Celebrating Style & Single Fins
Bold mustaches, big hair, and smaller Speedos: the 3rd Annual Fat Tire Single Fin Hoe Down brought 70’s inspired swag to St. Augustine Beach this past weekend. Presented by Fat Fire, Sun Bum, Dark Seas, and of course the Surf Station, this year’s event stayed true to the Hoedown’s goal since its inception: showcase your style with only one fin.
Led by contest director Chris Ropero, surfers were invited to showcase their stuff with a $17,000+ purse at stake. Personality was king, with competitors taking home cash for stylized maneuvers, boss costume selections, and high performance moves on old school style boards.
For the first time since the revitalization of this soul-driven “competition”, both men’s and women’s divisions were included in the event. Invitees across the state and as far as Hawaii flocked to A Street on St. Augustine Beach the morning of April 20th to be met with near prime conditions for this year’s hoedown. With early offshore winds creating fun-sized peelers with clean conditions, surfers were invited to test out boards provided by surfboard shaper extraordinaire Ken White in these rippable conditions.
Donning salt-matted wings, coconut bras, wrestling masks and just about any other outlandish wardrobe you could imagine, 54 athletes were narrowed down to one final heat for both the men’s and women’s divisions respectively.
The men’s final included Flagler Beach standouts Robbie McCormick and Saxon Wilson, year two winner Cam Richardson, alongside St. Augustine’s Josh Autrey and Stephen Kaltenbach and Jacksonville Beach’s Justin Quintal and Trenton Tarpits. The women’s final was made up of professional surfers Karina Petroni, Sally Cohen, Eva Woodland, Molly Kirky, Mia Larson, and St. Augustine favorite Lisa Miller.
At the end of the final, it was McCormick’s radical maneuvers that let him take home the win, while Petroni’s style, power, and grace led her to victory in the women’s division. Lastly, the Russell Award, created in honor of an amazing husband, father, surfer, and so much more, Russell Brownley, was awarded to Dustin Miller. With a love, style, and friendship that is timeless, the Russell award was presented to the person who brought the most joy and kindness to everyone throughout the weekend. As many of us know, Dustin is a shining example of what it means to be naturally kindhearted.
For the third year in a row, we want to thank Chris Ropero and his crew of hardworking supporters for bringing our community together to celebrate what it means to be a surfer and a good human to boot. Until next year, we’ll be busy perfecting our single fin skills.
