Narragansett, Rhode Island-A huge off shore storm system kicked up some big rollers for the ESA Holiday Surfabout, the final rated contest of the season, today, at the Narragansett Town Beach.Locals traversed the shifty beach break with ease, running off with most of the divisional titles in the over head conditions.
“The surf today was about as good as the town beach gets,” said ESA Competition Director Mario Frade.“Some of the lefts and rights were not only holding up, they were barreling with some great form.”Taking advantage of the big barrels was Little Compton’s Chuck Barend, who led the charge with three big wins.He topped the competition in the Open, Senior Men, and Master Longboard divisions, and won the “Outstanding Surfer” trophy for the event.
Narragansett’s Matt Nota was on fire, charging through some big close-out sections and making it across the faces in the inside shorebreak, to win both the Boys and Menehune Longboard events.
Ross Ahlborg edged out Chris Orlando in the highly competitive Junior Men’s Final.Ahlborg picked off three outstanding left peaks and made the inside sections for high point rides.McGraghan and 3rdplace finisher Pat Brown almost made 360’s, which would have pushed them into the winner’s circle.Neither surfer could get the final push to complete the move on the face.
Ana Barend found the perfect left barrel and tucked into it for the win in the Senior Women’s final heat.She duplicated that move on a hollow right hander, to take the Senior Longboard division.
Some big close-out poured in during the Men’s Final, and Tiverton’s Colin Cook took advantage.He squeezed out of a tight right tube and edged out Narragansett ace, Ryan Richer for the title.It was local ripper, Conrad Ferla finishing in 3rdplace in that heat, when he pushed through onewalled up section on the inside shorepound.
Narragansett’s Peter Pan led the elder crew, as he switch footed his way to the win in the Legends Longboard, and slid into a nice head high right barrel, to win the Legends Shortboard final.Boston’s Pat Redmond had another outstanding day in the head high shorebreak, pulling off effortless 360’s and “El Rollos” to win the Open Bodyboard division.
Final Results of the 2008 Holiday Surfabout
Held in 4-6 foot, near perfect conditions at the Narragansett Town Beach on November 15, 2008.Sponsors included Gansett Juice Surf Shop and West Wetsuits
The trash just doesn’t want to go away. Just as fast as it is picked up, more trash will take its’ place, especially around the Rhode Island shoreline. If you had a chance to drive by the Narragansett Town Beach parking lot on Saturday afternoon, you would have seen the evidence. Apparently, some people still think that area beaches are their own personal dumping grounds.
Over 40 area volunteers showed up last Saturday, at the Narragansett Town Beach, to help out with the massive clean-ups that took place at virtually every beach and surf break in South County. These included many area surfers, swimmers, and fishermen.
This semi-annual event, sponsored by the Rhode Island Chapter of Surfrider Foundation and the Eastern Surfing Association, has drawn great crowds in the past, but not this time.
“We were a bit disappointed in the turnout of volunteers,” said Dave Prescott of Surfrider Foundation, “but we managed to utilize everyone to the fullest. We collected trash from virtually every surf break in the area, including Westerly and Newport. And there was plenty of it.”
One of the most dedicated and long time volunteers, Ted Sorlein of Wakefield, filled his entire pickup truck with trash and debris from the K-39 surf break in Point Judith. “I was prepared to collect a lot of garbage,” he said. “Last week, during the big swell we had, there must have been 100 surfers who went out at the K. There was trash all over the place, and no one would take the time to pick up any of it, on the way back from surfing. It is a sad situation for sure.”
Due to the recent offshore storms that have bashed the area beaches and reefs, there was plenty of trash to pick up at just about every spot. Even the Point Judith Lighthouse offered an array of plastic bags, jugs, twine, fish hooks, and tires. The same situation occurred at the Scarborough State Beach, Captain Wheeler State Beach, and the Narragansett Town Beach. Volunteers had different ideas on why there was so much litter. Several surfers commented that perhaps if there were trash receptacles at surf spots such as the Point Judith Lighthouse and Conant Avenue, there would be less beach garbage. It was also pointed out that there seemed to be a lot of trash that had washed in from the several large ocean storms that have come through in the past few weeks.
Even the computer and e-trash collection was light, for the first time ever. “I was very surprised that there were so few drop-offs,” said Mike Mancuso, who was in charge of the collection. “It was so quiet, that we decided to take television sets, even though we had agreed not to.”
Mike did say that over 2 ½ tons of monitors, e-junk, and television sets were collected. Office Recycling Solutions, the company that ran the e-trash collection, raised $150.00 for the Rhode Island Chapter of Surfrider Foundation. “We donated the $1.00 fee for every computer or monitor that was collected, and turned it right over to them,” said Mike. “Hopefully, we will get a bigger turnout at the spring clean-up in 2009.”
“Taking all things into consideration, it was a very successful event,” said Dave Prescott. “Special thanks go to Barry Fontaine and the Narragansett Recreation Department for all their work. Office Recycling Solutions picked up all the e-trash, and Narragansett Rubbish picked up all the other trash. I also want to thank Blue Wave Pizza for donating all the food for the volunteers.”
On The Edge | Perfect Surf For Northeast Titles
On The Edge
Perfect Surf For Northeast Titles
By Peter Pan
Every once in awhile, the many factors involved in running a surfing competition will work out perfectly together. The swell will be overhead, the winds will be offshore, and the sets will be pouring in. That happened by chance, at the 41st Annual ESA Northeast Surfing Titles, held this past weekend.
