On The Edge
Locals Shine at Regional Surf-Offs
By Peter Pan
Area surfers put on their best performances in the past decade, at the 2008 East Coast Surfing Championships Northeast Surf-Offs, held this past weekend at the famous Ditch Plains reef break, in Montauk, New York. There were plenty of big waves and rough conditions, with strong rip currents, gusty winds, and overhead surf. The surf spot was similar to Matunuck Point and other New England reef breaks, which helped out our competitors immensely. Most of the local riders who competed, seemed to be comfortable in the surf, regardless of the sometimes adverse conditions.
Leading the team was our female squad, led by current East Coast Ladies Champion, Ana Barend. Barend surfed as flawlessly as was possible in the hard breaking, overhead conditions. She dazzled the audience with her hard, driving style and dramatic maneuvers on the hollow wave faces, charging to her second straight regional Ladies shortboard title. On one perfect overhead peak, she tucked into a deep barrel, and came out with some very hard cutbacks....impressive enough to land her the “Hottest Wave Award” of the entire contest, as judged by the ESA professional panel of judges. She collected an incredible 44.3 possible points out of 50 from all five judges.
Ana then casually switched boards, and paddled out in the Ladies Longboard Final, with the same results. She found two perfect right peaks and worked them into the shorebreak to take that title as well.
Kitty Pechet captured her second straight Grand Legends title, hanging inside, and riding some nice reforms into the shorebreak. Nora Vasconcellos put her aggressive wave attack skills to work, as she tore up the Junior Women’s final, taking her first ever regional title. She followed that up with a solid 5th place in the Women’s Longboard final. Katie Zullo surfed her way to the finals as well, taking 5th in the Junior Women and 6th in the Women’s Longboard finals.
Our youngsters put on a great show, with Chad Bruce taking 3rd in the Menehune Final. John Ryan finished up the contest with a final berth, taking 3rd in the Menehune Longboard division. Brother Luke found some nice right peaks to work over, as he styled to 5th in the Junior Longboard Final. For the first time in several years, SNE managed to place a surfer in the Men’s Final. Matheus de Souza ripped his way to 4th place in that division.
2007 Senior Men’s Regional Champion Chuck Barend had the point break wired, as he tore up the right peaks to take the title for the second straight year. Barend also carved his way to a 3rd in the Masters Longboard Final with some great noseriding. Ron Belanger feasted on the Matunuck Point conditions, taking a close 2nd in the Senior Men Final and 6th in the Master Longboard Final. That was the first ever sweep of the top two spots in the Senior Men’s division, for the South New England district. Peter Pan finished in the runner-up spot for the second straight year, losing to East Coast Champion, Ed Fawess, in a very close Legends Shortboard Final. Pan also advanced to the finals of the Legends Longboard Final, finishing in 6th place.
Pat Redmond continued to put on consistent regional performances, as he advanced to the final round in the rough conditions, and finished up in 4th place in the Open Bodyboard Final. He was the only New England surfer to advance to the final round.
Here are the complete final results: Chad Bruce- 3rd place Menehunes. John Ryan- 3rd place Menehune Longboard. Luke Ryan- 5th place Junior Longboard. Nora Vasconcellos- 1st place Junior Women 3rd place Women Longboard. Katie Zullo- 5th place Junior Women 6th place Women Longboard. Ana Barend- 1st place Ladies 1st place Ladies Longboard. Matheus de Souza- 4th place Men. Ron Belanger- 2nd place Senior Men 6th place- Master Longboard. Chuck Barend- 1st place Senior Men 3rd place Master Longboard. Peter Pan- 2nd place Legends 6th place Legends Longboard. Kitty Pechet- 1st place Grand Legends. Pat Redmond- 4th place Open Bodyboard.
Local surfers are back in action, on May 31st, when they will compete at the Annual Massachusetts Open Surfing Championships, to be held at Nantasket Beach, on Boston’s South Shore. This contest is on call for May 30th, after 6:00 PM, on the ESA hotline: 401.727.2605
