Weber Emerges On Top in Challenging Conditions at 44th Annual Vic
The Vic at Aliso Beach in Laguna Beach, CA returned on August 28th and 29th this year as the first west coast contest since 2019. The Vic is the sport’s longest running skimboard competition and largely regarded as the most prestigious competition in the sport. This year, the Men’s Professional division was comprised of 27 competitors including riders from the East Coast, West Coast, Hawaii and Mexico.
During the weekend prior to the event, Laguna Beach was met with a very large south swell, which washed water and sand up into the Aliso parking lot while also ripping out nearly all of the sand on the south end of the beach. As a result, the contest was moved to the middle of the beach at Aliso. Even there, the large swell had removed sand and exposed a rock bed, making for really difficult, troughy conditions. Nevertheless, the waves were surprisingly contestable, and the field of professionals were able to find open faces and squeeze out a lot of really impressive rides despite the difficult-to-read conditions.
The first three rounds for the professional men ran on Saturday with round one and two early on Saturday morning. There were quite a few standout performers in the early rounds, including the Laguna Beach local Blair Conklin who was able to find frontside air ramps unlike any other competitor. Johnny Weber was a similarly notable performer in the early rounds, as his speed and flow were unmatched throughout his heats. Garrett Abdulla pulled out a squeaker in his first round heat when he landed a huge big spin air in the dying seconds of the heat and edged out 14-time Vic champion Bill Bryan and Paddy Mack. Jacob Stinnett had an impressive all-around heat in the second round where he landed a variety of backside airs and found one of the few backside wrap barrels of the weekend. Brad Domke made his first UST appearance since 2017, and his unique approach got him through two rounds against some very challenging competitors. Round two and three saw Gerardo Valencia really come alive as he worked to defend his place at the top of the UST leaderboard, manufacturing a variety of frontside airs off small, troughy waves.
By Sunday, the field of professional men had been whittled down to eight competitors set for head-to-head heats. Valencia was able to defeat Zac Henderson who was competing in his UST debut. Blair Conklin and Bill Bryan met in the second heat of the quarterfinals, during which Bryan had one huge backside turn off one of the biggest and troughiest waves of the morning. This was a huge score, but it wasn’t enough to fend off Conklin’s all around approach. John Weber started his quarterfinal heat with the best wrap of the morning so far, smashing a backside turn into a big troughy lip and returning back up the sand with speed. He took first in his heat over the ever-stylish Teddy Vlasis. Dane Cameron pulled out a variety of tech in his quarter final heat to defeat fellow Laguna local Jacob Stinnett.
The first heat of the semi finals saw a head to head match up with crowd favorite Blair Conklin and the UST points leader Gerardo Valencia. Conklin started his heat off with a full rotation backside air, and Valencia answered back with a frontside liner and forcing a 360 shuvit. This first exchange set the tone for the heat, as it seemed that Conklin was able to find powerful waves while Valencia was forced to manufacture scores from weaker waves. Ultimately, Conklin’s strategy and wave selection paid off in this heat as he was able to outscore Valencia. John Weber and Dane Cameron faced off in the other semi final. Weber got the crowd excited early as he linked a 360 out to a wrap to 360 shuvit. Cameron quickly answered back with a bigger spin, and then Weber responded by sliding his tail out on a backside turn on a big troughy surge. While Cameron took an early lead, Weber gained it back in the fifth minute after popping a shuvit-grab on the face of a backside liner. Weber ultimately held his lead for the remaining minutes of the heat, setting up a final with Conklin and Weber.
The final started off with a frontside 360 to small backside liner by Weber. Conklin quickly answered back by setting up a frontside line to alley-oop big spin above the lip. Conklin made a few more great backside and frontside airs in the next few minutes, and it appeared that Conklin might have been pulling ahead. Then the biggest wave of the day arose, and both competitors ran south toward the peak. Weber had priority, and as a goofy footer he picked off the peak of the wave, arcing a speedy backside turn and popping a huge backside shifty airdrop back into the flats. Conklin managed to turn frontside off the same wave and keep his momentum toward the beach, but Weber clearly took the advantage in that exchange. The rest of the heat saw a handful of keeper rides from each competitor, but that one wave was the biggest difference maker. During the awards ceremony, John Weber was crowned champion of the 2021 Victoria Skimboards Championship.
Professional Men
- John Weber
- Blair Conklin
- Gerardo Valencia
- Dane Cameron
UST Points race
Going into this event, Gerardo Valencia was at the top of the leaderboard, just over 100 points above Sam McCoy in second place. McCoy did not compete at the Vic, and as a result Valencia was able to expand his lead to over 900 points over McCoy. Valencia’s substantial lead means only he and Sam McCoy have a mathematical shot at winning the 2021 UST title. Sam McCoy has only a few scenarios in which he can win. McCoy can win by getting first in Oktoberfest, but Gerardo would need to finish seventh place or lower. Further, McCoy has a chance to win with a second place finish at Oktoberfest, but that would require a minimum of 31 competitors at the last event and Valencia again would need to finish seventh place or lower.
Will Valencia be able to hold his lead and capture the first ever UST title for Mexico? Stay tuned for the final event in Newport Beach, CA on September 25th and 26th where we will crown the 2021 UST professional men’s champion.