United States Waveski Association: News + The Best Waveski Articles & Media on the Web
US Open Champ Tony Cherry of NZ showing off his trophy (photo: warren schultheiss)
US Waveski Open
1st Place Tony Cherry, NZ
2nd Place Fletcher Burton, Ca.
3rd Place Tyler Lausten, Hi.
4th Place Alexander Stubbs, Ma.
US Champ Fletcher Burton being generally excited & awesome (photo: warren schultheiss)
1st Place Tyler Lausten, Hi.
2nd Place Alexander Stubbs, Ma.
Tyler Being Interviewed by Jason Kozen (photo: warren schultheiss)
1st Place Ricky Miller, NJ.
2nd Place Warren Schultheiss, Ca.
3rd Place Casey Desharnais, Ca.
4th Place Fletcher Burton, Ca.
1st Place Tony Cherry, NZ.
2nd Place Jim Riecks, FL.
3rd Place Vince Shay, Ca.
4th Place Steve Moser, Ca.
1st Place Jim Grossman, IA.
2nd Place Greg Keenan FL.
3rd Place Sean Morely, Ca.
4th Place William Luhrs, Ca.
1st Place Roger Adams, Ca.
2nd Place Mark Pastick, Ca.
3rd Place Stephen Riordan, Ga.
4th Place Stewart Diesal Reynolds, Va.
1st Place Chuck Menzel, Ca.
2nd Place Lannie M. Spencer, Ca.
3rd Place Michael T. Wright, Ca.
4th Place Dennis St. Claire, Ca.
1st Place Wina Dumin, SA.
2nd Place Teresa Rogerson Ca.
3rd Place Kate Smith, Ca.
1st Place Jim Grossman, Ca.
2nd Place Chuck Menzel, Ca.
3rd Place Mike Harrington, Ca.
4th Place William Luhrs, Ca.
1st Place Sean Morley, Ca.
2nd Place Jim Grossman, IA.
3rd Place Chris Russ, Ca.
4th Place Geoff Jennings, Ca.
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When it was time for Alexander to decide where he wanted to go to college he knew it had to have consistent nearby surf. Alexander Stubbs 19 year old National Junior Waveski Champion left his home town of Sudbury Massachusetts with all he would need for college crammed in, on and hanging from his jeep. Four waveskis, a surfboard, kayak, skim board, mountain bike and a pile of musky wetsuits which had surfed there last icy east coast session for a while. Alexander headed some 3074.71 miles across the country to U.C. Berkeley. This school was the perfect fit for Alexander’s major in Physics and Integrated Biology. The Berkeley campus is located in the heart of San Francisco. Alexander is looking forward to being able to go get his favorite meal Fes Enjan a Iranian Dish anytime he wants now that he is in the big city. Along with being a amazing Major International City it is also a beach town full of a hardcore mixture of always overhead beach breaks, tubing rock slabs and cobble stone points. With the first North Swells rolling in for the season Alexander has taken advantage of the waves in preparation for gunning for his Second National Waveski Title this year held at C-Street Ventura, CA Oct. 30 & 31st.
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Alex is one of the very few representing waveski in the S.F. right now. I am sure he’s not gone unnoticed as he can be seen often at his favorite spot Ocean Beach and he is starting to fit in with the pecking order with nasty crew at Fort Point directly under the Golden Gate Bridge. He says he rarely thinks anymore about how he is surfing in the heart of the Red Triangle (the epicenter of Great White Sharks in the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco Bay).
Although only wavesking three years now the National Champion has been in the water forever from underwater scuba photography to surfing. He has been really lucky to experience tons of new places while getting to live in so many cool areas like Chile, Australia, Seattle, La Jolla, Santa Barbara, Hawaii and Bradbury, Massachusetts.
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When asked about his influences he was reluctant to say any because there are so many rippers but he said “Rees Duncan for all around ,Mathieu Babarit, Dave Mitchell and Nikki Carstiens for smoothness and I like the airs that Tony Cherry and Luke Herman do.”
With Alexander’s quiver of Island, Tsunami, Dekka and Nikki Carsteinsski’s he has definitely got a board for all the wide conditions that northern California can have to offer.
Some of Alexander’s 2008 Winter Plans are lots of school, exploring the S.F. spots as well as also looking forward to spending time in the Santa Cruz area and hopefully getting to charge with some of the local hard cores like Rusty Sage. In asking Alexander about if the rumors are true about him attempting Mavericks this year he said. “Um that’s top secret”.
Keep fighting the good fight Alex!
F-Dog
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List of questions asked to Alex that had to be answered in less than 10 seconds.
