ENERGY: Falling
in between spurts of swell from Hurricane Bill and Tropical Storm Danny, the
inaugural Jetty Coquina Jam left a bit to be desired in the wave department,
topping out with inconsistent three-foot sets. But what the event lacked in
surf it made up for in stoke, with 32 New Jersey wahines ranging from age 12 to
58 turning up to compete in randomly selected teams of two.
FIRST TIME
AT FIGHT CLUB: The whole shebang. While the Jetty Clam Jam entered
its third year in 2009, the Jetty crew decided the ladies needed their own Long
Beach Island event, dubbed the Coquina Jam. The gathered wahines threw their
names in a hat, with surfers 24 and older getting paired with younger gals to
bridge the generation gap. After whittling down the field from 16 teams, the
top four will go on to compete in a final heat at the Jetty Clam Jam, currently
scheduled for October 10th.
SLIDE: Even
though the Coquina Jam is considered the sister event to the Clam Jam, there
were still plenty of cold quahogs on the half shell for everyone on the beach.
Luckily for the 9-to-5ers, Jetty decided to hold the event from 5:00-8:00 pm on
a Wednesday night, ensuring the Coquina Jam followed an evening get-together
format that emphasized the tight-knit community bonds on LBI. In the end, four
dynamic duos prevailed: Anita Harrington and Barbara Conover, Christina Claps
and Debbie Green, Sarah Dodds and Jenn Kretzer, and Carly Cappelluzzo and Mary
Frack. Those eight lucky ladies will duke it out in one final matchup at
October’s Jetty Clam Jam.
THE PAIN: None
present that we could see. All proceeds from the Jetty Coquina Jam were donated
to Boarding For Breast Cancer, local shaper Brian Wynn donated a beautiful pink
longboard that was raffled off to one lucky grom, an afterparty at Sunset Park
featured live music from Ducks & Drakes and Brian Parnagian and healthy
catering from Living On The Veg, and Joel Dramis from Art4Ocean created a
killer trophy made from thousands of local seashells.
THE MAN: Or,
more appropriately, The Woman: Sarah Dodds claimed the $100 award offered up by
Jetty teamrider Randy Townsend for the best maneuver of the event, putting the
icing on her final-making cake.
YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB: “It was great to have an event for
all the girls on Long Beach Island. It gave us all a chance to meet for the
first time and get to know each other better. This isn’t a big island, and
girls that surf and work here should definitely keep connected. Although there
was only tiny surf, we all had a fun night on the beach with our friends and
families.” –ESM Photographer/ Coquina Jam participant Ann
Marie Coen, on the community nature of the grassroots event
FINAL RESULTS OF THE 2009 JETTY COQUINA JAM
Anita Harrington &
Barbara Conover
Christina Claps & Debbie
Green
Sarah Dodds & Jenn
Kretzer
Carly Cappelluzzo & Mary
Frack (all four teams will compete in a final at the 3rd Annual Jetty Clam Jam
on October 10th)
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
