Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Surf Comp

Bloom User's Cup was held Sunday 18th at Seaside Beach. I was going to update yesterday but was hungover and couldn't be bothered sitting down in front of the computer to do it.
There was only a small field but it was quite competitive and the sun was out. The swell picked up considerably from Saturday when it was questionable at best and there were good waves throughout. Unfortunately the waves abandoned us in the Longboard A final but I was lucky to pick off a nice left at the start which saw me through. It would've been cool to get sets pouring through but I guess it's just the luck of the dice and you have to make do with what you've got.
The winners TrophyMaki, MCing the contest and overseeing proceedings. Good job mate!Koharu fanning the fire while Ken-san's curry cooks. Oishikatta!!Honda-san from POP Wetsuits talking to Tsuyoshi Tobita (pro surfer) before the exhibition.Judges tent, (L-R) Mayumi, Eri, Oguri, EnishiHoptong Smith.

Hoptong is a friend of Dave's from Hawaii who resides in Makaha, Oahu. He now rides for Grace Surfboards and has been visiting for the last 2 months doing photo trips and sales trips. He's probably seen more of Japan in that short time than I have over the last 10 years!! Anyway, after the Bloom Cup, Dave and Taro threw a farewell BBQ in his honor. Great to have seen his surfing and drawn inspiration from it. The guy can surf anything and do it with style. In the above picture you can see him carrying a traditional wooden board ridden in Hawaii from the old days. That party, combined with the excitement of winning the contest led to me enjoying one to many beers, hence the hangover yesterday. All guns firing today though and it's off to work.

See ya next year Hoptong!!

3 comments:

Alex said...

what! you won another contest!! the world has turned inside out, everything is upside down!!!

J said...

not really. I wasn't short boarding. If I had won a contest short boarding that woulda really put a cat amongst the pidgeons

Unknown said...

Congratulations, again!

Well done.

Dad