05.05.09
Due to the increased concern regarding the swine flu, the UST and Cabo Clasico event organizer Mr. Trigg Garner have decided to CANCEL 2009 Cabo Clasico.

The Center for Disease Control has recommended that people avoid all non-essential travel to Mexico at this time. While this was a difficult decision, the health and safety of the UST participants and skimboarders in general are our first priority.

At this time, the 2009 Cabo Clasico is cancelled and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone. For those attendees who have scheduled their own airfare to Cabo, it is our understanding that the airlines are working with travelers to reschedule or credit their tickets due to the swine flu.

Thank you for your understanding of the situation surrounding us at this time and we look forward to uniting skimboarders at the Cabo Clasico in 2010.

Resources:

• CDC Travel Advisory
• Alaska Airlines Policy
• Continental Airlines Policy
• US Airways Policy
• American Airlines Policy

All entry fees will be refunded in full this week.

03.18.09
Cabo Clasico contest information is now available.

02.13.09
The United Skim Tour is not immune to the economic conditions affecting the world this year.  After review by the board members, certain changes have been built into the UST for 2009 that will hopefully ease the strain on participants and make for a more even point distribution per contest.

The first change to the UST contest circuit relates to the number of contests counted toward a rider’s total tour point total.  There are still eight (8) UST events (four on the West Coast and four on the East Coast) but only six (6) of those contests will count toward a rider’s total tour point total.   (riders can still compete in all 8 trying to get the best scores possible)

The second change will be the way points per event are tallied.  In past seasons, the first place finisher at an event would receive 1,000 points (with the exception of the Aliso contest), second place would earn 90% ("multiplier") of first place's points, third place would earn 90% of second place's, and so on.  For 2009, the UST will use a sliding scale basing the number of points and the multiplier on the total number of professional participants at the event.  The more participants at an event, the more points each placement will earn.  Please visit the UST Rulebook for a more thorough review of the 2009 scoring system.

The race for the crown in 2009 will be a tight one and we look forward to it.  Thank you to all of the sponsors and people involved that help keep skimboarding thriving.

02.12.09
Dates for the first five 2009 UST events have been posted.

10.25.08
The final 2008 UST Video has been posted.  Check out this years Oktoberfest Event!

10.14.08
The 2008 Season is in the history books and Bill Bryan has proven once again that he is the man to beat.  The top 10 broke down as follows:

1. Bill Bryan
2. Paulo Prietto
3. Brandon Rothe
4. Morgan Just
5. Brad Domke
6. Brandon Sears
7. James Lovett
8. Stephen Bradford
9. Woody Harris
10. Corbin Dull

While Bill had already secured the top spot going into the final event of the season, much was still up for grabs.  James Lovett came up huge by winning the event and making a last minute leap to seventh place on the tour.  Bill Bryan took second at Oktoberfest, further proving that he was the dominant competitor in 08.  Paulo snagged third place at the event, thereby further securing 2nd on the tour.

In a strange twist of fate, Morgan Just, Paulo Prietto, and Brandon Sears wound up together in a 3 man pre-quarter final.  This meant one of these top five UST competitors would be going home early, and that would create an opportunity for someone else.  Morgan and Sears were neck and neck in the standings.  If one of them lost, it would mean the other would jump ahead on the tour.  If Paulo lost, it meant Brandon Rothe would have a chance to regain the number two spot.  Paulo quickly put that to rest however, jumping ahead early in the heat.  In a very close battle for the other advancing spot in the heat, Morgan Just squeaked by, securing the 4th place spot on the UST and creating an opportunity for Brad Domke to jump into the top five.  Brad did just that.  By taking 4th place at the event, he barely edged ahead of Sears and took fifth overall.

It was an exciting close to the most competitive and closest UST season ever.  FINAL 2008 RESULTS

09.29.08
Santa Cruz video coverage has been released.

09.25.08
After taking second place at the Santa Cruz Skim Bash Bill Bryan has secured the number one spot in the 2008 United Skim Tour with an event to spare.  The most successful competitive skimboarder of all time, Bill came out of semi-retirement in 2008 to skim the full tour for the first time in years.  He quickly dispelled any rumors that he might be over the hill by placing 1st in the first two events of the year.  Since that time he only failed to make the finals once and never placed below fifth place.  It all adds up to an early win for the most decorated skimboarder of all time.  Congrats Bill!

Meanwhile, three time champ Paulo Prietto took first place in Santa Cruz and earned himself a comfortable lead in in the second place spot.  Brandon Sears placed third in the event leapfrogging both Brad Domke and Morgan Just, landing in fourth place on the tour, well within striking distance of the third place spot.  Morgan Just kept that lead to a minimum however, closely following Sears earning a respectable fourth place at the event and staying in fifth overall.  By not making the semi finals, Brad Domke lost some ground at this event and will likely need to count on an early exit by Brandon Rothe, Brandon Sears, or Morgan Just in order to advance in the standings at the final event.  Contention is tight among the third, fourth and fifth place spots.

