After two years of restrictions and keeping this gem in the pipeline, the very first Deus Cross-Step finally came to life on the 5th of June at Wijk aan Zee. We called every surfer to join us for a great surf event with art, film and good vibes. Two weekends of waiting period and postponing made our anticipation grow even more, so when the GO arrived we were ready to finally see this event come to life.
Thanks to Timboektoe, we’ve found the perfect location - a wide empty beach promising good waves and a roof on our head to host all the activities we planned. Indeed, our idea of Surf competition is something bigger than surfers in the water and judges on the beach. We set up an all-around festival including a shop corner with Deus branded goodies, surf art galleries by local artists, Deus Surf movies to get in the mood and tons of extra to make the day more special.
The weather helped to make the day as Dutch as possible - this hasn’t stopped more than a hundred fifty people between visitors and participants from having their good time in the - sometimes - pouring rain. We took it as a good omen and as the sky gave us its baptism, we started the heats.
4 heats of 6 participants for both categories, Men and Women took us to the semifinals and finals where the best surfers of the day gave it all to prove all their skills. With many champions participating it was no easy game for anyone. Also between the groms, we’ve seen 8 talented contestants showing off their best on the logs, and you can really tell they are sons of the northern sea as they got into the water.
After many waves, cross-steps, and rides we had our final verdict: Congratulations to @emieltromp, @surfgek and @mikhaasnoot for taking home the first places.
Here are the winners of each category:
LADIES CATEGORY:
- Anne Allerts
- Amy Mulder
- Nienke Duinmeyer
MEN CATEGORY
- Emiel Tromp
- Pascal Van Der Mast
- Michiel Six
GROOMS CATEGORY
- Mik Haasnoot
- Jonas Silikus
- Tigo Saafhof
Not only talented, the winners were also super lucky to win some amazing prizes... The first-place winners took home a Deus longboard, custom-crafted for the event (followed by the envy of everyone). However, none of the participants left the event empty-handed, as together with Boardshack we set up a lottery with an unbelievable pack of extra prizes. Together we made sure that all surfers went home with tangible memories of this amazing day.
After the prize ceremony, we wrapped up the day with a BBQ, served by the guys from Timboektoe. A marvellous buffet to fuel up the bellies after a hard day of surfing - it was then, seeing all the people in one room, sharing tables and chatting that we realized that we were part of the biggest and greatest Longboard Competition the Netherlands had ever seen. We were glad to be part of it, together with all the partners that made it possible.
Among all the happy moment we've seen that day, the most has been seeing first place Emiel Tromp giving his just-won log to his brother.
A special thanks to Breitling, The Boardshack and HSA and to all the partners that made it possible - we’ll be ready to make it even bigger next year.
Photos by @tristanfopma @eyesea.nl
#deusamsterdam
#deuscrosstep
