The Rincon Classic is Santa Barbara’s long-running locals-only surfing contest. Over the weekend, Santa Barbara surfers in 12 different divisions faced off at the Queen of the Coast.
The event was first founded in 1979 by Roger Nance, Jeff White, and a crew of local surfers. The Classic ran for 17 consecutive years until it fell dormant in 1996. Then, in 2001, the event was resurrected by Chris Keet and Santa Barbara surf school Surf Happens. This year marks the 43rd annual Rincon Classic and the 24th year the event will be produced by Surf Happens.
In the ‘Pro’ division, Parker Coffin secured the win. This was the second consecutive Rincon Classic title for the Snapt4 starring goofy-footer. “This event is always such a special vibe with our whole surf community down at the beach enjoying our local spot,” wrote Coffin on Instagram, “I was just focused on enjoying the empty lineup without 200 guys out.”
View this post on Instagram
Among the amateur winners were Makena Burke in the women’s event and Alexander Barone in the men’s. Junior titles went to Jak Ziets and Vela Mattive, while Ronin Castorino and Maddox Keet won the grom divisions. The ‘Masters’ division title went to Javi Moreno. Finally, the ‘Grand Masters’ division for surfers aged 45 and up went to Walter Cerny, who narrowly beat out Channel Islands lead shaper Britt Merrick.
