Story by Hillard Grossman

 

Space Coast BoardRiders Grom Fest

SATELLITE BEACH — Surfing about 100 yards off Pelican Beach Park late Saturday afternoon, Benji Lange called it a “sketchy decision,” but one that paid off with a $500 first prize.
“I was thinking there’d be a bunch of baitfish out there and then see a shark,” he said.
But, the 18-year-old St. Augustine resident outdueled Indialantic’s Beckham McCart 15.67-15.47 to win the 18-under Jr. Pro Boys title at the fourth edition of the Space Coast BoardRiders Grom Fest in an epic final that featured 8.17 scoring rides from both surfers.
Lange, however, split the difference with a 7.50 ride, carving up three powerful, spraying vertical snaps as the setting sun glistened off his white surfboard.
It was his second local victory in a row having recently won the Junior Men’s title at the National Kidney Foundation event in Cocoa Beach.
On the Jr. Pro Girls side, McCart’s sister, Daya, 16, took honors for the second time, defeating Cocoa Beach’s Kendall Dimmick, 12, by a 12.66-9.67 margin to claim the $500 prize, donated by the Florida Surf Museum.
McCart broke away from a relatively close scoring battle with a 7.33 ride halfway through the 20-minute heat, pumping through the wind-stirred whitewater on a left against a picturesque aqua sea.
But Dimmick, one of the area’s rising standouts who won the season-opening USA Surfing Prime Series U-14 event in Atlantic City, N.J., in October, didn’t flinch and immediately answered with a 6.50 ride, taking four smaller turns to the shoreline to keep it close.
“It’s cool to see these young girls going for it,” said McCart, who will save her money in hopes of one day buying her “dream” car, a Toyota 4Runner.
Melbourne Beach’s Sebastian Peters and his younger brother, Kai, swept two of the amateur divisions. Sebastian, a Ron Jon team rider, who turns 14 on Dec. 18, completed his career in the under-14 Boys division with an impressive 12.84 score that included a 6.67 ride among his 10 waves, whipping up three smooth, sweeping carves into the shoreline. Tyko Tran was second at 10.40.
Kai, meanwhile, was just as impressive in the Super Grom 12-under category, where his best ride of 7.57 secured a 12.07-8.93 decision against Kai Leavins, who defeated his sister, Sky (6.70), for second place in the co-ed division.
Mahina Friend won the Girls 14-under title, defeating Zoey Honda 7.90-7.17.
Indialantic’s Clay Garson, 8, was a repeat winner in the Micro Grom (push-in) category, posting a 10.90-9.10 victory against Beau Behrens, whose 9.43 ride earlier in the day earned the Top Dog award from Long Doggers restaurants.
Clay, whose father, Kyle, is a former world tour surfing pro, paddled on his own during the earlier rounds, but his dad decided to take his son out some 100 yards in the final to find the higher-scoring conditions on the outside.
“He’s used to being out that far, but I figured it was getting a little (challenging) out there,” Kyle said.

 

Slater to make appearance

Former world champion Kelly Slater will be at Cafe Surfinista in Cocoa Beach from 5-8 p.m. on Dec. 19, signing copies of his latest book, “A Life of Waves,” documented by Todd Glaser.

Slater apparently has given a verbal commitment to Space Coast BoardRiders president Mason Sapp to represent the squad with Chauncey Robinson, Daya McCart and an at-large selection for the worldwide club surfing championships in Australia next month.

 

 

Carroll earns more acclaim

It’s been a huge year for Satellite Beach native Ricky Carroll, a legendary surfboard shaper who was inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame in January.

His latest honor came in October, when the owner of Ricky Carroll Surfboards was inducted into the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach, Calif., where he was part of the 25th class along with another legend, Al Merrick of Channel Island Surfboards.

Carroll, a former touring pro on the ASP Longboard circuit, also is the drummer in the popular local band, Karalyn and the Dawn Patrol.

Eat like a gold medalist

Want to eat like a champion? Olympic gold medalist Caroline Marks has a specialty poke tuna wrap named after her, called “The Caroline,” at the Long Doggers restaurant locations on the Space Coast (note: there’s still the 11-cent coleslaw to honor Kelly Slater’s 11 world titles).

Marks’ signature spinach tortilla wrap contains cucumber, honey, lettuce, carrots, purple cabbage, toasted cashews, sesame seeds and the house-special Nalu sauce.

The limited-edition wrap and kettle chips will set you back $15.99, but 24 cents from every sale goes to support women’s surfing in honor of Marks, who recently made a low-level appearance in Brevard County as part of an upcoming Florida surfing documentary.

 

 

Board shorts …Former world champion CJ Hobgood and his twin brother, Damien, were spotted last week with local surf veterans and long-time friends Josh Wilson and Phillip Watters … A Celebration of Life Paddle-Out will be held at Bicentennial Park in Indian Harbour Beach at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14 for longtime surfer David Grover (otherwise known as “Big Wave Dave”), the owner of Sun Harbor Nursery and the father of April Grover, who once gained fame as a surfer on one of MTV’s early reality series … Don’t forget, the ultra-popular Surfing Santas event begins at 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 24 in front of Coconuts on the Beach in Cocoa Beach.