The Rincon Surf Blog posted up this story about the inaugural event hosted by The Groundswell Society, brainchild of Glenn Henning, founder of the Surf Rider Foundation and Shaun Tomson, former World Champion surfer.
“Back in the 90’s we focused on the environment, and cleaning up the water with the Cleanwater Classic,” said Henning. It appears that a major shift in concerns has occurred; the intent now is to focus on the social climate between surfers, and to improve the entire psychosocial experience of the sport that so many now share and love.
The thing I found most interesting and that really set this event apart from others is that there were no demarced or enforced competition areas. Non-competition surfers were welcome to mix in with the competitors and share the waves. The scoring for this contest was also different from the norm. Instead of competing against eachother for the highest scores or the best waves, surfers were awarded points for actually sharing waves. A novel idea to reinforce that even in a crowd on the water, everyone can have fun!
The beach was packed with hundreds of bodies and the water with more than one hundred surfers. “Today’s surfer/spectator turnout was even better than last year’s,” Surf Central manager and surf contest coordinator Teague Taylor said. “We crammed the entire two-day contest into one long, long day.”
“The standup paddleboard division was very entertaining - it was impressive to see these guys actually ripping the waves on them,” Taylor said. “I think today’s contest took standup paddleboarding to another level on the Treasure Coast because people saw how much fun it actually is.” Paddleboarding is a sport gaining rapid fame in Hawaii and California though still fairly new to us out on the East Coast, but it is gaining momentum.
The Treasure Chest big winners this year:
Groms Gorgio Gomez
Jonathan Berger
Parker Greenwood
Justin Croteau
Patrick Kelly
Chris O’Donnell
Juniors
Brent Meinhold
Zach Kleinfeld
Kai Haire
Greg Hall
Max Whalen
Mens Division Jay Horton
Trent Frinfrock
Justin Baker
Chappy Cheshier
Jeff Barden
Lynn Meyers
Masters Brian Corrhitt
Mike Hasner
Scott Orend
Chris Shultz
Steve Marks
Joe Gillen
Open Longboards Kevin Brandt
Cooper Brandt
Joe Gillen
David Elias
Joe Lyons
Scott McCoy
Women’s Shortboards Gillian Gensler
Susan Sewell
Julie Lindsey
Kim Robertson
Nicole Wagner
Jen Morris
Pro Longboards Division Cooper Brandt
Mikey DeTemple
Chris Shultz
Joe Gillen
Kevin Brandt
Chris Connell
Standup Paddleboard Ryan Helm
Mike DeTemple
John Bernack
Mike Karol
Ryan Carmody
Peter O’Donnell
The beach was packed with hundreds of bodies and the water with more than one hundred surfers. “Today’s surfer/spectator turnout was even better than last year’s,” 
