Dew Tour Ocean City Complete Event Wrap Up

The Dew Tour is back in 2013, and thus far it has been a blast for everyone from the fans to the athletes.

Last year marked a new era for the Dew Tour, 2012 ushered in a new sense of a marquee event. An event that brought in bigger course builds, more free on-site activities for fans to become engaged by and just in general a much larger impression on everyone that it reached. Well, 2013 is looking to up the ante again and so far it has been a success!

This year at the Dew Tour Beach Championships everyone saw a new approach to building an exciting venue while maintaining a free environment to please the people. Additionally, the Dew Tour opened up a much larger portion of the professionally built courses to the public so everyone could get a taste. Comparably, the best in class athletes came back to beach with a new attitude to put on a show of technicality, precision but also with a never ending smile. From an increased amount of professional and amateur demos between the marquee events, to including a few smaller events that incorporated different aspect of the sports – the athletes that came out and gave their all put on a show unlike any other.

Now that the event has come and gone it is time to reflect on what was accomplished. Legendary athletes showed the world their very own contributions to the sports, while the rising stars came to fight for their chance to dethrone their idols with their newfound energy and creative takes. Below are snapshots from each of the events that took place on the beach with links out to the videos, photo galleries and details recapping all the action that happened on the sand.

Take a minute, probably a few, and look back on first stop of the 2013 Dew Tour and then be sure to share the highlights with your likeminded action enthusiasts, because this was only the first of three stops and you can expect it to get better with every one of them! Enjoy!

Skateboard Bowl

The Dew Tour Beach Championships hosted in Ocean City, Maryland knew the crowd wouldn’t mind saving the best for last, Skate Bowl Final went off with an absolutely packed and pumped grand stand of fans from the sand! The format for the final included the top ten skaters from the semi-final and broke them into two heats. Each heat of five skaters were allotted four, 35-second runs each taking turns in an organized jam format with their best two runs averaging for their overall score. Following that, they pulled the top five skaters into the Final Round 2, aka the Super Final, for another display of the raw talent and a last chance to take the coveted Dew Cup.

Straight out of the gate in the first heat Pedro Barros dropped in and made a claim for the top spot, which he took with his first run through the remaining of the heat – that is until he dropped in again. On his fourth run of the first heat Barros threw a giant 540 in the deep end which sent him flying into the shallows where he then hopped out of the bowl and had to Ollie over two sets of cameraman cords before he ollied back into the deep end and straight into a seatbelt smith grind through the opposite corner. Next up in the second heat we saw the Bucky Lasek, the local legend from the state of Maryland, come in strong looking to take home two golds for the weekend. Bucky threw multiple 540 combinations in the corners and on the flat walls in the deep end plus a front blunt through another corner. Still, it was not enough to unseat Barros from the top spot as he was in search of a 3-peat in the bowl at the beach in Ocean City, Maryland.

That was exactly what he did! The Super Final was packed with great action from all guys, but Barros came in stronger and faster than ever. Barros’ classic lines of high speed transfers into the corners and giant 540s are simply to stylish to ignore. “It feels amazing! I’m always happy to be skating bowl and to be skating [Dew Tour]!” 

 

Results

1st Place – Pedro Barros – 89.62

2nd Place – Bucky Lasek – 87.62

3rd Place – Kalani David – 84.12

Click for the full Skate Bowl recap article, photo gallery and highlight video.

 

BMX Park

The format for the final brought back the top ten riders from the semi-final and broke them into two heats. For the first heat, five riders took both their first and second runs, then, they moved onto the second heat and allowed those five rider to take their first two runs. Following the second heat’s first two runs they shifted to a second round including all ten riders and allowed one more final run. Each rider received three, 45-second runs in total and were judged on overall impression with their best run counting toward their overall score.

Immediately the crowd went crazy for the first heat of riders as the runs clearly stepped up in technicality from the semi-final. Scotty Cranmer came out of the gate with big tricks such as a backflip double tailwhip, a flair up the giant step up and then a 720 down the next step down.In the second heat Ryan Nyquist and Drew Bezanson jumped into the mix and shook up the leader board. Nyquist tossed out a huge 720 over one of the larger box jumps while Bezanson manuled across the top of the wallride and then managed a disaster to tailwhip out on the wedge.

In the end it all came down to the final runs in the second round and believe it or not Nyquist stepped his game up again with a similar run but with the inclusion of a 360 double barspin over one of the larger box jumps added to his run. Nyquist was stoked on the win at Dew Tour saying, “I’ve done well in the past, but in Dew Tour this is the first time I’ve won the cup, so its a big one for me. Last year I came here and did well, but I just missed out on the podium. So that was my goal to just get a podium spot, but the fact that it was on the top spot was just icing on the cake.”

