A
Classic Rebirth
By Mike Kew
Classic? More like unreal,
folks.
Such was the vibe oozing
from both sea and cobblestone at the famed Rinconada
del Mar, a.k.a. Rincon Point, a.k.a. Queen of the
Coast. Whatever you want to call it, the place was
absolutely pumping for the Santa Barbara Surfing Association's
(SBSA) reincarnation of the Surf 'N Wear Rincon Classic,
the first since 1994, staged Feb. 3 in dreamy perfection
under scorching sunshine.
The entire week prior to
and the entire week following the event were both
plagued with zero swell and ample onshore wind. Forecasters
promised a clean, head-high west-northwest pulse and
sunshine for the weekend, peaking Saturday afternoon,
subsiding through Sunday.
Peak it did, and contestants
were graced with flawless, aqua Rincon lines approaching
double-overhead, relentlessly looping from the rivermouth
to the highway with screaming barrel sections and
speed galore.
"I can't remember ever
surfing (Rincon) this good for its size," said
mens division winner Josh Bradbury.
Along with the oodles of
prizes issued to each finalist, Bradbury, by claiming
the highest overall winning wave score out of all
the divisions, and Aaron Ernst, by claiming the highest
scoring wave of the day, were flowed round-trip tickets
to Oahu, courtesy of Wavehunters.com Surf Travel.
Another highlight was
aerial heat winner Ryan Peterson who, at just 14 years
of age, ousted elders Chris Brown (who later emerged
from three deep tubes on one wave), Chris Enns, Bradbury
and Ernst, thus illustrating the potent new-school
movement along the Central Coast.
Previously marshaled
by Surf 'N Wear Beach House owner Roger Nance, the
Rincon Classic ran yearly from 1978 to 1994 before
falling dormant.
"It's a very community-oriented
contest," Nance said. "It became a real
tradition...there's been rivalries between guys over
the years, and we had guys who came back this year
who are now in their 40s, surfing the masters (division),
who were winners back in the early '80s. It's a neat
contest. A lot of people come out of the woodwork
for it."
Nance has passed the
torch to SBSA president Chris Keet, who'd offered
to include the Classic with Keet's annual medley of
Santa Barbara Surfing Series contests.
"Hosting this
year's event was a realization of my entire surfing
experience to date," Keet said. "Everyone
who I grew up with was in the event - everyone who
was there is a face which will always be in my memories.
They're faces who have watched me grow up and I've
watched them grow up. This is Santa Barbara's event
- our event."
One of the event's headlining
sponsors was grandmasters division victor Clyde Beatty,
a surfboard design innovator and area fixture for
nearly three decades. "I hope they continue this
every year," he said, "because it's ridiculous
to have one of the best pointbreaks in the entire
world, and the Santa Barbara guys don't even have
one contest there.
"I think all the photos
will speak for themselves, and you'll remember why
Rincon is such a good wave. It's what every other
pointbreak wants to be."
For more information about
the SBSA or the Santa Barbara Surfing Series, log
on to www.surfsb.com.
