Lucas Fink Triumphant at the TAC Skimblast in Santa Cruz
Fink Wins at Seabright Beach for Fourth Time in Five Years
Santa Cruz, California, played host to the TAC Skimblast on July 20th, where 23 professional skimboarders gathered at Third Ave for the second stop of the 2024 United Skim Tour’s Men’s division. Despite missing the tour’s first stop due to an injury, Lucas Fink made a triumphant return, securing first place winning 5 heats throughout the day against a field of international professional competitors including those from Mexico, Florida, Alabama, Virginia and California. This was the fourth time in five years that Fink has won the event.
With nearly ideal conditions of 2-5 foot waves and a favorable high tide throughout most of the day, the contest offered plenty of opportunities for professionals to skim in great conditions. Many of the top competitors were sliding out to head-high waves and linking those rides with technical maneuvers like 360 and 540 shuvits.
The highest scoring heat of the day was the semifinal between Lucas Fink and Timmy Gamboa of Laguna Beach. Fink was catching some of the biggest waves of the heat, and adding tricks like 360 backside turns or 540 shuvits. Gamboa took a creative approach with a variety of switch rides, including a ride where he changed stance mid-ride and then completed a frontside full rotation turn, called a “beaker wrap” in skimboarding slang. Ultimately Fink held onto the lead in the heat, and at the buzzer Fink went for a wave and landed a 360 shuvit and then a 540 shuvit before wrapping the wave and returning to the beach.
Marking a historic moment for the UST, two Brazilian riders, Leo Freitas and Lucas Fink, met in the final. Fink began with a 540 shuv to quick wrap early in the heat. He then capitalized on two huge waves, pumping out to overhead peaks and linking one of them with a big spin on the way in. Despite late efforts by Freitas, including a 360 to wrap and a big backside air at the buzzer, he couldn’t surpass Fink. Fink was carried up the beach as the 2024 TAC Skimblast winner.
Following Fink in first place were Leo Freitas, also from Rio de Janeiro, Timmy Gamboa of Laguna Beach, and Dane Cameron, also from Laguna Beach, who secured the second, third, and fourth spots respectively.
“This is one of my favorite contests on tour, and I think this is the contest that I have the best relationship with on the west coast,” tFink said after his win. “Since it moved to Seabright, I’ve won four of the five contests here. It was also my first pro UST contest on the west coast back when they had it at 26th Avenue. I definitely feel a connection with the town, the place, the people. It was very special to start off strong, just how I imagined I wanted to start this journey. As I said, we’re just starting. Let’s go to the next ones.”
Remaining UST tour events include the OBX SkimJam in Nags Head, North Carolina, the Zap World Championships in Dewey Beach, Delaware, the Mulligans Skim Jam in Vero Beach, Florida and the Exile Oktoberfest in Newport Beach, California. In the men’s division, points from the best four of six performances count toward each skimboarder’s 2024 UST points total.
Results
Pro Men
- Lucas Fink – Rio de Janiero, Brazil
- Leo Freitas – Rio de Janiero, Brazil
- Timmy Gamboa – Laguna Beach, California
- Dane Cameron – Laguna Beach, California
- Chad Wadsworth – Newport Beach, California
- Gerardo Valencia – Barra de Navidad, Mexico
Photos by Mary Park-Patino Mota (website | IG), Lauren Dubay, and David Haefele (IG)
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