...Even the venue itself offers new faces from year to year - and sometimes
day to day - be it streaking insiders or tropical walls peeling
beyond Buxton’s first groin. But despite all these shifts
in scenery, direction, sandbars and surfers, each casting a new
light on the existing competition - and though the Lighthouse itself
may stand guard a few hundred yards south - one feature has always
remained: a feeling of pride, appreciation, camaraderie and, most
of all, utter stoke to be a part of what’s become the defining
event of East Coast surfing. And you can bet, no matter what differences
arise, that feeling will always be the beacon that draws our best
and most dedicated surfers for years to come. And that’s what
makes the Easterns essentially timeless.
1967: ESA officially forms when NJ’s Cecil Lear,
CT’s Rudy Huber and USSA Director Hoppy Swartz of CA organize
the loose bands of contest organizers into a single association,
placing seven districts from New England to Alabama. Gary Propper
named champ based on prior results.
1968: ESA’s first competitive season. After six contests -
Wrightsville Beach, NC, Newport, RI, Gilgo Beach, NY, Seaside Heights,
NJ, Virginia Beach, VA, and Cocoa Beach, FL - Joe Roland and Janice
Domorski are named champions based on accumulated points.
1969: Claude Codgen and Barbara Bellyea emerge victorious
in a carbon copy of ’68’s contest circuit.
1970: First Easterns at Hatteras is denied by the National
Park Service. The event runs in Cocoa Beach where for the only time
in ESA history no champions are crowned due to lack of surf.
1971: Park service greenlights the Easterns just three
weeks before the contest. Charley Baldwin and Linda Davoli are the
first champions crowned in Hatteras, beginning a 30-year-plus tradition.
1972: Davoli takes her second crown and Carmen Irving beats Men’s
favorites Jeff Crawford, Dick Catri, Mike Tabeling and Greg Loehr;
first year with ESA patron saint Colin ‘Doc’ Couture
as executive director.
1973: NY’s Mike “Oppy” Oppenheimer
steals the championship from Greg Loehr in a tube-laden final courtesy
of Tropical Storm Christine. Tony Bryant wins the Women’s
title. Competitor Marc Rhodes immediately bolts event for U.S. Champs
in Malibu - makes the trip in only 48 hours.
1974: Blown conditions move the contest south to Frisco
before coming back to the Lighthouse where Greg Loehr takes down
Jim Cartland in flawless conditions. The ESA is now considered the
most efficient surfing organization in the world.
1975: Hurricane Doris pumps overhead peaks toward the
Lighthouse. More than 250 competitors watch Oppenheimer become the
first two-time Easterns champ in much worse conditions. Brenda Vendeventer
wins Women’s.
1976: Annette Frasure and Joe Grottola work their way
through crap waves and heat postponements to win Women and Junior
Men, respectively. NY’s Ricky Rasmussen wins the Men’s
title and Surfing’s “Best Tube Ride” award over
Barry Wolfe. ESA standout Jeff Crawford finishes in the top-16 of
the burgeoning International Pro Surfing circuit.
1977: Maury McCoy out-feuds Mike Grassley for the Men’s
title while Mary Ann Hayes wins Women’s; two-time Easterns
champion Linda Davoli goes pro and finishes fifth in the world.
1978: Maury McCoy and Mary Ann Hayes are the first
dual, back-to-back Easterns champs; future star Wes Laine steals
the Juniors.
1979: Hurricane David joins David Nuckles to nab the
Men’s crown as Susan Hogan grabs Women’s; Greg Loehr
wins the Lacanau Pro, the first East Coast pro victory on foreign
soil.
1980: Bill Curry becomes NC’s first Men’s
champion as Adele Faba wins the first of two Women’s titles.
1981: Jimbo Sampson takes the Men’s; Matt Kechele
and fellow ESA product Pat Mulhern signal the age of money surfing,
finishing first and second at the star-studded Stubbies Pro.
1982: Future heroes Charlie Kuhn and Rich Rudolph win
Men’s and Juniors, respectively, two-time U.S. Champion Sharon
Wolfe takes the Women’s crown and a young Kelly Slater marks
his first of four Menehune mantles.
1983: With the Women’s division split in two, Christel Roever
takes the first of three Junior Women’s titles as Charlie
Hajek becomes Men’s champion. Wes Laine enjoys his first year
as an ASP top-16 standard.
1984: The Park Service refuses access to the Lighthouse
forcing the contest north of Buxton and, for the first time, competitors
earn an Easterns slot through regional events. Still, 450 surfers
compete with Rudolph winning Men’s while Bill Johnson earns
the Junior Men’s title. Frieda Zamba nails the first of four
world championships.
1985: With the aid of Bob Holland, Sr. the event returns
to the Lighthouse in ’85. Labeled the Barrels of Fun Championships,
Bill Johnson repeats his Men’s victory in classic Hatteras
4- to 6-foot barrels while Sean Mattison follows up in Juniors.
Charlie Kuhn makes his ASP top-16 debut.
1986: The first of many star-studded events: Menehune champion is
VB’s Drew Todd; Jr. Men’s winner is Sean Slater, Bill
Johnson takes Men’s; Lisa Carulli claims Junior Women’s,
and Boys winner Kelly Slater is now a five-time East Coast champ,
and a two-time U.S. Boys champ. ESA vet Bruce Walker coaches Kelly
and Sean Slater, Christel Roever, Tom Kirk, Lisa Andersen and others
to victory at the World Games in Newquay, England.
1987: The Eastern’s 20th anniversary sees all-time competition
as Shea Lopez wins Menehune, Kelly Slater takes Boys for his sixth
Easterns crown and Justin Carver denies Sean Slater the Junior Men’s
trophy. Chris Makris is Men’s champion and Randi Borrack rips
Junior Women. Surfing Magazine gives Kelly Slater his first cover
shot at 15 years old.
1988: The Great Lakes’ first Easterns appearance
via Menehune competitor Tanner Williams and father/judge Larry Williams.
Scott Bouchard bags the Men’s crown, Terri Tanner takes Junior
Women and Danny Melhado wins Junior Men.
1989: Champs signal the oncoming youth movement: Cory
Lopez (Menehune), Shea Lopez (Boys), Danny Melhado (Junior Men),
Justin Carver (Men), Randi Borrack (Junior Women) and Falina Spires
(Girls). Doc Couture sadly makes his last visit to Hatteras. Future
Executive Director Kathy Phillips serves as the contest director.
1990: Paul “Rhino” Reinecke rules the Men’s division,
Shea Lopez steps into the Junior Men’s crown and Gina Geiselman
tops the Junior Women. The Op Pro in Huntington Beach gets ambushed
by ESA products Todd Holland (Men’s Champion) Frieda Zamba
(Women’s Champion) and Danny Melhado (Junior Champion).
1991: Future world champ CJ Hobgood tastes victory
in Menehunes, Peter Mendia snatches the Junior Men’s crown,
Eddie Crawford wins the Men’s division and Carmel Tanner takes
Junior Women.
1992: Consistent, 2- to 4-footers peel across the first
groin to commemorate the 25th Annual Easterns where Damien Hobgood
steals Menehune honors, Reid Cox earns the Jr. Men’s mantle,
John Schmidt wins Men’s, and Patti McDonald-Craft claims Junior
Women. ESA celebrates as world champ Kelly Slater fulfills his destiny
- and mourns the loss of matriarch Bette Marsh.
1993: Three weeks before opening day, Hurricane Emily
obliterates Buxton, leaving 600 families homeless, but Competition
Director Paul West pulls off a difficult first Easterns with incredible
success. Contest moves to Salvo where organizers raise $2,145 for
to the Cape Hatteras High School and competitors help repair roofs
between heats. Likewise, the competitors shine with Ben Bourgeois
winning Boys, Cam Anderson taking the first of Junior Men’s
titles, Dawn Ahlert acing Junior Women’s and Chad Hopkins
becomes Ocean City, MD’s first Men’s champ. The year
finishes tragically when former Gulf Coast-competitor-turned-big-wave-rider
Mark Foo dies at Maverick’s.
1994: After a long drought, NJ’s wins two titles
- Matt Keenan in Men’s title and George Gerlach in Legends.
NC’s Mindy Ballou wins her first of two Junior Women crowns.
Lisa Andersen snags one of four ASP world titles.
1995: World champ Kelly Slater returns to a king’s welcome
as swell pours in from Hurricane Luis. Asher Nolan nails the Jr.
Men’s final over future title threats Asher Nolan, Ben Bourgeois,
Frank Walsh, CJ Hobgood, Sam Hammer and Damien Hobgood, while Brian
Hewitson pushes past Jeremy Saukel for the Men’s title. The
ESA pro surfer conveyor belt is now in full swing as Shea Lopez
makes the WCT.
1996: Surfing Editor Nick Carroll travels East to provide
the biggest Easterns coverage to date as Kyle McCarthy and Jennifer
Pulaski take the Men’s and Women’s crowns, respectively.
Junior Men’s winner Ben Bourgeois also helps lead the Hobgoods,
Hewitson, Saukel, Kyle McCarthy, Eric Thomas, Craig Carroll and
other U.S. Teamers toward World Games gold under the coaching tutelage
of ESA vets Bruce Walker and Kevin Grondin, and Sean Slater. NJ
gets it’s first ‘CT surfer - Dean Randazzo.
1997: Asher Nolan braves Hurricane Erika-induced waves and rain
to take the Men’s title, followed by St. Augustine’s
Gabe Kling in Jr. Men’s, as Junior Women’s victor Tammy
Kennedy confirms Southern NC as the new epicenter of female talent.
1998: Gabe Kling seals his second Junior Men’s title and earns
a wildcard slot into the Rip Curl Pro at Sunset, along with Men’s
winner Eric Hatton, before a record 500 competitors. Erin Hazelroth
steals Junior Women’s. Troy Hoffheimer wins the first Surfing
Airshow. Kelly Slater rewrites the record books again with a sixth
world title.
1999: Local Jimmy Blumenfeld wins the Men’s before
Cat-5 Hurricane Floyd postpones the Easterns for the first time
in 32 years. Come October, NC’s Sarah Willis upsets Jamie
Dewitt in Girls, and fellow tarheel MJ Marsh masters Jonathon Flick
in the Junior Men’s. Florida answers via Junior Women’s
champ Kelly Hutchinson and airshow winner Robbie Blevins. Cory Lopez
immortalizes Teahupo’o with a single tube ride.
2000: It’s a year of changes as the Easterns
doesn’t make it to Buxton and the recently moved Lighthouse
now lives a few hundred yards south and inland. In front of a banner-laden
Avon pier, NC Junior Richard Gilligan falls to Florida’s Gary
Wheeler. David Awbrey, Jr. wins the Boys, Menehune Longboard, and
Opens for a grand slam (while dad takes the Senior Men’s crown).
Jeff Crego is the Men’s winner while J. Lee Driskell drilled
the Junior Women’s crown. Damien Hobgood follows his brother
on to the WCT.
2001: The millennium’s first Easterns holds the
future. East Coast terror Eric Taylor wins five consecutive heats
to go pro with a fourth Easterns title and Florida’s power
base moves north with Jax wins by Jason Venn in Men’s and
Eric Rheaume wins Boys, plus a Smyrna title for Menehune Eric Geiselman.
Sarah Willis wins her first year in Junior Women. And CJ Hobgood
earns a 15 title for the East Coast, proving there’s no signs
of ESA talent tapering for at least another 35 years.
- Jason Borte and Matt Walker, Surfing Magazine
Since then, GuidoPalooza:
2002: We moved GP to October and suffered through small surf and cool conditions.
2003: Isabel brought us great surf conditions each day until we were forced to evacuate.
2004: No tropical storm surf but Wed featured head-high surf and Thu morning was non-stop classic 3-5' Hatteras barrels.
2005: Ophelia brought us steady surf each day in the chest to head-plus until mandatory evacuation on Tuesday afternoon.
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