Word / Answer
Motorcycle / Helmet
McDonalds / Blah
New Zealand / Silver Tree
Roll / Paddle
Epoxy / Delam
Airplane / Broken board
Earplugs / Docs
East Coast / some surf, Biggie
West Coast / Lots of Surf, TuPac
Indo / Insane
Kirra / Right
Wave machine / Fair Bits
*USWA Would like to thank both Alexander and fletcher for this contribution!* Read more…
USWA Championships Poster
We may be offering medium and large prints of these posters if enough of you are interested. Express your interest below and we’ll see how it goes!
Please note that this list is not necessarily broken down by all classes, however it is in the age class order. See note beside each name for class and other information on each rider.
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Tyler Lausten, Haiku, Hawaii. Maliko Creations Waveski – Open/Junior
Alexander Stubbs, Massachusetts – Open/Junior *2007 US Junior Champion*
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Ricky Miller, Seaside Park, New Jersey. Island Waveskis. - Open/NewAge - Ranked # 1 National Rider *2007 US Open Champion.
Fletcher Burton, Pismo Beach, California. WaveMaster Waveskis. - Open/New Age - Ranked # 2 National Rider *2007 US New Age Champion*
Warren Schultheiss, Santa Barbara, California. Dekka Waveksis. - Open/New Age
Jason Kozun, Moss Landing, California. - Open/New Age
Garrett Kababik, Santa Barbara, California. Valley Kayaks. – Open/New Age/Kayak
Casey Desharnais, Santa Barbara, California. Valley Kayaks. - New Age/Kayak
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Tony Cherry, New Zealand. Tsunami Waveskis. - Open/Senior
Vince Shay, California. Island Waveskis & Murky Water Kayaks. - Open/Senior/Kayak
Stephen Moser, California. WaveMaster Waveskis. - Open/Senior
Mourney Erasmus, South Africa, residing in La Selva, California. MacSki. - Open/Senior
Jim Riecks, Ormond Beach, Florida. Island Waveski. - Open/Senior
Xavier Vidal, Peru. Open/Senior
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Greg Keenan, Cocoa Beach, Florida. Island Waveski. - Open/Master - Ranked # 3 National Rider *2007 US Masters Champion*
Gavin Hood, Los Angeles, California. Wavemaster Waveskis. - Open/Master
Simon Jones, Los Angeles, California. Wavemaster Waveskis. - Open/Master
Rick Haley, Corpus Christi, Texas. Infinity Waveskis. - Open/Master/Merv Class
Dave Johnston, California. - Master/Kayak
Sean Morely, California. Alan Neighbour Waveskis & Valley Kayaks - Open/Master/Kayak Class
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Roger Adams, Ventura, California. Island Waveskis. - Open /Grand Master *2007 US Grand Master Champion*
Stephen M Riordan, Woodbine, Georgia. Island Waveskis. - Open /Grand Master
Frank Caciotta, Spring Hill, Florida. Island Waveskis. - Open/Grand Master
Stewart Diesal Reynolds, Virginia. MacSki Waveskis. - Open/Grand Master
Val Goodfellow, California. – Open/Grand Master
Mark Pastic, California. Island Waveskis. - Open/Grand Master/Kayak
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Michael T Wright, Capistrano Beach, California. – Open/Veteran
Lannie M Spencer, Piedmont, California. – Open/Veteran
Dennis St.Claire, Costa Mesa, California. - Open/Veteran/Kayak
Rick McGrath, Ventura, California. - Open/Veteran/Merv Class
Jock Scott, Ventura, California. - Veteran
Chuck Menzel, Ventura, California. Infinty Waveskis. - Veteran/Merv
Rob “Hollywood” Canali, New Jersey. Island Waveski. - Open/Veteran
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Jim Grossman, , California. - Open/Merv/Kayak
Kate Smith, , California. - Open/Kayak
Chris Russ, Canyon Country, California. - Open/Kayak
Geoff Jennings, Sacremento, California. – Open/Kayak
Teresa Rogerson, Boulder Creek, California. - Open/Kayak
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William Luhrs, Redondo Beach, California. Wavemaster Waveskis. - Open/Merv
Mike Harrington, Santa Barbara, California. KS Waveskis & Infinity Waveskis – Open/Merv
Current Vendors/Sponsors
WaterSports Productions LLC. Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida.
Contest & Event marketing, production and management.
Tsunami Waveski, New Zealand.
Kayak Connection, Santa Cruz California
Graphic Vendor, Santa Barabara, California.
IslandWaveski, Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Santa Barbara PaddleSports, Santa Barabara, California.
Valley Kayaks, California.
Barry Rothstien Insurance, Ventura, Ca.
