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Ellis Ericson Tops Lineup of Single Fin Stylists to Win
Good Vibrations Retro Classic at Canggu-Bali
27 August 2012, Kuta-Bali: It was a truly epic day of good vibes at Canggu Beach on Saturday, with
23 year old Ellis Ericson topping the field of 48 surfers that had come from
near and from afar to surf together in celebration of the classic single fin
surfboard at the second annual Good Vibrations Retro Classic.
The good vibes were felt from Canggu
Beach down to Mantra in
Petitinget from the early hours of Saturday morning until past midnight
as surfing legends such as Terry Fitzgerald and Mitchell Rae, pro
surfers Rob Machado, Rizal Tanjung and Marlon Gerber, musician-surfers
Jon
Foreman, Tim Foreman, and Chad Butler from the band Switchfoot, Bali
legends
Made Lana from Uluwatu and Ketut Menda from Kuta and others with their
families
and friends from all over the world came together to honor and celebrate
the
roots of modern surfing at this unique surf gathering.
Winning the 30-minute six man final was nothing short of a
dream come true for young Ellis, who hails from Byron Bay Australia and is an
admitted retro addict who has done nothing but surf and shape single fin
surfboards for the last four years.
He has been hanging out around Canggu recently and clearly had both the
place and his style dialed in to perfection on Saturday, after almost missing the event.
“The night before I send Jake a text telling him I wanted to
be in the contest, but then ended up getting really drunk,” he admitted,
somewhat embarrassed. “So I woke
up this morning and like, ‘I’m not going in the contest but I’ll just go down there
and say hello’. When I
got there they were like ‘get out there, you’re in heat 8’, so I just got out there….I
just kept powering and the heats just started turning over you know?”
Ellis was in his element to be sure. “There were so many good boards out
there, the Blue Bird, the Hot Buttered, the Flex Tail, and seeing Terry
(Fitzgerald) and Mitchell (Rae) here, who are my favorite shapers including my
father….having those guys here and surfing in a heat with Terry, I was so
inspired! It’s the stuff I just
thrive on. It’s so good to see
everybody here appreciating the old boards and the older figures in surfing,
the guys that laid down the foundation of what we know, see and love today.”
His inspired surfing got him the win and accolades from his
peers including Steven “Monty” Montell, who was one of the judges along with
Arya Subyakto, Wayan Pica, and Wayan Suandhi. “Throughout the day Ellis surfing with a mix of power, flow
and functional flare,” said Montell, “reminiscent of the 70’s tail following
the nose style, all of which the judges were looking for today. It was truly gratifying to see a young surfer
like Ellis surfing with such style, and so appreciative of surfing’s history.”
The 48 competitors were allowed to use only classic single
fin retro surfboards and were not allowed to use a leg rope (leash), all in
order to maintain the integrity and true spirit of the Good Vibrations
event. Consequently, all surfboards
had to be inspected and approved by Drifter’s Jake Mackenzie, Insight’s Mike
Rommelse, and Mantra’s Tipi Jabrik before the competitors took to the water.
The 6 man final ended with Ellis in first, Jay Button second,
Marlon Gerber third, Tipi Jabrik fourth, Chris “Cutch” McHutchison in fifth,
and Rob Machado in sixth. In
classic Drifter form Machado elected to spend the entire final down the beach
at the Sand Bar rather than with the others at the rivermouth righthander. From the podium at the awards
presentation at Mantra, Machado said, “Congrats you guys…that was some amazing
surfing and it was a pleasure to watch from down the beach. I was taking notes all day….(laughing). Seriously, it was a really cool event
to be part of…I didn’t know what I was getting myself into today and I had a
blast. It was really fun surfing
with all you guys, and being back here in Bali.”
Each of the finalists received a custom made classic style Luke
Studer single fin surfboard at the awards presentation held at the Mantra bar
and restaurant later that evening, where the massive celebration included raffle
prizes, the awards presentation, hours of free drinks from Ketel One, San
Miguel Light, and Cape Discovery wine, with live music by Los Gringos, Andy
6-String, and the internationally acclaimed band Switchfoot.
