“There was a rumor on the beach of a Dennis Jarvis sighting”

Lack of surf forced the postponement of the sixth and final South Bay Boardriders Club contest, which had been scheduled for last May. But as it turned, out moving the contest to last Saturday at the Manhattan Beach pier worked out better than that day in May with its lake-like swell, unbearable heat, and no parking.

  On Saturday, surfers were treated to 2- to 3-foot waves, sunny conditions kissed by Santa Ana’s, and the tightest competition in recent memory grappling for the title of King of the SouthBay. An onshore wind added texture by the afternoon, but nothing drastic with overall good conditions all day.

The person to beat, male or female, long or short board, was Natalie Anzivino. The pier has been her playground since she was a cute, little, surf grommette riding her bike from Torrance with a thruster underneath her arm. She’s now full grown, surfed a Pipe event, bounced around a few six star QS events, and lays claim to heavy pier, local status. Her solid wave selection assured her retention of her last year’s title as Open Women’s Queen of the SouthBay.

Placing second and third in the women’s open were Mira Costa riders Sara Kohrogi and Rachel Tominaga. The two placed one and two in the girls’ under 18 division.

 The Open Men’s saw a some upsets, namely Jamie Meistrell and Kent Nishiya going down in the early rounds.

Throughout the season, Dane Zaun, Shawn Burrell, and Matt Pagan have been trading places at the victory podium. With Zaun and Burrell no-shows, the One4LA.com mastermind Pagan took to the incoming mushy high tide waves in the finals with his trademark shrediabilty to retain his crown as King of the SouthBay.

But despite his win, Pagan didn’t have the points to overtake Burrell to retain his King of the SouthBay title. Burrell narrowly lost out to Pagan last year. In addition to bragging rights, the King of the SouthBay title comes with for two to Fiji, board Air Pacific.

Dayton Silva was hungry for a result since last placing 5th a few contests ago. He took home second with his lightening, “footloose” feet feeling the nooks and crannies of tiny surf for bursts of speed like a deranged gamma ray.

  The 14 and under division winner Will Reid, looking tough on shore in his Dizm specs, put on his big boy pants and used the 2- to 3-foot foot waves to his advantage to place 3rd. Fourth place finisher Spyder teamrider Chris Broman stood out all through the event but just couldn’t find the right wave in the finals.

The Longboard Division was a throwback to the mid-late ’90s when surfers from the ’60s like Mike Purpus (who’s still winning events), Chris Bredesen Sr., John Joseph, Dru Harrison and Daryl Dickie were still aggressively competing in events like the Aloha Days. As there were then, on Saturday, there were brews and smiles on the beach and snarls and “encouraging” banter in the breakers.

What has been a repeat battle in the long board division — one fin or three, heavy or light, modern, postmodern, classic, retro — might have been answered, or not?

Four traditionally, though modern styled single fin boards surfed against two modern, ’90s three-fin boards.

Ironically, the under-40 crowd was on designs inspired by 1966. The over-40 crowd was on designs inspired by 1996. With one of the closest and hottest heats in the contest and in SBBC longboard division history, it came down to last year’s King of the South Bay Mike Siordia and his bag of nose antics, versus longboard ratings leader  Dave Schaefer, a whirly bird specialist. Siordia took a set wave off the pier  “can-canning” on the nose edging out Schaefer and his “Special Op” helicopters for repeat victory.

 Over the season, the 40-49 divisions lost a few of its competitors to old age, yet welcomed a few more to the middle age club. While waiting to chase the SBBC Big Wave Challenge, Chris Rodriguez armed with his Pat Ryan shaped stick, placed 2nd in his first forties foray. A finalist in three events, Tom Seth, with the endurance of a 20 year old, took home fourth. Scott Whitmer, owner of one of the finest ding repair businesses in the SouthBay, Whitstick Fiberglass Repair, took third. Former South African Pro Warren Kushner took home his second 40-49 division title.

