46th Annual Ron Jon
Easter Surf Fest Sizzles; JJ And JQ Follow Up Scholastics Victories With
Pro
Division Wins By
Nick McGregor
TURF: 46th
Annual Ron Jon Surf Shop Easter Surfing Festival; Cocoa Beach Pier and Shepard
Park, Cocoa Beach, FL; April 2nd-4th, 2010
ENERGY: Just
in time for one of Central Florida’s busiest holiday weekends, the sun came
out, the mercury rose, the water temp finally cracked 68, and the Sunshine
State’s endless 2009-10 winter was all but forgotten. A fun northeast groundswell
did fade by the first day of Easter Fest competition, but a one- to two-foot
peaky southeast windswell hung around long enough to give shortboarders,
longboarders, skimboarders, SUPers, and bodysurfers alike all the push they
needed (unlike 2009, when the Easter Fest’s finals had to be cancelled and
prizemoney split among the finalists due to brutally flat conditions).
FIRST TIME
AT FIGHT CLUB: What usually serves as a showcase for
local Brevard County talent turned into a regional, national, and even
international melting pot of diversity. A contingent of young Barbados surfers
arrived with Bajan legend Alan Burke and made their presence known —
Joshua Burke finished 2nd in Boys Shortboard and Junior Men’s Shortboard, Dane
Mackie won Menehune Shortboard and finished 3rd in Boys Shortboard, and Chelsea
Roett came in 3rd-place in Women’s Open Shortboard — while New Jersey
wahine Maddie Peterson won Girls 12-Under Shortboard and North Carolina’s
Bradley Rose captured a far-flung Men’s Longboard title over Georgia
up-and-comer Josh Richardson, local boy Steve McLean, and South African Julian
Kingon.
SLIDE: One
of only two local Brevard winners, 14-year-old Melbourne ripper Corey Howell
made up for his county’s lack of solid results by winning not one but two
divisions, both the Boys Shortboard and Junior Men’s Shortboard. Howell scored
both victories within 45 minutes of each other, clearly savoring the momentum
and the chance to hold off 12-year-old Joshua Burke in both heats. “I just
tried to mix it up,” Howell said after sheepishly admitting he had to go home
Sunday night to study for a Spanish test. “Once I get two good waves, then I
can take some chances. My dad and my coaches tell me when I get the momentum to
keep it going, so going back-to-back was good for me.”
The
other local winner was 39-year-old Masters Shortboard champion Kent Compayre,
who outlasted North Florida legend “Gnarly” Charley Hajek for the victory. Ft.
Lauderdale’s Roray Kam won the inaugural Banana Boat Stand-up Paddleboard
division with smooth moves on his ARK SUP, before finishing 3rd in Legends
Shortboard, which was won by fellow South Floridian Brian Bowen over close 2nd-place
finisher and Virginia Beach native Bobby Holland, Jr. And St. Augustine wahine
Chelsea Gresham achieved beyond her wildest dreams by winning Women’s Longboard
over East Coast Surfing Hall Of Fame Inductee Mimi Munro. “It was a fun heat,”
Gresham said. “And Mimi is such an inspiration to me — she still looks
good, she still kicks my butt, and she’s 40 years older than me!”
The
most emotional win of the weekend came in Women’s Shortboard Open, when
17-year-old Flagler Beach standout Haley Watson bested local rising star Nikki
Viesins, Jacksonville’s Kayla Durden, and Barbados wahine Roett. Despite a
cracked fin box suffered during the final, Watson saw a dolphin in the lineup
and thought of her mother Dollie Sue, who passed away several years ago. “It’s
crazy,” Watson said. “It seems like whenever I need a wave, I’ll see a dolphin.
I sometimes think my mom came back as a dolphin.”
After
Saturday’s Steven G. Casanova Men’s Shortboard Pro quarterfinals ended, it
looked like another repeat of Easter Surf Fests past, with Space Coast homies
Jake Kirschenbaum, Kyle Garson, and David Awbrey (who between them hold eight
of the last nine titles) advancing to the semis. But 23-year-old New Smyrna
Beach, FL, workhorse Jeremy Johnston continued his 2010 roll, following up last
weekend’s ESA/TGSA East Coast Scholastics Open title with his first pro win at
the Easter Fest. “Hopefully I’ll keep the momentum going through late summer,”
JJ said after bagging another $1000 to go with last week’s $1250. “I like
coming here, because it’s good to get out of town sometimes. New Smyrna can get
a little old after a while.”
