ToRoxy

In addition to the pro competition we also had juniors, seniors, and masters divisions. Congratulations to the winners of these three divisions!

Juniors (13 – 18)
1 Tory Gilkenson
4 Hallie Rohr
2 Kirra Kehoe
3 Kelsey Daum

Seniors division (18- 34) 
1 Alana Mock
2 Rachel Spear
3 Meredith Butte
4 Whitney Kirk

Masters (35-37)

1 Stacey Willis
2 Jeanette Prince
3 Mary Schwinn
4 Doreen Daligon

Read below for Roxy Rider Kassia Meader’s top three reason why Cardiff is a great place for longboarding, top three things to look for in a wetsuit, and top three things she did this summer…

Three reasons why Cardiff if a great place for longboarding:
1. It has always been a famous break.  Since longboarding came to California, it has been a great surf spot
2. There are long, slow breaking left, right waves
3. In the water there are kelp beds that keep wind down

Three things that are important in a wetsuit:
1. Flexibility
2. Warmth
3. Obviously style

Three things that you did this summer that were awesome:
1. Rode my bike, I have a road bike that I lobe.
2. Had some awesome beach days with my friends. We came down here to Cardiff a couple of weeks ago and were here for like nine hours.
3. Built a mini ramp to skate on in my friend’s backyard. It was huge, like 16 ft by 4 ft by 12 ft.

At the beach fair there were a lot of artist booths, but I really liked Maxine Orange’s and Heather Ritt’s booth. To make her fabulous purses, Maxine Orange paints giant canvases with bright colors. She then takes her paintings, cuts up the canvas into strips, and sews them into purses.

At her booth people could stop by and paint their own tote. Maxine had strips of canvas that she let people paint and then she would sew them into purses (see above image). Maxine also had a canvas, like the one she uses for her purses, set up that people could come by and paint with acrylic paints. You can find Maxine’s purses at Meleesa the Salon in downtown Huntington Beach, CA.

At Heather Ritt’s booth, she was painting custom surfboards with water based sharpie markers and Posca’s from Japan. She has been painting boards for 7 years. Heather is from Dana Point, CA. She mostly paints custom surfboards and does a lot of live painting events. When she begins a new board, she starts with a light pencil sketch and her design evolves as she goes down the board. She is going to be in an art show at Bashams in San Clemente off Los Golinas road on Sept. 26th.

Emergen-C PINK and Keep-A-Breast Foundation had booths side-by-side at the Roxy Jam Cardiff. They have partnered up to help educate young women about breast cancer.  Keep-A-Breast’s mission is to help eradicate breast cancer by spreading the word about early awareness and educating  women on how to do self examinations.

To raise money for their non-profit, Keep-A-Breast makes casts of woman’s breasts, give them to artists to paint, and then auctions them off. At their booth they had a special cast in honor of the tour, painted by the founder of Keep-A-Breast Shaney Jo.  Keep-A-Breast Foundation, Emergen-C and Roxy will be traveling around on a bus tour to different college campuses in October. Emergen-C created a new flavor of drink, Emergen-C PINK just for the Keep-A-Breast Foundation. 50% of the profits from Emergenc-C PINK will go to the Foundation.

Be on the look out for a PINK bus! Below is a photo of the bus that will be driven on the tour…

The quarter finals wrapped up this morning and the semi-final heats
are set for 11 am this morning. The girls are making the best of the
conditions and the sun is beginning to shine. This morning the
conditions were glassy with waves between 2 – 4 feet.

Bianca Valenti, Summer Romero, Ashley Lloyd, and Chelsea Williams
will be competing in the first heat of the semi-finals. Last year’s
world champion Jen Smith will be competing again Janna Iron, Cori
Schumacher, and Kelly Nicely in the second heat of the semi-finals.

We have a live webcast of the event today!
Catch all the action from home. Watch the quarter finals, semis, and finals live!!!
Watch It

The Teenie Wahine and Menehune finals were this afternoon and those surfers are sure courageous! The Teenie Wahine division are competitors who are 9 years old and under… waves they were riding looked about head high because they are so small!

Jen Smith said a few words before the champions were announced. "I’m really impressed by their cross stepping," said Jen. The future of women’s longboarding is definitely in good hands.

Seven year-old Tiare Thompson from La Jolla, CA was the Teenie Wahine Champion and won a blue Roxy longboard. Second place was Ashley Beeson, followed by Kailey Biggs in thrid and Sidney Johnson in fourth.
 

In the Menehune division, girls between the ages of 10 and 13 years old could compete. 13 year-old Makala Smith from Dana Point, CA was the champion. "My future goal is to be as good as Jen Smith," said Makala after she accepted her trophy she also won a pink Roxy longboard. Lulu Erkeneff was runner up in second, followed by Avalon Johnson in thrid and finally Allyson Heinmeyer in fourth.

Congradulation to all the Teenie Wahine and Menehune competitors!

The pro qualifiers have wrapped up and Roxy team riders Jen Smith, Kassia Meador, Kelia Moniz, Crystal Dzigas, and Rachel Berry have all qualified for the quarter finals.

“The girls are all surfing really great. In the entire round of 32 EVERY heat was a great heat,” said Kassia Meador, “It used to be that you wouldn’t see good heats until the end, but at this event the competition was tough from the start. It is really apparent how important events like these are to the progression of women’s longboarding.”

At the event the there is a great spirit of camaraderie between the competitors. “We’re all having fun, there is a different vibe at this event. We all scream for each other. A great community vibe,” said Kassia. This spirit of camaraderie spills onto the spectators. The beach was packed with tons of children, parents, surfers, and beach goers all watching the ladies compete.

The qualifiers for the quarter finals are underway on day 2 of the Roxy Jam Cardiff. Roxy team riders Kelia Moniz and Crystal Dzigas qualified early on for the quarter finals. They scored first and second in their heat and will be competing against Summer Romero and  Bianca Valenti in the quarter finals. Kelia Moniz did an awesome hang five grab during the heat.

The conditions at Cardiff this morning are beautiful, sunny skies, the waves are 2-4 feet and have really improved with the high tide coming in. Spectators are enjoying the warm weather and the beach fair that is underway.

Music is playing, people are walking around and checking out the art and the different activities in the booths. Booths include painting, free haircuts from Paul Mitchell, charities such as Keep-A-Breast and goodies to snack on.   

Meet Roxy’s newest team rider: Rachel Spear! This 26 years-old and was born Kailua on Oahu. She currently lives on the North Shore in Hawaii. Last year her favorite place to surf was Chun’s Reef on the North Shore but right now she likes the Marine base in Kailua. She has been surfing for 15 years and learned to longboard in Waikiki. This is a really exciting time for Rachel, full of "firsts."

It’s her first time…

Traveling alone.
Rachel traveled by herself for the first time to get to Cardiff.

Surfing in cold water.
In Hawaii the water is a lot warmer, it’s different for Rachel surfing here in California. "My toes are freezing!" said Rachel.

Surfing on the Kassia board.
Rachel got a new board for the competition, the Kassia board. "I love it but it can be difficult to ride a new board. The new little tendencies of the board really keep you on your toes!" said Rachel.

Competing at Cardiff.

This is her first time surfing at Cardiff and her first time surfing in California as a Roxy girl. Rachel really really likes Caridff, the small beach town feel."No more playing it safe, have to go all out now," said Rachel, about the rest of the competition at Cardiff. Good luck Rachel!