Billabong Surfing America Prime Hits Cape Hatteras

“This is great news for the final event of the Surfing America Prime East Coast Series,” said Mike Gerard, Surfing America’s executive director. ”And it’s in keeping with Surfing America’s objective to host Prime Events only in Prime locations. The National Parks Service in Cape Hatteras has been very accommodating and tremendous to work with on this important contest–and Surfing America looks forward to a great event with Billabong at this historic location.”

The Billabong Surfing America Prime presented by Got Milk? is an invitation-only event that offers the highest standard of competition for top surfers in the following age divisions:

Boys Under 18
Boys Under 16
Boys Under 14
Girls Under 18
Girls Under 16

Currently, Surfing America Prime operates on the East and West Coast of the Mainland US. Entry into the Series is by invitation only.

For the East Coast Series, invitations have been sent to the best under 18-year-old shortboarders in the East based on ESA ratings after Easterns and NSSA current season ratings. Surfers participating in this weekend’s Prime event include current and former PacSun USA Surf Team members Evan Geiselman, Evan Thompson, Dylan Kowalski, Jasset Umbel, Quincy Davis, Nick Rupp, and Cam Richards.

Surfing America Prime events feature 4-man/20 minute heats, ASP Judges judging to ASP criteria, BeachByte Computer Scoring, and professional announcing. This series will determine who gets the coveted invites to the Surfing America USA Championships at Lower Trestles in June.

As a sign of Surfing America’s commitment to developing young talent on the East Coast, PacSun USA Surf Team Head Coach, Ian Cairns, will be on hand from Wednesday through the weekend to work with the kids who are competing in the event. Also, the voice of East Coast Surfing–the always entertaining and informative Travis Ajay–will announce the event.

Additionally, ASP International and Surfing America Judges Tim Marshall and Gordon Lawson will hold an informal Question and Answer session on Saturday morning at 7:15 AM to discuss the new ASP judging criteria and answer questions from competitors, parents and team managers.

Finally, as a special treat to competitors, Billabong will host a Movie Night at Real Water Sports on Saturday Night at 6:00 starting with a Bryan Elkis slide show of the days surfing followed by a showing of Still Filthy.

The Surfing America Prime East Series consists of three stops at top breaks on the East Coast:
Ditch Plains, Montauk, NY – October 24 – 25, 2009
Sebastian Inlet, FL – March 6 – 7, 2010
Outer Banks, NC – April 24 – 25, 2010

Ratings, based on the top two event scores, will determine invites for the Surfing America USA Championships at Lower Trestles in June 2010. The PacSun USA Surf Team will be selected after the USA Championships.

Surfing America Prime Series presented by Got Milk? is proud to be sponsored by the California Milk Processor Board, PacSun, Billabong, Hurley, O’Neill, Vans, New Era, Verizon, Gidget, Kicker, Surfer, Surfing, TransWorld SURF, Surfline.com, Fuel TV, and Eastern Surf Magazine.

For overall season ratings for the Surfing America Prime Series presented by Got Milk?

Transworld Surf