No Better Use of a Weekend than The Hydro-Turf Surf Slam Nice weather and good surf at this year's Hydro-Turf Surf Slam made for a great day spent on the beach watching an intense battle for the event title and the World Championship crown. Offshore winds combined with some double overhead sets allowed for some pretty amazing maneuvers for spectators to enjoy and a tough competition for judges to judge. We saw several double barrel rolls and several back flip variations like one-handed, one-legged, or even no handed. All of which not too long ago were pretty rare.
No matter what flare the competitors added to their bag of tricks, the ultimate goal and instant crowd pleaser is getting big air. Reaching heights spanning 10-25 feet in the air, these professionals made it look easy. That may not sound too impressive when compared to the nose-bleed bleacher heights freestyle motocrossers like Travis Pastrana or Nate Adams get at the X Games, but these free riders achieve their heights without stationary ramps. Their launch pad is a moving body of water with a mind of its own.
This is where understanding surf is absolutely imperative. Reading waves and knowing the critical point for the jump is is as equally if not more important than the aerobatics. The importance of surfing ability is not just a casual observation but intricate in the judging criteria comprising half of the points consideration. Miscalculation could not only result in losing favor with the judges, but could also leave you with a few scars and broken bones. After all, Mother Nature loves to remind those who are either brave or stupid enough to challenge her on who's really the boss.
2007's Hydro-Turf Surf Slam continued with Joe Kenney's concept of using a head-to-head format as opposed to individual scores to determine the event winner. Since there's no way to have a controlled environment in the surf to weigh each competitors skills, the head-to-head format sends two guys out in the same conditions to see whose combined skills outshine the other. It's the same concept used in surf competitions and makes perfect sense. After last year's competition, the IFWA World Tour adopted this format for the whole series.
Thirty-plus riders from around the world traveled to Pismo Beach, California to test their skills in this year's competition, but the bracket system only has spots for 20 riders. Pre-qualifying rounds based on individual scoring took place on Friday to determine who would join the top eight riders in IFWA points for the final competition.
The Hydro-Turf Surf Slam is the fifth and final stop of the IFWA World Tour. South African Jimmy Visser and Frenchman Pierre Maxient both left the forth round in Brazil with a healthy points lead in their respective categories of sit down and stand up, but their titles weren't guaranteed. Especially Maxient who had a 19 point lead in the stand up category over American Ross Champion. The Americans had a pretty strong presence at their home event. Matt Smith, Vince Coif, and Cuong Smith didn't make it easy for Maxient in his title quest, but it was American Taylor Curtis whose superior surf abilities edged Frenchman Pierre Maxient out of the event title. However, the 19 point cushion going into the event clinched Maxient the World Championship. The consolation round ended early with Mike Serlin sustaining a broken leg and being carted off to the hospital. That rounded out the final four with German Marc Sickerling in 3rd and the injured Mike Serlin in 4th.
The sit-down category was once again defended by seven-time World Champion Jimmy Visser who took home the event win and World Title. Newcomer Eddie Betancourt gave him a pretty good run for his money in the final event, but Visser's precision and experience won out. Luis Silva from Portugal and American Jerry Jones followed to round out the top four.
The general consensus among people who attended last year's event was that this Surf Slam has grown and improved in its second year. Combined with the WORCS event, the beach was full of campers providing the perfect opportunity to showcase the free ride sport to larger audience. Park officials estimated there were over 50,000 people in the Oceano Dunes Beach area over the weekend. Between the campsite and the staging area for the competition there was a steady flow of cars, ATVs, and dirt bikes throughout the day. The MC jokingly referred to it as the 101 because it looked like a rush hour commute.
Besides putting on a great show, the event had a really enjoyable laid back atmosphere. It was also pretty family oriented. I'd say most of the campers that weekend were families usually complete with the family dog. So much so, that at times I felt like I was attending a dog show due to the constant parade of people walking their dogs along the beach with a vast majority of breeds being represented.
This was my first time at a free ride event. I not only walked away from the event with the new found appreciation of the skill it takes to get air and perform a variety of death defying acrobatic maneuvers, but was struck by the camaraderie between competitors.
From something as simple as helping each other drag skis in and out of the water, to assisting in ski repairs to make sure a rider can get back out in competition, there is a team atmosphere in this sport for individuals. Maybe it's part of the territory with a smaller, less mainstream sport, but I can't think of another sport where you'd see this kind of support amongst competing athletes. It doesn't take long to see this group is a family bound together with a passion for their sport. Hopefully the event will continue to grow and draw attention more attention and support for the sport.
Pull quote:
No matter what flare the competitors added to their bag of tricks, the ultimate goal and instant crowd pleaser is getting big air. Reaching heights spanning 10-25 feet in the air, these professionals made it look easy.
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