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USSF Pleasure Point Surf Contest October 1999

The surf had been small for this time of year after a pretty flat summer in NorCal. The surf held true to form on the weekend for this contest with knee to waist high surf on Saturday and Sunday morning. At least a small WNW swell started to show for the finals on Sunday afternoon even though it was very low tide and extra kelpy.

Shaun Peterson squares the lip in the Open Men Final

Open Women

The kelp was so thick that it was affecting almost every ride. The kelp is unusually heavy because of the lack of big swells to break it out and the seasonal warmth of this fall. The trick was to get in your maneuvers on the set waves on the outside and then just try to get through the kelp to get another turn in. This USSF 3 Star Championship tour event held at Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz attracted competitors from up and down the California coast. Some of the best amateurs from SoCal traveled up the coast to gather points for the championship tour season, but the locals took top honors in the open men, open women, mens, and senior men to name a few.

The finals saw some shoulder high sets that allowed Saun Petterson to show local knowledge to take 1st in the Open Men division. Shaun collected best of the set waves and did not appear have problems with the kelp as he bashed, floated, and cut everything in sight. There were plenty of discouraging words about the small surf and kelp but everybody was pretty stoked to have contestable waves and good weather for the weekend.

Shaun Peterson pulls a 360 after getting through the kelp

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Created: 06/20/96
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