| Josh
"BURANIMAL" Buran: Solid artwork and airs |
10.28.05 |
| Kyle
Lynch: Breakneck Skim Crew |
10.27.05 |
| Kyle Lynch from the Break Neck Crew sent
us a sick little video.. Check it out. |
|
| Outside
the Green Room: These Walls Talk |
10.26.05 |
DBCC's Robert De Corah drops some knowledge on the raddest
bunch of surfers this side of Ponce Inlet
Article Written by: Bryan Munson
Anyone who’s surfed Daytona knows that there probably
hasn’t ever been a wave big enough to curl over top of
a rider, save for that one incredibly rare wave, in an incredibly
rare set, birthed from an offshore storm and producing incredibly
rare (yet surfable!) conditions devoid of the washing machine-like
soup we normally get.
So instead, the Green Room around here has become sort of a
pipe-dream, a metaphor for what every surfer aspires to feel
– encapsulated by the water, solely dependent upon themselves
in their battle with nature’s most beautiful and deadly
element and free from the intrusion of the outside world.
WHD found Robert De Corah just outside that metaphor and chatted
with him about a few local college kids who, like him, are constantly
in search of that feeling.
The Beginning (Again), he says…
The dream never died, but in 2005, it has been revived.
If you locals recall, Daytona Beach Community College once had
a dominant team in the 1990’s, and it’s been De
Corah’s mission, along with Team Captain Todd Kinsey,
to bring that glory back to surfside, A1A.
“There was a team for 6 or 7 years, back in the 90’s,”
De Corah said. “But I guess there wasn’t a
good quality of surfers who wanted to do it anymore when that
era of surfers moved on to other things. So our objective
was to put together a team that, as it stands now, is probably
the best on the East Coast. Todd was the team captain
of the Eastern Surfing Association All-Stars, which comprises
the best of the east coast in that particular circuit.
I mean, the guy is a 5-time ESA champ, and in 2003, he was first
nation in the National Scholastic Surfing Association in longboarding.
“Everyone else has ranks in the ESA, which is what we
all used to compete in before switching to the NSSA (which handles
scholastic competitions). Six out of nine on our competition
squad are ranked best of the East in the ESA. If it looks
like we’re stacked, we are. What most people don’t
realize, though, is that Florida produces some of the top pro
surfers out there. Kelly Slater is from Cocoa. Some
people come here and think that our surf is terrible, but for
us, it only makes us better. We have to work to get a
good wave, and work so the ride is a good one. When we
go places and compete where it’s big, we simply step up,
and usually, perform well.”
Trial by WaterDe Corah, Treasurer on the team, and Kinsey held
an open tryout a little over a month ago. The duo recruited
two certified ESA judges to help them determine who should be
on the team, and chose the top nine from the thirty hopefuls.
They have six male shortboarders, one male longboarder, one
female shortboarder and a bodyboarder. More than happy
with the caliber of talent on the team, they got some even better
news two weeks ago – DBCC reinstated them as an official
team, privileged to school funds, and also, reinstated the surf
club. For a group that competes against giants like UF,
FSU and UCF (which has four squads—A, B, C and D!), that
does several things for the team.
“You have to have a club to have a team, so first, we
have a pool of back-ups,” De Corah said. “Surfing
is like any other sport – it’s a competition.
And in those competitions, some people have good and bad days.
We all have to prove to one another that we deserve our spot
on the team, and we work hard. But if for whatever reason,
one person is unable to compete or seems to be falling behind,
we have other people who can step up and fill in.
“Second, it shows the school and community that we’re
serious about surfing. Like I said, we used to have a
really great team here, one of the best on the East Coast, and
the school saw that. Wherever the team went, people knew
us – there were magazines, newspapers, photographers,
television crews – they would come to the events and it
was a big deal. Those teams got great reviews and created
publicity for the school, so we want to do the same thing.
DBCC sees that, so they support us. And of course, we
feel it from the community, too. People have offered to
make us T-shirts for the team, donate money at our events, all
kinds of things. We feel it from everywhere.”
Support for the CritiqueSponsorship is nothing new to sports,
but in collegiate athletics, it’s watched very carefully.
