Today might just be the day for “the perfect wave.” If you are a skimboarder, then every day has that potential.
Skimming is similar to surfing
Skimboarding is like surfing in that you balance on a board using waves for performance thrills, but that’s about the extent of similarities. Skimboards are smaller and rounder than a surfboard. When surfing, the waves give you momentum toward the shoreline. When skimboarding, you build momentum by gliding across breaking waves along the shoreline.
There are two types of skimboarding, and Seabrook has venues for both: the ocean year-round (for wave skimboarding), and an inland pool during summertime (for flatland skimboarding).
Everything you need
Everything you need to begin (or practice your tricks) skimming is available at Buck’s Bikes (permanently closed), even lessons. Lesson packages include skimboard (for size and skill level), wetsuit or neoprene pants, booties, gloves, and a hydrating drink.
If you think you might be interested, here are two short, introduction YouTube videos from two world champion skimboarders:
How to Skimboard with World Champion Skimboarder, Austin Keen: Hand Position, Board Drop, Approach
How to Skimboard with 3x World Champion Blair Conklin: Perfecting the Basics
“You’re going to run at a speed in which you want to fall.” – Blair Conklin, 3x World Champion Skimboarder
Be safe and catch that perfect wave!
10 FACTS TO SHARE
- Skimboarding was invented in the late 1920s by two lifeguards from Laguna Beach.
- A skimboard is often described as, “much like a surfboard, but smaller and without fins.”
- The first skimboards were round and made of redwood. Now most skimboards are pointed at the nose, have a slight curve at the tail, and are made of high-tech. materials.
- In 1980, Tex Haines and Peter Prietto, from Victoria Skimboards, introduced the first foam core skimboards covered in fiberglass and resin. Today, skimboards are high-tech. made from carbon fiber, fiberglass, and composite materials for buoyancy, lightness, and durability.
- Since 1976, Victoria Skimboards has hosted the VIC World Championships at Aliso Beach Park in Laguna Beach, California.
- In 2019, Victoria Skimboards expanded their contest to include an east coast venue: Dewey Beach in Delaware.
- 43rd Annual (2019) VIC World Championship men’s champion is Lucas Fink and women’s is Sophia Nguyen.
- August 15th and 16th, 2020 marks the 44th Annual VIC World Championships at Aliso Beach. The single oldest and most prestigious contest in the world.
- Championships use a scoring range of 1 to 10. Scores are based on completion, difficulty, size of the wave, length of ride, variety of maneuvers, and style and control – otherwise known as: “The skimboarder who completes the most radical, controlled maneuvers in the most critical section of the biggest or best wave for the longest functional distance, shall be deemed the winner.”
- If a skimboarder fails to complete a maneuver, with the slightest of incompletion, then they receive a score of no more than 5 − even for the gnarliest attempts.
Sources: Summaries of numerous corroborative websites.