7-7-09
There are two things that should be known about the contest that many are not aware of.

First, the design for the contest t-shirt. The original sun logo for Victoria Skimboards was designed by Claire Shaver.  This is important because Claire was the wife of Doc Shaver and mother to four of the Shavers that Tex’s family surfed with at San Onofre during Tex’s childhood.  The sun logo has been refined countless times over the years by every artist who went through Victoria Skimboards but this year, Tex had the idea to contact Claire for a revised version for the contest.  Her response was excitement as she had always wanted to do a revision of the original design.

The end result?  On the 33rd annual Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding you find the company revisiting its roots and featuring artwork on the front of the t-shirt by an original artist.  Time sure does fly………

We hope you like the symbol of Victoria Skimboards; sun, waves, birds, and all.  We are lucky to have had her and our thanks are extended to her for such great work.  If you would like a little bit of history for your t-shirt collection we have plenty of size Large, Medium, and Small at the shop in the canyon for $10.00.  Thanks again!

Second, the future of the event. During the set up of the second day of the contest, the county park ranger came up and warned us that next year the contest might not take place unless we were willing to move the event up to a pre summer date.   Their reasoning was “chaos in the parking lot” with more cars circulating than there were cars already in the lot and the end result being “road rage.”  The “road rage” would create a “bad situation” for everyone involved.

We discussed informing the public about the WCS in the weeks prior to the event so that they could make plans to visit other beaches besides Aliso during the WCS.  One option was putting up signage at the park entrance on both sides of the highway so as to inform the public of the event at the beach for the weekend.  That idea was frowned upon.  The second option was publishing warnings in the local papers which were well received.

According to the park rangers, there are no NSSA surfing contests allowed on any public county beaches during the summer months (June through September).   The Victoria WCS may be headed the same way which would be a shame and injustice to our international visitors,  school age participants, and others that may no longer be able to participate in the event due to its timing.

We feel it will be necessary to launch a letter writing/newspaper editorial writing campaign to press the Orange County Permits employees to let us continue the event in late June or early July.  This timing works best as it takes advantage of the lingering NW wind swell that comes earlier in the summer as opposed to waiting until later in the summer when the only swells that are likely are infrequent south swells. 

We will start a petition as soon as possible so please check the Victoria Skimboards website frequently.  All parents and participants who have skills in writing or organizing a major push to have skimboarding recognized by Laguna and the County of Orange are encouraged to help.   Please write your local government agency, call your contacts in the local and county governments and help us make our case. 

Skimboarding is our local natural resource, much as skiers are the lifeblood of June Mountain.   We bring tourism, hotel occupancy, and restaurant use to the city of Laguna Beach.   We are a town full of skimboard enthusiasts so let’s pull together to make sure the WCS happens in 2010.

Thirty three (33) years of continuous contests is one heck of a long run for any event.  Please don’t let the county overreact to a few of the general public who are inconvenienced for one weekend of the year.  Laguna Beach is the worldwide Mecca for this sport.  This is where it has been revolutionized and grown into a wonderful new sport.  It should be protected from the vagaries of our government trying to please a very small group of people who don’t want anyone else using Aliso.  We are all beach goers and we all deserve an equal access to the beach.   The vast majority of the parking lot is there for the contest but there is plenty of room for the rest of the beach goers to use the water.

It would be a shame to lose the “family” event so please pull together and help stop the negative momentum that could pull the Victoria Skimboards WCS under the water never to return.

7-3-09
Check back wtih us on Monday as we should have some pictures from the event posted. Sorry for the delay but this week has been a catch up week for us.

6-29-09
The contest is complete and the results are in. Click here to view the results. An overall contest wrap up and write up will be available soon. Thank you to all of the sponsors, participants, employees, volunteers, and people involved in making the event happen.

For an additional wrap up article on the contest found in the Coastline Pilot, click here

6-26-09
The Coastline Pilot article about the Victoria Skimboards WCS and Brandon Rothe has been released. Click here to view it.

6-25-09
The heat schedule for Saturday and a proposed scheudle for Sunday is now ready. Click here to download. Please also note the start time for your heat as we are doing our best to stay on schedule. First heats are at around 8:30am on Saturday so be there.

6-24-09
Registration via Active.com is now closed. If you have not signed up for the contest, the chances are that you will not get in but please contact us at Victoria Skimboards as we can put you on the waiting list. Please note that all refunds will be handled the week after the contest. Thank you.

Victoria Skimboards is also pleased to announce that Yogaworks will be offering two free sessions on the beach this Saturday. Session #1 starts at 11am and will be held with Peggy Hall (Yoga For Board Sports). Session #2 starts at 3pm with Tracy Bauer (Beach Workout). Please register at the Yogaworks tent on Saturday morning and enjoy!

6-15-09
Victoria Skimboards is proud to be hosting the WCS Awards Ceremony and After Party at Seven Degrees again this year. For those of you that were there last year, the event was a huge success and we are looking to build on that momentum again.

The tentative schedule for Sunday evening is:
7:00pm to 7:45pm - Live music, product give away, video montage, food & beverage
8:00pm to 9:00pm - Awards

There could be a video release that evening so stay tuned as we will update you as soon as we know.

6-12-09
The press release for the contest is posted for your review. Check it here.

6-4-09
Rasta Taco will be catering the event on Sunday, June 28, 2009 providing tacos for all comeptitors and employees of the event. At registration you will need to pick up your food voucher in order to receive some of their fantastic food. A special thanks from Victoria Skimboards to Rasta Taco for helpin keep the energy alive at the contest.

5-20-09
The Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding is the longest running contest on the skimboarding circuit to date. It is also the most prestigious contest on the United Skim Tour. Over the years the contest rules and regulations have been copied by contest organizers from across the globe. Currently in its 33rd year of operation, the Victoria WCS is the contest that defines greatness. A skimboarder cannot lay claim to be one of the best skimboarders in the world until they have competed and won at the Victoria WCS.

This year the event will be held on June 27th & 28th, 2009. This is earlier than normal but that is when the tides will be at their best and give us the best opportunity for quality conditions. Aliso Beach in Laguna Beach California will again host the Victoria WCS. Registration can be found here.

If there is additional information that you need, please do not hesitate to contact us at the phone number provided. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you on the beach.