The Newsmagazine of Long Beach Island and Southern Ocean County

By Jon Coen | on August 11, 2022

CAN HE STAY ON TOP?: Three-time ALO Longboard Classic champ Mitchell Gaudioso looks to defend his title this weekend. (Photo by Kyle Gronostajski)

As we get into the figurative and literal heat of summer 2022, this Saturday will see the 14th Annual Alliance for a Living Ocean LBI Longboard Classic, which has become not only the biggest fundraising event for this local nonprofit but one of the favorite days of the year for all segments of the local surf community: guys, ladies and children.

The first Longboard Classic took place in 2009. The event has moved from Haven Beach to Holgate and Ship Bottom before finding a home at 68th Street, Brant Beach, where Long Beach Township has created an entire infrastructure for events and contests. While the focus of the event has always been more on camaraderie, fundraising for the environment and reviving a lost art, the favorite coming into this event would have to be 26-year-old Surf City stylemaster Mitchell Gaudioso. Gaudioso, who is a carpenter and server at Stefano’s Restaurant, has surfed this event for 10 years and has three titles to his name. Last year, he won with one of the most stacked fields ever.

“It’s my favorite day of the summer. I like all the other contests and events, but this one has its own feel, its own crew and its own history now,” said the defending champ.

READY, SET, GO: Competitors prepare for a past heat at the Classic. (Photo by Ryan Morrill)

“The last couple of weeks I have been seeing the classic boards come out and people practicing on them. But that’s kind of cheating,” he said, provoking his challengers in good fun. “Those boards are supposed to hang on the wall and you only take them down once a year for the Classic contest.”

In the past, the tougher competition has come from Ocean City and Manasquan. Jamie Contreras of Point Pleasant, who has won the event twice and makes the final consistently, will compete again this year.

But Gaudioso, who will ride his 9’8 Challenger Surfboard, may see his toughest competition from right here on LBI in Mike Melega of Beach Haven, a supervisor for Long Beach Township Beach Patrol. Melega grew up locally and then moved to San Diego, where he was a lifeguard. Since moving back, Melega won the Classic in 2019. Last year, he joined the Jetty team of ambassadors.

“Growing up here, shortboards reigned. Longboards were only for your grandpa,” observed Melega, laughing. “But I lived in Carlsbad and Oceanside, which have heaps of classic longboard spots nearby. That let me take up longboarding as a daily activity and I was hooked. I would study professionals like Andy Nieblas, Tyler Warren and Karina Rozunko, riding traditional 1960s shapes: Hobies, Bings, Ricks and Harbours. They were out-surfing the masses on boards that were over 50 years old. That sparked my interest in riding vintage boards instead of just appreciating them in museums. When I moved back to LBI, I was blown away to see a growing community of surfers participating in the ALO Longboard Classic. It was an unexpected surprise, and a happy one for me because a range of talented people – shortboarders, lifeguards, athletes, young people, and women, all celebrating and challenging each other on the most traditional boards – right here on LBI. And Mitchell has definitely pushed all the competitors here.”

The women’s division will be up for grabs this year. Last year’s winner, Lulu Erkeneff, will not be making the trip out from California to defend her title. Last year, Meghan Curtain, 30, of Surf City took third, making her the top local lady in contention. She will have to tangle with Ocean City’s Meredith Mackrelfish, who has several titles under her bathing suit.

“There were a lot of talented surfers last year so I was stoked to represent for the Island. I’m feeling good going into this year. In past years, I’ve borrowed boards and maybe surfed them one or two sessions if at all prior to the classic. But I just picked up a 1964 Hansen last week, so this will be the first time I’ve had a board ahead of time,” said Curtain.

In the kid’s division, Killian Todd, 14, of Surf City will be looking for a three-peat. He has won this event the last two years after his brother owned this division before him.

WOMEN WHO SHRED: Meredith Mackrelfish of Ocean City is a favorite in the open women’s division at the Alliance for a Living Ocean LBI Longboard Classic this Saturday. (Photo Kyle Gronostajski)

Todd has been cleaning up in the local Lifeguard In Training running and paddle races this summer. He primarily surfs a medium-length soft-top board but has been honing his skills on a fiberglass Robert August surfboard lent to him by Gaudioso. The kid’s division equipment regulations are more flexible and Todd may see his best competition from 11-year old Niko Sanchez of Barnegat Light, who prefers shortboards, and Logan Reiser, who finished in third last year and has improved greatly since.

The Classic refers to the “classic” style, era and surfboards of surfing in the 1960s. After materials developed in World War II, namely foam and fiberglass, were adopted to make surfboards lighter and more manageable, surfing went from small pockets of wave riders to its first boom in the 1960s. It was part of a burgeoning youth culture and the social movements. As surfing became more accessible and popularized on movie screens and America’s coastlines, the performance levels rose. The boards were 9-foot or bigger and heavily fiberglassed with a single fin and varying degrees of maneuverability.

The shortboard revolution of the 1970s changed surfing, but in later decades, surfing developed a reverence for ’60s-era style, and it has simply become classic surfing. Today, classic surfing is celebrated and enjoyed all over, particularly in smaller summertime waves on LBI.

TEAMWORK: Evan and Lauren Zodl in the tandem division. (Photo by Karijana Kristbergs.)

Mechanically, there is an emphasis on noseriding. Walking forward and back (preferably with crossing steps) can accelerate or decelerate the board in relation to the wave. Positioning all the way to the nose of the board is highly rewarded. This event favors a surfer who is strong enough to paddle, catch waves on and control the bigger board, but light enough on his or her feet to get up to the nose. Getting toes over is the ultimate goal. The judging also favors sharp turns that require a surfer to drop their back knee and swing the heavy board, causing a quick change in direction. Bigger waves ridden faster are often rewarded with the maneuvers and to a lesser degree, spinning and other tricks done while riding. Surfers are not permitted to wear leashes, as they were not around yet in the 1960s.

Also growing each year is the tandem division, which has become the crowd pleaser for comical spills and costumes.

“The Longboard Classic is our biggest fundraiser of the year which helps us to continue providing our free and fun programming all summer. We’d like to thank our amazing community and local businesses that support this event including our division sponsors South-End Surf ’n Paddle, The Tide Table Group, Drift Bar and Sink R Swim. We’re really excited to see our community come out to support this event and get to see some amazing surfing!” said Casey Courts Deacon, president of ALO’s board of directors.

The contest field is full and there is a list of alternates hoping to compete. Registration for all begins at 7 a.m. with the first heat in the water at 8. The no-wave date is Sunday.

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