14/09/2024
The annual club event & invitational put on by the has been a staple of the longboard scene since the early 60’s, when names like Joey Cabell, Bobby Patterson, Johnny Fain, Joey Hamasaki, and so many more reigned supreme. Born from the wartime-era Lifesaving Clubs of Australia & California, Surf Clubs were a natural development in surf culture- an inevitability perhaps- providing space for mentorship, training, community, competition and reputation. In California it was MSA, Windansea, Hope Ranch, Long Beach, Oceanside (more to come from their recent event)…year by year new clubs joined the party, with different surf clubs hosting events at their home breaks up and down the coast.
The Malibu event— it being Malibu, after all— seems by all accounts to have held a particularly revelrous reputation, regarded by many as *the* premiere wave on the California coast. Competitors vied for the obvious prestige that comes with out-surfing all the hottest surfers around, at one of the best waves around. Still, perhaps more alluring was the chance to surf the point with only a few other people out. Even in the early 60’s, surfers wrote with nostalgia about the idyllic opportunity…if only they knew what was coming 😂
Not surprisingly, Surfrider beach was packed once again last weekend for the 2024 iteration of the MSA Classic. Warm weather, cooperative surf, and, oh yea— empty Malibu— brought surfers from all over, representing many of those original clubs that laid the foundation for everything we know to be “surfing” today. Competitive longboarding always seems to be a contentious topic but, with a healthy mix of camaraderie and competition, the clubs have it figured out in my opinion. Surf clubs have long served as a vessel which carries forward the core of what we love about longboarding. And in their own way, the people who keep these organizations running keep surfing itself alive, in the face of ever-changing industry and culture, like a flame in the midst of winter.
That’s all for now— Thanks to MSA for a killer weekend, and to everyone else who keeps this community buzzing 🙏🏽
For the love of it!✌🏽
Dom