Surfing, though, is a sport driven by sponsors, so it’s
not unusual (or illegal) that most of the DBCC surf team has
individual sponsors. Collectively, though, the team just
picked up a new energy drink, called Lift-Off, and hope that
by doing well, everyone benefits.So then, how does a competitor
do well? How do these competitions work? If you’ve
only seen surfing sitting on the beach or sitting on your couch,
it may not look all that difficult. However, judges scrutinize
everything about a rider, from the selection of a wave to their
personality on the wave to, of course, what he or she actually
DOES on the wave. Judges look for “the most radical
maneuver at the most critical part” of the wave –
right in front of where it’s breaking.“For the shortboard,”
De Corah says, “it would be up at the top of the wave,
snap cutting back down, maybe getting air if the surfer is good
enough, and of course, to get inside the barrel. Judges
are pretty scrupulous, picking on your wave selection (how long
you wait to catch a wave), and the length of the ride.
Most rides are only 10 seconds or so, so if you stay on it as
long as you can, that’s a bonus. If you were on
a longboard, nose-riding gets you the most points. “Of
course, as is a big part of surfing and the culture, how you
look is real important, too. The riders’ particular
style and balance come into play, and they’ll take away
for flailing of the arms. Basically, they want you to
look natural. If you look like a robot or fish out of
water, you won’t get a good score.
”Green Room Dreamin’Surfers, by nature, are a different
bunch. They’re rather laid back on land, almost
in an attempt to blend in. Life simply becomes the minutes
until they can get back into the water and put everything on
pause. But unfortunately, they don’t blend in –
they seem to stick out because that vibe, that island charisma,
is a dead characteristic to many of us. So when we see
it, it’s something special.If talking to De Corah and
processing his thoughts regarding the rest of the DBCC team
are any indication, he’s no different. There’s
been surfers of advancing years who’ve been much more
poetic about the curl, but there’s no less pride or attention
to detail when De Corah talks about what he loves to do.
“You go out there and you feel free,” he says, a
bit slower, the hint of a smirk in his voice. “You
don’t worry about anything. I’ve seen little
two-year olds in life jackets behind held up by their dads out
there, trying to get them involved. It’s physical,
it’s emotional, it’s challenging. And it’s
definitely special. I go out there when I’m sick
sometimes. As long as I’m out there, to be truthful, I
don’t feel sick. It’s just a good time when
nothing else matters.”The real prize—washing over
toes and ultimate ride in solitude—may prove elusive for
some, but as this team begins its quest for a championship,
it’s clear the dream of both is within reach.
| Poorboy
Surf Shop Showdown - May 21st |
05.21.05 |
San Luis Obispo
surf-product manufacturer,
Poorboy USA
Held their inaugural Surf Shop Showdown May 21, 2005
at Morro Rock. Local shop teams, consisting of 3
employees, battled it out in The Rock's 4-6 ft. windy
conditions for the bragging rights of the Central Coast's
best surfing staff. Other Central Coast manufacturers
- Azhiaziam Clothing, Video Action Sports, and Guayaki
Yerba Mate - supported the event, which raised scholarship
money for Morro Bay Rec Dept's summer surf school. |
 |
Local knowledge paid off as Morro Bay Surf Company dueled Wavelengths
Surf Shop, also of Morro Bay, in the final. When the scores
were totaled, it was MBSC just grazing the Wavelengths posse thanks
to their impressive double-whammy wave claimed by shop owner Anthony
Randazzo. The perpetual Poorboy Horse's Skull trophy will
hang at Morro Bay Surf Company until it’s up for grabs again
next year.
In the Open division, Dustin Ray shot down more than 20 other
hungry competitors and took home $150 loot for his efforts.
All finalists received prize bags full of Poorboy traction, leashes,
wax and apparel, Azhiaziam threads, V.A.S. Surf DVDs and more.
Competitors and spectators all got a chance to spin the Poorboy
“Wing P” Wheel of Love providing fun prizes and a
casual atmosphere throughout the event.
Shop Showdown Results:
1. Morro Bay Surf Company
2. Wavelengths Surf Shop #2
3. One Way Boardshop
4. Wavelengths Surf Shop #1
5. Central Coast Surfboards #2
6. Central Coast Surfboards #1
Open Results:
1. Dustin Ray
2. Dan Hoover
3. Mike Cianciulli (Poorboy USA)
4. Michael Harris
5. Matt Gentilucci
6. Stephen Kerster |
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Click HERE
to see all the pics |
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