Local Surfers Shine in Surf Series

Local veteran surfer Rich Silva captured the open men’s title at the 2nd Annual South Bay Surf Series, presented by the South Bay Boardrider’s Club this past Saturday at El Porto in Manhattan Beach.

Saturday's event was the third installment of the six part series that is sponsored by several local surf shops, with each shop taking a turn in sponsoring a different competition.

Silva, a Manhattan Beach resident who works in sales for Body Glove, managed to outpoint the rest of the field on an afternoon that produced ideal surfing conditions, as waves measured four to six feet before being washed out by the wind and low tide.

“This was a ton of fun,” Silva said. “It was just gorgeous out there today and there were a lot of talented surfers who were doing some amazing things. It was an honor to be named champion with such a talented field.”

Derek Brewer of Manhattan Beach finished in second place, and Gabriel Pasteri of Brazil placed third. 

“Anytime you get to surf on a day like this, it’s a good day,” Brewer said. “I think that I had a good day out there and some really good rides. Everyone was really surfing well.”

On the women's side of the draw, former South Torrance High School surfer Natalie Anzivino of Redondo Beach carved up the course and the competition in route to clinching the open women’s title for the second consecutive year.

“Wow, that was a pretty long day,” Anzivino said. “But anytime you get to spend all day at the beach surfing it’s never a hard day. I’m just honored that the judges felt that I did so well.”

Body Glove team rider Chandler Parr finished second, and Mira Costa team riders Jordan Wilbe, Rachel Tominaga and Sarah Kohrogi rounded out the top five.

Tominaga also won the junior girls' 18 and under division.

Kelly Zaun, who attends Mira Costa high school and is sponsored by Spyder Surf, finished sixth in the open men’s division and won the junior boys' 18 and under division, beating out fellow Mustang Noah Collins, and Vinny Leonelli of Santa Barbara. 

“I knew it was going to be a battle,” Zaun said of the competition. “Vinny and Noah are really talented surfers and I knew that going into today that one of us three was going to take the title.”

Other winners include Kyle Beatty, 14 and under boys' division champion, Dylan Hord, 12 and under boys' division champion, Finn Bertino, nine and under Boys' division champion, Dave Shaefer, open men’s long board division champion, and legendary local surfer Mike Purpus, who won the legends division.