Thanks to organizers of the Contest

[stemple]

Thanks go out to all the people who worked so hard and contributed so much to pulling together a great contest (no particular order)

Tom Linn,
John Mel,
Don Harris
Dan (surfhorn)Young,
Paul Duquet,
Dale Manss,
John Manss,
the contest staff'

and all the participants. Great Job!!!!!!! It was a fun time lets do it again.

Syd Temple

Norcal will rise again

[scoop]

here here

tony

[HALFMANRIPS/MIKE GARRETT]

THANK'S TO ALL WHO WORKED SO HARD TO GET THIS EVENT TOGETHER. WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN ONLY A MONTH AFTER FINDING THE KSUSA SITE AND E MAILING DON TO DEATH TO MAKE SURE I WAS ENTERED THAT I WOULD HAVE ?

#1 FOUND OLD FRIENDS AKA MARK & DANNY ROBERTSON
#2 MET SOME AWSOME NEW ONE'S
#3 ENJOYED HAVING MY WIFE ( CATHY ) HAVE AS MUCH FUN AS I WAS

#5 PROVING TO MYSELF THAT FAT OLD KNEERIDERS NEVER DIE
((( WE JUST GET BETTER WITH AGE ))

:twisted I'LL BE BACK

[WayneK]

WHAT A GREAT EVENT! It ran smoothly thanks to Don Harris, Tom Linn, Paul D., Greg Shewman, and Mary Lou and her entire staff. Special thanks to John and Dale Manns for the beautiful hand carved trophies and paintings of the barreling waves presented to the top finishers. Having the Australian president of the Kneeboarding World Titles, Kenny Stapleton, there with his Aussie mate Tony P. added merit to the event as well as levity. You guys were a plessure to meet. Additionlly, the Puerto Ricans Jose, Ivan, and "Frencho" added futher credence to the dedicated interest ''OUR" KSUSA organization has generated!
Having little previous contest experience, and admittedly a negetive outlook towards contests, I found the experince "refreshing" and FUN. The comradery was by far the best, YOU GUYS(you to Darcey) ROCK!
Count me in on being an Ambassador to help promote kneeboarding every time I paddle out. My 10 yr old daughter, Jamie, has started to learn this summer and has a fullsuit for the winter. I have given 2 boards away to some bodyboarders already. VERY STOKED Wayne K.

[ando]

What a class event... there are so many to thank that I forgot a few on Saturday. John and Dale Manns put so much time, creativity and effort into awards and trophys....for those who did not make it, the trophies were scaled replicas of different era kneeboards. I was blown away when I first saw them, three different types of wood with mirror gloss...then on closer observation I realised even the rails steepened in the tail and had an edge...a full on model! Dale gave out awsome paintings of waves...my favorite was a barrels eye view of a bluff...Dale must have logged a lot of barrel time to have this perspective so wired...Thanx!
John Mel...I recently observed a guy almost get drowned by the first peak crew...It was to the point where the rest of the boys were saying let him up, let him up! There is a gnarly group of locals at pleasure point these days so when I first heard of the contest I was a bit concerned...enter John Mel. I may be off on this but, I get the feeling we would have gotten hasseled quite a bit if he hadnt been involved. Put yourself in his shoes, we all have pull at our home breaks...to a point. Imagine signing on to an all kneeriding contest at your local break... even if you do pull it off your neck is kinda on the line and you would most certainly take some serious s*&^! Thanx John.
I already thanked the ksusa...thanks again.
Now I need to thank Jack B. and Ed Quinn both of which have continued to improve into there 30's. Ed imparticularly impressed me because I haven't seen him surf in 13 years. He certainely had the bank of the contest...he impressed the judges so much they had to come up with a simble instead of scoring 1-10. From now on in a contest, if you do really well you will get a triangle....this is simply refering to Eds awsome bank and will count as double points...LOL tough luck Ed, but I got you beat with a hat trick in my first heat...seriously though, you seemed to have upped your game quite a bit and so has (cut the act Jack, I saw the 2 5ft. waves in the semi). You guys have got me motivated to get back into kneeriding....Thanks!

Chris

I think the Chargers just beat the Vikings....

[Jon Manss]

Hey My brother Dale didn't make those paintings but they are original and they have a great story behind them. I'll get all the facts straight and then post it later. What I want to know , are you Nor Cal or So Cal. We need your help up here how do I verify your Zip code? Jon

[ando]

Hey John,

I am a transplant from SD...I was stationed at Ft. Ord for 6+ years and moved back to SD for a bit....Had to get back to the Jade Coast, so I am here in Monterey....The beaches were going off today by the way...I will try and help you guys with what I can....I have more time during my semester breaks (I am going to school at CSUMB).

[DK]

What were the results?
What was the surf like?
and did Stapo and Scoop behave?

[Don]

What were the results?
What was the surf like?
and did Stapo and Scoop behave?

1 - results will be posted shortly...
2- surf was glassy, shoulder to head high w/ varying consistency
3 - they're still here... i'll let you know when they leave tomorrow...

[Steeno]

hope you didn't start any drinking games with stapo. lol the king

I saw a kneelo on the pleasure point surfcam on surfline.com on Saturday. classic technolgy, could not pick who it was though

[mutiny]

Thanks to everyone involved with the contest/gathering. It was ground zero for meeting kneelos old and older that I have heard about through the years. One of my highlights was meeting Jon Manss, ARTIST kneelo guru. full of wonderful stories, history and tips on how to get beer for free, thanks jon, it is a honor to know you. Meeting Fred Peterson was also a highlight for me, An inspiration to all. When I started kneeriding in the late 70's I had pictures of fred kneeriding on southside H.B. pitted in the barrel tapped to my wall, His style of kneeriding, no holding on the rail and those laid out bottem turns influenced me and I'm sure a lot of other H.B. kneeriders. Thanks fred I was truly honored to meet you.
Don and Tom you continue to outdo yourselves you guys should be awarded a humanitarian award for bringing together such a disparate crew! Thanks again for the time and effort you put into the KSUSA and providing us kneelos a opportunity to get together. I'm hoping next years contest will have my ten year old son involved, he's standing up now, but he's expressing interest in kneeriding. thanks again to Everyone.
tom backer

[surfhorn]

There were so many positive things about the contest that it would be hard to not list them all. Everyone performed brilliantly whether in the water or behind an information table.

I do want to acknowledge our international friends who attended the US KB Championhships. The Puerto Rico delgation were a delite and we're super stoked that Jose took 2nd in the AAA division. But I'm even more stoked that Ivan won the brand new Surftech epxoy fish KB! Share the love and the bounty!

I also want all you Australian kneelos to know that your mates Kenny and Tony were superb ambassdors for your country and for the state of kneeboarding around the world. These two gentlemen really made our event something special and we look forward to a long relationship with them and with your country.

The only thing I regret is not taking video of Kenny having to put on a full wetsuit in our chilly waters!

All the best,
Surfhorn
Dan Young

For all of you who asked, the reason for the Surfhorn tag: I'm a professional trumpeter. Thus trumpet=horn. You get the picture.

[DavidW]

Great thanks to all of the people who were responsible for putting this event on. You know who you are and the list is long. As Chris Ando stated above Jon Mel deserves extra thanks for sticking his neck out for us. Long after the contest was over he was busy exchanging wetsuits for prize winners while making up lost time in his shop. The best part of the whole event was the fact that all of us got together and had a blast.
See you next year,
Dave.

[Jack Beresford]

I wasn't lying when I said this was the best contest I've ever been in. Awesome vibe on the beach and in the water. Thanks to everyone (especially all our NoCal bros) who made it such a great event.