Trailing about 800 points behind these guys is Stephen Bradford, Jamie Lovett, Woody Harris and Corbin Dull.  Bradford has the advantage going into the event but anything could happen with the 7th - 10th place spots in the last event.

The final event of the season will be help Oct 11th and 12th in Newport Beach CA.
Current Standings

08.12.08
An event video from Vilano (stop #6) has been added to the site.

08.04.08
A fourth place finish in Vilano makes Bill Bryan's first place UST spot nearly a lock.  Bill is sitting on a comfortable 1243 point lead over the nearest competitor and a strong placing at Santa Cruz will likely crown him as 2008 UST champion with an event to spare. 

Meanwhile Brandon Rothe and Paulo Prietto will have a much more competitive race for the second place spot over the next two events.  Brandon is currently in second with a 212 point lead.

Brad Domke placed second in the Vilano event which earned him a razor thin 4th place spot, with Morgan Just only 11 points behind him and Brandon Sears only 39 points behind Morgan.  This will likely make the race for 4th, 5th and 6th place the most exciting to follow in the final two events. 

Finally, good ol' Woody Harris crept up to 7th in the standings after a solid 3rd place finish and  Corbin Dull cracked the top 10 with his first win of the year in Vilano.  Hopefully he will keep that momentum rolling through the next two events.  Current Standings

08.03.08
The official UST Contest video for last weekend's West Coast Championships has been added.

07.29.08
Brandon Rothe continues to deliver by winning his second event in a row,  picking up a whopping 1500 points, and launching to 2nd place on the tour in the process.  Bill Bryan just missed an event win earning second place and solidifying his comfortable grip on the top UST spot.  Meanwhile Brandon Sears earned third place while dark horse Brendan Stevens came out of nowhere and snagged fourth. 

After this fifth tour stop rankings are beginning to solidify for the top guys, although there are still some tight races within the top ten, and of course, anything can happen...
Current Standings


07.20.08
Brandon Rothe comes up huge in event number four (OBX, NC) taking first place and leapfrogging into the UST top five.  Paulo Prietto racked up another second place finish making point advances on both Morgan Just and Bill Bryan (who failed to make a final for the first time this year).  Morgan Just earned himself a third place finish but unfortunately re-aggravated a hamstring injury which will keep him out of competition for at least the next two events.  A heartfelt get well soon goes out to Morgan who has had one of the best season starts of all time.  Brad Domke snuck into fourth place and edged his way up to 6th in the standings. 

While Bill Bryan didn't make the final, he didn't miss by much, earning 5th place and keeping Paulo's point advance to a minimum.  The most important event of the year is this coming weekend as competitors will battle it out for 1500 points at the West Coast Championships.  Stay tuned, things are about to get interesting....

More Info
Current Standings
OBX Video Coverage

07.11.08
Morgan Just decided to step up and give Bill Bryan a run for his money in Event #3 this year.  In challenging NJ conditions Morgan was able to knock Bill down to second place and make a 100 point advancement on Bill's 1st place spot on the tour.  Bill still has a commanding lead however with Morgan being the only competitor in striking distance at the moment. 

Paulo Prietto and Brandon Sears have a pretty solid lock on the 3rd and 4th place spots and will be looking to pick up some ground at the OBX event this weekend.

The fifth through tenth place spots are all heavily contested and things could change significantly after this weekend's event.  For more details please check out the Current Standings.   Additionally, don't forget to take a look at the NJ Contest Video for a full recap of the event.

06.08.08
After event #2 at Southside Bill Bryan opens up a commanding lead while everyone else scrambles for positioning within the top 10.  At this early stage it is still anyone's game as the most competitive season of skimboarding ever continues on.
Southside Video Coverage
Current Standnings


05.27.08
The 2008 season starts off with a bang as Bill Bryan once again takes home top honors at one of the best skimboard contests of all time. 

Solid overhead waves were on hand throughout this years Cabo Clasico and riders did not hesitate to use the event's man on man format to push the boundaries of professional skimboarding.  Check out all the action in the UST's Video Coverage of the event. 
2008 UST Standings

05.27.08
The UST has launched a Video Coverage section of the site which now contains coverage of last weeks Cabo event.

04.06.08
Please take a moment and fill out the UST Demographic Survey (now closed).  In addition to helping the UST, one lucky winner will get a prize bag from Exile, Victoria and Zap Skimboards.

02.21.07
The FAQ Section has been updated.

02.11.07
The 2008 Event Schedule has been posted.  Dates will be trickling in over the next couple of weeks.  There are a couple of changes this year that everyone should be aware of. 

