ESKA – The Eastern Surf Kayaking Association

The registration is up for the 2010 US Surf Kayak National Championships

First class is $55, each additional class will be $30. Register for one class, then you will have the option to register for another, you will be discounted for each additional class.

This registration form is for the National Championships portion of our 4 day Oct 7-10 event. The Men, Women, and Junior HP classes will also be counted towards World Cup points.

US East paddlers will also gain credit towards US East team trials and team selection.

The junior entry fee is only 20 dollars, to encourage their participation.

We are offering a waveski class for anyone interested using the same judges and criteria.

Active registration for Nationals is here: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1891047

If you are interested in participating in the Battle for Hatteras Event on Oct 7 and 8, please email me directly as I’ll be handling those registrations separately. Rules for B4H are here http://battleforhatteras.wordpress.com/rules-and-info/ and if you already paid for an entry to the 2008 event that was canceled, that entry is still good.

If anything on the Active registration is not working correctly, please contact me immediately, I tested it but there’s always a chance a setting is incorrect.

Thanks
Joey
ESKA
deadmanprd AT gmail DOT com

October 2011, the World Championships of Surf Kayaking is to be held at the Outer Banks of NC. http://www.worldchampionshipsofsurfkayaking.com/ for more info.

Hi all,
I’ll have the registration info posted soon with more stuff about where to stay, etc sometime this weekend.

We’ll be holding the event in the Buxton/Hatteras area (the Lighthouse/Frisco), as we did last time it was on the East coast.

Oct 7-8 will be the Battle for Hatteras portion of the event. For those who do not know, the Battle for Hatteras is a 3 on 3 team event featuring a Wave Ski, an IC boat, and a short boat. You can form a team however you’d like, but there are bonuses for including juniors and women. If you need help forming a team, please contact us.  We will limit entry to 8 three person teams.  For full rules check the old B4H site http://battleforhatteras.wordpress.com/rules-and-info/

The Battle for Hatteras is optional, and anyone may enter a team.

The US National Surf Kayak Championships will take place at the same contest site on Oct 9-10. You do NOT have to have participated in the B4H event to enter the Nationals. We will be crowning National Champions in short and long boat divisions for men, women, juniors, and masters. We will also offer a separate waveski class if there is interest.

The short boat divisions will also be counted as World Cup qualifiers.

ANYONE MAY COMPETE IN THE US NATIONALS. You do not have to be an American, though we will be crowning the US Champs out of the top placing American competitors.

Anyone flying in should consider flying to Newport News, Virginia Beach, or Raleigh Durham Intl Airports. Contact me for more info and I’ll help you get where you need to go.

Email your questions to deadmanprd AT gmail DOT com

I’ve heard rumor that Marc Woolward and Buck Johnson are flying in, I urge everyone else to attend as well so I can find an excuse not to have to hang out with them.

I’ll post a link to more info in a few days.

Thanks!

Joey
Eastern Surf Kayaking Association

From Gordon Rock:
Surf City, NC 8:00 A.M. Broadway street access. Lots of good swag from C4, Toes on the Nose, East Coast Sports, XM leashes, Island real estate (something about a weekend in a condo!)and Hyperflex wetsuits.
We’ve got a low moving in friday which will build the surf overnight, leaving Saturday Clear and Sunny, Cool in the morning (40 ish, warming up to the mid sixties), with what as of now appears to be bumpy wait-chest surf. Of course that is only the prediction as of now and can and probably will change. Water temp is 53. I went out Monday; no hood, no gloves.
Hope to see everyone at Flamin Amy’s on Friday night 7:00 for registration/competitor’s meeting/t-shirt pick up.

A link to Active.com registration can be found at http://www.active.com/outdoors/surf-city-nc/battle-of-the-blades-2010

See you there!

The Battle of the Blades will be held on March 27th, with a possible second day on the 28th, in Topsail Island, Surf City NC.

The Battle of the Blades at Topsail Island, NC will be held March 27th (with additional day March 28th).  Below is the Active.com entry link.  One entry fee of 45 dollars and you can select as many classes as you like (provided you meet the age and gender requirements )  Again we are including SUPers and there will be a waveski/SOT class as well.

http://www.active.com/outdoors/surf-city-nc/battle-of-the-blades-2010

This event will count as a team trial qualifyer.

The Jacksonville, FL event that was going to occur on Feb 20th or 27th has been indefinitely postponed, but the Topsail NC event will happen as scheduled at the end of March.

The Battle of the Blades at Topsail Island, NC will be held March 27th (with additional day March 28th).  Below is the Active.com entry link.  One entry fee of 45 dollars and you can select as many classes as you like (provided you meet the age and gender requirements )  Again we are including SUPers and there will be a waveski/SOT class as well.

http://www.active.com/outdoors/surf-city-nc/battle-of-the-blades-2010

This event will count as a team trial qualifyer.

http://eskasurf.com

Here are some details on the plan for the official 2010 Eastern Surf Kayak Association event circuit.  There is already a lot of excitement and interest in events for next year, leading up to the 2011 World Surf Kayak Championships, to be held in OBX, NC in the fall of 2011.

These events will be used as part of the selection process for the 2011 US East Surf Kayak Team, and we will be offering beginner, intermediate, and advanced categories at all events when possible.

