Metaverse United Surfers Tour

Clarke Torok recently contacted SurfWatch with some breaking news on a new SL surfing tour and the organization running it, MUST, the Metaverse United Surfers Tour. Clarke is the winner of the December 2007 SL Triple Crown of Surfing - an event many newcomers to the SL surf scene may not be familiar with. SurfWatch sat down with the controversial Clarke to find out exactly what this breaking news was and to get some information on his SL surfing background and history.

SurfWatch: Tell us about the Dec 2007 SL Triple Crown of Surfing.

Clarke Torok: I had the idea kicking around for some time after surfing in several competitions and discussing it with Phelan James, Hedonism Isle owner whom I designed, built and ran the surf sims for, and the late Thor Bishop, may you R.I.P. brother, don't think you are forgotten. I had noticed many things that were very inconsistent and wanted to change them but felt the organization policies though say all members have an equal say, they really don't. So I had enlisted the help from some other very talented people of Action who I had grown close to in SL. Smooth Hammerer, Ashleigh Dickins, VW Sands and a few of the sponsors jumped in to help, as well as sponsor, like Misty Gentil (former Club Genesis) and Radical Twang (Reaction).

SW: Where did the concept of this tour originate?
CT: The SL Triple Crown of Surfing, the TC as we called it, originated from my idea while Smooth, Ashleigh and I were sitting around Smooth's bar at his house. I had brought it up once before while we were discussing other issues with Lazarus Longstaff of the former Heliopolis surfing sims.

SW: Who won?

CT: The Grand Finale held at Hedonism's Kahuna Beach, home of the fist epic waves in SL, proved to be just that - grand!! In a very heated, though very close fight for the right to be crowned King or Queen of the Crown, between Pieda Allen, Timbo Flanagan, and myself in the final stage of the 3 event series. Pieda and Timbo had both won an event, the Swell Suicide, first event at Hedonism Isle, went to Pieda. Timbo took the Pipe Thrasher at Majini (we asked for a special request of having the epics shut off for that event). I had just surfed very consistently with a 2nd and 3rd place finish. So the final had alot of suspense and lots of pressure. I stayed consistent and finished second in the event to Ashleigh Dickins (who had no factor on the outcome but surfed great) and edged Timbo who finished 3rd. Pieda missed one final round which proved costly to him winning with a 5th place finish.

SW: What board types and waves?

CT: We used epics and pipes which was most common at the time and left boards to HG scripted boards. One event was shortboard, one was long, and one was surf your favorite.

SW: Who were the judges?
CT: VW Sands was the head judge and Sizz Ling was the other but due to the holidays as the event was contested over the first 3 Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we had to have a replacement for VW in the final event provided by one of our sponsors for the day. Sheep Cheney replaced VW as judge.

SW: What kind of scoring system was used?

CT: The scoring system was a best 3 of 5 wave total based on a 1-10 point scale in Round 1 and 2. The final round of each event, the points were doubled for the final 5 surfers at all 3 competitions, so it paid off to make the finals. This gave all surfers 3 total scores which were then added together for the series total. Highest 3 event total became King or Queen of the Crown.

SW: Who participated?

CT: I would love to name everyone but I'm already talking alot, and we have alot more to cover. The TC by the numbers had 66 surfers register, 53 of which surfed in at least one event of the series. 28 surfed all 3. It was not required to surf all 3, but if you wanted to win prize money, you had to surf at least 2, one of which had to be the final.

SW: Why was this event non-SLSA sanctioned?

CT: There was no need to have sanctioning. We had a smaller crew of people who pulled off the highly doubted yet highest spectator total and highest surfer registration and participation yet to be recorded in SL.

SW: What do you mean by, it was the "largest and most open" surf event?

CT: What I mean is just that - there is no need to limit ourselves here or anywhere for that matter, in SL or in RL lives, so why do it? Fear is why. Fear the unknown, fear of change, fear of the new. Any real surfer knows that if you fear what you are doing, you end up a sitting duck in the water. So I set goals for the TC to accomplish. The largest event was one which it was and still rivals the records of any other surfing event. And the best part: we did it between the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, so there was no room for error or not having things ready. I'm a perfectionist and an artist on the water when I surf in RL, so why wouldn't I be here? I also opened the doors for global surfing representation in one event, breaking language barriers at the same time. Another goal was to invite the best surfers from all parts of the globe, and we had a huge influx of Japanese speaking surfers thanks, in part, to the JSLSA and Analog Jun of Analog Surf. I came up with a babbler relay system for the announcements to be made in Japanese as well as English and any other language surfers chose to hear them in. The TC also introduced the electronic scoreboard system as seen to this day at almost every SL surfing competition held.

