VERO BEACH — It was a visually striking day of skim boarders showcasing their adept skills pulling airs, grabs, shove-its and ollies on their fiberglass potato chips during the 6th annual Mulligans Skim Jam to benefit the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association.
Chris Ellison, of Epic Sessions, who organized the event along with Todd Rhoten and event founder Russell King, proudly noted it had expanded to professional competition.
As a result, 12 pros en route from St. Augustine to Southern California for worldwide competition, stopped in Vero to skim along a 25-yard stretch of beach in front of Mulligans Beach House Bar and Grill on Saturday.
“You need balance, speed and confidence,” said Ellison, watching 121 skim boarders ranging in age from 6 to 35. Contestants in this event self-identify based on skill level into one of four divisions: I Suck (beginner); I’m Good (intermediate); I’m Better (advanced); and I’m Going Pro Tomorrow.
“Your mind can play tricks on you,” Ellison said.
Skim boarding is a sport in which a skim board without a fin is used to glide across the water’s surface. The boarders drop the board on the beach on top of an incoming wave and then uses momentum to skim out to the breaking waves, which they catch back into shore in a manner similar to surfing.
The sport originated in California when lifeguards wanted an easy way to get across the beaches of Laguna. It has developed since then to extreme riding into big shore break.
Although there wasn’t such a big shore break Saturday, the riders were making the most of the moderate conditions consisting of 1- to 2- foot waves.
“This is a more technical contest,” Ellison said. “We’re judging on what the feet are doing on the board, how they are riding the wave, the ease in which they are doing it and other things.”
Skim boarders made it look easy even as they jammed on their tricks, rode waves, and at times, crashed onto the beach. Some of the dangers include fractures or dislocations of the lower limbs, lacerations, hamstring injuries, and cervical fracture, all possible when riding big waves. Luckily, none occurred that day.
Pro skim boarder Troy Rhoten, 19, of Vero Beach, reflected on his boarding beginnings right there on that very stretch of public beach, marveling at the growth of the sport.
“I was 10 years old and watching older people and thinking I wanted to be that good, to do contests,” he said before catching his first wave of the competition.
“It’s like skateboarding on a wave,” he said. “It’s the best mix of skateboarding and surfing. The first wave you ever catch makes you want to do more and more.”
So style, consistency, variety and making it look easy all factored into Rhoten’s performance that day.
He pulled out all the stops including a 5 foot high air grab, a 720-degree shove-it and ollies galore, when the rider and board pop into the air without the use of the rider’s hands.
Emaneul Enbaixador, of Portugal, has been around the world on his skim board, and was savoring the unscheduled stop in Vero to take in the thrill of his chosen sport.
“You are waiting for the wave, with friends, spectators so close up to the action,” he said. “It’s so intense, and it’s just wonderful to be here where the people are clapping and cheering!”
Erik Toomsoo, VBLA president, said the organization was grateful for the proceeds from the benefit, and would use the funds for better communications devices, and helping to restore some of the things that have been axed with city budget cuts since 2008-2009 when lifeguard positions were cut, and more recently hours scaled back at Humiston Beach.
“Our beaches are the economic engine of Indian River County,” he said. “It’s a slippery slope. If we have unguarded beaches, it’s going to result in someone getting hurt, or it’s going to hurt our beaches. People will be scared of going to the beaches. It will have an impact on tourism and on the local economy. It’s going to trickle down and it all has to do with having safe beaches.”
Currently, there are 16 guards, seven who are full-time, the rest part-time guarding Jaycee, Humiston, South Beach and Leisure Square Pool. There were 30 saves in 2012; and from January through July of this year, the tally was at 58.
“Our worst case scenario is unguarded beaches,” he added. “It’s ironic because we are seeing more people coming to our beaches.”
