The 43rd Annual Victoria Skimboard Championships kicked off on Saturday, August 17th with a healthy mix of 34 professional skimboarders in the pro men division from all around the globe. The field included riders from California, the East Coast of the US, Hawaii, Mexico, and Brazil. The Vic was the fourth stop for the professional men on the 2019 United Skim Tour, and day one at Aliso Beach saw some of the best conditions of the 2019 tour so far.
Day One
The first round saw some serious waves of consequence, and it was obvious from the start that the judges were rewarding wave choice, big moves, and barrel riding. Sam Stinnet turned heads early as he stomped a huge airdrop to kick off the weekend. Austin Keen made waves with a few big frontside hacks in his heat, advancing alongside Laguna Beach local Max Bourne. Paddy Mack had a big moment in the final minutes of his round one heat when he threw a critical shuvit mid wrap and completed his ride back to the sand. That wave pushed him into second place, and he advanced along with Teddy Vlasis. Mexico’s favorite Gerardo Valencia ended up drawing an interference call in his heat and he didn’t advance. However, Gerardo’s brother Yahir advanced in style, getting second in his heat to David Haefele. Johnny Salta caught two of the biggest waves in round one, but he ultimately couldn’t back up his major scores and was eliminated. Cabo San Lucas local Juan Carlos, aka Bullo, looked especially comfortable in the overhead set waves, advancing alongside Bill Bryan.
In round two, the top two seeds Lucas Fink and Blair Conklin had their first heats of the day. Round two ran in the afternoon, when the wind picked up slightly and the tide returned back to it’s afternoon low. The sider at the southend of the beach showed up on occasion during the biggest sets, and riders like Lucas Fink, Yahir Valencia, and Sam Stinnet took advantage to post some of the biggest scores of the weekend. Both Lucas and Blair advanced in round two. Yahir Valencia had a very in-form round-two heat, as he placed first in a heat against Sam Stinnett, easily one of the best riders at Aliso. John Weber kicked off his round two heat with one of the best rides of the weekend, gliding far out to a wedging peak, ollieing off the top and throwing a shifty down the face. A few dozen spectators started chanting “Ten” after his ride, and while the judges didn’t give him a perfect score, they awarded him with a 9.4, one of the biggest scores of the contest.
Round three saw the field of professionals whittled down to 12, and all four of three-man heats were stacked. With winning heat totals hovering around the 40 point mark, it seemed like competitors needed an average of five 8-point rides in order to win the heat in the third round. Lucas Fink won his heat over Max Bourne and eliminating Bullo. Lucas caught one of the biggest siders of the weekend and managed to airdrop off a serious Aliso ledge and up the slope. The next heat saw two three-time UST champions, Blair and Sam, square off alongside David Haefele. Blair started his heat with a bang, posting a 7.5 for a lofty backside full rotation air. He kept that momentum through the heat and posted another 7-point ride and three more 8-point rides. Sam finished his heat with a huge backside 180 air drop during the final seconds, helping him advance into the quarter finals. John Weber and Yahir Valencia eliminated Dillon Brown, each catching their share of solid Aliso bombs. Bill Bryan was able to complete two switch stance backside wraps in his heat, but ultimately Bill was eliminated by in-form riders Austin Keen and Teddy Vlasis who both found some big Aliso barrels of their own.
Day Two
Day two started early in the day, squeezing in all remaining pro heats during the morning hours with the rising tide. The swell size dropped overnight, but the consistency of the waves seemed to be pushing in with the same frequency as Saturday. Sam Stinnet and Lucas Fink squared off in the first heat of the day. After a technical problem and a heat restart, Lucas opened the heat finding three waves quickly, including one 360 shuvit to backside hit and another barrel. Sam opted for the bigger waves in the heat, and while he posted the biggest score of the heat, he couldn’t back it up and ended up getting eliminated to Fink. Austin Keen and Yahir Valencia went back and forth in their heat, exchanging the lead multiple times. Yahir was able to fit in a mix of tech and big-wave barrels; however, Austin looked a little stronger overall, managing to link up a few critical shuvits. Austin fit himself into a sizable barrel in the final minute and grabbed the lead back to finish the heat. Weber and Teddy Vlasis had a solid heat. Weber seemed to be on the bigger waves of the heat and ultimately came out on Top. In the final heat of the quarters, Blair controlled the heat against Max Bourne, and during the final minutes Blair got the highest single wave score of the entire contest after driving through a deep in n out wrap barrel. One judge even threw out a 10 for that ride.
The first heat of the semi finals saw Fink go up against Austin Keen. Fink started off strong with a big barrel, and Austin answered back with a few big backside hacks. Austin later managed to sneak into a big frontside liner to barrel. As the heat wound down, it looked to be really close until Fink landed a 360 shuvit on the way out to a backside 360 turn off the top. That wave gave him a 7.9 and sealed his position as first in the heat. Blair and Weber then met up in their semi final heat for the 3rd contest in a row. Weber started his heat with the biggest wave of the heat, rail grabbing down the face of a backside monster and stylishly tucking into the tube. The heat then went back and forth with some priority jockeying. In the final few minutes, Blair found himself a clean frontside line to in n out barrel. Weber could not keep up during the second half of the heat and Blair pulled away.
The final saw UST number one and two going head to head for the second time this year. Blair started the heat off strong boosting a massive frontside air. Not to be outdone, Fink launched a backside 360 air of his own. The heat was very back and forth from there on, with Blair landing a huge shuvit grab air, and Lucas opting for tech riding with a 360 shuvit to liner barrel. During the final 30 seconds Blair nabbed the best wave of the heat, sliding 360 out to the biggest barrel of the final. Nonetheless, that one score could not overcome the deficit Blair was in, and Lucas finished ahead, grabbing his first win at the Vic and the first win for any international rider at the Vic.
Congratulations to all the professional riders, and a big thanks to Tex Haines, Matthieu Thibeau, and everyone else who helped make this event possible.
Professional Men
- Lucas Fink
- Blair Conklin
- Austin Keen
- John Weber
UST Title Race
This win gives Lucas Fink a substantial lead in the UST title race. Lucas has locked in three first-place finishes and one second-place finish. Given that only the top four placings count from six events, his lead is nearly solidified. However, he has not yet clinched the title.
Blair is the only rider who has a mathematical chance of beating Lucas, and Blair would need two first-place finishes in the final two events to take the lead. Further, for Blair to pull ahead, at least one of the events would need more than 21 pro men riders in attendance and Lucas would need to finish 3rd or lower in that event.
The final two stops are at Vilano Beach on August 23rd-25th and Newport Beach on September 21st-22nd. Stay tuned to see who will be crowned as the 2019 UST Champion!
Photos: Joe Bailey (IG), Laguna Tide Company (IG), Vativ Media (IG | Vativ Media)