SEA BRIGHT: SKIMMING WITH THE ‘SHARKS’
Top skimboarding talent converges on Sea Bright this weekend as the annual Skimbash event brings the Skim USA Pro/Am Tour action to the borough’s municipal beach. (File photos by Peter Lindner)
It’s fast becoming one of the most anticipated sporting events of that post-Labor Day interlude known as Local Summer — a nationally sanctioned tournament that draws top competitors from up and down the Atlantic shores, as well as the Gulf Coast.
Not even the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy could wipe out the spirit of SkimBash, billed as the “premier Pro/Am skimboarding contest on the Jersey Shore,” and an annual occurrence that’s put Sea Bright on the map for a certain segment of the populace — thanks in large part to Jersey Shore Skim Camp owner Felecia Stratton, who inaugurated Skimbash in 2003 (it was folded into Skim USA’s national pro tour in 2009).
On Saturday and Sunday, September 6 and 7, the stretch of sand and surf out back of Borough Hall will once again come alive with a gathering of the pros who compete for cash — in addition to the talented sharks, shredders, newbies and groms anxious to show off their skills, and the all-ages aficionados who are there to cheer on their favorites.