Stinnett, Bryan win wild race

NEWPORT BEACH — Sam Stinnett, 16, killed it all weekend long and earned his first pro skimboarding win.

Bill “Beaker” Bryan, 36, quietly left the Balboa Pier late Sunday afternoon, knowing he had probably won his second straight United Skim Tour overall title. The pair of South Laguna residents both had reason to celebrate as the UST drew to a close at Oktoberfest in Newport Beach, the event hosted by Exile Skimboards and Main Street Surf Shop.

Bryan, who was second in the UST standings heading into the final event, finished fifth at Balboa after he didn’t make it out of the semifinals. Florida’s Brad Domke, who was leading the UST standings before Balboa, fell in the second round on Saturday.

The chain of events seemed to leave the tour title up for grabs, but in the end it was Beaker, who has won 14 times at the Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding, who took it home. He said he was “99% sure” that he had the title, although he thought fellow Laguna native Morgan Just might have taken it home if he would have won at Balboa. Just finished third, but Bryan had already wrapped it up after making the semifinals.

“I just let everybody else soak up their time, and I took it home quietly,” Bryan said Tuesday, on the road to Cabo San Lucas for a skimboarding contest next weekend. “It turned out that since I came out fifth, the finals didn’t decide it ... I took three years off [from extensive touring] and I came back and put in 110% of my effort last year. I’m very proud to have solidified my legacy even stronger.”

If Bryan is the old guard in skimboarding, Stinnett is the new. And he dazzled in taking home his first win and a $2,300 first-place check, which he said was more than twice as much as any other check he’d got. Stinnett was particularly strong with two solid rides near the start of the 15-minute pro final, which featured him, Just, Laguna’s Brandon Sears and James Lovett of Newport Beach.

“I think the finals everyone skimmed pretty consistent and kind of at the same level,” said Sears, Stinnett’s teammate with Exile and Main Street, who was third at Oktoberfest and fourth in the UST overall standings. “I heard the points were really close Sam was just killing it all weekend long. I wasn’t surprised to see him in the final and I’m super-stoked for him.”

Stinnett’s dad, Scott, got him and his older brothers, Scott Jr. and Jake, into skimboarding at a young age. At Oktoberfest, Jake Stinnett took ninth.

“He just kept pushing us to the next level and obviously it paid off,” said Sam Stinnett, who ended up second in the final UST standings.

Other Laguna natives were also near the top.

Brandon Rothe finished sixth at Oktoberfest and 12th in the overall standings, while Paulo Prietto was seventh at Oktoberfest and fifth in the final standings.

Steve Taylor of Exile said he wasn’t surprised that Stinnett could take home his first win. Neither was Bryan.

“I was super-happy for Sammy,” Bryan said. “That was so much fun to be a part of. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Laguna residents also came out on top in other divisions. Blair Conklin took the 12-to-14 division title and the top two finishers in the 15-to-17 division, Henry Ward and Travis Sampson, are also from Laguna Beach. Sampson is also an accomplished surfer for the Breakers.