King of the Longboard to Award Most Versatile Surfer

PLAYA DE SOMO, Cantabria / Spain - The inaugural King of the Longboard, an ASP Europe Specialty event, will gather some of Europe's best longboarding talent in an original format of competition to crown the most complete surfer, able to surf both traditional boards and performance equipment.

Ben Skinner (GBR), well capable of surfing both traditional and performance repertoires - WSL / Laurent Masurel

Only 24 invites will be awarded to the most deserving athletes, and with a European stand-up paddle event unfolding the same week, event officials prepare for a long list of surfing-resumes to be delivered on their front-door.

“The 'King of the Longboard: Classic vs Performance' is an innovative event created after many years of experience running longboard events and listening to the opinions of all the riders that compete in our events,” Pedro Gutierrez, event organizer stated. “The idea is to crown the best athlete in an event that combines the two disciplines of longboard: classic and modern. For this first edition there will be a 24-man format where they must enter in two heats. One with a classic longboard and the other with a modern longboard counting the two best rides in each heat.”

The history of longboarding in Somo and Cantabria has brought the local level to great heights and a few local heroes will have the opportunity to do battle with internationally reknown riders in the likes of Armando Colucci (VEN), Ben Skinner (GBR) and Alexis Deniel (FRA) amongst others.

The King of the Longboard is supported by Ribamontan al Mar, Gobierno de Cantabria, Escuela Cantabra de Surf, Starboard, JP Australia, NSP, Fanatic, Wolder, Miller, Deep Surf Family, QuickBlade, RedBull and Baby Miller among others.