Top West Coast surfers will compete in the contest at Surfrider State Beach.
By Laura Tate / Editor
The 15th annual Call to the Wall surf contest takes place Saturday and Sunday at Surfrider State Beach. And to kick off the event, “Surf Movie Night in the Park” will take place Friday evening at Bluffs Park with two first-run surf films being shown on the CineMalibu equipment. The films are “Fin”-an Ira Opper, Todd Saunders production-and “Log” by Travis Karian. Several other short films will also be shown. The screenings will begin at 8 p.m., depending on light conditions, and a $5 donation is requested.
The theme for this year’s contest is Rhythm in Blue, relating to “not only the fluid motion and feeling that surfing brings, but to the music that radiates around the sport,” as stated in press materials from Malibu Boardriders Club, which founded the Call to the Wall event to benefit Camp Ronald McDonald for Goodtimes. The camp offers children a Day at the Beach at Leo Carrillo State Park Beach for up to 300 campers, a day filled with tandem surfing, boogie boarding and a whole array of beach activities not usually available to children with a severe ailment.
The Call to the Wall is a two-day event, with more than 300 top competitors from the West Coast and Hawaii gathering together to put on a “radical show of cutting-edge and old-school longboard skill,” according to Malibu Boardriders. “The Call to Wall is an all-volunteer event, which provides a true surf vibe, the essence of tradition and surf-culture.”
Surf contests are available in all ages starting with the Mini Groms division for ages 10 and under, and going upward to the 60-plus division for men and the 35 and older division for women.
The contest will begin Saturday at 6 a.m. at Surfrider Beach and will continue through Sunday. All preliminary rounds will surf with the last heat ending at 8 p.m. There are 336 surfers lined up to surf, with the top longboard surfers from various clubs throughout the West Coast competing. Such notables as Joel Tudor, CJ Nelson, Jason Collins, Kevin Connelly and Kanoa Dahlin will be competing.
On Sunday the quarterfinal heats take place in the morning. A tandem event will start at 11:30 a.m., and the Mini Groms event will take place at noon followed by the semifinals and finals.
The 6th annual Tommy Zahn Memorial Paddle Race will run from Zuma Beach to Surfrider Beach on Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. One hundred participants in a record showing are expected for the paddle race.
Tommy Zahn is considered one of the most legendary watermen of all time. He was born and raised on the beach in Santa Monica and spent his life swimming, surfing, sailing and paddling. This lifestyle eventually led him into the profession of a beach lifeguard. By 1948 he was the Pacific Coast Surfboard Paddling Champion and in 1953 he won the first Catalina Paddling race from Catalina Island to Manhattan Pier, a race that still goes on today.
“He had great patience and a special way of teaching,” according to Malibu Boardriders. “He didn’t just teach, he gave you a gift born of his love for the ocean. For everything that he represents, he is equally known for his integrity, his humbleness and his quiet way. If he were alive today, he would be first in line at Camp Goodtimes to take the children out to share the ocean.”
The weekend ends with an award ceremony late afternoon Sunday.
More information on the Call to the Wall surf contest and other weekend events can be found at the web site, www.malibuboardriders.com.