Southeast Championships  Photo | Video

On August 14th surf shop teams from South Carolina to Florida stormed the beautiful white sand beaches of Sebastian Inn, just a few miles north of the Floridian hotbed of talent Sebastian Inlet. Team riders and shop groms arrived with only one thing on their mind ... winning the Quiksilver Surf Shop Challenge and make the Championships at Lower Trestles during the Boost Mobile Pro for a chance at $10,000.

The previous day had everyone wondering if the surf was even going to be rideable as the ground swell spurred on by nearby Tropical Storm Irene showed signs of a decline. Much to the relief of Contest Director Matt Kechele, Irene delivered a clean 3- to 4-foot swell with gentle offshore conditions.

Round One consisted of three rounds of six teams making it a record number of 18 surf shops in the competition. Looking strong out of the gate was Sunrise Surf Shop of Jacksonville, headed by pros Ryan Briggs and Asher Nolan. Not to be outdone by their neighboring North Florida retailer, Innerlight Surf Shop showed that they had more energy in stock than the punch of Hurricane Dennis that hit their Pensacola store just a few weeks earlier, as they tallied the highest score of any of the teams in Round One.

From the intial 18 shops came 10 teams advancing into Round Two. Heat One had Indialantic's MTB, fronted by Double Whammy candidate Mark Dawson and Inlet local Rylan McCart, narrowly edging out Jacksonville's Aqua East Surf Shop with Jody Davis and Seth Teleyacus at the helm. MTB, Aqua East and Innerlight all advanced into the Final. Heat Two of Round Two included a classic dogfight between rival Volusia County shops Red Dog and Mad Dog, but unfortunately neither of their bites were as bad as their bark in this heat as they were eliminated along with Scott Posner's IWS Deerfield. Advancing on from this heat were Sunrise Surf Shop and Cocoa Beach's Quiet Flight.

As the tide got high and the sea breeze picked up the surf got fat and ugly. The 35-minute final had more hopping than a P. Diddy CD release party. Sunrise Surf Shop's Asher Nolan was the lightest on his feet in the mushy shorebreak, but he unfortunately missed out on Double Whammy-ing his highest scoring wave. It wouldn't have helped anyway as 2004 Southeast Champion Quiet Flight Surf Shop, led by David Awbrey, Nick Piette, Buddy Favor and former WCT pro Bryan Hewitson (who doubled an 8.0), ripped their way to victory, again claiming the title of Southeast Champion, making them the first team to win a consecutive title in the 2005 Quiksilver Surf Shop Challenge.

- Kevin Welsh
SE Photos: Welsh