Sun shines on surfers

Stand-up contest plays out during ideal conditions

Second place winner Ken Wilson of Lincoln City, Ore.: ‘The overall fun factor is high.’(The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson)

Clean waves, no wind and plenty of  sun had both contestants and spectators smiling Friday.

The 14th annual Noll Longboard Classic began with the blaring of an airhorn at 10 a.m., and people couldn’t stop praising the weather and the waves.

“These are really great conditions,” said a grinning Jeff Corning after competing in the first heat of Friday’s stand-up surfing contest. “Everything is lining up perfectly out there. I caught a lot of waves, but most importantly it was fun.”

Corning wasn’t the only contestant who emerged from the water smiling.

Steve Smith, of Sea Ranch, Calif., has made it to 13 of the 14 Noll classics, and despite his inexperience was ripping it up during Friday’s first heat.

“I’ve only been stand-up surfing for this summer really,” said Smith, still eyeing the waves. “What a great day, it’s really pretty good out there.”

As Smith and Corning were standing tall above the water, a loose crowd of contestants, spectators, dogs and children alternated between watching, building sandcastles and wrestling over sticks.

Matt Weiner, a spectator for Friday’s stand-up surfing contest who will be competing in the longboard classic today, has been coming for 12 years and remembers last year’s inclement weather as still being a lot of fun.

“This is like a reunion,” Weiner said.  “I came down from Seattle, and my dad came in from Hawaii.”

As the two 20-minute stand-up surfing heats came to a close, the judges — volunteers who were easy to find because of their clipboards and constant focus on the waves — gathered to hand over the tallies.

“We judge the whole wave, from when they paddle in to takeout,” said local judge Ken Cowan as he stared intently out to sea. “It’s sort of hard to keep track of, they’re all over the place.”

The stand-up surfers were not only judged on how they rode the wave, but also on how they used their paddles.

Judges could count the top three waves.

One judge, Rick Smith, commented on how much the classic has changed since its inception 14 years ago.

“It’s really amazing what this has grown into,” Smith said. “It started so small, now people are coming from all over. It really has grown.”

 Ken Wilson of Lincoln City, Ore., who took second place in the stand-up surfing contest, explained what the attraction is.

“I drive so far to get here because it’s the best,” Wilson said. “The overall fun factor is high, almost unbeatable.”

A contest participant takes a spill. (The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson)

The stand-up surfing contest included a race out around Muscle Rock, which is off South Beach just north of the Beachcomber Restaurant.

“Everyone should have gotten a trophy for that,” said Noll Surf and Skate employee and contest organizer Jessica Barbee. “It took the race winner a half-hour to get out there and back.”

The race winner was Paul Hasselquist, and the overall winner of the stand-up surfing contest was Rhyn Noll, who also got second in the race around Muscle Rock.

Stand-up surfing, while a relatively new take on wave riding, actually hails from surfing’s Polynesian origins. The roots of stand-up surfing reach back more than 100 years to when wave-riders in Hawaii used paddles and wood planks for transportation.

The modern stand-up surfer rides a board that is big enough and stable enough to stand on in flat water.

Instead of paddling from a prone position with their hands, stand-up surfers do just what the name implies;  stand up and use a paddle to move through the water and catch waves.

Heats for the longboard classic start at 7:30 a.m. today and Sunday. The activity will  be hard to miss if you drive south of Crescent City.

From booths selling food and clothing to music and kite demonstrations, South Beach will be awash with festival goers, surf boards and happy people, no matter what the weather does.

Jeff Corning of Crescent City rides a wave all the way to the shore. (The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson)