The 26th annual Call to the Wall of 2018 was a Windansea domination. The ocean gave us perfect sunny 3-5 foot conditions and big swinging tide shifts. Moral was high as member after member made it through preliminary heats putting together the best 2 rides in the 15 minute heats. The only challenge was to make it around the speeding section before the lifeguard tower and avoid the shallow rocks that will knock out your fin ( I should know!).
Club members chilled out all day under our three complex tent setup and enjoyed the surf entertainment. The youth of the club, myself, Tiare Thompson, Maddie Miller, Helena Roseman, Keili McEvilly, Tosh Tudor, Rafala Rajzman and Will, staked out our towels under an umbrella to discuss personal favorite surfers and best wave highlights. Lifeguard Joe Rippenbrah took out a couple Windansea kids to paddle out for a pier jump. Nothing but smiles as they made around the pillars to climb up the ladder and soar spread eagle off the Malibu boardwalk. Last heat was at 7pm - still light out so we were torn to surf and possibly miss all the food at Casa Escobar but make it in time for the dancing. We surfed, party'ed and ended the night sleeping in tents on the beach.
Morning light - Aloha heats ran until the first semi of the morning got started at 7:30am with the Legends. Our own Howard Chapleau won his heat to go on to the finals. Looked like the swell and conditions were going to be even better than yesterday for the Finals! Next division Tosh was up and made it through with some sweet rides. Joel brought a friend, Saxon to surf for JoJo and he ripped! I was lucky enough to win my heat yesterday so I got to watch the junior women's semis and it was tough competition. Tiare got a nice outside wave but just missed advancing when she couldn't find a second wave. No worries because she killed it in her shortboard Final! So fun cheering her on with the women of Windansea -Miranda Joseph and Indy Callaway making serious noise from the beach.
One of the highlights was tandem that took place during low tide. Of the 12 teams, 3 were Windansea - Joel & Maddie, Brian & Keili, Phil & Rafala. All three made it to the finals and I must say some of the best "surfing" I've seen tandem. Phil & Rafala had two nice long set waves and performed a 1 legged shoulder stand. Keili and Brian did three beautiful lifts on a smaller wave and Maddie & Joel carved it up on a large outside set wave with their trademark fireman lift. Right after the tandem final, Joel turned around and led the paddle relay to a close 2nd place finish with Oceanside. At this event a tandem surfer is honored with a special award in memory of tandem surfer/stunt woman, Svetla who passed away several years ago from brain cancer. Keili McEvilly was nominated this year's recipient!
Heats go by and the screams of support get louder with pride. Everyone is waiting in anticipation for the finals and the waves were not disappointing. The first final was at 11:15am and The ‘Bu held a light wind but relatively glassy conditions, 3-4ft and perfect. I was so proud to be part of the Windansea family witnessing legends and stylemasters of our club surf like Issac Wood, Bob Pierce and Ozstar!
WindanSea has competitors in just about every FINAL, from tandem, to short boarding. With the sun and sand scorching hot we had the most team spirit on the beach cheering on Joel in the finals with 2 perfect waves. One particular wave I will never forget since it was the best set wave of the day, just overhead, and he rode it from 1st point all the way to in front of the judges, walking nonchalantly to the nose 10 times, twice for tens. Phil on the other hand had a more progressive style and floated over every section that shut down the other surfers in his heat. One of my favorite people to watch surf is Miranda Joseph, the Mother of Windansea who schooled the rest in her division by stealing every good set wave and riding it to the sand. Next would be Mike Gillard - there would be no question that he won his division. The Junior Men 2 Final was half WSC - Matthew, Lorenzo and Ricky all made it to the finals. Let's not forget our Team Captain, Jon Roseman who battled his way through an early back injury to represent us in the Mens 6 Final.
So which team won at the end of the day? There was no doubt in our mind who would take it. Ozstar already dedicated this one in memory of our own Chloe Buckley. Mahalo Malibu Boardriders for an amazing weekend and thank God we are so blessed!
RESULTS:
Legends
4th - Steve Bigler
5th - Howard Chapleau
Mens 7
3rd - Ozstar De Jourday
4th - Bob Pierce
Mens 6
1st - Mike Gillard
5th - Jon Roseman
Mens 4
1st - Joel Tudor
Mens 3
1st - Phil Rajzman
Mens 2
4th - Isaac Wood
Men 1
Saxon
Junior Men 2
4th - Ricky Cunningham
5th - Lorenzo Villela
6th - Matthew Perrault
Womens Shortboard
2nd - Tiare Thompson
Junior Women
6th - Hana McEvilly
Women 1
1st - Karina Ronzunko
Women 4
1st - Miranda Joseph
Tandem
1st - Phil & Rafala Rajzman (father / daughter)
3rd - Joel & Maddie
5th - Brian & Keili McEvilly (father/daughter)
COMPLETE RESULTS POSTED HERE.
Team Ranking
Windansea Surf Club WSC 2590
Doheny Longboard Surfing Association DLSA 1850
Oceanside Longboard Surfing Club OLSC 1710
Malibu Boardriders Club MBC1 560
Cardiff Surf Club CSC 1410
Pacific Beach Surf Club PBSC 1100
Ventura Surf Club VSC 1090
Malibu Surfing Association MSA 1080
Pedro Point Surf Club PPSC 900
Hope Ranch Surf Club HRSC 860
Estero Bay Surf Club EBSC 850
Santa Cruz Longboard Union SCLU 690
Long Beach Surf Club LBSC 670
Big Stick Surfing Association BSSA 600
San Onofre Surf Club SOSC 570
La Jolla Shores Surfing Association LJSSA 490
Sunset Cliffs Surfing Association SCSA 460
Huntington Beach Longboard Crew HBLC 440
Coronado Surfing Association CLSA3 50
San Diego Surf Ladies SDSL 260
Santa Barbara Surf Club SBSC 50
At this event I had the privilege of interviewing some of our oldest, newest and coolest members - in the coming weeks I'll publish some of these insightful conversations so stay tuned! - @HANJAAAAAA
