RESULTS  PHOTO | VIDEO

“I Love New Jersey!”
Quiksilver Surf Shop Challenge Northeast Qualifier Completed

Team WRV, Virginia Beach - 2006 Northeast Champs. PHOTO: Welsh

The 2006 Quiksilver Surf Shop Challenge presented by Surfer Magazine is officially underway. The first event of the year kicked off at Casino Pier in chilly Seaside Heights, New Jersey. After getting the 48-hour forecast from WAVEWATCH.com that a south swell would be peaking on Tuesday, then dropping off the following day, event organizers made the call to move the contest up from Wednesday to Tuesday, April 4th. After all, swell is a precious commodity and is not to be wasted. Within hours, travel plans up and down the Eastern Seaboard were changed and a total of 13 shop entries, from Maine to the Outer Banks, began their journeys toward the Garden State.

Some were boarding planes out of Orlando, Florida, where air temps were a summer-like 89 degrees, and in less than three hours felt as if they’d been thrown into a freezer, as Atlantic City Airport reported temperatures in the low 40s. On the flipside, Natty Graham from Liquid Dreams Surf Shop, who had just exited the water from an early-morning surf, thought the mid-40-degree water temps weren’t bad compared to the 30-degree water he had been surfing up north in Maine.

Brian Heritage feeling like a popsicle. PHOTO: Welsh

The morning started a bit on the bleak side, and as the horn sounded to start the event, the surf was a measly knee-to-waist-high. But as the sun began to light the day’s sky, within an hour or two the incoming tide had boosted the size to a good chest-to-shoulder-high, with a few overhead sets. The gusty offshore winds added such a nasty chill to the air that shop owner and contestant Brian Heritage joked, “It made my head feel like a popsicle,” as he came in from surfing his heat without a hood.

Progression has always been a staple of the Shop Challenge, and this year leading the charge with the most progressive maneuver was Brave New World’s Jason Mitchell, as he spun smoothly through a backside reverse and into a $250 prize from DC Shoes. The big shocker award went to local Jersey boy, Heritage Surf Shop’s Frankie Walsh, in Round Two, when he couldn’t connect with a decent wave in time to allow his fourth and final teammate from even entering the water.

Brave New World's Sam Hammer. PHOTO: Welsh.

With the day warming only ever so slightly, the Final Round was whittled down to: Brave New World; 7th Street; Bunger Surf; and both the Virginia Beach and the Kitty Hawk WRV shops. 7th Street Surf Shop was missing their two top pro riders: Matt Keenan, who was competing in California, and Dean Randazzo, who was in Australia after surfing the Margaret River event. The Babylon Bunger boys just kept going with their consistency, spearheaded by Alex Fawess and Tommy Bunger. The highest score of the Final was Brave New World’s Sam Hammer, with a 9.5 on a long left that found him throwing tail all the way to the beach. It went a long way as a Double-Whammy, but still fell short of WRV’s V.B. team of Wes Laine, Ben McBrien, Ian Parnell and Double-Whammy surfer Jeff Myers, who claimed his 7.0. These two teams dominated the Final so much that even with the five-point deductions they received for not having their last surfers in before heat time expired, they still placed 1st and 2nd.

Quiksilver spokesperson/comedian/commentator Chad Wells announced the results: WRV’s Virginia Beach team, captained by former IPS Top 16 World Pro Wes Laine, held their Red Bulls high in victory. “I LOVE NEW JERSEY!” yelled the lanky statesman. Perhaps he was reliving the time he won the Atlantic City Pro back here in the ’80s, or perhaps he was celebrating WRV’s repeat performance, as they won the same qualifier last year too. Now let’s see if Wes can bring his team to victory when the Final Four eventually meet in California later this summer.

Quiksilver Surf Shop Challenge Northeast Qualifier Final Results:
1. WRV, Virginia Beach
2. Brave New World
3. 7th Street
4. WRV, Kitty Hawk
5. Bunger Surf Shop
6. Primal Surf
7. Heritage
8. Spellbinders
9. Bare Wires
10. Special Sauce
11. Suncatcher
12. Inlet Outlet
13. Liquid Dreams