SurfJaxPier

Jacksonville Beach, Fla. – Under stormy afternoon skies, Cody Thompson took first place, and its $2000.00 paycheck, in the Open Pro division at the 6th Annual Aqua East Surfing the Blues on Saturday, April 5. Thompson beat out brother, Evan Thompson and Eric Rheaume after weather delays pushed the final heats into the late afternoon hours. Thompson showed why he is one of the top, nationally-ranked pro surfers in the area with a confident performance on a variety of ever-changing wave conditions that remained focused and fresh in spite of the heavy downpours and high winds. His 5 – second tube ride was the highlight of the day as competitors and spectators alike cheered him on from the beach. “I’m pretty happy with the win,” said Thompson who is off to California at the end of the month for a WQS surf event. “The weather threw everyone off a bit, but it was still a good contest with good waves.” Beautiful skies and a steady stream of ridable waves dominated the morning and early afternoon heats at the Jacksonville Beach Pier that was within earshot of the Springing the Blues festival. Ali Roberts beat out Kayla Durden for the women’s title with John Massey taking first in the open shortboard division. Both surfers delivered fantastic performances after waiting out long storm delays. Earlier in the day, large crowds were treated to great surfing from some of the best surfers on the east coast and raffle tickets were scooped up for a top of the line, SurfTech surfboard that was won by UNF student John Dann of Jacksonville Beach. Co-sponsor Coggin Nissan on Atlantic, also displayed its custom-made Rozo longboard, shaped by Dick Rosborough that will be displayed at the Coggin showroom on Atlantic Boulevard and raffled off in September with all proceeds donated to B.E.A.M. Logon to www.floridasurfing.org for more information. A complete list of results follows. Please contact Paul West of the Florida Surfing Association at 904.626.9090 or paulwest1@comcast.net for additional information or contest photos.