Johnny Salta, Max Bourne and Teddy Vlasis arrived in Melaque Mexico for the 10th Annual Melaque Skim Contest. First morning, they could practice at the contest area, and it was very good! Check these pictures out, and stay tuned for news from the contest this weekend.
Pictures by Diego from X3M (Contest director)
a heat wave is hitting Southern California along with beautiful South Swell from hurricane Linda, so this combo provides beautiful sessions and beautiful sunsets. Here is Max Bourne last night evening session was beautiful.
If you ever get the chance to come down to Melaque you are sure to run into one of the Barba brothers. Jorge and Diego’s house is akin to that of the Volcom House on the north shore, overlooking the best skim spot in Melaque and is the headquarters during the contest they hold every March. Their shop down the road in Manzanillo, X3M, supplies boards to the local kids and provides a place to hang out, watch skim and surf videos, and froth out on the waves they found the day before. Since we landed, the Barba brothers have been amping harder than us, driving us through the jungle, down back roads, and over mountains to put us in the best waves in the area. I have known Jorge and Diego for a good while, and seeing their patience and positivity is inspiring to say the least.
That positivity of always finding something good around the next cove paid off as we stumbled upon a wave that was set up perfect for long plane outs into dreamy wraps. Diego said he had never seen the waves that good for skimming at this certain spot as the guys were sprinting back to the truck to grab their boards. Watching the boy’s plane as far as they could to hook into a long wall screaming toward the sand was something special. Johnny Salta was the stand out, making the biggest waves and sticking some large airdrops, which lead to us calling the spot “Johnny’s”. As the sun was setting we all took a moment to appreciate the opportunity to be in such a pristine place, doing the thing we love. Skimboarding is more than UST rankings and who is riding what, it brings people together and is a common language we all understand, and I am happy to see it alive and well in Melaque.
– Words by Kyle McClure / pictures by Diego Barba
Rise and shine to another beautiful day in paradise. Today we woke up to fresh fruit smoothies and an unbelievable breakfast at “Rosita’s” a well-known little breakfast spot here in Melaque. Rosita runs her business in a small little shack. If you’re not used to the setting of authentic Mexico, imagine a restaurant environment as someone’s kitchen in a way. They would have tables and their own menus but your basically eating out of someone’s’ house. There has yet to be a bad meal on the trip. Who would have thought you would have endless amounts of the best Mexican food down in Mexico?
It seems like there are endless amounts of spots throughout Melaque, and just twenty minutes down the road are more endless spots in Manzanillo. Todays adventure consisted of making way to a new town where Diego and Jorge Barba’s X3M Shop is located. They pretty much supply the town with every surf and clothing necessity you need to be ready to shred at any time.. Their X3M shop is a great hangout spot for the younger crowd and a great representation for the sport of skimboarding. After a visit to their shop, it was time to hit the water at “Secrets” a fairly newer found spot minutes away from their place. At first your mindset of a secret spot is a wave that not many people have ridden and endless amounts of fun. However, I think the secret to the spot is if you haven’t gone, you’re in for an awakening of a lifetime once you arrive at the location.
Jack Howie went straight into grom mode, yelling and jumping out of the back of the truck, grabbing the snake by the tail. We all jumped out of the cab and as we turned to see what was going on, the snake slithered out of jacks grip and disappeared into the bushes. As we calmed down from the snake wrangling and re focus our attention to finding skim, Jorge and Diego point at the cliff and say, “ That’s the mountain we have to climb over and the break we are going to is just on the otherside…” So the team grabs their gear and starts the treacherous trek up scorpion/snake infested terrain. It was like walking up the face of a steep jungle where any moment something could go seriously wrong. And if something were to go seriously wrong it was either life threatening or your throwing your buddy over your shoulder and hoping for a miracle to someway and somehow return back to safety. At least every rider and team member had some kind of shocker or beating. If you’re afraid of heights or have a big fear for any of the poisonous animals above, this is not the place for you. After the twenty-minute journey through the life-threatening hike to “Secrets” we found a new unique wave with a sider in both directions. The team along with a few other local riders scored some of the best waves we have gotten on the trip so far. The boys were frothing so hard that we didn’t start the 20 minute trek back until the sun was setting. This put us scaling the mountain side and tip toeing along cliff drop offs with nothing but the light of our phones guiding us. Jack sliced his toe open on a rock, Johnny and his board almost fell off the mountain and on the final decent, Johnny accidentally sent two grape fruit sized boulders straight down the mountain with one barely missing Jack and the other connecting with his calf. Luckily all riders are in fairly good condition and able to continue the adventures. And hey what’s an adventure without a couple mishaps.