It was the first time in almost a decade, that the ESA decided to run an event at the world famous Matunuck Point reef. “Competitors had complained about running our contests in close-out surf at the Narragansett Town Beach all the time,” said Ron Belanger, ESA South New England Co-Director. “We promised ESA riders that we would not run it unless it was at least waist high,” he said. “It ended up a solid head high plus, with some really nice shaped waves coming in. Everyone was stoked over the high surf.”
All this happened because a huge off shore storm system that developed off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, moved into New England on Saturday night. While it stayed far enough to our east to keep our skies sunny, the storm did generate huge swells and strong northeast gale winds. The swell continued to get bigger throughout the day, which made for ideal contest conditions.
ESA officials ran the contest from the Ocean Mist Bar and Grille top floor deck, where judges could see every surfer clearly in the line-up. Customers enjoyed the competition as they watched the top surfers rip up the perfect surf, while they ate and drank at the bar. Meanwhile, competitors had a warm place to change and recharge at.
“Because of the great surfing conditions, the level of competition was as good as it gets,” said Belanger. “In the highly competitive finals, the winner was decided by that one extra roundhouse or lip bash.” The big winner of this event was Little Compton’s Chuck Barend, who is the current Northeast Regionals Senior Men’s Champion. Barend was red hot throughout the day, taking charge in every heat. He picked off the wave of the final in the tough, Open Division, tearing across two fast sections and adding several blistering roundhouse cutbacks into the shorebreak. This one wave put him in the winner’s circle.
Switching tactics in the Senior Men’s contest, Chuck rode two zipper like rights that walled up into a steep barrel section. While the other finalists rode the lefts, he ended up outpointing them with those hot rights. His third win of the day came in the Master Longboard Division, when he picked off a long, hollow left and nose rode it into the shorebreak.
Coast Guard ace, Jarrett Parker tore up both the Men’s and Men’s Longboard finals, with wins in both divisions. Cob Ingalls continued undefeated in the Boys division, while Patrick Brown sewed up his 3rd consecutive Junior Mne’s crown. Both riders are part of the talented Little Compton crew.
In the elder categories, it was Narragansett’s Peter Pan finding two nice left barrels, to win the Legends, and grabbing an overhead left peak to clinch the Legends Longboard title. 2008 East Coast Championships finalist, Kitty Pechet showed excellent form and style, as she captured her 6th consecutive Grand Legends crown.
The female ranks remain very competitive, and the surfing continues to awe and inspire. Defending and now two-time East Coast Senior Women’s champion, Ana Barend of Little Compton, showed her unbeatable, charging style, as she easily won the division. It only took two outstanding rides to lock up the win, ripping up the left walls right into the shore pound.
Nantucket’s Mya Kotalac worked a couple of head high peaks, with some strong cutbacks and tube stalls, to win the Girls event. She then picked off a long, standup left wall and trimmed up to the nose for the Menehune Longboard win. Connecticut’s Sara Lim took charge of the Women’s division, winning both the short and long board stanzas. Melanie Kotalac grabbed a solid overhead left peak and worked it to the inside for the Senior Women Longboard crown.
New England’s top bodyboarder, Pat Redmond of Boston, continued to impress the judges, winning his 9th straight contest. Pat was a finalist at the 2008 Northeast Regional Championships, and just missed making the finals at the recent East Coast Championships Grand Finals at Cape Hatteras.
After the last heat finished, the finalists gathered at the Ocean Mist Bar and Grille for the awards. Trophies were awarded to the finalists, and merchandise prizes were distributed to the winners. Pat Brown won a winter wetsuit donated by West Wetsuits, and top finishers received clothing and accessories donated by the Gansett Juice Surf Shop.
The final ESA competition of the 2008 season is scheduled to take place on November 22, 2008. “If the surf is this good on the 22nd,” said Belanger. “We will run the contest right here again.”
Final Results of the 34th Annual Northeast Surfing Championships
Held in perfect 4-6 foot waves at Matunuck Point, Rhode Island
Boys- 1.Cob Ingalls Girls- 1.Mya Kotalac Junior Men- 1.Patrick Brown Men- 1.Jarrett Parker Women- 1.Sara Kim 2.Katie Ryan Senior Men- 1.Chuck Barend 2.Ron Belanger 3.Bob Fitton Senior Women- 1. Ana Barend 2.Melanie Kotalac Legends- 1.Peter Pan 2.Jeff Goodfriend Grand Legends- 1.Kitty Pechet Menehune Longboard- 1.Mya Kotalac Junior Longboard- 1.Patrick Brown Men’s Longboard- 1.Jarrett Parker 2.Patrick Kennedy Women Longboard- 1.Sara Lim 2.Katie Ryan Master Longboard- 1.Chuck Barend 2.Bob Fitton 3.Nick Carter 4.Ron Belanger Senior Women Longboard- 1.Mya Kotalac 2.Ana Barend 3.Kitty Pechet Legends Longboard- 1.Peter Pan 2.Jeff Goodfriend Open- 1.Chuck Barend 2.Ron Belanger 3.Ana Barend 4.Peter Pan 5.Pat Brown 6.Cob Ingalls Open Bodyboard- 1.Pat Redmond 2.Peter Pan 3.Katie Ryan
