Surfing competitions aren't just for competitive people. They're for anyone that loves sports and the ocean. The spectators are as diverse as the people surfing. Some are there because they truly love to watch any sport or action. Some are there for an excuse to be close to the ocean. Others are there to support friends. And the elite few are there for the adrenaline rush of paddling out to the buoy with all eyes on them.
In today's "ABC's of Surfing" we're going to focus on getting you excited as a spectator or potential competitor in Saturday's competition. We'll get more into the history of surfing in later posts.
The dominant organization in competitive surfing in Second Life is the SL Surfing Association. They have two seasons a year with 5 competitions per season. That's a total of 10 months a year a competitor must train.
Competitions begin in February and September of every year. They end in December and July of every year, leaving one month break in between for the SL Surfing Awards Ceremony where the top two surfers of the season are inducted into the Hall of Fame.
With just two more competitions to go this season, it'll be an exciting battle to the championship title with 3 top surfers vying for position.
Surf veteran and Hall of Fame surfer Bodhi Lowtide is ready to call himself champion of the season after a string of second place victories.
Richie M. Di Vaio is eager to keep his title as
reigning champion.
And last year's rookie, Harla Mae is gunning for her very first championship title.
Other surfers to watch out for are Cosmos Lowtide and Celestrii, two new and hungry surfing powerhouses dominating the surf competitions with Moira and Moonie Kismet hot on their tails.
We highly recommend you come to Cohiba Bay tomorrow to watch these amazing surfers battle it out for a chance at victory. The Competition will begin at 1pm SLT tomorrow, May 22nd. If you love surfing, this is the place to be.
Scores:
The scores you see above seem confusing at first, but its relatively simple. The place you are in the competition determines your score. If you're 1st place, you get one point. If you're 2nd place, you get two points and so on. The person with the least amount of points at the end of the season, is the champion. One competition is thrown out, so that score is deducted from the placement. Look at Moonie Kismet's scores. She got 11th, 3rd, and 7th. They throw out the 11th place and will only keep her 3rd and 7th place. Giving her "points less worst" a 10. Which puts her in 7th place for the season with Moira and just below Celestrii.
DNC means the person did not sign up for that competition. They are issued points to keep a person from only signing up for one comp, getting first place, and shooting to the top. They are typically issued the amount of points equal to the number of people that signed up.
DNS means the person signed up, but did not show up for the event. They are also penalized with the score equal to the number of people that registered.
Teams:
Teams are a fun way to feel like you're part of something larger. They often have practices and are lead by a more experienced surfer that can help a new surfer learn the basics. But do not feel like its mandatory to join a team, it isn't. And, no matter how you do in the competition, it does not effect the team's overall ranking. Most people are worried in the beginning that they'll let their team down if they join one. But most teams are just happy to have active people surfing with them.
The Current team captains are:
Montego - Bodhi Lowtide
Reef Riders - Gia Beaumont (giavannimarie.melody)
Tsunami - Moira (venera74)
Splash - Mimi Darling Fenmore (disastrophy)
Surf Crazy - Mick Lunasea
How to Compete:
To compete you need to:
1. Belong to the SL Surfing Association group: secondlife:///app/group/6555ac32-baa6-85ad-48c3-93c5a84d740a/about
2. Be registered as a member of the SLSA forum. After you register, wait for activation of your account, which due to a number of bots registered before, is done manually by one of the SLSA Directors or forum moderators, after they check if you're a real avatar and belong to the SL Surfing Association group in SL. The activation should not take more than 24 hours. (if so ask one of the directors listed below in IM) DO NOT USE YOUR SL BIRTHYEAR WHEN YOU CREATE AN ACCOUNT. The forum requires you to be over 18. SLSA doesn't care about your actual birthyear so feel free to make one up, just make sure you remember it and its 18 years ago.
http://surfslsa.org/forums/ucp.php?mode=register
3. Watch for group notices and check the SLSA forum for news and updates. Every significant announcement is done via group notice in-world, so don't worry you'll miss something.
4. After the registration is open (it's always the Sunday 13 days before the competition, on Sunday at 12 noon SLT) register at the SLSA forum by following the link posted in the group notice.
... (( what you do is press the [Post Reply] button for the comp registration topic, and give your Name, Team (if any, teams are optional, and any preference for an early or late heat))
5. Before the competition the heat draws will be announced, and you will receive a competition pack with rashguard (rashie)and important notecards to read (must read about rules n stuff!) in it.
6. At the competition you need to use the type of surfboard that was announced as required for the competition in the registration topic.
At all times the SLSA directors are at your service. Currently (until June 1st, 2021) the directors are: Sally LaSalle, Cierra Theriac, Gia Beaumont, Taiko Silversmith, Kantbe Thursday
IM them anytime if you have any doubts or questions.
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One thing you'll notice as a spectator and new competitor is that everyone in the water is in a default avatar. We assure you, this isn't because we love looking like that. The SLSA is committed to trying to make conditions as fair as possible for those with older computers, as well as those with amazing gaming computers. There's only so much we can control, but they do limit the number of scripts a competitor and staff member can wear.
This seems alarming at first, but the more serious competitors go down to default avatar anyway. We're not taking any chances on anything effecting our ride.
We know you're excited now and can't wait to see you tomorrow at the competition!
See all this in action this Saturday, May 22nd @ 1pm SLT on Cohiba Bay! There will be musical guests Maximillion Kleene, NeoMaximus Brandenburg, and DJ Moon Peace.. three of the most popular musicians in Second Life.
Spend the day enjoying great tunes and great surfing this Saturday!! We'll see you there!