44th Annual Easter Surf Festival
Story/Photos by Jennifer Torres
On Thursday, as the 44th annual Easter Surf Festival began; clouds, light rain and glassy water worried some organizers – but by Friday everyone got a sweet Easter treat – waves.
“I can sum up my feelings of relief in three words -- we have waves,” said John Griffin, who along with his business partner Dick Catri, brings the surf fest to life each year.
The festival tool place March 20-23 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and over the long weekend, hundreds of people swarmed the Cocoa Beach Pier and Shepard Park to catch a glimpse of the more than 300 amateur and professional, male and female, young and old, surfers who came to compete for more than $40,000 in cash prizes.
“The surfers are exhibiting tremendous talent,” Griffin said.
The festival line-up of events included; the $10,000 Ron Jon Surf Shop Men’s Longboard Pro, the Lost $3,500 Junior Men’s Shortboard Pro/Am, the Lost Energy Drink $5,000 Men’s Shortboard Pro/Am, the Wet N’ Wild Women’s $1,000 Shortboard competition, the Banana Boat $1,500 Junior Men’s Longboard contest, the Ron Jon Surf Shop $1,000 Women’s Longboard Pro/Am, the Ron Jon Surf Shop Girls Menehune Girls Shortboard finals, the Lost Energy Drink Amateur Shortboard finals, and the Old Guys Rule 46-and-over $1,000 Longboard Pro.
“It’s pretty fun,” said 16-year-old Tayler Brothers, who took home second place in the Lost Energy Drink Junior Men’s Shortboard finals.
Brothers, who hails from the Gulf Coast of Sarasota, has been competing in the Easter Surf Festival for the past four years, and says he plans to keep coming back.
“The waves were kind of small, but fun,” Brothers said.
Also in the water with Brothers was 16-year-old Evan Thompson from Jacksonville Beach. This is his third year in the festival and he says it gets better each time he comes.
“It’s a good crowd,” Thompson said. “Some of the best kids around are in it.”
And even though Thompson didn’t win any cash prizes – he didn’t mind all that much – because his mind was on something else.
“There are a lot of cute girls here,” he said.
In the final heat of his competition: Californian Spencer Regan, 18, won first place; Cody Thompson took home third; and Michael Dunphy came in fourth.
Speaking of cute girls -- the Lost Energy Drink tent hosted a bevy of bikini-clad babes who enjoyed plenty of attention from passers-by.
In the Lost Energy Drink Men’s Shortboard Pro/Am finals; Blake Jones of Melbourne Beach won first place, Kyle Garson was second, and Justin Jones came in third.
Other big cash prize recipients included the seven best in the Ron Jon Men’s Longboard Pro finals who included; Tony Silvagni, Justin Quintal, Charlie Broughton, Dylan Andrews, Christian Wach, Mikey DeTemple, Hunter Lupton, and Drake Courie.
In addition to watching the surfing, many who walked the beach over the weekend enjoyed live music, and food, and had the chance to peruse the wares of local and national vendors.
On Friday, Stephan and Manon Lariviere came from Orlando to enjoy the festival.
“I like to watch surfing and we are having a great time,” Stephan said. “The people are so laid back and nice here.”
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