There is a very thin line between spectator and contestant… if there is a line at all. Anyone can enter and have fun …and that’s much more interesting than watching some very talented surfers surf by themselves from one of the sponsor’s tents. The last addition to these events is the Onda Longa Longboard Festival.

After a long waiting period (1 month), it took place on March the 27th, the second to last day of the waiting period. The reason: because it breaks deep inside one of these fjord-like Rías that dot the Galician coastline, Monte Pedrido needs a combination of huge swells, spring tides …and on a weekend. Luckily even during one of the worst winters in recent history in terms of waves, Galiza is never short of huge swells and, after some close calls, the event could take place right before the end of the waiting period. The wave itself isn’t high performance friendly at all, even for logs. It is the closest version of a cold water Waikiki you can find around here: very soft, hardly much a wall and reforming endlessly; hence the name of the event: onda longa (Galician for “long wave”). And so the format of the event was quite simple: everyone surfed together wearing a distinct shirt -or tee-shirt- that helped identify the rider and the winners were sorted out later after a nice dinner.

Check the Onda Longa 2010 video clip from suso ben.

And check all the action and photos HERE .

Niegà