 

Results

1st – Ryan Nyquist – 92.50

2nd – Drew Bezanson – 91.25

3rd – Scotty Cranmer – 90.75

Click to see BMX Park article, photo gallery and hightlight video.

 

BMX Flatland

The format for the flatland consisted of three rounds with six riders going through the first round to decide the seeding for the remaining rounds – the first round allowed each rider a two and half minute run. For the second round the 4th and 3rd ranked riders will go head-to-head, as will the 5th and 2nd and the 6th and 1st ranked riders with each rider was allowed three, 60-second runs. For the third and final run the winning three riders from round two will compete in another set of three, 60-second runs. 

Following the first round for seeding it was Matthais Dandois in the top spot with Yohei “Ucchie” Uchino right behind him in second and Terry Adams rounding off the top three. Fast-forward to the end of the second round and we had the same three in the same positions looking at each other ready to go into the three-way final! With tensions rising through each of the three heats of the final round, we saw in that Adams held on to that third spot and sure enough Dandois held on to the top leaving Ucchie in second for his first Dew Tour appearance. Congratulations to Dandois on returning to the sand and reclaiming his flatland title! Dandois has always been a huge supporter of the flatland community and said, “We are back in the mix at Dew Tour and it feels good to be  a part of the BMX family.” Then commentated on the venue saying, “There are girls in bikinis on the beach and I have my friends on stage so I couldn’t ask for more, this contest is so good.” 

 

Results

1st Place – Matthais Dandois

2nd Place – Yohei “Ucchie” Uchino

3rd Place – Terry Adams

Click to see BMX Flatland recap article, photo gallery and highlight video.
 

Skate Street Session

For the first time at the Dew Tour Beach Championships in Ocean City, Maryland the gritty skills of street skaters were showcased to the fans on the sand illustrating how modern-day skating has evolved the sport while maintaining its roots in the streets.The Skate Street Session took place on Dew Tour’s nine-stair set with hubba ledges running along each side as well as a rail down the center. The invited skaters congregated at the top of the set and preceded to skate in an organized 30-minute jam scored on overall impression. Three skaters were scored and ranked with an additional award for the single best trick pulled during the jam.

Right out of the gate, all eyes turned to Garrett Hill as he quickly came up with a 360 flip 5-0 on the hubba ledge, but that was just the beginning of the madness. When asked about in insane trick Hill pulled right in the beginning Hill said “I was so relieved because always that’s the trick that I’m weary about. I need to land that if I hope to do good at all. So once that gets made, I really star have fun.” In the end the overall award was given to Jordan Hoffart for throwing down an insane amount of technical tricks. For the Best Trick award Hill’s 360 flip 5-0 on the hubba held true till the very end.

Hill commented on Hoffart’s best trick saying “That was incredible, just incredible. And you know whats rad about skating though? Your always rooting for your friends. It’s not a contest where you get bummed out and get really competitive. You try to be supportive and you use it, you get stoked on what other people are doing and it makes you step your game up too. Its amazing.”

 

Results

1st Place – Jordan Hoffart

Best Trick – Garrett Hill – 360 Flip 5-0 down the hubba ledge

Click to visit the Skate Street Session recap article, gallery highlight video. 

 

Legends Bowl

The Dew Tour Beach Championships in Ocean City, Maryland recruited the legends of skate once again for a throwback display of style and trick variety in a way that only the legends of the sport are capable of displaying! With ten invited legends competing together in one heat, each skater took four, 35-second runs with only the best score counting toward their overall result. For the previous two Skate Legends Bowl events in years past, Chris Miller has reigned supreme as he has maintained his renown reputation as the man to beat in the bowl – but that would prove not be an easy feat for anyone.

The legend event this year showcased exactly what makes these guys legends. Eddie “El Gato” Elguerathrew down his own Elguerial, a fakie back-handed 360 invert, as well as his frontside rock and roll. Duane Peters, aka the Master of Disaster also pulled a few acid drops he’s known for making famous. Then, what may have been the best treat of all, Mike McGill impressed the crowds with his own McTwist, a backside inverted 540 with a mute grab!

Despite all the greatness showcased by all the guys competing, Miller’s high speeds and sheer style was untouchable. With giant backside and frontside airs into the corners and backside lipslides, Miller’s earlier runs would allow for him to do a victory lap in the end – for the final drop it was Mr. Miller Time! “It feels so rad! Of course, I’m stoked to win but just to skate with everbody and to do what I wanted to do was awesome,” said the stoked but humble Miller. He went on to comment about his competition and watching his friends pull out the tricks they each invented and made popular, “It was inspiring!”

