POD’s

Old man of the sea wins 12th Senseless Skimfest – Santa Cruz Sentinel.

A relative old man in the young man’s sport of skimboarding won the pro division of the 12th annual Senseless Skimfest on Saturday at 26th Avenue Beach.

Thirty-year-old David Safradin of Moss Beach beat out Santa Cruz’s Geoff Hughins and Mitch Cramton, who took second and third, respectively, to win the contest for the second straight year. David Haefele of San Jose took fourth.

“It’s a very young’n sport,” said Cramton, 27, who also organizes the event. “Thirty is one of older ages, but he still does it. He still skimmed great today.”

Cramton said Safradin’s creative use of the waves –” including incorporating skateboarding maneuvers like shuvits and ollies –” on the beach-break waves helped him win. Safradin also had a handle on the windy conditions that threw a wrench into the finals.

“It changes the shape of wave so it’s most likely not preferable to the rider,” said Cramton, who moved up from fourth place last year. “It also blows against your board so it’s really hard to run against that kind of moving, flapping pressure.”

In the all-Santa Cruz women’s final, Jackie Gollbach defeated Ashley Poshard. Other local winners included Lorenzo DiSarro [12-under], Sean Hunt [13-17] and Dana Baldzikowski [18-29]. John Fleskes of San Jose won the 30-over division.