– Words by Johnny Salta / pictures by Diego Barba
Today in Mexico the VIC team woke in search of the forbidden liner at Boca De Muertos. Teddy Vlasis, Johnny Salta, and Jack Howie made the trek to get out of Laguna Beach and get themselves into some warm water dream waves. Driving into the beach we passed a graveyard overlooking a peeling right liner sitting on a coastline that seemed abandoned. The river was flowing into the south side of the beach pouring tons of sand onto a bar that sent perfect spinners right onto the sand.
We began the first part of the session that saw the boys getting into some pacific power as the more exposed side of the beach picks up solid swell. To access this part of the beach we had to cross the chest deep river with all the boards and camera gear. Once we made the passage we were so amped to skim that we forgot the camera gear was right at the top of the slope, and as a large set wave came rushing up the slope Johnny Salta sprinted toward the gear and as he scooped the bags he connected his toe with one of the skims leaving a large hole on the bottom of his big toe. A little field dressing with duct tape and super glue had Johnny back in the water.
The waves were fun but the swell was pumping so the Johnny and Jack jumped in for a few waves on their surfs. Meanwhile Teddy wandered back to the sandbar we passed on the way in and started to get a few, and people took notice. We all ran back to the sandbar that was reeling waist high liners down a perfectly angled bar, and the guys were seeing who could wrap and get the furthest down the line. We ended the day with quesadillas and tacos at Tripas moms restaurant, recapping the days bangers over a few cold beers.
– Words by Kyle McClure / pictures by Diego Barba
This weekend, we journeyed down to Johnny Atoe’s neck of the woods and skimmed the wall in La Jolla, San Diego. Big waves, kinda wild and not connecting well until the tide dropped and then there were a few more very interesting connections. Thanks to all the locals for sharing their spot with us, and for Johnny’s great hospitality and food. Nothing like a tight little pocket between big waves and cliffs to bring people together. Great surfing on the outside reefs to the North and South of us too.
Words and Pictures by Tex Haines
Two thousand and fourteen has come to an end, and I find myself looking back at what could quite possibly be one of the most amazing years of my life. This is all thanks to the sport of Skimboarding. I decided to dedicate myself to the season, as I was finishing up my two thousand and fourteen spring semester at school. I knew I had only missed one stop and could commit myself to the rest of the tour (knowing that there are two dropped scores at the end of the season). Over the past couple years I have learned a lot about becoming a professional rider and it definitely isn’t just an entry fee to make it. In 2013, I finished dead last in every event I entered whether it was Skimming, Surfing, whatever. As that year came to an end I couldn’t have been more bummed on myself and wanted to give up on the whole competing thing. But if there’s one thing anyone in the sport of skimming knows, is were all one big family. Everyone I was connected with reminded me to stick with it and keep in the water. So the journey began…
My first stop (2nd stop on the UST) was Cabo. Throughout all my time spent in the water skimming, my 2014 trip to Cabo was the best wave conditions I have ever experienced. I like to look at Cabo as the “pipeline of skimboarding”. Super heavy shore break and probably the best wrappable barrels that have been found. The contest had an amazing start, but I think there were a good handful of riders and well-known names that could say the event ran into some issues midway through. This issue came up at multiple events and I would agree both sides of the issue had good reasoning. However, when it comes to a time of making a decision of whether or not to run the event in questionable conditions, I really think the riders should have majority vote on whether or not the contest should go on. A lot of big names were taken out in early rounds that could have potentially be ran the next day in better conditions. Decisions like this can change results such as the United Skim Tour Champion at the end of the year, even though it may not seem like it at the time. (Before I go on, please note that I am not saying the 2014 Champ did not deserve his crown, because I truly think he worked the hardest I’ve ever seen him skim this past year.)
Another major issue that I think the majority of riders, staff, and even fans can all agree on is judging. Anyone that has any experience with judging can say that it takes a lot of time, patience, and awareness to score riders as precise and correct as possible. We are limited a certain amount of time and the waves coming in that time period are very limited. Riders that have been competing for a while, know that it is recommended to not go for the same waves. Although, when conditions are not at their best and there’s three to four riders in your heat you’re all fighting for the best waves. It would be nice if we had the technology, similar to the ASP where we could replay rides, but obviously were not on that level. One thing that stood out to me on the East Coast was calling out rides during heats. That way if there were two riders running in opposite directions, you had someone informing you to keep aware of both directions so you could use better judgment. It would be great to see the same names judging throughout the entire season; names that are knowledgeable, unbiased, and dedicated to the sport of skimming. There were a lot of very close calls this past year, that once again could have changed the overall end of the year results for several riders.
Room for Change?