Most of the concepts, ideas, and a large part of the philosophy of the Triple Crown were later adopted by the SLSA in a key moment where they almost died as an organization by Ashleigh Dickins. She used the knowledge she learned from the TC to make a difference. Yet not to brag about her, but its massive impact in saving the SLSA has brought them the longest lasting surfing organization in SL, though their refusal for enough change and adaptation limited her efforts and still limits them today!

SW: How were you crowned "king" of the SL Triple Crown of Surfing?

CT: I beat the world of SL's best surfers, not just the ones from SLSA or VSA or JSLSA or even the Brazilian Surfing Association, but the best from all of them at the time. And I have a goal of doing it some more. I have yet to retire from surfing in RL or SL and probably will never retire. As long as I can paddle out and pop up on that beautiful board deck and shred some water then ride it out to the beach, I'm in heaven.

SW: Where have you been since that time (Dec 2007)?
CT: I was in RL building up my young company to get it ready to sell.

SW: Why come forward now?

CT: I had kept in close contact with Smooth Hammerer as we have other businesses we are partners in, and he asked me to come back to finish what we set out to do with the TC, which we will also be discussing.

SW: What is the Metaverse United Surfers Tour?

CT: It's all in the name. Most of the questions will be answered in the press release.

SW: Who is a part of that organization?

CT: Anyone who surfs in the metaverse. The metaverse is not just SL. It includes all virtual reality world games such as Legend City, OpenSim and many others and will include everyone within each. Some worlds allow SL link thru for transferring currency in either direction and even same name transfer capabilities. So we didn't want to limit ourselves to just SL when we chose the name. Besides, why set limits when possibilities are endless? It's for the surfers, by the surfers. All group members can create proposals and vote on them. But a proposal is just that - proposed - and a vote doesn't mean it'll fit the "open vision". So if it puts a limit on the future growth potential albeit marketing, competition rules or any other aspect, it will be tossed in the trash no matter what the vote outcome. We are creating a realistic surfing tour much like the ASP and the ISA do, only with less rules and alot more fun thru our progressive formats that will be introduced and tour set up.

SW: Who are the sponsors of this event?

CT: We are still going thru our choosing process from all of the sponsor requests we have been given. We aren't here to chase anyone to sponsor, but if you would like to make a request, please feel free to contact me via IM and drop me a notecard or an email: clarke.torok@gmail.com.

SW: Will this event be sanctioned by the SLSA, VSA, or any of the other established surfing organizations?

CT: I'm not sure how this question makes sense but no (laughs). Are you serious? MUST has no concern with the SLSA or VSA. It is a much bigger thought-out attempt at a larger scale with pure visionary goals in mind. It would serve no purpose to be sanctioned when we are licensed and trademarked. So what exactly would they be sanctioning again?

SW: What are the future plans of this group?

CT: The near future holds the completion of our website being professionally designed as we speak, the sponsor pack deliveries and registration, and the release of our event schedule which will include a sponsor selection showcase at the end of June, date and time TBA (contact C. Torok for more information.)

SW: What exactly is the "tour" going to consist of?

CT: All encompassing, the Metaverse World Tour level surfer competes for money, is sponsored, and they or their sponsor pays their tour annual membership and entry fee. So it pays to surf for sponsorship! And the World Tour Qualifying Series is the free level of competition. Surfers will enjoy the same benefits of world tour surfers for the competition. The only difference is they don't have proposal creation or voting rights since they don't have to be group members for this level of competition, tho it is recommended. They can always upgrade their membership by earning their way in since the top 3 from the WTQS season points total will be given the minimum sponsor contract for the following season in the World Tour.

SW: Who are the officials running the comps and will there be just one venue or several?

CT: It's a world tour, self explanatory. The officials will be a sponsor selected committee, none of which can be or will be surfers.

SW: You referred to new realistic surf boards and waves. Who designed these?

CT: Nothing we are using is new, just something new to competition for years until the SLSA tried it due to, once again, the will of Ashleigh Dickins and the continued barraging from many others who wanted it to happen. The designers from Action Surf & Skate have been creating the most realistic waves and boards in SL. It is their vision to see them be taken into a competition system like this one we have created due to its realism.

SW: What is different about these?

CT: They have realistic attributes, customization for personal riding style and, well, have you ever seen a surf competition where surfers actually touched the water in RL with zero wipeouts? I haven't and, quite frankly, it's impossible to judge people's abilities surfing on a surf board with no margin of error other than bellying due to lag, whether it be from the client (themselves and their pc), the network (their connection), and the server (the sim) when everyone does the same thing on the boards cause they are very limited and only offer a difference of where you trick on the wave. So how do you judge for lag? Well, you can't. So what's next - margin of error? But wait, there is none cause we can't wipe out. Guess what, folks - now you can!

For more information on the Metaverse United Surfers Tour, contact Clarke Torok.

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