The Home Stretch
After a win in Santa Cruz Blair Conklin has stepped out as the man to beat with a solid points lead heading into the final event. Consistent performance all year long means that Conklin can only be caught by one other competitor, Sam Stinnett. Stinnett who is 4 time world champ would need to win the event or place second in order to have a chance at coming from behind and beating Blair for the 2016 title. Given the expected contest turnout at Oktoberfest, a third place or better result from Blair will secure the title regardless of how Stinnett
2016 Pre-Santa Cruz Update
Leading into Santa Cruz the race is as tight as it has ever been with all of the top five competitors well within striking distance of the 2016 title. Blair Conklin holds onto his lead after skipping Vilano but only in tabulated points after two events are dropped. Multiple riders top him in overall points but the quality of the record will be what counts in the end, not the quantity. Sam Stinnett moved attained a much needed win in Vilano landing him in second place on the tour followed closely by John Akerman landing in third place on the
2016 Half Time Update
With three events down and three to go, the 2016 UST pack leaders are emerging. Blair Conklin and Perry Pruitt sitting pretty comfortable in the top two spots after solid finals appearances at all three events. Four time UST champ Sam Stinnett is off to a relatively rocky start landing in the finals of only one event so far, yet still finds himself 3rd in the total points tally. That third place is a bit of a mirage however as Austin Keen is right on his tail and after the drop is calculated once more scores are in, he is
2016 Men’s UST Tour Dates Announced
Last year many of the Men’s professional riders approached the UST board of directors and expressed frustration with an 8 stop UST tour. It was too expensive and too hard on the riders schedules to compete in 6 to 8 events each year. We did some behind the scenes polling of active UST riders and found that there was a strong consensus for a smaller, easier to attend tour. The board of directors hence made the decision that for 2016 there would be six total events on the tour, with any given rider’s top four results counting towards their points
Santa Cruz TAC Skimblast 2015
About 3 days before the TAC Skimblast, a big south swell rolled through Santa Cruz ripping out a huge swath of sand at the contest site. By Saturday morning the slope had recovered, and the missing sand had exposed even more of the sider rock at 26th avenue beach. After waiting for the tide to come up, the pros took the the water early Saturday morning with clean 1-3 foot conditions with inconsistent siders. The very first pro heat of the day saw some of the best siders all weekend with Max Bourne catching the lion’s share of siders throughout
OBX Skim Jam 2015
Saturday morning of the 2015 Outer Banks Skim Jam greeted competitors from both U.S. coastlines, Mexico and Brazil with light onshore winds and crystal clear water. With a sunny forecast and high tide around 10 a.m., the men’s pros were set to hit the water first. A farewell speech was made by Skim City Greg following the riders’ meeting and then heats were underway. Due to the sandbar at 5th Street, most waves were slightly out of reach, but pros such as Jackson Tenney, Juan Carlos Nazario Enciso (Bullo), and Morgan Just managed to sneak a few fun liners off
Sununga World Cup: Recap and photos
The 2015 Sununga Skim Festival brought competitive skimboarding to a whole new level. For years skimboarders have wanted to run a contest in conditions that push the limits of our sport and the beach of Sununga provides waves that allow us to accomplish exactly that. Sununga is located in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the city of Ubatuba. Unlike many of the contests on the tour, this event has a 7-day waiting period that allow athletes and contest organizers to decide when to run heats in the best of conditions. This year’s waiting period began with a stormy day with high
Cabo, Southside and Sununga 2015
The season is off to a great start. All time conditions in Cabo San Lucas yielded what were probably the heaviest contest conditions in history. After years of runner-up finishes, local hero Juan Carlos Nazario (“Bullo”) took the win at his home break in a well deserved victory. The Southside contest went down in Delaware the very next weekend where Austin Keen danced all over the competition taking the win at the contest for the third year in a row. The man is close to unstoppable at this place! Then in mid-June the came the Sununga event, one of the