I think there’s always room for change and improvement. I think there’s a huge handful of big names from all over the world that have not been able to be a part of the entire tour for whatever reason. And I think adding in all these names to the Title battle would change the overall ending results significantly. There’s a lot of talent and passion in the world that has pushing this sport forward. I believe time will play its part and bigger sponsors will start to recognize how unique and special this sport really is. I don’t think competing is the most important factor to get our sport known. Spread the stoke to the groms, work on media, and inform people that don’t know what the sport skimboarding is. We’re a family, not against eachother, trying to show the world what we are most passionate about.
As much as there may have been some negatives on the tour, I find the positives will always takeover the negatives. My heart and passion will continue to work as hard as I can to help this sport progress. I believe this sport is still at a very early age and the level of riding is progressing drastically each year. As of right now you definitely recognize the solid Top 8 names on the tour, but everyone behind that list of names is really hungry. And they are all pushing themselves as hard as they can to work their way to the top.
Photo credits
Fabiana Badie
Tex Haines
Mary Hurlbut (front page slide)
Max Bourne just stopped by the shop after scoring a solid Team Session at Seal Beach earlier this morning. We were all watching footage of the morning and thought it was a perfect time to sit down and talk to him about his successful year, that ended with Max’s debut into the Professional Division… Here is the discussion we just had with Max.
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VS: Every year seems to have delivered more for you, but 2014 has been an especially incredible year. Skim trips, contests, Skim Camps, and Saturday Sessions kept you pretty busy on top of school, and delivered a ton of quality Media that everybody saw in Magazines, on this website, or on the social Media… But let’s start from the beginning, you started off the year as an Amateur with the Green Eggs and Am Contest, tell us a little bit more about this first 3-stage contest of the year.
MB: The Green Eggs and Am was a great success. I placed 3rd in the first contest at A Street in Newport and…
I had the opportunity to take a skurfing trip to Mexico during the third contest, and I could not pass up the incredible offer. I decided to skip the last contest giving up my 1st place spot for the Triple Crown. But it turned out great, I got some crazy Mex slaps on my skim, and my good buddy Jared Green took the win at the third contest at West st.
VS: After the GEAA you went on a trip to Cabo San Lucas for the Cabo Classico and you won the Amateur division! How was the trip, the contest, the conditions, the lifestyle?
MB: O my goodness. Cabo is the cream of the crop. It definitely was my favorite trip of the year. Best waves, people, and partying I got to experience in a while. The trip was awesome, the conditions were perfect, and the lifestyle in Cabo is something I miss a lot.
I will definitely be there next year.
VS: Up next you roll into the 38th Annual Victoria World Championships coming off a win. Tell us about the contest and why it is a special contest for riders in general and for you.
MB: The Victoria Skimboards Contest is the most premier contest of the whole UST tour. Everyone agrees it is a competition we all look forward to. I made it to the finals and took 2nd place.
VS: You also were involved in the Victoria Skim Camps this summer, teaching skimboarding to the younger generation. How did you learn to skim? Who did you look up to?
MB: I learned to skim from my buddy’s in Laguna when I started at the middle school here. My main inspiration was from one of my best friends, Jared Green. He inspired me and made me appreciate the beauty of the sport. Without him by my side, skimming as groms, I would not be where I am today with my skimming career. Teaching the kids at skim camps the same way I learned is really a gift in itself. It makes me so happy to see these kids fall in love with the sport just like I did 7 years ago.
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VS: Then you were invited to go to the Amateur World Championships, VIP treatment… Tell us more about that
MB: The Dewey Beach, Delaware Amateur Championships was a blast. I was flown out by the man who made the contest happen, Jason Wilson at Alley Oop, and I was so grateful for everything he did. The locals and the support from Jason really made the trip. I got knocked out of the contest, but I was stoked.
VS: You have been to Santa Cruz multiple times, but this year was officially your last contest as an amateur.
MB: Santa Cruz is also one of my favorite contests, and I was so stoked to take another win in the amateur division. Santa Cruz is really chill 😉
VS: Here comes the last contest of the season, and you decide to enter in the Professional division…
I made it 4 rounds and I was stoked to take 11th place in my first Pro contest. It was a huge success and really felt great to make it that far. I am so ready for this upcoming year of contest. In the meantime I will be skimming in Laguna.
Shoutout to my Sponsors: Victoria Skimboards, Let’s Party Traction and Tortuava.
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We would like to welcome Beryl Besseau in the family today! He has been performing more than well in the contests in France, and Europe! From the Saint-Nazaire area, he is a “La Courrance” local, and surfs very well too!
Visit his profile here: http://ocean.victoriaskimboards.com/beryl-besseau/
Stay tuned for more action shots of him very soon!
The Victoria Team represented very well up in Santa Cruz, CA for the annual Skim Blast! We rented a house for the Team, right next to the contest site. Ams and Pros hang out together along with Lynn and Tex Haines, and everybody had a great time! Overcast, but decent waves the riders made the most out of the conditions once again!
