for three pretty good turns on one wave.  (They're in different divisions of course.)

What was the difference?  Shouldn't Bradley have scored higher?

Sutton's one maneuver was high and powerful, right in the most critical part of the wave.  And Bradley had three mid-face turns that were just a bit more on the shoulder.  Both scores were surprising.  In short, one super-critical maneuver right in the critical section was worth more than three mid-face turns.  

Also, I heard the head judge say "INCOMPLETE!" a few times... when some of our riders pulled great moves, but didn't 100% make it back out in front of the whitewater.  Gotta complete those moves!

We will judge our 2011 local contests similar to what we experienced in the judges tower at regionals.

A long run of fun surf... is ending.

We hope you made the most of it!  Eric Hatton did...  

Here are a few frame grabs of a nice backside boost from last week by Eric, courtesy of Gonzalo Gagliardi:

INCOMPLETE!
Just kidding...
Nice boost, Eric!

See you May 22nd at Scott Road!

You can Register Online for this contest now.

  

Igou and Isabella Shine in First Contest, Next Contest May 8 at Scott Road

Chris Igou pulled out a last minute victory on his shortboard, and Nick Isabella proved why he's an East Coast Champion on his longboard, in the first surfing contest of the season.

The surf at the Sadler Beach access on April 10th was small but highly contestable... some beautiful waves came through.  The biggest excitement of the morning was in the Open Mens final...

In the dying seconds, one of the bigger waves of the morning came through.  Chris Igou caught it and surfed it as well as it could be surfed.  Until that wave came through, the final was very tight, between Chance Bennett, Nick Isabella, and young Bradley Dunham.

Before that wave, Igou was trailing.  You are scored on your top two waves, and Igou only had one good score to that point.  He rode other waves, but he often fell while attempting difficult maneuvers.  He needed a good wave, and he got it.  He sealed the victory with some big, stylish maneuvers.  Igou won both the Mens and the Open Mens categories.

Chris Igou, halfway through a stylish, heat-winning 360

Nick Isabella won the Mens Longboard division showing excellent style, hanging five toes off the nose of the board for an impossibly long time.  The spectators seemed to enjoy the longboard heats the most, as the waves were just right for longboarding.  At 49 years old Kevin Leary was hanging in there move for move with Nick Isabella.  14-year-old Skyler DeBerry put on quite a show on his longboard too.  Each of them won their respective divisions.

A little tip time for Nick Isabella on contest day

All of these names (except Chance Bennett) will represent Fernandina Beach next weekend in the Southeast Regional Championships in St. Augustine.

The second contest of the year in Fernandina is scheduled for May 8th, at the Scott Road beach access.  Check in starts at 7:30.  First heat goes on the water at 8am.


A few more shots from the day

Boys winner Jesse Chapman, all smiles as he hits the water for the Boys Final

Rob Ruy, from ESA-sponsor Pipeline Surf Shop, cross-stepping in the Mens Longboard final
Rob finished second behind Nick Isabella 

Young Gage Kropff, warming up for his heat down the beach.  Lookin' stylish, Gage!

A big thanks to all the volunteers... we couldn't have done this without you!

Again, the next contest is May 8th at Scott Road.  Questions?  Email us at info@firstcoastsurfing.com or call Steve at 556-7785.

Surf Contest Season Kicks Off This Sunday!

The forecast is just perfect to kick off the First Coast ESA contest season!  Warm weather, sunshine, light winds, and small-but-rideable surf are on tap.  All ages and abilities are welcome!  C'mon out!

47-year-old Fernandina local shaper Mike Nichols,
warming up for the surf season in Fiji a couple weeks ago
Photo: Glenn Dubock

Lots of excitement around the First Coast surf scene...


*The first contest of the year is this Sunday!  Details below...
*Local Sean Poynter wins his first international pro SUP contest
*SUP division added to the contests this year.
*Surf legend Christian Fletcher stops by Pipeline Surf Shop
*Local shredder Chance Bennett gets sponsored by Ergo
*Groms warming up for the season during Spring Break... 
*Geezers warming up in Fiji

Local Sean Poynter wins his first international pro SUP contest

Surf contests in our little town of Fernandina Beach have produced some world-class competitive surfers...

