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Calling all
do-gooders, non-profits, and cancer-related causes: your new hero has arrived.
Not only has New
Jersey legend Dean Randazzo emerged victorious from four battles with Hodgkin’s
lymphoma — now he’s bested a stacked field of Sebastian Inlet legends,
East Coast ASP trailblazers, and California competitive icons to win the
inaugural Ron Jon Masters Of Surfing Pro presented by Seven Tiki, held on
Saturday, March 13th under sunny skies at Sebastian Inlet, FL, as the final
event of Surf Fest 2010.
Randazzo —
still the only Garden State surfer to ever qualify for the World Championship
Tour, and idol to every waverider from Cape May to Sandy Hook — decimated
a who’s who of 1980s and ‘90s icons to win $3000, just as much as New Smyrna
Beach, FL, golden boy Evan Geiselman won for his major ASP Grade-3M Ron Jon
Sebastian Inlet Pro victory. Says a lot about Surf Fest 2010 organizer Mitch
Varnes’ dedication to the older boys that he made the prize purses the same.
The Jersey Devil
breezed through the competition, which included local gurus Sean Slater, Bill
Hartley, and Todd Holland, Mid-Atlantic bigwigs Joe Gillen, Barry Price, Wes
Laine, and Brad Harrell, esteemed shapers Jesse Fernandez, Pat Mulhern, Jay
Smith, Sam Barker, and Charles Williams, industry vets Scott Bouchard, Steve
Anest, and Jon Kleintop, ex-pats Charlie Kuhn and Jim Hogan, underground
rippers Roy Heverly and Reese Patterson, and California icons Richie Collins
and Dino Andino.
The final actually
didn’t feature a single Inlet legend though, as Randazzo, Collins, and
Fernandez duked it out in one- to two-foot sets. The only game in town came in
the First Peak area, as refracted rights would occasionally bump up to
waist-high under Saturday’s strong offshore breeze. That didn’t mean the
gathered competitors couldn’t make the most of the small waves on offer —
Holland applied his trademark Southern power to several rights, Collins’ mohawk
and aggressive style reminded many of his “Skeletor” days, while Kuhn and Hogan’s
smooth moves reflected their collective years spent scouring Costa Rica for
perfect beachbreak.
Randazzo originally was
unsure whether he wanted to enter the contest, as he continues to keep up his
WQS campaign and was afraid competitors and judges would view his entry into a
Masters event as a proverbially thrown-in towel. But with $3000 extra bucks in
his pocket and bragging rights over a broad swath of the East Coast’s 40-and-up
crowd, Dean was thrilled with his victory: “It feels great to win… really
great.”
FINAL RESULTS OF THE RON JON
MASTERS OF SURFING PRO PRESENTED BY SEVEN TIKI:
1. Dean Randazzo, $3000
2. Richie Collins
3. Jesse Fernandez
4. Charlie Kuhn, Todd Holland, Sam Barker
7. Pat Mulhern, Charles Williams, Brad Harrell
10. Tab Textor, Roy Heverly, Sean Slater
13. Wally Smith, Joe Gillen, Brian Heritage, Wes Laine, Bill Hartley
18. Brian Bowen, Scott Bouchard, Jon Kleintop, Reese Patterson, Jay
Smith, Jim Hogan, Steve Anest, Matt Kechele
26. Trip Freeman, Billy Compton, Bob Freeman, Sean Hayes, Barry Price,
George Seguna, Steven Donaldson, Randy Sanders
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