 

Results

1st Place – Chris Miller – 87.50

2nd Place – Steve Caballero – 86.00

3rd Place – Mike McGill – 84.25

Click for the full Legends Skate Bowl recap article, photo gallery and highlight video. 

 

Skateboard Vert 

Following Thursday’s Skate Vert Semi-Final, the anticipation from the fans in the sand had everyone counting down until they could watch the final unfold as part of the Dew Tour Beach Championships in Ocean City, Maryland! Bringing back the top ten placing skaters from the semi-final, the format for the final consisted of two heats of five skaters each taking four, 30-second runs. With only their best score counting to their overall placement, the top five placing skaters advanced to the Final Round 2, aka the super final, for another four, 30-second runs for a final attempt to take all.

Coming into the final still hot after taking the top spot in the semi-final, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, aka PLG, was looking solid after his second run where he left off in the lead after throw giant 540s and kckflip mutes. However, the local legend from Baltimore, Maryland Bucky Lasek would be quick to drop in and take over the top spot. On the final runs of the event the top three were locked in between Bucky, PLG and the pitbull on wheels, Sandro Dias. PLG took a spill on his final run trying a kickflip McTwist, which left him in second. Then Dias dropped in and we stomped a stylish Christ air, his patented gnar jar (540 to body jar) but on his final wall he spun a complete 900 but just barely couldn’t hold on.

This left the hometown hero Bucky on the deck dropping in for a victory lap. Bucky was super stoked to be in front of his hometown crowd saying “It feels so awesome to be back on top! I’ve had a great year, I don’t want it to stop, I don’t want to go to bed tonight!” 

 

Results

1st Place – Bucky Lasek – 90.00

2nd Place – Pierre-Luc Gagnon – 87.50

3rd Place – Sandro Dias – 86.00

Click for the full Skate Vert recap article, photo gallery and highlight video.

 

BMX Battle at the Beach

Ushering in a new discipline to the Dew Tour Beach Championships, the BMX Battle at the Beach bridged the gap and provided an appeal to the fans in the sand that were looking to see a different batch of riders and style. The BMX Street Session was made up of ten riders competing in one, 30-minute organized jam format. The course for the street session was made up of a nine-stair set with a hubba on each side as well as a rail down the center with riders allowed to go either up or down the set. The top three riders were scored and ranked on overall impression with an additional winner announced for the single best trick of the session – riders were judged on single tricks, not combinations linked by manuals received scores.

With the stacked list of BMX street riders it seemed like anyone could take the win, but there were certainly a few standouts – Dan Lacey was unquestionably one of them. Lacey landed so many absolutely insanely technical tricks you are going to want to watch the recap to consume them all. One that we have to tell you about was his backward grind to over toothpick on the rail – nuts. When asked how he felt about coming to Dew Tour Lacey quikly responded “Seeing the whole Dew Tour contest going off at the beach made for a reall good atmosphere. If it’s around next your I’ll defnitely be back for sure.”

 

Resuts

1st Place – Dan Lacey

2nd Place – Sean Sexton 

3rd Place – Chad Kerley 

Click to see BMX Battle at the Beach article, photo gallery, and highlight video.

 

BMX Vert

The BMX Vert Final was the first final of the weekend, and the crowd came out in full to show their support for the ramp riders. However, following a little trouble with evening moisture the event had to be postponed until the next day – the crowd wasn’t fazed and returned in full. The format for the final consisted of twelve riders each taking three, 30-second runs with the best of those runs counting toward their overall score. Then, the top six riders move on to the Final Round 2, aka the Super final, with another three, 30-second runs to throw their all.

Jamie Bestwick returned in an attempt to win his ninth consecutive BMX Vert Dew Cup and title, and if anyone can 9-peat we all know Bestwick is the man to make it happen. Vince Byron came to win and threw a giant 540 double tailwhip to let the people know it. As did Simon Tabron who took full advantage of the roll ins on the ramp to capitalize on his amplitude while throwing invert 540s and more. Steve McCann also came to play and showed off how much fun he was having with giant barspin to one-handed x-ups as well as the rarely seen candybar. Bestwick was ready to do whatever it took and came in with a massive downside tailwhip flair and later throwing the rarely seen candybar to remind everyone he has serious amplitude of his. But it was during his victory lap that Bestwick threw his most impressive maneuver, a fronflip flair for the crowd really made his 9-peat special. Congrats Bestwick!

Results

1st Place – Jamie Bestwick – 94.00

2nd Place – Vince Byron – 89.75

3rd Place – Steve McCann – 88.50

Click to see BMX Vert article, photo gallery and highlight video.