photos and words by Justin Mehren
Surf Yer Brains Out was a great success. The Malibu Surfing Association’s provided groms from up and down the coast the opportunity to surf the famed 1st point of Malibu to themselves. The early round standouts were Kei Kobayashi, Andrew Jacobson, Sean Woods, Trevor Robbins and Honolua Bloomfield all of which made the finals of their divisions.
In the U13 final, Sean Woods came out firing. He paddled into a set wave right after the opening horn separating him from the other competitors. Declan Solomon didn’t give up all heat and pressed all the way to the end, but came up short. Woods sealed the victory near the end of the heat and snagged another good set wave linking his turns and throwing tail on his finishing maneuver to solidify the win.
The Girl’s shortboard and longboard was a hard fought battle between Bloomfield and Frankie Seely, who went wave for wave in both divisions. In the longboard final, it was a nose-ridding exhibition by both competitors. But, Bloomfield found the larger set waves that connected all the way through and came away with the victory. Seely, determined to get Bloomfield back in the shortboard division, opened up the final linking turns on her backhand all the way to the beach. Bloomfield was on a role and when Seeley turned around to paddle back out, she had to watch her destroy a set wave with more spray coming off her turns than many of the boys. Seely and Sara Kohrogi fought back the whole heat, but in the end it was Bloomfield that came out on top.
Next up was the boy’s longboard, which put two friends, Trevor Robbins and Trae Candy, up against each other. It seems that at every contest at Malibu these two end up in the final going wave for wave. With Candy bringing his style from Rincon and Malibu local Robbins’ 1st point style, the two wowed the crowd with perfect stylish nose rides down the point. Although, it was clear from the beach that Robbins had the edge and with a stylish ten to heals on one of the larger sets of the day he locked up the victory.
The U16 Boys final was one of the most exciting heats of the contest with Kobyashi and Amour taking to the air with confidence. Woods and Dylan Lee were not to be left behind and both found solid waves in the middle of the heat. In the end, it was Kobayashi’s air game that proved to be the difference as he stuck the most critical air reverse of the day, securing him the win.
In the last final of the day the U19 boys came out on fire. Kobayashi continued with his momentum from the U16 final and jumped out to an early lead. Jacobson battled back and found a solid set wave and used his power and size to impress the judges with committed backside hacks down the point. That wave propelled Jacobson into the lead, but Kobayashi was close behind needing only an average score. As the final minutes ticked off, Kobayashi found the wave he needed. Just as he did in the U16 final, he went to town and came away with the victory as Jacobson sat out the back waiting for a set wave as time ran out. DZ
Results:
U13 Boys
1-Sean Woods
2-Declan Solomon
3-Cody Purcell
4-Josh Elyakim
U16 Boys
1-Kei Kobayashi
2-Amour Armony
3-Dylan Lee
4-Sean Woods
U19 Boys
1-Kei Kobayashi
2-Andrew Jacobson
3-Skylar Lawson
4-JJ Kerson
Boys Longboard
1-Trevor Robbins
2-Trae Candy
3-Evan Trauntvein
4-Jesse Hinkle
Girls Shortboard
1-Honolua Bloomfield
2-Sara Kohrogi
3-Frankie Seely
4-Eden Wilson
Girls Longboard
1-Honolua Bloomfield
2-Frankie Seely
3-Erica Summers
4-Hailey Louks
