Just in case you didn’t know we do carry an extensive line up of O’Neill life jackets and vest. If you put one on, you will be able to do all these tricks! Just like when I put on my Jordan’s I turn into Michael. Check out our selection here: O’neill Vest

The Maui Melee 2011 was a hit with excellent conditions and plenty of good skim waves for all.  A big mahalo to Brent Edwards from Maui Skimmers for donations and MC skills, Sergio with Dirty Dog eyewear for having some sweet shades, I had my Dirty Dog’s on all day. Did you?  Check out their websites and facebook pages.

Groms – 1st place, Nohea Bachiller / 2nd Kai Hemmitt / 3rd little Tai Beck catching air on his sponge board.

22 & under – 1st place Ollie Shipp / 2nd Colin Camp / 3rd Tyler Patrou

23 & over – 1st place Russell Carbonell / 2nd Kai Bednorz-Pierpoint / 3rd Dannon Chu

Women’s – 1st Heather Graf who now leads the women’s points because she ripped at the Yokes contest last month / 2nd Joleane Rico / 3rd Kiana Soloria / 4th Coral Mathison

Cash prizes for the Men’s Advanced division was $100 for 1st, $70 for 2nd & $50 for 3rd which made it all that more exciting.  We had 11 of the top skimmers in all the islands come out and perform at the best skim spot in all of Hawaii.  It was truly an action packed show but as the heats went on some of the guys got left out until there were only 3 left.  The winner of the Big Beach HASL Maui Melee for 2011 is reigning HASL champ from last year Kyle “Little Man” Olson.

Men’s Advanced – 1st Kyle “Little Man” Olson / 2nd Jesse Solomon (winner of the last 2 contests Yokes & Kaanapali) / 3rd David “Stermanbergstein” Sterman

Good job you guys it was tough competition to end up with a top 3 spot.

The next HASL contest is planned for Saturday August 27th somewhere on Kauai.  The Kauai contest is usually our smallest contest to go along with a small island.  Super fun skim for our event last year so stay tuned by checking the facebook page at Hawaii Amateur Skimboarding League.

The full results will get posted on the HASL website once we’re done updating the league points standings.

Mahalo for all the support, ALOHA!!

Erik  Covarrubias

Hawaii Amateur Skimboarding League HASL
Email:  info@hawaiiskimboardleague.com
Website: hawaiiskimboardleague.com
Phone: (808) 265-2112

Yoga is a great way to stay balanced & flexible for surfers

We are excited to have another guest blogger! Tali is an amazing person who loves the outdoors and especially yoga. Keeping yourself injury free in board sports is hard enough to do as is, so I wanted Tali to touch on how yoga can help out all the surfers/skimmers out there. Here is Tali!

It’s no secret that yoga and surfing go hand in hand. While yoga can
prepare the body for surfing there is also the common bond of breath,
balance and going with the flow.  This collection of yoga poses, or
asanas, are designed to open, strengthen and stretch the parts of the
body that are used most while riding.

Garudasana  Arms (Eagle Pose).
How:  Extend arms out to each side, bend elbows, bring arms to center
in front of chest and cross your right arm above your left,  and rest
the right elbow into the left’s crook.  With your forearms
perpendicular to the floor, press your palms together, and continue to
lift your elbows to feel more of the stretch.  Hold for a few breaths
and switch sides. Repeat twice on each side.

Stretches upper back and shoulders.  Great before and after long
paddling sessions.

Malasana  (Squat)
How:  Separate your feet outer hips width distance apart. Exhale and
slowly lower into a squat. If this hurts your knees, support your seat
with a bolster or folded blankets, and if your heels come off the
ground, place a rolled up towel beneath them.  Placing your hands in
prayer, press your elbows into your thighs to open your chest and
hips.   Hold for 5-10 breaths.

Opens hips and strengthens the back.

Chaturanga Dandasana
How:  From a plank position with your wrists below shoulders, lower
your body to a hover over the floor while keeping your back flat, your
forearms and elbows in, and heels pressing back. Hold the hover for 5
breaths, and repeat from plank pose.

Core, triceps, back.

Navasana (Boat Pose)
How:  Sitting up, use your hands to center your weight between your
sit-bones and tailbone.  Place your hands right behind your seat to
open your chest and flatten your back.  Lift the feet slowly off the
ground. If you can lift and lower legs slowly with easy raise hands,
reaching your fingers towards your feet. Continue to raise legs with
an inhale, and lower with an exhale. 5-15 breaths.

Strengthens core; Stretches back muscles.  While good for overall
strength, this pose will help with deep breathing and focus.

Balasana (Happy Baby)
How:  Lie on your back, bend your knees towards your torso, lift your
feet off the ground as though your feet were going to touch the
ceiling or sky. Bring hands to sole of the feet.  Using gentle
pressure pull the knees into the underarms. Enjoy this pose for as
long as you’d like.

Releases tight hips and relaxes back.

Enjoy these poses and you’ll see an improvement in your surfing. As
with all exercise take care and consult a physician before trying
anything new.

Thanks Tali! And for more Tali make sure you check out these links, including her twitter feed:

andthewhatnot.com
mycupcakemafia.com
twitter.com/cupcakemafia

Aloha from HASL,

Everything is coming together for the second HASL contest for 2011 scheduled for Saturday June 11th at Big Beach, Makena on Maui. It’s a great way to start the summer off and Maui is usually our most amount of entries so you won’t want to miss it. We’ll be setting up early with check in starting at 8am and the contest beginning at 9:00 so don’t be late.

Once again this is a chance to see Hawaii’s top skimmers like Jesse Solomon winner of the recent two Hawaii contests, Kyle “Little Man” Olson last year’s HASL champ, & David Sterman who recently returned from ripping in Cabo. You’ll want to see Sean McClenahan runner up in the past couple of contests & if we’re lucky Anthony “Ace” Conlon will grace us with his presence.

Recent female stand out competitor’s we’ll expect to see include Heather Graf who’s been coming up in the ranks and Nikki Lee another Maui wahine skimmer that’s going to show us why this is her spot.

We have to also say thanks to Maui Skimmers Skimboards, Dirty Dog Eyewear, Freak Traction, & Maui Tomorrow for helping to Save Makena.

The sign up links are below for the $25 membership price for those who paid the $25 membership fee at the Yokes contest. There’s the $35 one time contest entry fee for those who only get the chance to sign up for the Maui contest this year. And there’s the $50 Men’s Advanced entry that offers a cash prize for the top three places.

HASL member $25.00 entry fee – https://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1966605

$35 one time contest entry link – https://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1967081

Men’s Advanced $50.00 – https://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1966604

Mahalo again for all the support and check the HASL facebook page at Hawaii Amateur Skimboard League for pictures and updates.

Erik Covarrubias

Hawaii Amateur Skimboarding League HASL
Email: info@hawaiiskimboardleague.com
Website: hawaiiskimboardleague.com
Phone: (808) 265-2112

Conditions looked like ankle biters… too bad with a final heat. Congrats again to Austin and Blair!

Big thanks to Shawn Kenny for getting this out so fast. Enjoy team riders Blair Conklin and Austin Keen… as you can tell the conditions weren’t ideal. But they did the best for what they had!

This weekend was great weekend for team EOS. Both Blair and Austin skimmed their way to the finals against some very stiff competition. Congrats and here is a shot of the two before the comp.

Austin Keen and Blair Conklin searching for waves