Ryan Ulrich
The South Bay Boardriders Club once again brought local surfers down to the beach in order to compete against each other in order to be named the best in their respective divisions.
The South Bay Boardriders Club is a local organization which holds events such as big wave surf contests, as well as South Bay Surf Series competitions. It held the first annual Rider Shack Surf Shop Banana Jam Surf Contest in Manhattan Beach on Jan 20th.
“The events are always a fun time because when your not surfing you’re hanging at the beach with friends,” Mira Costa junior Alex Fry said. “The Boardriders Contests are always a good way to see how other kids in the South Bay are in comparison to your abilities.”
The competition included longboard and shortboard divisions for both men and women five years old and up. This year both Mira Costa students and alumni competed in the event.
“I compete in the juniors division which is for male surfers who are 18 or under but I also compete in the open men’s division and there are around 10 other divisions,” Fry said.
The waves on the morning of the competition were glassy and clean, but in the afternoon the low tide caused the shape of the waves to deteriorate slightly. The wave height was around three to four feet.
“The waves were fun all day,” junior surf team member Chad Parks said. “It wasn’t the best waves I have ever surfed or anything but all the competitors were surfing well.”
This year several Costa surf team members advanced to the finals in their respective divisions. Parks took home third while Fry took home fourth in the junior men’s division. Sophomore Megan Seth got second in the women’s division and the junior women’s division, and Freshman Joey Samuelian won the boys division.
“I was happy to win because everyone was surfing really well in the final,” Samuelian said. “It was just nice to catch some good ones because the waves were really fun.”
All of the finalists received plaques as well as prize bags with goods from the event sponsors. Prizes included Electric sunglasses, Channel Islands Surfboard leashes and Stance socks. All competitors received lunch from El Gringo, and there was a free surfboard demo where competitors could try surfing on a Lost Surfboard.
“The Board demo was cool because they had a lot of sick boards to try,” Parks said. “I didn’t get a chance to ride any of them because I was surfing heats most of the day, but they were nice boards.”
The next event in the South Bay Boardriders Surf Series will be held by ET Surfboards at 26th street in Manhattan Beach on Feb. 10. All of the division winners will gain 1000 points in hopes of winning the seasons tour.
“I hope I am able to win the juniors division for the whole season,” Fry said. “I have one a few contests before but we will see what happens.”
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