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The Subaru of Jacksonville 24th Annual
WaveMasters Surf Contest was blessed with some of the best
waves they've had in years last weekend at The
Jax Beach Pier. Over 200 of the state's top
competitors showed up to venue for thousands of
dollars worth of trophies & prizes for the 16
divisions of amateurs, and thousands in cash for
the Men's and Women's Pro Events.
Atlantic Beach's Wayne "PJ" Satterwhite won a
trip to Costa Rica from MartinAir by winning the
OPEN Division, the toughest category which is
open to all ages.
14 year old Kayla Durden, Jax Beach, defended
her Title in the Girls Division, 17 & under, by besting Chelsea Gresham from
St. Augustine, and locals Jessie Carnes and Cameron Keys.
Winner of the Boys Division, South Africa's
Beyrick deVries, representing Bilt Surfboards, displayed
the mastery of a seasoned pro, executing new
school maneuvers and aerial wizardry throughout the weekend.
In the Micro-Minis, 9 & under, Logan Raulerson
finally celebrated a victory after years of dealing with the unstoppable
Tristan Thompson. Tristan moved up to Menehunes, 12 & under, and of course
won. He backed that up with another victory in Boys, 14 & under, the
following week in the Springing The Blues Surf Fest.
Meanwhile, Tristan's older brothers, Cody &
Evan, were making their way home from Portugal, where they
competed in The World Surfing Championships on
The U.S. Team.
Kevin Cox, winner of the Junior Men, 15-17, has
risen through the ranks of Menehunes and Boys, and really
poured it on this year in the final, walking
away with a lot of prizes, including a Gravity Board.
Rory Fairly, winner of the Senior Men, 40-49,
came over from the Gulf Coast and took down the usual favorites.
Riding a wide, meaty fish design, Rory caught
the best waves and stole the show.
Danny Mac, a 53 year old local legend from
Atlantic Beach, successfully defended his title in the Granfmasters,
50 & over.
In the Masters, 30-39, Jeff Venn came out of
retirement and reminded his contemporaries why he was unbeatable in his day,
some 10-15 years ago. It looked like he studied the manual on pro surfing
and then put it to use.
18 year old Clean Ocean team member Kayla
Beckmann, from Jax Beach, deserved an iron-woman award for winning both the
Women Shortboard AND Longboard events, then taking 3rd in the Women's Pro
event.
Kayla is very fierce competitor, both locally
and regionally.
Taking 2nd to Kayla was Tiffany Layton of A.B.,
current East Coast Champ and major threat in any division.
As proof, Tiffany won the Women's Pro event,
adding $200 cash to her weekend bounty.
All the female finalists won goodies from Venus,
Point Conception, Hawaiian Tropic, and more.
Current WaveMasters Prez Barry Durden won the
Legends Longboard Final, in a very competitive field
of veteran and seasoned performers, such as Ray
Pimentel and Jim Cox, Kevin's dad.
Jimmy Bloomenfield, from Flagler, took a very
close 2nd place to PJ in the Open, but turned around
and won the Pro event, and $1000 cash. At 33,
Jimmy is surfing as good as anyone around, of any age.
After a storm delayed things, the tandem event
was held in sizeable slop. Scott Clelland and Erica
Satterwhite prevailed, showing youth and
practice do pay off.
72 finalists in 18 divisions walked away with
tons of prizes from IceTech sunglasses, Bully's leashes,
Vestal watches, Sun Cure, Volcom, Billabong,
Bilt, Sticky Bumps, ProLite, and much more.
Here are a Couple of Logan.
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