Unsound Pro Rebounds After The Washout, Mazda Minivan
Crew Cleans Up
By Jon Coen; Photos by Mike Nelson
TURF: 11th
Annual Unsound Pro Presented By Oakley; Lincoln Boulevard, Long Beach, NY;
September 25th-27th, 2009
ENERGY: The Unsound Pro had a ten-year streak of berserker swell going for it. 2009
almost looked like an end to that run. Friday the 25th was a beautiful
September day — sunny with offshore winds, but little more than a boat
wake from the steady traffic of tankers heading into New York Harbor. So the contest
was postponed. Then Saturday’s onshore winds would have chopped up the surf…
had there been any for the Women, Longboard, Groms, and Red Bull Tow-At
divisions.
To everyone’s relief, Sunday
produced a waist-high wave that grew with the tide. Quality sets in the middle
of the afternoon pushed a respectable shoulder-high. It rained too, somewhere
between Forrest Gump in Vietnam rain and Noah in the Bible rain. Long Beach
eventually came through, though. Better late than never.
FIRST TIME AT FIGHT CLUB: New York Surf Week? It was a test run, but the
Unsound Pro and New York Surf Film Festival ran in conjunction, scoping the
possibilities for a huge global collaborative effort next year.
There may have been some
sighs of relief at the ESA Easterns in Buxton, as Virginia Beach top dogs
Michael Dunphy and Philip Goold (rated #8 and #17, respectively, among ASP
North American Juniors) have graduated to the next level and chose to chase pro
results in New York over amateur titles in North Carolina. Dunphy’s ability to
surf light on fat sections and heavy on critical ones helped him ace the
Skullcandy Pro Junior, while Goold’s frontside sweep package sent him to the
Pro final.
It was also the first time
for seven Long Beach rug rats who got to surf in the Grom heat. Imagine being a
little kid and getting to surf in front of giant scaffolding and top local pros
for $100? What does an 11-year-old do with $100?
“I’d like 50 Slurpees, a
case of pop rocks, Thrasher Magazine,
twelve Red Bulls, and 90 feet of Fruit By The Foot.”
SLIDE: Saturday’s
mush was brutal for judges, surfers, organizers, and fans — but the show
must go on. In the Longboard division, Ty Roach of North Carolina displayed
fantastic footwork, getting five and ten toes over multiple times on next-to-nothing
waves. But Babylon, NY, native Mikey DeTemple was too tough for Ty, cruising to
his third Unsound Longboard Pro title.
Belmar, NJ’s, Brendan
Buckley surfed brilliantly throughout the event, plain and simple. Largely
considered a rebel freesurf type of the new generation, he proved his mettle in
New York, keeping his focus for seven heats while maintaining his fins-free
repertoire en route to both Men’s and Juniors finals. He actually beat eventual
champion Jeremy Johnston in their Men’s semi, with an 8.73 and a 7.57, taking 2nd-place
overall in the marquee division and 3rd in Juniors. Could Buck Nasty maybe take
a stab at the competitive route?
Local favorite and defending
Juniors Champ Balaram Stack looked his usual cool on his way to making the
Juniors final. Zack Humphreys also looked ferocious as hell, proving he’s more
a student of the Dean Randazzo (who missed the Men’s finals by .5) School of
Power than the Air Force Academy. Humphreys made the Men’s semi and took second
in Juniors.
But there was just no
stopping last year’s champion Jeremy Johnston.
THE PAIN: Saturday
was particularly rough for anyone not surfing a 9’0”, like the women who put on
their best faces and did what they could with the shit they were given. Alexis
Engstrom chased some against-the-grain rights for single moves to steal the
Women’s Pro.
THE MAN: Once
again, JJ is the man, repeating his 2008 title at the end of a long East Coast
road trip. On September 8th, he, Nils Schweizer, and Kyle Garson all packed up
the Mazda MPV minivan (just bought off Schweizer’s grandpa) and drove to New
Jersey. 20 days, 3,840 miles, a season’s worth of photos and video clips,
controversial Carolina judging, an adventure in New York City, $4,800 in
prizemoney, 40 hours of beer pong, and a few new friends later, he was back in
New Smyrna Beach, FL.
Johnston destroyed
everything in his path, consistently finding running lefts down the beach for
blazing speed, punting rare airs (that didn’t look forced, anyway), executing
guillotine chops, and punctuating it all with an effortless flow. JJ collected
the event-high score with a 9.7 in the quarterfinals, and tallied a ballistic
16.83 total in the final. He also stuck a mute air, when everyone else was
barely doing indy grabs.
YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB:
“Hey, looks like it’s clearing up over there.”
–Ever-positive Head Judge Brian Walsh, pointing to a tiny remnant of
light in Sunday’s gray skies and pissing rain
“How many surf movies are
there? When I was a kid, only two of ‘em came out a year.” –Dean
“The Jersey Devil” Randazzo, on the dozens of films showing at the New York
Surf Film Festival
“It’s pretty cool to be up
here in New York where my sponsor is from. It’s great to see how solid they
are, and know they’re not going anywhere.” –2009 Unsound Pro Champion and Zoo
York teamrider Jeremy Johnston, historically employed by a string of companies
that have gone belly-up
FINAL RESULTS OF THE 2009 UNSOUND PRO PRESENTED BY
OAKLEY
MENS PRO
1. Jeremy Johnston, $2500
2. Brendan Buckley, $1100
3. Sam Hammer, $800
4. Philip Goold, $600
SKULLCANDY JUNIOR PRO
1. Michael Dunphy, $2000
2. Zack Humphreys, $1000
3. Brendan Buckley, $600
4. Balaram Stack, $400
RED BULL TOW-AT (BEST TRICK)
1. Lucas Rogers, $500
WOMENS PRO
1. Alexis Engstrom, $400
2. Matisse Patterson, $300
3. Carly Cappelluzo, $200
4. Dana Palmieri, $100
LONGBOARD PRO
1. Mikey DeTemple, $500
2. Ty Roach, $300
3. Alex Fawess, $200
4. John Anguilo, $100
GROMS PRO
1. John Ratzenberger, $100
2. Austin Gibbons
3. Mike Nelson, Sean Dublin,
Daniel Hughes
6. Noah Wilson, Shannon
Hughes
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
