Ocean Park Surf Contest

Jose Ortiz

At 6 A.M. this chilling July Saturday morning, the moon is still glowing in the sky above, as a crowd starts to gather near Lifegaurd Tower 26 in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica. The Fourth Annual Ocean Park Surf Contest is about to begin. The air horn blasts and several surfers run into the ocean, without their boards, to compete in the Body Surf division of the contest.

  Over the years Ocean Park has acquired a rich history in surfing, skateboarding, and the arts. The Ocean Park Surf & Skate Club, along with Presenting Sponsor ZJ Boarding House, continues the tradition with it's annual surf contest. Over 70 competitors are competing for the more than $6,000 in prizes. Arbor, DogTown, Santa Monica Airlines, Lightninig Bolt, and Rider Shack are among the many sponsors that donated prizes. Carver Skateboards also made sure every top finisher will skate away with one of their complete boards.

Zypher Wilson

Tristan Welch

  After 2 heats and a final, Heather Cryan and Beck Adler took the top 2 spots in Body Surf, which was open to all ages, male and female. The rest of the contest was divided into the more traditional surf contest divisions: Masters, Mens, Women, Juniors, Boys, and Girls. Many that competed in Body Surf would also compete in these as well.

  The wind kicked up much earlier than usual, making for some pretty small surf, favoring those with longboards. A few competitors that only had shortboards ended up surfing on longboards they borrow right before their heats. Some competitors, such as 11 year old Beck surfed on both a short and longboard in the same heat. A good mixture of surfing styles was seen in each heat, guys like Masters competitor Tristan Welsh aggressively charging the waves, while others like Jose Ortiz, in the Mens division, stylishly rode the nose all the way to the sand. Girls surfer Maddie LoMonaco even went for a headstand.

  With that air horn signaling the end of the last heat of the contest, everyone relocated to the nearby grass amphitheater for the awards ceremony and concert. Local band Ocean Park Sound System put on a great live concert, as the judges finalized all the scores. The trophies, made out of recycled materials by local artists Mike Yonke and Kit Kalionzes, were then given out along with the prizes to all the winners.

"The community really makes this event special so I want to call that out. And there are a lot of local families that have dads and kids in the contest so that is cool" notes contest organizer Kevin Osborne. Next year's contest is already being planned. Body Surf 1. Heather Cryan 2. Beck Adler 3. Marcus Mclendon 4. Price Marshall Masters 1. Tristan Welch 2. John Sahakian 3. Dave Preston 4. Christian Buffum Men 1. Tyler Packham 2. Frank Carruna 3. Marcus Mclendon 4. Jorge Barba Women 1. Lauren Hawthorne 2. Suzanne Ely 3. Liz Montgomery 4. Heather Cryan Juniors 1. Cole Sweeney 2. Beck Adler 3. Zepher Wilson 4. Dylan Kruger Girls 1. Gracie 2. Maddie LoMonaco 3. Chloe Klienman 4. Eden Wilson Boys 1. Beck Adler 2. Kolby Clark 3. Charlie Gooding 4. Bodhi Sahakian

Maddie LoMonaco

  Check out over 600 more photos of the contest and concert & awards ceremony in these photo galleries:




  A video edit of the contest will be online shortly, follow our Facebook Page and our Youtube Chanel for the quickest updates.

Photos of all the wipeouts & crashes from this contest will be posted in next week's Wednesday Wipeouts.

Kooks are Dangerous

Being a lifeguard captain, Remy Smith knows this all too well, but one day, while surfing some good size waves at the Venice Breakwater, one kook, who shouldn't even been out in these waves in the first place, was unable to dive under a wave and shot his surfboard out right into oncoming Remy. Fortunately, Remy was able to block the board as it shot out right in his face.

Here is a photo sequence of it:

Distraction

From Sayulita, Mexico, Pro SUP Surfer Karen Jacobson. A former professional gymnast, Karen is now climbing to the top of the Standup World Tour and US SUP Tour ranks. She has already claimed the title of National Champion several times in her home country of Mexico. Besides her SUP skills, she is also know for her bikini choices, "I feel comfortable with myself and with my body, and I’m sure I won’t be wearing these bikinis once I turn 50. So I want to wear them now. I love having my small bikinis" says Karen.

Endless Skater - Free Download

TransWorld SKATEboarding and SuperVillain Studios (original creators of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater), have released TransWorld Endless Skater, skateboarding game and it's currently free to download via the Google play Store

Wednesday Wipeouts

Every Wednesday, a collection of the best and worst wipeouts that been caught by Six12 Media. These wipeouts were caught along Venice Beach, at the Breakwater and Pier.













Previous Wipeout photo sets:
Venice and Huntington Beach Pier Wipeouts
Santa Monica Paddle Board Race Wipeouts
First Wednesday Wipeout Set

Petition To Keep The Venice Skatepark Webcam Up

Looks like some money hungry lawyer decided that if the Venice Skate Alliance wouldn't sell him the webcam and website, then he would have it shut down:

Since 2010 there has been a video camera at the Venice Skatepark. The camera provides a live video feed to www.veniceskatepark.com. Skaters use the feed to check the status of the park before coming down to skate. Friends and family check the feed on the site to watch their favorite skaters. People around the world watch the feed to see what’s happening, live at the Venice Skatepark.

Earlier this year, a lawyer decided he didn’t want the camera at the park because the owner of the camera and the website refused to sell it to him. So he went to the Recreation and Parks Dept. and threatened to sue them if the camera wasn’t removed. He stated the structure (a tricycle) on which the camera is mounted was a liability. The camera and the tricycle have been at the park since 2010, without incident.

We need your signatures below to convince Charles Singer of the Dept. Recreation and Parks that the local and global community support the camera and live feed at the Venice Skatepark.

Thank you,
Lance LeMond

Sign The Petition

Venice Skatepark photo galleries:

Upcoming Event: Ocean Park Surf Contest

The Ocean Park Surf & Skate Club's Fourth Annual Ocean Park Surf Contest is going down on July 12th, 2014, at Lifeguard Tower 26 on Santa Monica Beach. For more information email Kevin at OceanParkSurfClub@gmail.com or check out their Facebook Page.

Check out photos, video, and a write up of last year's contest: