Things get appropriately retro at Old Man’s this weekend. Some things more retro than others.

A pair of longboard contests will keep the line up at Old Man’s busy. First, the annual Roxy Wahine Classic returns Saturday as the regular fall celebration of women’s longboarding at one of the sports legendary spots.

Sunday, the all new Classic Surf Cup brings the sports of tandem surfing and stand up paddle surfing back to competition along with a longboard contest of it’s own.

Contest promoter Allan Seymour of Dana Point says there still are openings for those who would like to compete. And for tandem and stand up paddle surfers, the competitive opportunities are rare. Though an ancient Hawaiian recreation, the sport largely disappeared after the 1950s, before making a slight resurgence the last few years. But the Classic Surf Cup is the first known contest on the U.S. mainland for the ancient Hawaiian sport of paddling.

“It’s brought guys back into the water. But right now, it’s really hard to go out and paddle surf because three guys could dominate the line up,” Seymour says. “Tandem doesn’t coexist with anything else and it’s kind of a lost art. It’s like ballet on water.”

Seymour said the open longboard division really is “open” and both male and female young and eh..older will vie for the title of “Old Man’s Best Surfer. Period.” Pro longboarders and former U.S. Open of Longboarding winners Josh Baxter and Brendan White from San Clemente as well as 16-year-old Rosy Sanders of Trabuco Canyon will be in this year’s fight.

“It’s fun to come up with something new. Years from now I want people to say they were a cup surfer,” chuckles Seymour.

The Roxy Wahine Classic begins 7 a.m. Saturday. A registration party at Girl in
Curl Surf Shop in Dana Point 6-7:30 Friday features Lisa Andersen, current world longboard champ Jen Smith and the Roxy team will sign posters.

The Classic Surf Cup begins 7 a.m. Sunday. Both events take place at San Onofre State Beach. Parking is $10. For registration and information: www.classicsurf.com or call 949-496-8611.
– Shawn.

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