Last year, Fernandina's Sean Poynter was the top ranked surfer from the U.S. mainland on the stand up paddle surfing world tour.  Last month, he won his first international pro SUP event.  Here he is competing at it in Mexico:

Poytner wins!
Photo: www.puntasayulitasurfclassic.com

While Fernandina has produced some fantastic surfers, you don't need to be a surf star to come out and have fun at the contest.

This year, for the first time ever, there will be a stand up paddle surfing division.  We will run the standup paddle surfing after the surfing heats are finished.  Sign in by 10am to compete.

Surf legend Christian Fletcher stops by Pipeline Surf Shop

Christian Fletcher basically invented the surfing aerial...  What's considered "new" today, he was already doing twenty years ago.  Take a look:

Christian Fletcher, 20 years ago.  Photo: Surfline.com

Christian and his son Greyson (a skateboarding star) just made an appearance at Pipeline Surf Shop, signing autgraphs and promoting Astrodeck.  

Photo by Pipeline Surf Shop

Thanks Christian, and Pipeline!

Local surfer Chance Bennett gets sponsored by Ergo clothing

Congrats to local shredder Chance Bennett... He's been working hard, making lemonade out of lemons in the surf all winter... Surfing an impossibly small board in impossibly small waves and making it look easy... Take a look:

Photo courtesy of Pipeline Surf Shop

His hard work has paid off, with a clothing sponsorship from Ergo.  Congrats Chance!  For more on Ergo clothing, visit www.ergophobia.com

The groms are warming up for contest season...

10-year-old Zack with some spray off his bottom turn, eying the section

And the geezers are warming up too:

47-year-old Mike Nichols, on a board he made himself, in Fiji a few weeks ago
www.CycloneSurfboards.com
Photo: Glenn Dubock

It all kicks off this Sunday!

The contest will be held at the Sadler Road beach access on Sunday, April 10th. Check in is at 7:30am, and the first heat starts at 8am.  


For more details, email the contest directors at info@firstcoastsurfing.com, or call Steve at 904-556-7785.  Again, everyone is welcome -- all ages and abilities.

See you Sunday!

Contest Season Begins! Spring 2011 Newsletter

The 2011 contest season is starting soon!

Lots of exciting news to report...

*  The season is here already...  The first contest is on Sunday, April 10.
*  Online signup is already available... Click here to sign up!
*  Reduced entry fees this year...  Down from $20 to $10.
*  The silent auction was a huge success...  We raised $2,700 for First Coast ESA!
*  We will be adding a standup paddle surfing division this year.
*  Man, we've had some great surf lately!

News, more details and random surf photos below...

We had a nice run of surf in the last week...

2010 Masters champ Eric Hatton finds a long tube on Sunday:

He made it out!

The season is here already!  The first contest will be Sunday, April 10th at Sadler Ave.  Check in at 7:30am, for an 8am start.  We will try to keep Entry Fees down to $10 this year, down from $20 last year.

We can keep entry fees down because of events like our Silent Auction at Cafe Karibo.  Thanks to everyone that participated.  We really can't thank you enough!

Chris Igou, Nick Isabella, and the groms bidding away

Rorry & Kyle McCarthy were ripping as usual over the weekend.   On Friday... 

Kyle:

Rorry:

Then Rorry was squeezing into every tube Sunday night:

Eric Hatton preferred to be above the lip on Sunday:

On Friday we met some nice guys from Brunswick, GA -- Travis and Doug.  They're boardshapers, looking for a Christian local surfer to sponsor.  Look 'em up on Facebook, Veritas Shapes.  They'll be out at the contest too.

Here's Doug from Veritas:

The groms are getting ready for the season.  Here's Zack working on his longboard at Pedro's:

And we're excited to add standup paddling to the ESA this year.  Steve just got back from riding some big waves on the SUP in Fiji.  Check it out...

Cant wait to see you out there at our first contest on April 10 at Sliders!
Sign up here: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1947455

If you need anything feel free to contact us at:
info@firstcoastsurfing.com or by cell at 904-556-7785

See you on the water!

Steve & Rick
First Coast Surfing Co-Directors