The Tale of Two Days in One: By Dane Jeffries / Florida Board Rider Club https://floridaboardriders.com
Fort Pierce Inlet state park is another Sunshine State landmark that hopefully will never change. It still has the same front gate and guard shack it did during the 2002 ESA Regionals and the rest of the park looks the same. Warm water and a picturesque back drop of blue water and the jetty made this event a great change of pace. That’s until the wintertime cold front came whistling in.
The winners of the Florida Cup held Sept. 5th at Ft. Pierce Inlet. New Smyrna Boardriders won first place. Groop selfie. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
At first light it was light offshore, chest to head high peaks bouncing of the jetty and funneling down the beach. By 10 am a little north wind made a textured line up look fun with coping’s adorning the lips of every wave in site. By 10:30am the wind had picked up to 25mph and it looked like a totally different ocean. All these mood swings in the weather didn’t stop the teams from showing up and having a great time.
With the Geiselman brothers, Noah Schweizer, Steve Anest, Rick Mellen Daniel Glenn, Ron Hope, Evan Magee and a host of others made it very hard to beat the New Smyrna Club. Eric Geiselmans backside attack. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
The event was one of the closest contested events in the short history of the Board Riders Florida Cup. At one point during the day 4 of the 5 teams had all sat in the number 1 spot on the leaderboard. Space Coast opened up the day with their 14 & Under kids taking the top spot. Every other team was within 2 points of the top spot, proving that the younger generation in the South Division has a ton of talent! One Major highlight was Vance Weyandt from Palm Beach County double whammying a 9.07 in the first 4 minutes of the heat.
This is number six of a fifteen shot sequence, showing just how perfect and in control Giorgio Gomez surfs. This was one of the best airs seen all day. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
The 15-19 division took the water next right before the winds picked up. A fluffy lip presented itself to Kepa Mendia from the Palm Beach County board riders and he took advantage with a smooth air reverse. In the end it wasn’t enough to take down the home team, The Treasure Coast Board Riders who posted a winning total of 25.64 and took the lead overall after two heats.
South Floridas Board Rider Sofia Gamboa laying down a strong turn for her team in the Female Division. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Daniel Glenn adding heavily to New Smyrnas bottom line. Probably the best turn of the event. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
The 50 legends took the water next and did not disappoint. Long time surf industry lord Paul “Rhino” Reinecke caught one wave and dropped a 7.5 double whammy banger and launched space coast into the lead while popping off hard in the the 40’s division NSB’s long time inlet locals took the top spot with solid surfing from all four of their teammates including Anthony Conforti with a solid 6.1 double whammy. At the end of the 40’s NSB sat in the top spot.
Tommy O’Brien back in the game and repping for the Space Coast Boardriders. Drop wallet hack. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
The highly anticipated Open Women’s division took the water next with hometown hero Zoe Benedetto dropping a 6.8 double whammy which solidified the top spot for Treasure Coast and put them back in the drivers seat.
With 2 divisions left the 20’s and 30’s less then a point separated 1st and 3rd. (Space coast 105.33, Treasure Coast 104.49 and NSB 105.86 Strohmenger, Logan Hayes, Jeremy Johnston, and local coach Michel Flores all went to battle repping their club with the covenant Cup on the line.
Another one taking full advantage of the clean morning waves was Vance Weyandt on a speed run for the Palm Beach County Boardriders. Vance double whammied a 9.07 on this wave in the first 4 minutes of the heat, a major highlight of the morning heats. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
In the end the New Smyrna Board Riders club had enough fire power to hold off the rest of the clubs and claimed their first victory of the year. The Flor1da Cup will now sit in New Smyrna awaiting the Florida State Championship on March 19th. Congrats to all the clubs and congrats to Space Coast and New Smyrna who qualified to join the Jax Board Riders and Daytona Board Riders in the championship. – Dane Jeffries –
For all information about Florida Board Riders including getting on board click here https://floridaboardriders.com
South Florida Boardriders captain Lance “O” backside for the points. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Team Results :
! Bonus photo gallery sponsored by WRV !
New Smyrna Beach Boardriders were just on fire for the whole day. Heat after heat they kept the bar high. They did lose a few but in the end the numbers added up to a win. Noah Schweizer helped get the score with his no hold bard surfing. Tail slide snap for the win. PHOTO : @tomdugan
The man who makes the calls and keeps it all fair. Jaren Cooper referee to the stars. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
First thing in the morning the groms hit the water and added scores to the board. Gus Hultgren hits one for the New Smyrna Boardriders. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
There were a few nice size waves to come in and Smyrna’s Dylan Feindt grabbed an overhead right to help his campaign. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Clean radical surfing is all you can ask for from each person in each age division on your squad, Christian Daniels delivering the goods. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Contest organizer and MC Mason Sapp getting all the info out to the crowd and competitors. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Living just a way south from Ft Pierce, Jensen Calloway has this neck of the woods, wired, and throwing down an air is second hand for him in any size surf. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Ft. Pierce had waves all day with clean offshore wind waves to start and windy peaks for most of the day, after some rain. One goes by empty in the AM. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Eric McBenton snaps for the Space Coast 40 and up division. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
The Space Coast MVP for the event, surf coach CT Taylor showing how to do a proper snap on a choppy wave to get max points for your team. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Beckham McCart and Shea Edwards on the left from the Spacecoast Boardriders and friend waiting to have a go at the surf. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Highlight of the day was Dane Jefferys calling out ref Jaren Cooper to give him ten. He did them with perfect style and strength. Classic. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Down from Smyrna, Rick Mellen takes the lip off a small insider for a few points with a quick re-direct snap. PHOTO : @tomduganhotos
Nice lipper for Jack Bates with the Palm Beach County club. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
The South Florida Boardriders have a long way to travel from as far away as Miami but they definitely brought it as shown here by Jon Jon Calinao. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Treasure Coast Boardriders Captain Michel Flores put down a seven plus on this opening ride helping them get to a third place finnish. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Windy, cloudy day. with a bit of rain did not deter the competition. Note the rain clouds off in the distance. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Putting a good score on the board for Palm Beach county Chase Modelski takes to the air looking for a clean landing to add to there total points. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
A nice air by Nic Muller helped the Treasure Coast to a solid finish. It’s the team work and good surfing that makes the Boardriders Club progressive and exciting to watch. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
Giorgio Gomez out the back keeps a keen eye on Tanner Stromengers text book cuttie. Tanner surfing for the South Florida Boardriders. PHOTO : @tomduganphotos
