2019 Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, The OB Big Wave Challenge is officially in the books. After a week-long consultation of the buoys and wind charts with Ocean Beach aficionados Judith Sheridan and Danny Hess, Contest Director Eric Gustafson made the call for Saturday, Nov. 16. Documentation of the waves was a huge challenge due to early fog and conditions, but we couldn’t have asked for much more for our inaugural event. It was exactly what we were looking for: wild, woolly, challenging, pretty damn big, but rideable.

Twenty-something competitors arrived at Lawton Street to find 2x to 3x overhead waves breaking in patchy to thick fog. After a mandatory safety meeting conducted by Judith Sheridan (see YouTube video), the fog lifted partially and the first heat swam out: Denis Bajet, Ryan Masters, Elijah Mack, and Jay Boon. Probably the biggest heat of the day, the outside sets were well over double head. Big barrels, long rides, incredible beatdowns. Denis caught a series of beautiful rights to win the heat. Ryan caught a few beasts, including one long left, to take second.

The fog lifted for the second heat, which included Cory Vo, Zack DeSario, Jamison Litton, Laura Duffy, and Chris Navarette. Probably the most consistent and most visible prelim heat, Cory and Jamison put on a dueling showdown of waves, catching at least a dozen reeling beasts between the two of them. Chris, Zack, and Laura caught a ton of waves as well, but Jamison (1) and Cory (2) advanced. However, Jamison had to bail to drive to Joshua Tree, opening the way for Chris to make it to the Finals.

The third heat swam out into dense, impenetrable fog so who knows what really happened out there, but when Doug Schwarm, Liko Soules-Ono, Will Garrigues, Josh Harris, and Nathan Gurr finally made it back in, they had big smiles on their faces and had all scored huge waves. As a collective, they voted Will and Josh into the Finals.

As the day progressed, the tide filled in, making the outside sets more difficult to get into. When Heat Four swam out, they focused on the better shaped waves on the inner sandbar, which were still well overhead and macking. Ryan Nelson, Aaron Dillon, Sean Vienna, Katy Collins, and Sachi Cunningham all scored in the patchy, lifting fog with Aaron and Katy voted into the Finals.

The fog lifted entirely for an hour-long, blue bird Final Heat, which included Denis Bajet, Ryan Masters, Cory Vo, Chris Navarette, Will Garrigues, Josh Harris, Katy Collins, and Aaron Dillon. Denis dominated this heat with countless overhead barrels and long rides, but everyone caught waves and had a blast.

Denis distinguished himself all day with relentless bodysurfing and is a deserving and highly respected inaugural Champion of The OB. Can’t say enough about how hard he charged all day. Congratulations and Vive la France!

In addition, Katy Collins gets the Spirit Award for not only swimming out into some of the biggest waves of her life, but also surfing hard and well into the Finals. Epic. You may remember she also won the Santa Cruz contest last month. Definitely a bodysurfer to keep an eye on in coming years.

However, everyone who hit the water yesterday deserves a solid high five. It was intimidating from the beach, but all 20+ competitors strapped them on and went hard. The spirit of big wave bodysurfing at Ocean Beach was captured in a truly unique event that could very well become an annual tradition for years to come. Thank you to everyone who came out to swim and watch. You all made this an unforgettable day. Can't wait for next year. Now we know what we're doing! (Kind of).

As for photos, Sachi Cunningham not only competed, but also hit the water with the camera. Again, documentation of the waves was difficult this year due to fog and distance, but keep an eye out for photos as they appear over the next few days. Finally, a huge thanks to resident genius Gary Hogue for the iconic OB illustration. Cheers!