AMATEUR HOUR

WHO: The East Coast’s top-ranked amateur surfers from Eastern Surfing Association (ESA) and National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA)

WHAT: Surfing America Prime East Event #1

WHEN: October 24th-25th, 2009

WHERE: Ditch Plains, Montauk, NY

WHY: To earn berths into the 2010 SIMA Surfing America U.S.A. Championships presented by Verizon Wireless, and to have a shot at making the 2010-2011 PacSun U.S.A. Surf Team. This contest served as Surfing America Prime’s debut on the East Coast, with four-man, 20-minute heats and ASP judging bringing amateur competition up to speed with the top criteria in the country. Surfing America Prime East also provides Right Coast surfers the opportunity to improve their skills in front of a national audience, with PacSun U.S.A. Surf Team Coach Ian “Kanga” Cairns offering guidance on the beach while Surfing America top brass Mike Gerard and Greg Cruse made the trek from California. Of course, overhead bombs, strong offshore winds, and frigid air and water temps ensured this Surfing America Prime East event would be no walk in the park for the under-18 set. But the usual crew of Right Coast stars battled through the challenging conditions to emerge on top: Ocean Isle Beach, NC, standout Nick Rupp dominated the Boys Under 18 division, Garden City Beach, SC, rising star Cam Richards swept Boys Under 16, Ocean City, NJ, grom Andrew Rooney squeaked by for a Boys Under 14 victory, Melbourne Beach, FL, wahine star Jasset Umbel wowed the crowd with an event-high 19.33 heat total to win Girls Under 18, and hometown Montauk girl Quincy Davis prevailed in Girls Under 16. Surfing America Prime East Event #2 comes on March 6th-7th, 2010 at Sebastian Inlet, FL, with Event #3 following on April 24th-25th somewhere in the Outer Banks, NC.

WHAT, YOU WANT MORE? www.surfingamerica.org