The Official Demise of Competitive Longboarding?

According to the ASP's website, it is so. A few weeks back, both the men's and women's world championships were "Tentative". Now, nothing. It surely comes as no surprise to the boys and girls that have been involved in the scene over the past 5 years, but it's still a sad sight.

The surf industry as a whole is suffering. The king of surf clothing over the last 15 years, Quiksilver has been reporting record quarterly losses. And longboarding hasn't been legit in the eyes of the big-money sponsors since the late '90s. Oxbow made a push over the last two years to return the WLT to a level of respectability, but they're pretty much going it alone. They had talked about expanding the tour from two to possibly three or four events in 2009, but as of right now, talks are nil.

As the national economy teeters on the brink of Depression (depending on whom you talk to, we're already there), it's natural that most every industry would suffer. But in one viewed as a luxury and/or recreational, it hits pretty hard. Luckily, everyone still needs t-shirts, slippers and boardshorts, so most of the big companies are pretty safe. But in longboarding circles, where the sponsors are mostly boards and accessories, the dollars flowing are becoming fewer and fewer.

It should be a telling next 6 months.

The Worlds Come to San Onofre

Exciting past week. In the wake of LBM closing its doors, I sent out a few feelers for some freelance work in regard to the Oxbow World Longboard Championships. The event was held at Old Mans at San Onofre from Nov. 5-8. Got a few bites, so I was down there from sun-up (almost) to sun down each day of the contest. For being unemployed, those were some long, long days of work.

For the few months leading up to the event, the surf had been super consistent and really fun. Can't even count how many times after a session I believed it to be the best San O I'd ever surfed. The day before the event was set to begin, the surf looked the worst it'd been in that few months time span. Great, Southern California finally gets a big longboard contest, and the Surf Gods send us slop. Knew I should have sacrificed that 14-year-old grom. Well, five day window. Pray for waves.

Day 1 of the contest: classic crisp fall weather, sunny skies, deep blue water color and 2-3 foot wave faces as smooth as ice. And the conditions held throughout the event. During my time in the surf industry I've attended quite a number of surf contests, and this was the first one I enjoyed from the first horn blown to when the champagne was popped. Stellar conditions, first-class surfing, tons of unexpected twists and a fitting ending.

It'd been 12 years since Hawaiian Bonga Perkins had won his first world championship. He'd come close on so many occasions since — a few runner-up finishes and a bunch of late-late contest eliminations. It was apparent in his actions leading up to the final, just how much this opportunity meant to him. In the 30 minutes between the semifinals and the beginning of the final he was pacing back and forth, stretching, trying to maintain a sense of coolness and composure. But his eyes were a giveaway. He wanted this second one more than he was willing to let on. Upon his return to the shore after holding off the Frenchman, Antoine Delpero, he was finally able to let all of the pent-up emotion pour out. Quite a moment. Quite a week.

Following are a few standouts from the photos I shot. BTW, I bought a new Canon 40D ... definitely a worthwhile investment.

Hawaiian Ned Snow was ripping all week. He posted the only 10 of the event.

The Brazilians are known for their national pride.
Fantastic late afternoon lighting. Youngster Cole Robbins.
Though strapped with pressure, Bonga was spot-on in the final.

The Hawaiian contingent.