Spoon Competitions: Soul Sessions or Muscle Flexing?

[Man O' War]

With the spread of glass/carbon spoons, the possibility of competition is going to come up. But, should spoons be ridden competitively, or should they remain a soulful medium with the emphasis on aesthetics?

What standards and parameters would you use in judging a spoon contest?

Would contests be a single event, or would you need a separate contest for spoons?

What about venue? What breaks would be desirable and feasible in Cali, the Islands, Indo? Should the first one be held in Oz in honor of GG?

How quickly would competition advance performance and design, or would it ultimately ruin it?

I know everybody's tired of seeing "Man O' War" scroll up, so am I, but it's a Brave New World and we still haven't seen our first pro spoon. The man o' war is not only a nasty little animal--it's a warship, so I'm going to keep coming back.

Peace and patience.

[john -]

mow

how do?

i earlier replied to flexman's spoon post and made the comment that spoon riding and foamboard riding seem as different as mountain bike and road racer riding...in certain conditions a road racer will beat a mountain bike and vice verca

after recently watching the vid crystal voyager i concluded that my smoothish style (which is probably not a compe style) was cool (in homage to seeing gg on the spoon)

can soul surfing be judged?...can a spoon be radical?....will hart come up with an inbetween foam board and spoon

art for art sake!!!

but if people have farting comps then spoon comps are perhaps not out of the question

but as said...whats the criteria?

and i dont think we are bored MOW...IT VERY INTERESTING...just make spoons cheaper eh!!!

[albert]

Its pretty obvious riding a spoon does not lend itself to excelling in current format contests. Otherwise everyone would be riding them in contests.

Therefore, whatever format is used to judge a spoon contest, its probably not going to be the current format.

Also, if you consider an actual contest solely contructed around riding a spoon, and all the recent posts on this site re people not being able to ride spoons in less than optimal surf; then wouldnt that mean that the contest would absolutely have to be held in good-epic conditions??

If so, then arent we going back to square #1 (i.e. the problem with contests in general as posted on this site: the fact that they are usually held in bad conditions)?? And all the logistical nightmares one gets from trying to achieve a contest in perfect conditions...

just a thought.

[john -]

.
I'm saving all this stuff for later reference....

YES...wax at 50...long hair, bandana and a spoon instead of a moterbike

[hart]

<snipped>...just make spoons cheaper eh!!!

and then we can all ride bodyboards



its not about $

[john -]

ah but hart

it is about money when one cant afford to buy a board

fairdikum !!!!

ive got one board and would love another...but on a teachers wage and a wife back to part time after kids!!!

its definately about money

its hard to get on board with a lot of the discussions about different fins and board shapes when you got one second hand board and no hope to justify a shiny new custom in the near future

so with some OBJECTIVITY for the common man or as meats calls them mr kneelo norm your post does

not add up

not complaining about my lot but no $...no board


unless you want to make or give me one for free cos its not about....$


untill them shall we suggest spoon riding is for the wealthy or the few DIY punters


serious

[hart]

whatever mate huh?

[Man O' War]

Sorry, dorje, I've got my buddy's back on this one. Cost is no object, especially at first.

Don't worry, now that everyone knows your plight, not to mention the respect we feel for a struggling teacher with a family, you'll have your spoon, rejoice.

[surfhorn]

Don't think traditional competitions - think "Expression Session".

You can call a spoon expression session for sometime in a given year....say in 2006. Then you pick a window of opportunity and, when there is a swell predicted for some place appropriate ----- Rincon or Coho -if we want to really pay some tribute, organizers make the call.

Then everyone on a list gets a 24 hour call to show up and participate, much along the lines of our Gatherings.

[Man O' War]

Martinmurph said:

I'm certain that this is history in the making, and will be interesting to reflect on what transpired here 5~10 years from now.

mm -- I think we all have the same feeling, but I'd like to think the history was made decades ago and we're just uncovering it.

I like the way Flexspoon said it yesterday:

Greenough has already (25 years ago) taken spoons to a highly developed and tested state. All the questions that I have ever heard concerning spoons were answered long ago.

[Chris Buscemi]

Growing up I always wondered how George Greenough was able to build all of the cool things he has built and still survive (ie- spoons, the velo, water housing for cameras that surpassed industry norms, that cool boat, the list goes on). It amazed me that he could create all of these things and didn't seem to have a job or any difficulty in making ends meet. Until recently this has always struck me as odd. Was he living off of the good will of others? Did he have a job glassing blanks or painting houses? Thank you The Surfers' Path for ending this mystery, "...son of the heir to a railroad fortune...". (TSP, Issue 47, p. 74) After discovering this long sought piece of information I then began to wonder would surfing be the same if George had not been wealthy. Would his creations have ended up on bar napkins as ideas that were never brought to life? Would we still be riding crappy boards? I guess we will never know the answer to these questions but I am glad George Greenough was born with a silver spoon(pun?) in his mouth. Sorry if this was a bit long winded but the above posts reminded me of this. I would have to say that I agree with everyone... Boards are an investment and I usually have to save up for a while before I buy a new one. Yet I never mind paying for a board that works. Fun is priceless and as long as I am having it I'm happy.
-Chris Buscemi

[Flexman]

.

[Jack Beresford]

Spoonists,

I've never riden one but here's a thought - there are now small GPS systems that will record your fastest speed during your session. How about a bunch of guys paddle out at nice point break and the one with the fastest speed wins? No judges/jerseys necessary and GPS doesn't lie. Any tubes you get are just gravy.

Jack

[Man O' War]

Jack,
If it ever comes down to spoon contests, no one's going let Beresford get his hands on one of these.