[Updated: April 15 at 8:04 am] WOOT. It’s all back and intact… Maybe SL was just choking on itself last night… but wow, I nearly died. Even my AV shape disappeared. Crazy SL.

OMG. Every single item in my inventory is now missing. Every photo, every notecard, every Namiko product I’ve ever made… GONE. Wiped completely from my SL existence. It’s a situation that’s already been documented by a couple people:

» inventory-wipe-not-an-isolated-incident/
» ll-acknowledges-inventory-issues/

/me sighs

What a way to start my RL surf trip. Well, I’ll be back on May 5… rebuilding all my inventory. Woot.

Congratulations to all the competitors who came out the The Weather Channel Island today for the first ever big wave surf contest in SL! And congratulations to SurfChix Team Rider, Frankie Miles, for beating out 21 other competitors for first place!! Here are all the final placings:

Finalists

1. Frankie Miles (Surf Chix Team Rider)
2. Requiem Theriac (Hedonistic Surf Team)
3. Seano Osumi (Namiko Team Rider)
4. AlexSurfer Hirons (BillabongTeam Pro)

Semi Finalists

5. Malcolm Sydney (Namiko Team Rider)
6. Thor Bishop (Namiko Team Rider)
7. Eield Decosta
8. Flynn Sheridan (Hedonistic Surf Team)
9. Valent1ne Apogee (Namiko Team Rider)
10. Creed Lisle

Quarter Finalists

11. Pablitin Couffer and Vincent Olivier (Hedonistic Surf Team)
12. JD Snook (Namiko Team Rider) and Aries Ashton (Namiko Team Rider)
13. Kimmy Leroux and Tabby Babii (Hedonistic Surf Team)
14. Polysilox Apogee (Surf Chix Team Rider)
15. Gypsie Summers
16. Cierra Theriac (Hedonistic Surf Team)
17. Gerran Voss (Namiko Team Rider), Warren Barthelmess, kiddd Ikarus (Namiko Team Rider)

About 30 minutes before the contest, SamyJo Ah, reigning surf champion and Surf Chix team rider, had to pull out leaving the field wide open for anyone to take her title. SamyJo will probably be happy to hear that fellow Surf Chix team rider, Frankie, took top placing!

At the height of the event, we had over 70 people spread over both Weather Island sims… an incredible turnout! Thanks to all the spectators for staying behind the line and watching from the bleachers — it helped with the lag issues, immensely!

Thanks to Namiko Team Rider and Photographer, Ramus Overlord, for taking these photos for us!! Check it out:

A big thank you to Sebastian Saramago and Heather Goodliffe for putting together these colour-coded surfboards for the competitors to use today! It’s a TON of work and we really appreciate it!!

Thank you to our judges, Heather Goodliffe, Kiana Foxley and Surferjoe Wind!! And to our ever fabulous MC and DJ, Sierra Sugar. Thank you also to Quirky McArdle, Hiro Pendragon and Boliver Oddfellow from Infinite Vision Media and Larry Abruzzo from The Weather Channel for all their support with the event!! Cash prizes for all the competitors was donated by The Weather Channel. Thank you to our sponsors: The Weather Channel, GR Boards, Sport2.de, Reaction Surf, and Surf Systems Inc.

The NEXT surf contest will be a big wave contest held at Hedonism Isle on Saturday, May 19th! Send an IM to Keala Mimistrobell to enter… Entry deadline is always the Thursday before the event — Thursday, May 17th.

Please send your feedback about the contest, the lag, the set up… anything you like! We’re looking to improve the events as we go … and you know, it’s trial and error at this point! No seafoam green rashguards at the next event, Thor, I promise!!

Woooot! Surfing in SL is the main story for the business section of the SLNN.com site today.

http://www.slnn.com/article/epicsurfcontest/

Here are some thoughts regarding some judging and scoring in a Second Life Contest.

1. Length of ride. This is easy. Take off when the wave starts to bubble and step off as the wave dissolves scores a 3. Anything less is, well, less.
2. Tricks. A 360 or a flip falls in this category. A good bottom turn and carve does too. Basically, mix up your attack and use what the wave throws at you.
3. Style. Tougher to quantify but here goes. If you did flips straight all the way to the beach and never did anything else, you flunk style even if you get some trick points. Like a wave as a canvas, you are painting a line across it, the style is portrayed by how you move across the wave. Generally, I like to start at one end of the wave, surf to the end, turn back, then traverse the other way as far as possible, which maximizes speed. Using the whole wave with a variety of smooth maneuvers is good style. Belly riding backwards is not.
4. Technical Execution. Ok, we all know the wave has a mind of its own. The ability to use that to your advantage goes a long way here. Flips cleanly landed and turns without breaking through the back of the wave are good. Try for a clean no-paddle take off, a variety of big moves and a stylish exit. All three will play a big part to score a 3 here.

As a rule, the first one up gets the wave. Taking off with another on the wave will be marked lower over all for it. Just don’t do it and everyone wins.

I tend to use the mini map at all times. You can see the rocks under the water and find the take off spot easily as well see if someone is already on the wave.

Good Luck!
Surferjoe Wind
Contest Judge for the Namiko Epic Surf Contest at TWC