The World Surf League’s Surf Ranch Pro Presented by 805 Beer went down over the weekend, and we’re still buzzing from the past couple of days in Lemoore. For those that don’t know, Lemoore is almost an extension of our own backyard. To get there, you just have to drive your car about an hour and a half east of our Paso Robles headquarters on the Central Coast of California.
Wait, east? Why would we go east for a surf contest when Rincon, Morro Bay, Ventura, and more are just on the opposite side of the compass? Trust us, we get it. We’re more the neoprene and parking on the sand types too and normally head toward Arizona when we’re searching for surf. Here’s the thing, though: there’s an oasis in the desert, and it’s The Surf Ranch.
Kelly Slater unveiled the Surf Ranch to the world in 2015. It’s a perfect left and right that breaks in crystal blue water backdropped by classic California ranches, farms, and the Sierra Nevadas. Watching it on a screen doesn’t do it justice, however. You have to see the Surf Ranch in person to really buy into all the hype behind it.
And that’s what we did after being asked to be the presenting sponsor of one of California’s only stops on the premier World Surf League international tour. We were stoked to pal up with our good friends at the WSL for the event. The Surf Ranch Pro is a party in the desert open to everyone from Fresno to Florianópolis, Brazil. If like being right in the action of watching the best surfers in the world surf a perfect wave while you hold an icey beer in hand, then it’s the event for you. But then again, how can anyone say no to a weekend full of cold ones and good times?
And it really was a bad weekend to be a cold one. If you were searching either for a Cerveza or our traditional black canned beer, all you had to do was look around. We had 805 umbrellas lining the surf arena for spectators to beat the sun under. There was also a Properly Chill Zone for anyone looking to grab a cold one and watch the incredible surfing. We also had our booth set up for anyone who wanted to score some merch and enjoy a cold one in the shade as we had the live broadcast piping through our own big screen. Everyone wanted to get as close as they could to the action. When the best surfers in the world are competing against one another just a few feet away from you, why wouldn’t you? And if you scanned across the spectator wall, it was hard to find a hand without one of our cans.
Our Authenticos Conner Coffin, Nate Tyler, Greyson Fletcher, and Tabatha Ricci all showed up to get in on the good times as well. Conner, Nate, and Greyson were also there to talk about Convergence, our upcoming 805 Beer Film with all of them. Conner got mic’d up on the broadcast to talk surfing, the competition, and show off the full trailer for the film (catch it below!) and all three of them later hopped on The Lineup podcast with WSL CSO Dave Prodan as well to talk about the film.
We also debuted our exclusive line of 805 X WSL Cold Beer Surf Club merch at the event. Shirts and hats were flying off the racks of our booth, and it was hard to look anywhere and not see anyone repping our Surfing Global, Drinking Local-endorsed gear. If you missed out and want to get your hands on a tee, hat, or tote, though, don’t stress. You can still shop the collection through our web store now.
And then there was the competition itself! When you give the best surfers in the world a perfect, blank canvas, you can expect them to paint a spectacular picture on it. And that’s just what they did. Everyone brought their A-game and tore up but the right and the left. At the end of the day, though, it was San Clemente surfer Griffin Colapinto and Hawaiian Carissa Moore that came out on top. A huge shoutout to both Griff and Carissa of course, but we have to hand it to Filipe Toledo, Italo Ferreira, Ethan Ewing, Caroline Marks, Caitlin Simmers, Tatiana Weston-Webb, and everyone else who made a deep run as well. Everyone killed it and every heat from the morning practices to the late-night sessions was an absolute treat to watch.
Thank you to everyone who came out, and we hope we can crack open a cold one with all of you again next year.