Our tentative plan for 2010 is as follows, dates TBD:

February 2010:

Jacksonville, Florida Event at Hannah Park

March 2010:
Topsail Island, North Carolina Event

September 2010:
Topsail Island, North Carolina Event

October 2010:
The 2010 US National Surf Kayak Championships and Battle for Hatteras:
Once again the US National Surf Kayak Championships return to the east coast.  With the World Championships occurring on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in fall of 2011, we plan on holding the 2010 Nationals in the same location, in order to test some systems, and do a bit of a “dress rehearsal” for the Worlds.

In addition, we will be running the much postponed Battle for Hatteras team event in conjunction with the 2010 US National Surf Kayak Championships.  The Battle for Hatteras will feature teams of three (one HP kayak, one IC kayak, and one waveski) facing off against each other.

The 2010 National Surf Kayak Championships and Battle for Hatteras will occur over a four day period, likely in early September.  Though this is a “US” event, we would like to extend the invitation to surf kayakers all over the world to come participate in the Nationals and the Battle for Hatteras.

March 2010:
Charleston, South Carolina Event at Folly Beach

November 2010:
New Smyrna, Florida Event

There may be more events added to this list in the near future.  Dates will be set in the coming months, and we will also have some other exciting news to announce soon.

We are also planning on holding 6-8 events during the 2011 lead up to the World Surf Kayak Championships.

More info soon.  Check back at http://eskasurf.com

The WSKA Committee has decided to award the bid for the 2011 World Championships of Surf Kayaking to the US East.  The US East Team and the ESKA have put many years into securing this bid, and we are excited and honored to host the world’s best in 2011.  Thank you to all who have helped us along the way.  We hope to provide the best World Championship possible for the sport of surf kayaking.

We will be launching a specific website for the event in the coming weeks.  Please stay tuned for more info.

View the official announcement at Kayaksurf.net (Thanks Luis for all of your help and support!)

Here are the final standings for the US East Surf Kayak Team at the 2009 World Surf Kayak Championships in Santa Cruz, Portugal.

US East Placed 8th out of the 12 full teams competing at this year’s event.

US East Team Captain Anthony Bell proudly displays our 8th Place Trophy. Yes, they gave trophies, not only up to 8th place, but all the way through 12th. Everyone was a winner.

US East had three individual World Medalist this year whom we are very proud of.
Lindsay Usher placed 3rd in Women’s Long Boat
Russ Buskirk placed 3rd in Grand Masters Short Boat
Tom May placed 4th in Grand Masters Short Boat

CONGRATS GUYS!

US East 2009 World Medalists (left to right) Russ Buskirk 3rd Place Grand Masters Short Boat, Lindsay Usher 3rd Place Womens Long Boat, Tom May 4th Place Grand Masters Short Boat

Team England took top honors placing 1st in the team event at this World Championships. Here they receive their trophy below a moonlit eve just before everyone jumped into the pool.

The Basque enthusiastically receiving their 2nd Place Trophie.

The US East has put a bid in for the 2011 World Championships.  Other countries placing bids included Australia.  The location of the 2011 event is to be announced within the next couple months as the WSKA (World Surf Kayaking Organization) is currently busy making the decision.  Visit here at a later date to find out where the next event will be held.

Thank you to all the friends, family and sponsors of our team and team members for following the ESKA site to monitor our progress during the World Championships.  Portugal was unquestionably an excellent experience for us all.

The US East Surf Kayak Team may very well see you in the lineup when the next swell hits our beaches.

USA East reports our final results from the 2009 World Surf Kayak Championship in Santa Cruz, Portugal.  We will be taking home three medals.

Finals were held on a wet morning, Saturday, August 1st. - Photo: Effort.tv

Russ Buskirk of Folly Beach SC took 3rd place, bronze medal, in Grand Masters (50 and over) short boat (hp).  A very devoted surf kayaker, Russ has been paddling and surfing very well this year and proudly earned this position.

Russ Buskirk with game face before his Grand Masters HP Finals heat. Russ placed 3rd. His secret is the mustache. - Photo: Effort.tv

Lindsay Usher from the Outer Banks NC has placed 3rd taking the bronze medal for the US East in the Women’s Long Boat (ic) Class.  A bit of a bummer for her personally considering that she dominated her competition leading all the way up to finals.  Nonetheless, the team and country are very proud of her.

Tom May of New Smyrna Beach FL placed 4th in Grand Masters (50 and over) short boat (hp).  Tom “May” get an aluminum medal or perhaps wood, we’re not sure.  Actually we don’t know if they give medals for 4th.  Regardless, Tom surfed very well throughout the contest and gave the US East Team access to his invaluable surf wisdom.  40 years of surfing pays off.

Tom May and Lindsay Usher from the US East before their final heats. They placed 4th and 3rd in their respective classes, Grand Masters HP and Women's Long Boat (ic). - Photo: Effort.tv

Full event results may be seen at http://kayaksurf.net/news.html

To summarize this event, boundaries were broken, the ante was upped, the sport was perhaps even “pushed forward.”  Come back soon for more news from the ESKA and the US East Surf Kayak Team.

Enjoy some more photos from the Finals by Effort.tv