Fletcher Burton aka 'Zorba the Waveskier' aka 'the best waveski talent in the US'
1. How long have you been waveskiing, and how did you get into it/who influenced you?
15years ago I waveskied when I was in high school on Maui . We would ride the old Shane skis in front of our house because the reef was too shallow to allow for a decent wave come through. We would also fish and dive off of them a lot but It wasn’t until 7 years later when I was approached by Roy Scafidi and Rod Michaels @ Santa Cruz Steamer Lane . At the time I was surf kayaking a bunch and had no interest in becoming a waveskier. It was really cool how it happened Rod Michaels had been talking with Roy on how he can help pump up the growth of the sport. Rod asked Roy to find a young paddler showing promise and that he wanted to sponsor him. Roy asked me if I would be interested which then lead to a exciting meeting with Rod Michaels and Roy Scaffidi. They sent me home with a sweet High Performace ski. I remember walking down the boardwalk @ Steamers with the feeling that wow this feels a whole lot more sexier than my Surf Kayak being carried under my arm. It wasn’t until this time that I put the 2 and 2 together that this was a similar craft to the old square reef scratched vessels my friends and I used to paddle in Hawaii . I road my first session on it @ St. Anns and never looked back. I have Rod Michaels to thank for the love I have found for waveskiing.
2. What’s your favorite aspect of waveski surfing?
Favorite aspect of wavesing is that we are different. I really love to ride a lot of different surf crafts and since waveski is drastically different to other board sports it feels cool to be expressing ourselves differently. You know we must really love this sport to continue to do it since we are subjected to the bad vibes of the other surfers. It basically comes down to human nature I think, people fear whats different.
3. Talk a little about your striding, how did you get started with it, etc.
Striding I think has been the most exciting thing for me in waveski because it no longer is just a waveski. It’s a everything craft you can waveski on it and you can stand up surf on it. It also really mellows down a angry group of boardies. I just started to do it when I was getting at a stale point in wavesking.
4. What’s your favorite US break?
International break? My Favorite Surf spot is in a unmentionable area of Central California and my favorite international break would be somewhere Imbituba, muita bom
5. For those who haven’t seen Gateway to Sorga, talk a little about the Mentawais trip in 07, and what it was like surfing with Mathieu, Caro, Rees and Khane Duncan, Malan, Xaver, etc.
Absolutly amazing these people are on a whole other level of waveski riding. I was telling someone if that trip was a contest I would have taken last place. Despite being some of the craziest surfers I have ever witness charging they were all a very cohesive group all very giving with their knowledge of waveski and life for that matter. I definitely feel like that trip made a life long friendship with the whole crew.
6. What board(s) are you riding and why do you like it/them? Do you have different boards for different conditions?
I think I have about 20 waveskis in my garage and those are made up of 6 different MFG of waveskis. Its really been a exciting time for me though ever since the Mentawaiis Gateway to Sorga trip because I have been riding a Wavemaster board that Rees Duncan gave to me. This is a really sweet board that challenges me and at the same time is allowing me to pull off
stuff I havent’ done before. This board I was given has some history. He won the NZ worlds and several Oz titles on this very board. The other MFG of boards I have are Dekka, Island , Tsunami, Gee & Shane. I think its important to try everything and see whats best for you.
Fletcher Burton getting air while waveski-striding
7. What else do you do for fun? Any other sports or hobbies? I think I read somewhere you were into reptiles (I have a bunch myself).
I also love to surf, photo and video, Trumpet, Guitar, Drums, Ukelele, Winch, hydrofoil, wake surf and pretty much anything else that has to do with water.
8. How about 3 tips to help newer waveskiers get better?
Make sure you have a big enough board so you don’t discourage yourself off the start. Try and watch as much footage of the other countries around the worlds riders. Develop relationships with other waveskiers around the world and ask a lot of questions but then figure out what works best for you.
9. How about 3 competition tips/strategies?
1. Have fun.
2. Treat each heat as its just another day wavesking .
3. Go Hard.
10. The future of the sport is with the younger set, as we all saw in Reunion . What single thing do you think might open the sport up to younger potential waveskiers here in the states?
Try and get footage and press releases into surfing publications and surf industries companies. Bring youngstas from other countries and show an expression session, get more sponsorship, get more striding boards out there so they can have the best of both worlds. Have your cake and eat it too.
11. What advice would you give to help all waveskiers promote our sport here in the States?
Keep it positive and be respectful. Learn your local surf community, what to do and don’t and how to fit in this community. LEARN & PRACTICE SURFERS LAW AT ALL TIMES
Love,
Fletch
*** THE USWA would like to thank Billy for conducting this first Association Blog Interview! Many many thanks to Fletcher Burton for being our first subject (and an all-around asset to the sport in too many ways to mention here)! Mahalo!
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Bonus Vid: Fletcher talking more about waveskiing
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