08/12/2019
21st annual Surfside 70s
It was the best of times. It was the 1970s. Surfboard shaping was at an all time innovative high. Huntington Beach/Sunset/Surfside/Seal Beach was a center point for creative people gathering toward the evolution of the surfboard. For 21 years we have been diving deep into the history of the shapers and riders of this important decade. Now young surfers that we have watch grow up have themselves become the new generation of great riders while spreading the style and flow of the 1970s and connecting how that relates to the modern successful surfer. This year we had such a large amount of different surfboard shapes it seemed every heat had a hard decision between which collectors item that they should ride. The new generation of young surfers have taken over and are completely ripping on these surfboards. The combination of having our youngest champ ever this year Max Lambert, 15 and having the greatest local surf hero Sam Hawk talk story and judge made this event become one that will sit and stay in the memory bank.
The water was warm and sky had a violet tropical hue when the first heats paddled out to a few larger sets but some a little smaller with good shape. The young guys and girls began showing style right off the bat with cheater fives and interesting style techniques which allowed for longer rides on smaller waves. Some of the standouts were (The Walton Brothers, Ryan Salazar, Serena Prince, Dingo Lopez, Luke Worsham, Trey Martinho, Beef…) The ability by the young guys to produce speed and flow off of little peaks was an amazing thing to watch. Especially because of the factor of riding a 70s stick that they had never ridden before. Each board has drastic design differences; domed tails, stingers, double bumps swallows, some with thicker rails than longboards and some mostly perfect. The standout boards were; Plastic Fantastic, Wayne Brown, South Shore, Pacific Surfboards, Hawaiian Island Creations, Dyno, Bruce Jones and Robert August just to name a few. Every number a rider would pick had a great board thanks to the collections of Tony Alvarado, Kevin Roofdoctor, Ricky Blake, Benny Bigler and others.
Sam Hawk (being inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame and Hall of Fame this summer) grew up on the beach here in Sunset Beach on 6th St. and eventually started surfing around here at Warner St. and Bolsa Chica then moving on to the HB Pier. Sam had guts of steel and a style that was quintessential 1970s as well as learning to shape from the master Dick Brewer. Sam went on to charge the biggest waves at Pipeline backside and like a cutting edge gladiator was the first to drop in Backdoor Pipe. Scotty Stopnik was mentioning Gerry Lopez surfboards to Sam which allowed Sam to explain the reason for him dropping in at Backdoor. Gerry would stuff him deep into the pit and Sam being regular foot after so many times of this happening just decided to go right like a kamikaze into huge Backdoor. That is when he made the red dot kamikaze logo and went again when Lopez stuffed him the next time he went Backdoor blowing peoples minds.
Speaking of blowing people’s minds our one time “Best Grom” winner from 5 years ago is all grown up … Max Lambert rips. The son of our old buddy George Lambert who has been involved with the Surfside 70s from the beginning and has been bringing Max to these events since he could crawl is now the champ. Max grew up and is able to surf large 70s sticks at a single bound. So versatile Max surfs well on all type of surf craft..you name it; classic longboard, short fishes, soft-top switch foot airs, regular performance boards to of course 70s classics. When Max won a few early heats a few whispers were going around the 70s spectators, “Wow could Max get into the final and maybe get a top score?”. There are many very good surfers in this event and many ex-pro and pro and future pro.(whatever pro means these days). Max Lambert had the eye on the prize and just looked to be having so much fun out there on these boards. His ability to ride a Plastic Fantastic with a touch of soulfulness and new school flare was exciting to watch and brought a many tear to the retro enthusiast. When the announcement was made at the awards ceremony at Ohana Kitchen the kid was the peoples champ as the other contestants picked Max up in triumph as he threw his fists in the air… He had done it! He grew up watching many great surfers in this event win this (Bud Llamas,Tim Stamps, Scotty Stopnik, Bobby Baker, Jeff Deffenbaugh, Jay Larson, Bradie Shemke, Tomas King, Justin Hugron, …) and now he was one of them. Max is a strong determined stylish surfer who has a bright future in store for him no matter what he wants to do and a great family to back him up. Congrats Max!
Results
Specialty awards: Drew Middleton-The John Kissel Power Surfer Award. Best 70s Style- Luke Worsham. Best Barrel-Scotty Stopnik. Best Soul Arch-Shane Jones. Best Cutback-Ryan Salazar. Best Wipeout-Jimmy Sparks....
1. Max Lambert 2. Aryn Farris 3. Jared Gogue 4. Dakota Faircloth 5. Kirk Weissenger 6. Scotty Stopnik .. Thanks to Quiksilver, Katin, Inflight, Futures, Skaterbuilt, Ocean and Glass and Rose and Bob for the stained glass fun trophies, Mahe and Toby Reese for handing out gift certificates for 21 years, judges Paul Tomson, Mike Downey and Kevin, Amy Salazar and Max Mahoney, Tony Alvarado and Ohana Kitchen!
photo by Mike Moir