Going
against most current competitive logic, the Ron Jon Surf Shop Men’s Longboard
Pro boasted a prize purse almost twice as big as the Men’s Shortboard Pro,
highlighting the Easter Fest’s nearly 50-year history steeped in logging
tradition. Before 2009’s four-way tie, the last Easter Fest longboard champ was
Kure Beach, NC’s, Tony Silvagni, who made 2010’s final with fellow Tar Heel
Drake Courie and Sunshine State standouts Mikey DeTemple and Justin Quintal.
This time around, Quintal edged out Silvagni with a mind-boggling blend of
gravity-defying noserides, lip smacks, and smooth carves, following in Jeremy
Johnston’s footsteps by winning again after claiming victory at last week’s
Scholastics. “Thankfully, we had waves, and I had a blast surfing with all
these guys,” Quintal said after graciously accepting his $2000 1st-place prize.
“It’s nice to put some cash in my pocket, and I’m sure it is for the other guys,
as well.”
THE PAIN: All
the would-be sponsors who held tight to their checkbooks last fall when Easter
Surfing Festival co-founder Dick Catri and co-organizer John Griffin shopped
the contest around. Nearly 50,000 spectators crammed every inch of the
mile-long stretch of sand between Shepard Park and the Cocoa Beach Pier over
the weekend, giving the Space Coast one of its biggest events in quite some
time. It also didn’t hurt that the contest lined up perfectly with Monday
morning’s space shuttle launch, quite possibly the last nighttime launch in the
program’s vaunted 30-year history. “We [also]
had more than 135,000 hits on our website, with more than half of those
overseas,” Catri said. “I’m here to enhance
the sport of surfing, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it. For me
and my partner John Griffin, it’s about putting on something the city can be
proud of. And I think we did that.”
THE MAN: Even
with JJ and JQ demonstrating that they may be the hottest East Coast comp
surfers for 2010, The Man award must go to Captain Dick Catri, the “Godfather
of East Coast Surfing” and the man responsible for every Easter Surfing
Festival stretching back 46 years. Catri was honored Saturday night at the
Cocoa Beach Surf Museum with the Dick Catri: The Teams, The Contests, The Pioneer
exhibit, holding court in front of hundreds of eager spectators and surf fans
about the long, strange trip he’s been on since the late 1950s when he first
stepped on a surfboard.
YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB: “Obviously
it’s Easter Sunday, so I thank God for the waves and everything around us.”
–Class act Justin Quintal, after winning $2000 for his Ron Jon Surf Shop
Men’s Longboard Pro victory
“I
haven't seen a final that good in a long time, and if you look at the judges'
sheets, you'll find this was very close. We were feeling the tension up here on
the stage.” –Easter Surfing Festival co-founder and organizer Dick Catri, after
watching Quintal, Mikey DeTemple, Tony Silvagni, and Drake Courie battle it out
in the Men's Longboard Pro final
“They
always say ‘keep looking up’ — as long as you’re showing progress, you’ll
remember something like this the rest of your life.” –Steven
G. Casanova Men’s Shortboard Pro champion Jeremy Johnston, resolute in the face
of yet another sponsor drop
FINAL RESULTS OF THE 46TH ANNUAL RON
JON SURF SHOP EASTER SURFING FESTIVAL:
$3,000 STEVEN G. CASANOVA
MENS
SHORTBOARD PRO 1.
Jeremy Johnston, $1000
2.
Jake Kirschenbaum, $600
3.
Mark Dawson
4.
Kyle Garson
$5,000 RON JON SURF SHOP
MENS
LONGBOARD 1.
Justin Quintal, $2000
2.
Tony Silvagni, $1000
3.
Mikey DeTemple, $600
4.
Drake Courie, $400
WOMENS SHORTBOARD OPEN 1.
Haley Watson
2.
Kayla Durden
3.
Chelsea Roett
4.
Nikki Viesins
MENEHUNE BOYS 1.
Dane Mackie
2.
Luke Marks
3.
Che Allen
4.
Stevie Pittman
MENEHUNE GIRLS 1.
Maddie Peterson
2.
Hannah Claunch
3.
Anna Mae Peterson
4.
Chalee Holland
BOYS SHORTBOARD 1.
Corey Howell
2.
Joshua Burke
3.
Dane Mackie
4.
Sam Duggan
JUNIOR MENS SHORTBOARD 1.
Corey Howell
2.
Joshua Burke
3.
Sam Duggan
4.
Shane Burn
Sweetwater Leaves It Up To The Grom At Oakley Surf Shop Challenge Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifier; “Uncle” Andrew Gesler Drives Heritage Win Home In Northeast
By Matt Pruett and Nick McGregor;
Photos by Matt Lusk