Bringing the epic day and amazing night to a memorable
finish at Mantra were the platinum album selling San Diego-based band of
surfing musicians that go by the name of Switchfoot. They had the crowd magnetized and singing along with every word
from each song as front man Jon Foreman, bassist Tim Foreman, guitarist Drew
Shirley, guitarist/keyboardist Jerome Fontamilla and drummer Chad Butler put on
a high energy, emotionally charged, up-close-and-personal performance. As they ended their last song, Jon described
it best when he said to the audience, “This really reminds me of back in
college when we were playing in living rooms….and so I want to thank you all
for inviting us into your living room here tonight.”
Jon, Tim and Chad had all surfed in the Good Vibrations
event earlier in the day, and were still on a high from their first single fin
experience. “We loved the opportunity to get out there, to meet so many cool
people,” said Chad. “The community
is so strong and it’s a rare thing to see, and we were honored to be adopted by
the Bali community today…it was really great. And experiencing the Good Vibrations event…I don’t think
I’ve ever ridden a single fin until today… but now I want one of these
things. I gotta get home and start
learning on a single fin, it’s just that much fun!
The band has been together for 15 years now, surfing together,
playing music, and hanging out, and during the contest it was Jon who put
together one of the day’s highlights, going switchfoot not once but twice on
the same wave. “That was the best
wave I’ve ever surfed switchfoot, for sure…it was so long!” exclaimed Jon.
The band took their name from the surfing term switchfoot, means
to change your normal stance to an opposite stance while surfing on a
wave. As Chad explained, “We grew
up in San Diego surfing together…so wanted to have a name that represented our
home and the culture we grew up in.
We don’t take ourselves too seriously, so we thought Switchfoot was a pretty
good name…even though none of us are really good at it. Well, except for Jon…I think he has
been practicing more than me, as obviously he’s gotten really good at it!”
According to Chad, they have kind of on-going joke that whenever
they are surfing together, before they get out of the water they have to ride
at least one wave switchfoot, just to keep in form. “Every year in June we organize an event at Moonlight Beach
in Encinitas called the Switchfoot Bro Am, which is a benefit for homeless kids
with music and such,” he continued.
“In it we have a little contest where you have to ride one wave regular
and one wave goofy, so we have to stay in practice!”
A groovy and good time was had by all who attended the Good
Vibrations event, and as Tipi Jabrik said afterwards, “I don’t know what we’re
going to do next year to create a better event than this, it was so far beyond our
expectations…but we’ll find a way to do it somehow…count on it!”
Check out the excellent video clip of the event by Sean
Gilhooley at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbEdGoD2LQ8
and lots of great photos from the night’s festivities at
Mantra at http://lifewithoutandy.com/galleries/2011-2012/winter/times_are_good
Good Vibrations Retro Classic 2012 - Final Results
1. Ellis
Ericson (Aus) – 15.50 points
2. Jay Button (Aus)
– 14.93 points
3. Marlon
Gerber (Bali) – 13.50 points
4. Tipi Jabrik
(Bali) – 12.83 points
5. Chris McHutchison
(Aus) – 12.77 points
6. Rob Machado
(USA) – 10.73 points
The Good Vibrations Retro Classic was sponsored and
supported by Drifter Surf Shop, Mantra, Insight, Ketel One, San Miguel, Cape
Discovery, Electric Visuals, Canggu Surf Community, Green Rock, MacBeth
Footwear, Patagonia, Dakine, Creatures of Leisure, Surfyogis, Vestal, Coca-Cola
Amatil Indonesia and the Coca-Cola Indonesia Surfing Championships, with media
partners Bali Alternative Media, Lines Magazine, SurfTime Magazine,
Surfersvillage.com, Balibelly.tv, Baliwaves.com, Alam TV Bali and the Outdoor
Channel.
For more information please contact:
Jake Mackenzie
Drifter Surf Shop
Phone: +6281337405233
Email: jake@driftersurf.com
Text and photos by Tim Hain – Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing
Championships - Bali
--
Tim Hain
Media and Communications
Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour - Asian Surfing Championship Tour
CV. Selancar Indonesia (ISC)
Jl. Raya Kuta No. 21
Pertokoan Kuta Raya Blok 9 Abian Base
Kuta, Bali 80361
INDONESIA
Phone/Fax: +62 361 768293
Mobile: +62 8123606674
Email: tim@isctour.com
www.isctour.com
For visitors on a longer stay in Bali, check out the affordable Bali hotels in Amed, Candi Dasa, Canggu, Lombok, Lovina, Nusa Lembongan, Tabanan and Tanah Lot.
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