THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 27, 1994 TAG: 9408270375
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
The Beach Festival portion of the 32nd annual Budweiser East Coast Surfing Championships gets under way today at the south end of the Oceanfront, with competition in volleyball, skimboarding, tug-of-war, a 5K race, sailing and obstacle course.
Amateur and professional surfing continues at 8 a.m. today with preliminary heats at the Rudee Inlet Jetty. Officials of the Eastern Surfing Association for amateurs and the Association of Surfing Professionals who run the Bud Pro Tour expect to have their respective contest fields narrowed to at least the quarterfinals for when action begins Sunday.
This year's professional event, the ninth and only East Coast stop on the 11-city Bud Pro Tour drew 77 contestants from around the country and eight from abroad. All are competing for a portion of the $20,000 purse - with $4,000 going to the winner.
Defending ECSC pro champion Shane Stoneman of San Juan Capistrano is in sixth-place in the overall points race. Chris Brown of Santa Barbara, Calif., is the leader with a 715-point edge over Richie Collins of Newport Beach, Calif.
But Stoneman is the highest ranked tour surfer competing in the ECSC stop.
Representing the locals in the pro division are Wes Laine, Jason Borte, Brad Beach, Chris Todd, Jason Griffith, Michael Jones and Randy Renard.
The Bud Pro Tour is a World Championship Tour-qualifying program and the Virginia Beach stop is vital to attracting the country's top up-and-coming surfers.
``We have already had two former Bud Pro Tour surfers win titles at world tour events this season,'' Bud Pro Tour director Ian Cairns said. ``The top 16 finishers in this year's tour will earn berths into the world tour.''
For the first time in the ECSC's history, the event will feature a $4,000 professional division for women. The eight contestants will begin their portion of the competition Sunday morning.
The amateur division drew its biggest field in several years with more than 300 surfers competing in 16 divisions.
The event, sponsored by the Virginia Beach Jaycees, will also feature continuous live music throughout the weekend, with Judy Bats playing tonight at 8, and the Smithereens on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. by CNB