SOUL WITH AN EDGE Sharpening The Blades For The 2010 Hurley/ Wave Riding Vehicles Outer Banks Pro By Matt Pruett
It’s the Sport of Kings. Keyword being “sport.”
Remember that the next time someone tries to feed you some pretentious
anti-competition spiel. Wanting to excel at the physical act of riding waves? There’s
nothing wrong with that. The ancient Hawaiians certainly didn’t have an issue
with it.
But in 2010, surfers need the right model to set a standard, and the right
stage to strive for it. Even on the Outer Banks of North Carolina — the
epicenter of soul on the East Coast, if not the entire American mainland
— competition is more than relevant, it is vital to the culture’s edge.
Whether you were 73-year-old Bob Holland or 10-year-old
Sterling King, you had to be heavily sedated not to be dazzled by the debuting 2002
Foster’s/ WRV Outer Banks Pro, where Floridian aquanaut Aaron Cormican rewrote
the textbook on high-performance shreddery in a single opening heat en route to
his first professional victory. Eight years later, Cormican is somewhat of a
countercultural icon, and one of the two most feared competitors on the coast.
The other happens to be 2007 WRV Outer Banks Pro champ Jeremy Johnston.
Eight years, one hurricane, another cancellation, one ASP-WCT export and one
Hawaiian victor after that bizarre opening stanza, longtime Outer Banks
surfboard manufacturer Wave Riding Vehicles is keeping good on their promise to
bring Dare County surfing its most exciting professional forum — the 2010
Hurley/ WRV Outer Banks Pro.
Score by score, heat by heat, round by round… local pros Noah Snyder, Jesse
Hines, Billy Hume, and Brett Barley will smack-talk young come-ups Dana Quinn, Sean
Martin, Chris McDonald, Barry Price, Jr., Sterling King, Seth Barrick, Josh
Beveridge, Zach Kenny, Sam Steed, and Jeff Sykes, who will give no quarter to gromturds
Julian Payne, Morgan Taylor-Leavel and Quentin Turko, who will not go gently
into that good night against veteran pirates Nigel Haynes, Martin Fucci, Jason
Andre, Pat McManus, Brant Doyle, and Jason Breiholz, who might have to
back-pocket the respect when facing the occasional warhorse like Jesse
Fernandez, Lynn Shell, or Barry Price, Sr.
Then you have all your usual Virginia Beach factors, who consider the Banks more
of an off-route neighborhood playground — treating the true locals with
respect and their waves with disdain — not to mention a few of the most
accomplished and electric waveriders in the world.
Be it rippable ramps or cavernous kegs, the Outer Banks is never short on
power. And the island’s born-and-bred surfers are a lot better than you think.
They already know that this is, beyond anything else, a sport. They just need
the right opponents, the right playing field, and the right fans to make it a
good game.
THE OLD IN-OUT
The 2009 WRV Outer Banks Pro Presented By Hurley Is Moving Ahead Like Clockwork
Along The Graveyard Of The Atlantic... Let's Hope Hurricane Season Doesn’t Dish
Out A Bit Of The Old Ultraviolence
BILL OF SALE Surf Expo Comes To Town Early With Lower-Than-Usual
Attendance Rumors And Category 4 Hurricane Bill Zooming In. Will You Blow Town To
Bro Down Or Sit Tight And Get Right?
