Here’s a note from an old friend who grew up with us in the sands of Victoria Cove. Our shack, a shared rental, is at the 2 o’clock position, dark wood shingles with white trim under the big tree, half way up the stairs at the N. end of the beach. The Prietto house is at the bottom of the ramp, next to the lifeguard tower.
Our time there as kids was the mid 60’s. The Victoria Tribe is still going strong, and V-ball is the glue that holds them together. Tex
The 2010 World Wakesurfing Championships took place last week/weekend (July 22 – 25, 2010) in Minneapolis, MN. Victoria Skimboards team rider, Bri Chmel took home top honors in the Women’s Skim category and was the overall Women’s Champion.
Congratulations Bri on a fantastic performance!
Congratulations to the First Women’ Pro event participants at the Vic. The gals have organized, acquired an agent, are pursuing TV deals, and generally going into hyperdrive as far as getting sponsors and raising prize money for future events. The women inspired the men to do the same, meeting in the sand for one hour at Aliso, before the Vic weekend, they blazed thru the process of choosing a name, electing officers, choosing the meeting dates, discussing membership dues, defining professional contest behavior, and generally getting the ball rolling. (Sponsors are not very interested in supporting contests where the contestants are free to act out in public and potentially create bad publicity for the sponsor.)
Paulo Prietto is president, Steve Taylor is V.P. and Patrick Mack is the secretary. In a short time, as other contest organizers come on board, membership in the pro association will be mandatory for participation in the contests. Dues will be collected and funneled toward hiring someone to help the association bring in more revenue. The door is opening into a whole new era for the sport. I urge all the pros to join and to volunteer to help out. Remember the little Red Hen fable. If you don’t help in the gathering, grinding and baking, you are not entitled to eat the bread.
Tex
Through our distributor in the Netherlands (Fox Sports), Victoria Skimboards was proud to be part of the Domburg Skimboard Championships this year.
For more pictures check out the Facebook link:
Domburg Skimboard Championship Facebook image gallery
A photo is a time capsule. The first official Victoria shop about 1980, the year we began making our first foam core boards. None are visible in this photo, so it is probably pre 1980. Rent is extremely expensive in Laguna, so the shop is a study in maximizing space. The Tour: (clockwise from 9 pm.) Sliding door to shaping room with brooms etc. Middle slot with brushes on wall is the resin storage bay. Furthest back is sliding door to the office/showroom, a spacious 8′ x 9′ space. Main room, old Rainmaker skimboard on back wall, glassed while at Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon in 1971. Finished boards storage all around wall on hanging racks, ventilation ducting (a huge expense for us), back wall a mysto wood warper, at the time our best invention. Outboard motor hanging from ceiling by ladder for voyages in the Makana, “The Gift”, my grandfathers 14′ outboard motorboat circa 1950, modified by David Kahanamoku and myself to have a cabin, and reinforced deck and stringers, for wild forays to the Hollister Ranch for surfing nirvana. Oh! the stories I could tell. Overhead surfboard storage racks, David Kahanamoku shaped yellow surfboard in final glassing stages is below. Resin/tarpaper covered floor, usually the racks to the right, on sawhorses were pulled into the room for glassing 20 skimboards at a time, Note the milk cartons for mixing resins. We still recycle everything we can at Vic and many of the wood structures in the shop are still in use today, though they are incorporated into completely different forms. I gave up that ladder only this year when we sold our house, as it was more useful to the new owner, than to me. Co-founder, Peter Prietto was probably still my business partner. The back door out of the office gave us great fresh air. In 1982, when our landlord, George Burkhardt built a new complex just around the bend, we moved there and expanded into two units. Now we are up to 5 units here and a separate glassing facility down in San Clemente. Click on picture to make it larger. Tex Haines
Never let it be said that Victoria Skimboards team riders do not support a good cause. Over this last weekend, Bill Bryan and Morgan Just joined forces with amateur team rider Scooter Hayes to give a shout out to the New Hanover County Public Library. With books, DVDs, magazines, etc. you can find what you want at the local library but first you must have a library card. Go get yours today and open up some new worlds.
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina was host to the OBX skim contest this last weekend. Professionals and amateurs alike took to the water in hopes of bringing home the glory. Top six professional men’s results:
1) Bill Bryan
2) Brad Domke
3) Morgan Just
4) Sam Stinnett
5) Austin Keen
6) Woody Harris
A special shout out to Siobhan McAuliffe for taking 1st place in the Women’s Division.
You can see some pictures and a write up of Day #1 by going to Skimonline.com
You can see a final write up and some additional pictures by going to Skimonline.com
