Surf City to test longboard skills

First SLSA event to be held at Surf City; first SLSA contest to use Rob John's surfboards

The Surf City Classic takes place this Saturday 26 July 2008 at Surf City using Rob John's new Noserider longboards. The competition will not only be the first Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) surfing competition to take place at Surf City, but also the first SLSA event to standardise on non-Heather Goodliffe scripted surfboards. 28 surfers have registered for the competition, including many from the SLSA points table although the Surf City Classic scores will not contribute to surfers' points in the table.

Robin Mapp with the new Surf City Classic competition longboards

"The SLSA approached me once they learned of the new Noserider board and saw myself and a few others out riding different breaks. Rob John's Noseriders are the first true longboard in Second Life based entirely around the precepts of longboard riding," said Robin Mapp, owner of Rob John's Surf and Surf City (see pic above). "They are designed to replicate longboard surfing and surfers can literally walk the board to the nose and hang five! The boards are capable of long sweeping bottom turns, climbing back up the face and reversing direction."

Surf City opened in September last year and is based on Southern California's famous Huntington Beach, headquarters of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour. Surf City has both Heather Goodliffe Pipeline Wave breaks and Rob John Surfable Wave breaks. Saturday's competition will take place on the pipeline break on Surf City South beach.

"We wanted to include some new SLSA events this season by including some other surf areas, so a contest using Rob John's surfboards was a natural fit," said Milo Voss, SLSA director. "Robin Mapp is such a force in Second Life surfing and has been a staunch supporter of surfing for longer than I've been around. We also wanted to have some fun at Surf City and try out something new without interrupting the existing seasonal competition calendar."

Regular SLSA competition surfers have been practicing with the new boards this week in preparation for Saturday's competition and have faced a steep learning curve. "The boards are so different," said Bobbi Laval, ranked 10th in this year's first SLSA season's standings. "The first few days on the new board was very frustrating, but I actually seem to be doing okay on them now."

"There is a learning curve, just as there is in real life surfing," explains Robin. "We designed a new exciting sculpty shape based on the classic Southern California longboard. The unique part of these boards is each rider has the ability to develop their own style. These boards are totally different than anyboard available, the script and controls react in ways nothing else on the market does. Each rider controls their experience in the water, nothing dictated by the wave or the board."

The Surf City Classic takes place at 1100 hrs SLT (1800 hrs GMT), Saturday 26 July 2008 on Surf City South beach. Spectators are welcome to watch from the main Surf City sim.

See the heat draws for the Surf City Classic on SurfWatch Results.

Surfers contact: Ashleigh Dickins

Updated 23 July 2008 (link to heat draws added)

Useful links
SurfWatch Results: HEAT DRAW -- Surf City Classic
URL: Surf City Classic (SLSA Forum)
SLURL: Rob John's Surf Store
SLURL: Surf City South (Competitors only)
SLURL: Surf City (Spectators)

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