First, this year the Southside Shootout has replaced the East Coast Skimboarding Championships as Delaware's only UST stop in 2008.  Consistent  solid conditions at southside have prevailed over the last few years and the UST has taken notice.  This move has been made in conjunction with the UST's long standing goal of spotlighting the best that skimboarding has to offer.

Secondly, the West Coast Championships in Laguna Beach will no longer be worth 2000 points.  Due to the high level of competition at this event, more points have been traditionally weighted toward it.  That tradition will continue as the event will be worth a reduced 1500 points in 2008.  Read more about how this breaks down here.

10.17.07
Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls. 

The United Skim Tour is pleased to announce final rankings for the 2007 Season!!!  This years announcement comes with a nice little surprise:   Zap, Victoria, and Exile Skimboards have all stepped up to the plate and put together a $10,000 purse for the Top Six UST Riders.  We apologize for the late announcement, but better late than never.

The top 10 looks like this.

Paulo Prietto was again able to squeak out a first place victory.  Paulo knows the formula: make it to the finals in nearly every event and win a couple.  Easier said than done.  This third consecutive world title was also his closest.  After an early exit at the Oktoberfest contest, 2nd place finisher Brad Domke had a brief opportunity to snatch it away.  It was not to be however, as he was soon edged out in the same round of competition.

After a partial rookie season in 2005, and then an injury last year, this was 18 year old Brad Domke's first full year on tour.  Ending up only a solid wave or two from the world title is certainly not a bad way to start. 

Morgan Just has been a top UST contender for years and shows no signs of slowing down soon.  What looked like it would probably be a fourth place finish this year quickly turned into a third place as Grady Archbold was eliminated early this past weekend.

Grady Archbold is no stranger to the top UST rankings.  Going into the final few events he appeared to be well positioned to recapture the number two spot.  Solid last minute performances by Brad and Morgan made this a difficult task however, and he slid one spot to number four by the slimmest of margins.

Brendan Stevens made his first appearance last year at seventh and improves upon that record this year with a fifth place showing.  Solid work from one of the most powerful skimboarders in the world.

Sam Stinnett is the 14 year old super-grom to beat.  After skimming only 5 of the 8 events, he has earned himself a sixth place finish, some cash, and a feat that may never be topped: the youngest competitor to make it to the top 10 ever.

Skimboarding legend Bill Bryan only skimmed three events this year but still racked up enough points to earn 7th place on the tour.  Will we see him compete on the circuit again?  He isn't saying if a Slater like comeback is in the works.

Brandon Rothe is possibly the essence of style on a skimboard.  After some lackluster finishes and missed events early in the season, he came on strong winning the last two events and securing a top 10 spot.

Jason Wilson is one of the tour veterans who simply knows how to get it done.  Traveling to all the events and earning solid finishes on both coasts makes it happen.

Jaime Lovett is the wildcard of skimboarding.  Clearly one of the most talented riders out there, he has yet to commit to a full tour.  Even with just two events under his belt, he was able to barely squeak out a 10th place.  We want to see more Jaime.

Thats it.  The 2007 season is in the bag. 

Be sure to check out the Final 2007 Standings for all the details..

10.08.07
Things just got interesting.  After a second round loss in Santa Cruz by top ranked Paulo Prietto and a third round loss from Grady Archbold, Brad Domke was able to pick up significant ground by placing second at the event.  He leapfrogged Grady into second place and is now just 384 points behind Paulo, and the 2007 world title.  Not bad for a 18 year old Floridian in his first complete year on tour!  However it turns out this weekend, congratulations on an amazing performance Brad.

While Paulo, Brad and Grady are the only competitors in striking distance of the top spot, Morgan Just who is currently in fourth could easily hop into the 3rd or 2nd place position.  But those four are isolated from the rest of the pack.  Whatever the order is, those four guys will take the top four spots.

After that we have a race for 5th place, which is currently occupied by Bill Bryan.  Right on his tail are Brendan Stevens and rookie year wundergrom Sam Stinnett.

James Lovett, and Austin Bleiweiss are technically within striking distance of the 5,6 and 7 spots but will have a tough time unless one of the current occupants no shows this weekend.

Beyond that almost everything is up for grabs as the point spreads for 10th place down are very very small.  So any thing could happen.

If you are in the California area, head on down to Balboa to witness the end of the 2007 United Skim Tour season!

Please visit the Updated Standings for all the details.

09.05.07
Paulo Prietto further strengthens his grip on the top spot after taking first place in Delaware.  Brad Domke and Grady Archbold further distinguish themselves from their competitors, but not from each other, after taking second and third.  Meanwhile Bill Bryan and Morgan Just solidify their placing's with solid finishes while Austin Bleiweiss and Jason Wilson reappear in the top ten.  Check out the updated results for all the details.

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