Graduation Day: Red Bull Night School Concludes With Resounding Success
Check out some Postcards From Nantucket...and don't forget to take a peek at the Ultra-Super-Fantastic-Mega Red Bull Night School gallery while you're at it.Story By EXPN.com's Jon Coen
Several of the best aerialists from North Carolina to Massachusetts stepped off the gangway leading to a cobblestone street, lined with charming storefronts and blossoming cherry trees. The surfers may have looked out of place among Nantucket's old-money crowd with pink collars and tiny dogs (some in strollers), but this was actually the perfect destination. They were met in the parking lot, and shuttled off to a remote beach on the south side of the Island. There they found a tow-at surfer’s paradise—a pair of isolated cedar-shaked houses, a beach with four Red Bull jet-skis just waiting to be launched, and the kind of solitude to master the art of towing without disrupting another surfer for miles.
“The set-up was amazing,” marveled Red Bull athlete Sam Hammer, “it’s nice to not have to trailer the ski and find a place to launch it. It’s there when you want to use it. If that were always the case, we would tow that much more.”
For most of the month of May, director of such landmark events as Red Bull’s Icebreak, Project Swell, and Red Bull Night Riders (the stellar tow-at happening under the lights last August, in Atlantic City, NJ) Jack Fleming, was posted up for a complete tow-at training camp. Surfers came for days at a time to hone their skills driving the ski or whipping at chunks of moving water.
In addition, several Northeast key surf shops’ team riders were invited to learn the art of the tow from the masters.
“It was such a nice, secluded location,” said Mark Driscoll, owner of Brickhouse Surf Skate Snow, in Marblehead, Massachusetts, who learned how to add amplitude to his fans with help from the jet-ski, “to just have an empty stretch of beach to learn on.”
For most of the late spring and summer, the Atlantic Coast endures a steady trade wind from the south that blows out conditions, without building new swell. While most of the mainland suffers through it, the flow results in consistent swell to this particular island. Most were accompanied with onshore winds. But after last year’s harrowing Night Riders event in choppy seas, the pros were looking to exact their timing in any conditions.
“When you tow with good drivers, it makes a difference,” added Hammer, “When you have guys that can surf and drive, you pick stuff up from what they’re doing. Just having all that time to train together is so valuable.”
Virginians Raven Lundy and Lucas Rogers were the first to test the New England waters, even enjoying a bit of a retrograding Nor’easter. Andrew Gesler and Jamie Moran, of Ocean City, New Jersey, soon joined them. Billy Hume and Jeff Myers made the drive all the way from North Carolina, and later, Hammer, Jason Regan, and Randy Townsend, added some Garden State representation.
“I was just amazed at the talent of those guys,” marveled Driscoll, “when you see it in person, it’s so much more impressive than on photo or film.”
By mid-month, the compound was in a full swing, with energized sessions in the water by day, and when the surf subsided or the wind blew it out, the crew would head into town to mingle with New England’s society elite.
On one such outing, the boys collected some local “leisurewear” from a thrift shop. That afternoon, Andrew Gesler donned a pair of golf pants, pink polo shirt, and sailing jacket, while Billy Hume snazzed himself up in an argyle sweater and nautical hat. They then pushed out through the break for the first ever “tea time tow-at.”
The relentless breeze finally laid down on the morning of May 21st, as head high lumps rolled into the sandbar in front of the compound. While it even made for some good paddling in, it was prime for hucking huge punts and throwing big chunks. Gesler, Hammer, Regan, Hume, Myers, and Townsend took full advantage, really getting the act wired and doing arguably some of the biggest ski-assisted airs north of Florida, ever.
Though the boys have yet to learn the difference between a shrimp fork and a salad fork, they have seriously tightened their skills and will be well prepared for the second annual Night Riders event coming to Atlantic City on August 15th.
Night School Surf Shop Participants:
Liquid Dreams Pioneers Board Shop
Trevor Fitzgerald Steve O'Hara
Scott Drake Mike Stanek
Natty Graham
Sam Boardman
Cinnamon Rainbows Brickhouse Surf, Skate and Snow
Sashi Lyford Mark Driscol
Doug Wright Jamie Hosker
7 Ply Zapstix
Greg Levy Mike Paugh
Jamie Risser Adam Coates
Still in search of a higher education? Don't miss Red Bull's Art of the Can exhibit.
For most of the month of May, director of such landmark events as Red Bull’s Icebreak, Project Swell, and Red Bull Night Riders (the stellar tow-at happening under the lights last August, in Atlantic City, NJ) Jack Fleming, was posted up for a complete tow-at training camp. Surfers came for days at a time to hone their skills driving the ski or whipping at chunks of moving water. In addition, several Northeast key surf shops’ team riders were invited to learn the art of the tow from the masters.
“It was such a nice, secluded location,” said Mark Driscoll, owner of Brickhouse Surf Skate Snow, in Marblehead, Massachusetts, who learned how to add amplitude to his fans with help from the jet-ski, “to just have an empty stretch of beach to learn on.”
For most of the late spring and summer, the Atlantic Coast endures a steady trade wind from the south that blows out conditions, without building new swell. While most of the mainland suffers through it, the flow results in consistent swell to this particular island. Most were accompanied with onshore winds. But after last year’s harrowing Night Riders event in choppy seas, the pros were looking to exact their timing in any conditions.
“When you tow with good drivers, it makes a difference,” added Hammer, “When you have guys that can surf and drive, you pick stuff up from what they’re doing. Just having all that time to train together is so valuable.”Virginians Raven Lundy and Lucas Rogers were the first to test the New England waters, even enjoying a bit of a retrograding Nor’easter. Andrew Gesler and Jamie Moran, of Ocean City, New Jersey, soon joined them. Billy Hume and Jeff Myers made the drive all the way from North Carolina, and later, Hammer, Jason Regan, and Randy Townsend, added some Garden State representation.
“I was just amazed at the talent of those guys,” marveled Driscoll, “when you see it in person, it’s so much more impressive than on photo or film.”
By mid-month, the compound was in a full swing, with energized sessions in the water by day, and when the surf subsided or the wind blew it out, the crew would head into town to mingle with New England’s society elite.
On one such outing, the boys collected some local “leisurewear” from a thrift shop. That afternoon, Andrew Gesler donned a pair of golf pants, pink polo shirt, and sailing jacket, while Billy Hume snazzed himself up in an argyle sweater and nautical hat. They then pushed out through the break for the first ever “tea time tow-at.”
The relentless breeze finally laid down on the morning of May 21st, as head high lumps rolled into the sandbar in front of the compound. While it even made for some good paddling in, it was prime for hucking huge punts and throwing big chunks. Gesler, Hammer, Regan, Hume, Myers, and Townsend took full advantage, really getting the act wired and doing arguably some of the biggest ski-assisted airs north of Florida, ever.Though the boys have yet to learn the difference between a shrimp fork and a salad fork, they have seriously tightened their skills and will be well prepared for the second annual Night Riders event coming to Atlantic City on August 15th.
Night School Surf Shop Participants:
Liquid Dreams Pioneers Board Shop
Trevor Fitzgerald Steve O'Hara
Scott Drake Mike Stanek
Natty Graham
Sam Boardman
Cinnamon Rainbows Brickhouse Surf, Skate and Snow
Sashi Lyford Mark Driscol
Doug Wright Jamie Hosker
7 Ply Zapstix
Greg Levy Mike Paugh
Jamie Risser Adam Coates
Still in search of a higher education? Don't miss Red Bull's Art of the Can exhibit.
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