East Coast Campaign. The 7th Annual Reef/Sweetwater Pro-Am Surf Fest features a $20,000 pro prize purse. Surf Fest is one of the largest surfing contests on the East Coast and attracts surfers from around the world. Photography by Brad Austin Butler
Monday, July 18, 2011
For Immediate Release
Updated Results: 7th Annual Reef/Sweetwater
Pro-Am Surf Fest and Music & Art Festival
First Place, Professional Division Winner: Rob Machado, Cardiff, California
Wrightsville Beach, NC… Spectators numbering in the tens of thousands converged on Wrightsville Beach for the 7th Annual Reef/Sweetwater Pro-Am Surf Fest. Intense competition ended Sunday featuring a $20,000 prize purse. The weather was perfect with blue skies, temperature in the 80’s, lower humidity, and great surfing conditions. The Wrightsville Surf Fest has grown into one of the largest surfing contests on the East Coast and attracts surfers from around the world. In all, dozens of amateur surfers and 96 professional surfers from around the world participated in the 3-day event. Event Organizer, Tony Butler, thanked everyone on the committee for making this the most successful event since inception. “It is amazing to see everyone’s hard work, planning and execution flawlessly come together”, Butler said.
This year, a Music & Art Festival was added to the event on Saturday, from 4 to 9:30pm in Wrightsville Beach Park. Local artists along with musicians Selah Dubb, Fuzz and Mac, and Rob Machado (First Place Professional Winner) with Jon Swift entertained the crowd. Games, activities, and good food from Tower 7 made the evening a family friendly event. Chairwoman for the Park Festival, Kelly Barnes, said crowd estimates exceeded expectations with attendees hailing from all parts of the United States. Barnes was very pleased with the outcome of the first Music & Arts Festival, a true family event, with wonderful growth prospects for the future.
Here are the Winners:
Professional Division
First Place: Rob Machado, 13.50 Cardiff, California; $5,000
Second Place: Fisher Heverly, 13.10 Emerald Isle, North Carolina; $3,000
Third Place: Aaron Cormican, 12.77 New Smyrna, Florida; $2,000
Fourth Place: Phillip Gould, 7.90 Virginia Beach, Virginia; $1,500
Fifth Place: Jay Thompson, Tonino Benson, $900
Seventh Place: Michael Powell, Michael Dunphy $700
Ninth Place: Gabe Garcia, Sebastian Moreno, Jeremy Johnston, Mark Dawson $500
Thirteenth Place: Paul Fisher, Jeff Myers, Evan Barton, Cole Richards $300
Seventeenth Place: Kyle Busey, Ben Powell, Giorgio Gomez, Chris Tucker, Vince Boulanger, Austin Clouse, Dylan Goodale, Brent Riley $175
Twenty-fifth Place: Cody Leutgens, Daniel Glenn, Nick Prange, Nick Rupp, Hunter Heverly, Corey Howell, Brian Carpenter, Ross Stevens $150
Women’s Open Long board
First Place: Cayce Patterson, Outer Banks, North Carolina
Second Place: Jo Pickett, Wilmington, North Carolina
Third Place: Carleigh Sion, Manasquan, New Jersey
Fourth Place: Hope Henderson, Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina
Women’s Open Short board
First Place: Katie Gordon
Second Place: Jessica Stabile
Third Place: Leilani Pickett, Wilmington, North Carolina
Fourth Place: Jo Pickett, Wilmington, North Carolina
Men’s Open Long board
First Place: Tony Silvagni, Kure Beach, North Carolina
Second Place: Bradley Rose, Carolina Beach, North Carolina
Third Place: Steve Mangiacarre, Wilmington, North Carolina
Fourth Place: Kyle Sumer, Wilmington, North Carolina
Guys 14 and Under
First Place: Tyler Faulkner, Carolina Beach, North Carolina
Second Place: Luke Gordon, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Third Place: Josh Burke, Bathsheba, Barbados
Fourth Place: Gabe Morvil, Carolina Beach, North Carolina
Guys 15 and Over
First Place: Knox Harris, Oak Island, North Carolina
Second Place: Daniel Glenn, Florida
Third Place: Cody Leutgens, Topsail Beach, North Carolina
Fourth Place: Cole Richards, Garden City Beach, South Carolina
For more information visit www.wblivesurf.com or contact:
Tony Butler at 910-617-3176, tony@wblivesurf.com
Brad Beach at 757-373-0608, beach520@beachent.hrcoxmail.com
Kelly Barnes, 910-297-0448, kb@bizec.rr.com
Photos courtesy Brad Butler http://www.cooldudesdiving.com/Reef-Sweetwater/album/
