The 18th annual Exile Oktoberfest took place at Balboa Pier in Newport Beach, California on September 16th and 17th. This was the final stop for the United Skim Tour for the 2023 season, counting for both the Men’s division and the Women’s division.
Blair Conklin Backside Wrap | Photo by Tyler Brooks (IG) The 46th annual Vic skimboarding competition took place on August 26th and 27th at Aliso Beach in Laguna Beach, California. For the professional men’s division of the UST, this was the fifth of six events. The pro men’s division included 42 skimboarders including riders from Brazil, Mexico, Japan, the east coast, and California. Blair Conklin of Laguna Beach returned to competition for the first time since 2021, and he claimed the top spot. Lucas Fink of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil finished in second place ahead of Yahir Valencia from Barra de Navidad,
Lucas Fink Backside Hack | Photo by John Yeatman (Website | IG) The Zap World Championships of Skimboarding took place at Dewey Beach, DE on August 11th through 13th, presented by Alley Oop Skim and Skim USA. The contest had 30 professional men and 8 professional women including riders from Brazil, Mexico, California, and up and down the east coast. The conditions were excellent throughout the weekend, with offshore winds and 2-3 foot waves on all three days. For the professional men, Lucas Fink of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil finished in the top spot, his second UST win of the year.
Yahir Valencia Backside Liner | Photo by Maggie Fernandez (IG) On July 21st-23rd in Nags Head, NC, the OBX SkimJam brought 24 professional men and 7 professional women to battle for a $15,000 prize purse, the largest prize purse in OBX SkimJam history. In the professional men’s division, Yahir Valencia walked away with the top spot after a fierce battle in the final against Lucas Fink. For the professional women, Casey McCullough defeated UST rookie Jaclynn Koder in the final to claim her first UST victory of 2023. The contest site at Jennette’s Pier saw a one-to-three foot swell throughout
Lucas Fink Floater in the Final | Photo by Matt Folsom On July 15th in Santa Cruz, California, the TAC Skimblast brought 25 professional skimboarders to Third Ave for the second stop of the Men’s division on the 2023 United Skim Tour. After missing the first stop of the tour due to injury and scheduling conflicts, Lucas Fink returned and claimed the top spot. The contest included riders from Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Florida, Southern California and Santa Cruz. The swell was forecasted to be 2-5 feet for weeks leading up to the event. However, about five days before the event,
Lucas Fink traveled all the way from Brazil for the first stop of the 2018 United Skim Tour and it paid off! He took the win during a standout performance that sets the tone for the rest of the season. He is currently the man to beat both in points and psychologically. 4 time champ Sam Stinnett took second place while 2017 and 2016 champ Blair Conklin snagged the 3rd place spot at an event he almost always performs well at. Austin Keen may have been the biggest winner taking 4th place but then stopping by Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch
The Outer Banks, NC event went down last weekend in challenging and varied conditions. Heavy rain and wind on day one gave way to sunny skies on day two. Sam Stinnett was able to win his second event in a row closing to within 100 points of points leader Austin Keen. OBX local hero Perry Pruitt landed in second place boosting him to 5th in the UST standings. Blair Conklin earned third place in the event which solidified his third place tour ranking while Jack Tenney grabbed 4th place moving into tenth on the tour. The next stop wil be
At the Oktoberfest event, Austin Keen pulled out the greatest come from behind victory in UST history edging just above 2x champ Sam Stinnett in the final event of the year. Sam had led the tour all year long but Austin found his rhythm in the last two events surging ahead to become the first ever UST champion who learned his craft on the east coast. Although Austin now calls Southern California home, skimboarders in his native state of Georgia must surely be cheering for the new champ. Perry Pruitt was able to lock down third place on the tour
Austin Keen took the top spot in Outer Banks, NC last weekend and in doing so moved himself to second place on the tour based on total points. However, a closer look shows him narrowly in first place after dropping his two lowest scores, clearly challenging front runner Sam Stinnett for the top spot. Brad Domke took second at the event moving up to fifth place on the tour while Morgan Just took third, and moved into third on the tour. Perry Pruitt, Teddy Vlasis, Blair Conklin and Tim Fulton all came up shorter than they would have liked at
Blair Conklin took his first victory at Aliso last weekend in some of the best conditions at the event in years. In doing so he jumped up to fifth on the tour. Brandon Sears came in second at the event moving up to seventh on the tour followed by Sam Stinnett who secured his top tour spot further with a third place finish. The top four was rounded out by Bill Bryan who was able to pick up some points putting him in contention for the rest of the season. Teddy Vlasis and Morgan Just picked up fifth and sixth