A
fun filled three-day weekend celebrating Dewey Weber's legacy and showcasing
the future of longboarding is scheduled to take place September 28 - 30th
at Doheny State Park.
This years event will be dedicated to Shu Oikawa, who passed away earlier
this year from cancer. Shu was a longtime Weber team rider and a really
great friend. Contest at Boneyards, Doheny State Park, is a Favorite
Spanning Many Generations
The
three-day longboard competition features raffle drawings, prizes, water
events, and of course, spectacular longboarding featuring nearly three
generations of surfers from throughout the US and other countries.The event
kicks off on Friday at 3:30 p.m. for under-12 surfers, and an evening
welcome shindig with refreshments. A special Saturday night dinner and beach
party will be a social highlight of the contest beginning at 5:30p.m.
Entry fee is $95 (age 13 & over) $85 (12 & under). Fee includes: surf
contest, two lunch tickets & one Saturday dinner and beach party ticket.
Background . . .A little bit of history: The late 1950s found Dewey Weber
christened the first "hot-dogger of surfing and one of the world's best
surfers. Dewey began manufacturing surfboards in the early 1960s and became
one of the largest surfboard manufacturers.
Since longboards were the ONLY boards known in the surfing world, Dewey's
designs and surfing style were in high demand. This "little man on wheels",
with his flamboyant style, had such an impact on surfing that Surfing
Magazine proclaimed him the "father of modern surfing".
Dewey's surfing style was an impetus to the shorter and lighter boards now
seen in the short board market. His manufacturing designs pushed the
envelope of surfboard design. In the late 1960s short boards were becoming
the "in thing" with the younger crowd and long boarding took a back seat.
In 1981, a growing number of people once again began ordering longboards and
because of his passion for the longboard style and attitude, Dewey decided
to reunite the top competitive surfers from the heyday of longboard surfing.
These surfers from the mid-1960s were invited to take a trip down memory lane with a fun day of competition at the Manhattan Beach Pier. Hundreds of surfers and observers showed up that day in May of 1981. Dewey's vision of a "surf reunion" was a thunderous success and helped open the door to the resurgence of longboard surfing.
Over the next five years, the Dewey Weber Longboard Classic became a premier
event, attracting major sponsors and media coverage. This event was covered
on live television by the major network news stations in Los Angeles.
In 1982, PM Magazine San Diego did a piece for their local viewers and found
it so successful they syndicated it for nationwide viewing. By the second
year of the event, a full press contingent gathered on the beach which
included publications as notable as People Magazine.
The event continued annually through 1986 until many constraints were put on this type of venue. The Dewey Weber Longboard Classic was shelved and resurrected in 2001, harkening back to a golden era of surfing whose glow still shines in the minds of those who lived it, and those who know it only through the stories that have been passed down.
Schedule
Friday, September 28
3:30 pm Menehune (12 & under) Check-in
4:00 pm Menehune Preliminary Heats
4:00 - 6:00 pm
5:30 - 7:00 pm Welcome shindig
Saturday, September 29
6:00 am Check-in
6:30 am Competition Begins
Noon Lunch
6:00 – 8:00 pm Dinner
Sunday, September 30
6:30 am Competition Begins
Noon Lunch
Afternoon Awards Ceremony