Holiday Surfabout rises in Sandy aftermath

Peter Pan © Joe McGovern

Holiday Surfabout

Eastern Surfing Assn
Point Judith Narragansett, Rhode Island
17 - 18 November 2012

Short drive to Pt. Judith finds reef break set for the competition

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 November, 2012 : - - Surfers got an early Christmas present this past weekend, at the 2012 ESA Holiday Surfabout, held in Narragansett, Rhode Island. This was the final rated ESA contest of the season, and it went down in style at Point Judith. Contest officials were faced with all area beach parking lots closed from Super Storm Sandy damage, and had to improvise.

After setting up the heats at the Narragansett Town Beach seawall, competitors and ESA officials took the short drive to Pt. Judith and found one of the area’s reef breaks working well with both contestable lefts and rights. With the wind chill in the low 30’s, the easy paddle out was another nice holiday present for competitors.

Newport and Middletown surfers continue to dominate the contests, especially in the youth divisions. The closest final proved to be the Open Division, which was the final heat of the day. ESA All-Star Liam O’Regan of Middletown seemed clearly in charge and on his way to another easy win. With less that one minute remaining in the final, Corran Moore suddenly found himself facing a perfect left that could be a contest changer. Moore saw that and managed to slash it down to an 8.5 on each judge’s card, and giving him the upset win.

Another great battle materialized when Newport’s Dave McLaughlin, ESA New England Bodyboard champion of the early 80’s, traded barrels with current ESA New England Bodyboard champion, Pat Redmond of Boston. This time, it was McLaughlin who found the deepest pit and worked the inside section for the title.

The youth finals were all close affairs. Mateus Galvez edged out Dylan Hotbakk with one long right slide that took him into the beach. Gavin Smith came off Block Island to charge to the win over Sean Duncan in the Boys Final. Liam O’Regan more than made up for his loss in the Open, topping Corran Moore in the Junior Men’s final with two perfect inside right peaks that put him over the top. Narragansett’s Andy Nota cruised into 3rd place.

Bodyboard finalists © Joe McGovern

Jacob Manning took the Men’s title, while Jose Galvez powered to his second straight contest win in the Senior Men’s final, edging out Jeff Smith and Kai Holtbakk. Claudio Paolino pulled into some nice lefts to win the Grandmasters, while Peter Pan grabbed two big right set waves to top Tim Cunningham in the Legends final.

In the female ranks, it was another hot Middletown shredder, Charlotte O’Halloran, taking the Girls division, while Massachusetts’ top female competitor, Sara Prince, won the Women’s title.

In the long board ranks, there was some hot-dogging to be had. Sean Duncan cruised across several long and peeling right walls, to top Gavin Smith in the Menehune Long board final. Liam O’Regan pumped through several nice right slides in the Junior Long board final, as he grabbed the two biggest set waves and worked them right to the beach. Again, it was Moore in 2nd and Nota in 3rd.

Jeff Smith erupted in the Master Long board final heat, finding one of the longest rides of the contest and sewing up the title over Kai Holtbakk of Narragansett. In a fitting tribute to Smith, Peter Pan paddled out to the same spot and nailed down probably the second longest ride of the event. That was enough to take the Legends Long board crown over Cunningham.

“We were very fortunate to have pulled off a great contest at an empty reef break,” said ESA Competition Director Mario Frade. “These waves were a piece of cake compared to the close-out dumpers that were coming in at the town beach. I think that everyone who surfed in the contest was glad we moved it.”

This concluded the 2012 ESA South New England contest season. All eligible competitors will be invited to surf in the 2013 ESA East Coast Surfing Championship Northeast Surf-Offs, which will take place in May of 2013. The next rated ESA contest will take place on February 16th of 2013 at the Narragansett Town Beach. It is the Annual New England Mid-Winter Surfing Championships.

Corran Moore © Joe McGovern

Menehunes-
1. Mateus Galvez
2.Dylan Holtbakk

Boys-
1.Gavin Smith
2.Sean Duncan
3.Ben Alofsin
4.Ryan Wilkensen

Junior Men-
1.Liam O’Regan
2.Corran Moore
3.Andrew Nota
4.Sean McKenzie
5.Matt Alofsin

Men-
1.Jacob Manning

Senior Men-
1.Jose Galvez
2.Jeff Smith
3.Kai Holtbakk

Grandmasters-
1.Claudio Paolino

Legends-
1.Peter Pan
2.Tim Cunningham

Girls-
1.Charlotte O’Halloran

Women-
1.Sara Prince

Open-
1.Corran Moore
2.Liam O’Regan
3.Jose Galvez
4.Ryan Wilkensen
5.Ben Alofsin
6.Gavin Smith
7.Matt Alofsin
8.Sean Duncan
9.Sean McKenzie
10.Kai Holtbakk
11.Charlotte O’Halloran

Menehune Longboard-
1.Sean Duncan
2.Gavin Smith
3.Ben Alofsin
4.Dylan Holtbakk
5.Mateus Galvez

Junior Longboard-
1.Liam O’Regan
2.Corran Moore
3.Andrew Nota

Master Longboard-
1.Jeff Smith
2.Kai Holtbakk
3.Jose Galvez

Legends Longboard-
1.Peter Pan
2. Tim Cunningham

Open Bodyboard-
1.Dave McLaughlin
2.Pat Redmond
3.Ben Moy

Menehune Bodyboard-
1.Gavin Smith