During this season, the legends division welcomed a new class that included surfers like Ted Robinson. One may pity poor Purpus, putting him poised to go out like the first generation iPod. Turning 65 in November, Purp still has the competitive fire to burn down the San BernardinoNational Forest and has a smooth style on his Davenport competition model to cool it down. He took home third with his switch stances and the balls to shoot the pier. The battle was between Derek Levy and lifeguard Roddy Williamson, who won the event last year. It was close the entire heat, but Levy described by a spectator as “going off” won his first SBBC legend’s title.

Kudos to Spyder Surfboards for bringing in their 30 years of experience to sponsor a kick ass event with the South Bay Boardriders Club. There was a rumor on the beach of a Dennis Jarvis sighting. It was great seeing Jani Lange in and around the sponsors’ booths. Thanks to Waterman’s for providing lunch, Spy Optics with refreshments and swag from Hurley, Creatures of Leisure, Nixon Watches, Future Fins, Globe, Sol Republic, Sector Nine and Waterman’s Applied Science.

For more photos and complete results go to EasyReaderNews.com. ER 

     Over the season, the 40-49 divisions lost a few of it’s competitors to old age yet welcomed a few more to the middle age club. When not chasing the SBBC Big Wave Challenge, Chris Rodriguez armed with his Pat Ryan shaped stick placed 2nd in his first forties foray.  A finalist in three events Tom Seth with the endurance of a 20 year old, took home fourth. Scott Whitmer, owner of one of the finest ding repair businesses in the South Bay, Whitstick Fiberglass Repair, took third. Former South African Pro Warren Kushner took home his second KOSB.

    During this season, the legends division welcomed a new class that included surfers like Ted Robinson. One may pity poor Purpus putting him poised to go out like the first generation ipod.  Turning 65 in November, Purp still has the competitive fire to burn down the San Bernardino National Forest and has a smooth style on his Davenport competition model to cool it down. He took home 3rd with his switch stances and the balls to shoot the pier. The battle was between Derek Levy and Lifeguard Roddy Williamson who won the event last year. It was close the entire heat, but Levy described by a spectator as “going off” won his first KOSB.

The Open Men’s saw a few upsets namely Jamie Meistrell and Kent Nishiya going down in the early rounds. 14 and under division winner Will Reid, looking tough on shore in his Dizm specs, put on his big boy pants and used the 2-3 foot waves fully to his advantage by placing 3rd. Fourth place finisher Spyder teamrider, Chris Broman, stood out all event but just couldn’t find the right wave in the finals.

Dayton Silva was hungry for a result since last placing 5th a few contests ago. He took home second with his lightening “footloose” feet feeling the nooks and crannies of tiny surf for bursts of speed like a deranged gamma ray.

The entire season, Dane Zaun, Shawn Burrell, and Matt Pagan have been trading places at the victory podium. With Zaun and Burrell a no-show, the One4LA.com mastermind, Pagan took to the incoming mushy high tide waves in the finals with his trademark shrediabilty to retain his crown as King of the South Bay.

Kudos to Spyder Surfboards for bringing in their 30 years of experience to sponsor a kick ass event with the South Bay Boardriders Club. There was a rumor on the beach of a Dennis Jarvis sighting. It was great seeing Jani Lange in and around the sponsors’ booths. Thanks to Waterman’s for providing lunch, Spy Optics with refreshments and swag from Hurley, Creatures of Leisure, Nixon Watches, Future Fins, Globe, Sol Republic, Sector Nine, and Waterman’s Applied Science.DZ

Jimmy Surf Fiesta

The annual Jimmy Surf Fiesta will be held Sunday, Oct 13 at 42nd street in Manhattan Beach. Competitors are rated and assigned to teams and must surf from a selection of boards, but not their own boards. JS will have a large quiver of demo boards. Heats start at 8 a.m. and continue through the day. A post contest party will be held at Verandas, on Rosecrans, at Highland Ave. To register visit JimmMillerFoundation.org