Sunset Beach Contest Details....

I think (cross your fingers) that we've got the judges all lined up. We will meet tommorrow night (Friday the 23rd) for a competitors meeting at the house that Gordon and Paula have rented.

The address is 1202 Canal Street.
The house is easy to find. Turn left at the stop sign at the pier. turn left onto 12th street. The house is on the right- corner of Canal and 12th

We will meet around 8-8:30ish

If you are not going to be there tommorrow night, call me tommorrow so i can know what class to put you in. Not sure when we will start on Sat, depends on the surf.

Entry fee will be 30 dollars for the first class, and 5 for each additional class. ACA members will get an insurance discount, so bring your valid ACA #s. Also $10 bounty for bringing new competitors.

Plan is to get the whole thing done on Sat, so if you are in multiple classes be ready for some hard work :)

As always, feel free to call me with questions tommorrow afternoon.

Take care, hope to see everyone there, should be a fun time.

Joey Hall
ESKA President
Cell.803.238.0432

Sunset Beach Contest Update

Hello,
The event is still set to go, hopefully there will be waves. Still looking for some judges, but hopefully all will come together as usual.

Still looking for a good meeting place, will announce when I figure one out. We'll meet on friday night to sign waivers, etc. Please call or email me by Friday if you are coming, so I can get you in the right classes.

If all goes well, the whole contest will run on sat, but theres always a possibility we will run a bit on sunday too.

Sunset Beach is being very nice by letting us have a contest, so lets be good guests. Please no vehicles on the beach, etc.

Here are some options for lodging:

http://www.continentalcondo.com/basic.htm

http://www.ncbrunswick.com/brunswick_county_accommodations_detail.cfm?member_num=210

http://www.google.com/local?hl=en&lr=&rls=SNYF,SNYF:2004-47,SNYF:en&q=hotel&near=Sunset+Beach,+NC+28468&sa=X&oi=localr

http://www.daysinnlr.com/

Take care
Joey Hall
www.eskasurf.com

JAX I: First contest of the 06 circuit was a big success!!

We held the first contest of the 06 Spring ESKA circuit this past weekend in Jacksonville Florida. After a week of dismal surf reports from the area, plus some nasty thunderstorms, everyone was worried that we'd wake up on Saturday morning and the ocean would be flat. I'm happy to report that this was not the case, and we had good waves for the entire day of competition! The waves remained chest to head high for most of the day, and though the wind and tide made for some heart pounding drop-ins perilously close to the sand, everyone had a good time.

Huge thanks to Carlos, Paula, and everyone else who helped out. And thanks as well to Mickey, Mike, and Josh, our judging crew who did an excellent job. This was these guys first time judging a kayak contest, and they said they really enjoyed it. We look forward to continuing to work with them on future contests in the Florida area.

There were some big rides, including a very nice aerial barrel roll by Spencer Cooke that had everyone on their feet. Carlos Marrone was throwing huge tail slashes in the International class (as usual), Antnee was getting big rides in both HP and IC, Chris Gotshall managed to sweep both Masters classes with some solid rides, and Brent Fields showed up (after a long hiatus) with some great rides in his cyclone. I also wanted to point out that this was Regan Norris's first surf kayak competition, and we hope he'll be back for more contests this spring.
We finished up the day with our first ever Big Trick competition, and somehow I managed to win AND break my boat, with a big Barn Burner ;)

Here are some results:
Masters HP:
1 Chris Gotshall
2 Ross Fulcher
3 Russ Buskirk
4 Brent Fields

Masters IC
1 Chris Gotshall
2 Russ Buskirk
3 Ross Fulcher
4 Brent Fields

Waveski/Open
1 Anthony Bell
2 Gordon Rock

Mens HP
1 Anthony Bell
2 Spencer Cooke
3 Carlos Marrone
4 Gordon Rock

Mens IC
1 Anthony Bell
2 Russ Buskirk
3 Spencer Cooke
4 Carlos Marrone

Big Trick
1 Joey Hall
2 Spencer Cooke
3 Anthony Bell

Here are some photos.
Here's what you could win if you come to an event

We had waves!

The esteemed judges

The Masters have gone crazy after having paddled in 20 out of 30 heats....

The HP boys

Group shot

Thanks to all who attended, and we look forward to the next event at Sunset Beach near the end of the month...more info posted here soon.

--Joey Hall