“Calm waves, slightly cloudy, offshore wind. Almost as good as it could be,” John Britton, a Shred the Love board member, said about the surf on Saturday, when the nonprofit hosted the 28th annual Rell Sunn surf competition at Ditch Plain Beach in Montauk.
Surfers of all ages gathered to compete in the fund-raising event, which has 10 divisions for all age ranges and board sizes. A new division was added this year called Emperor/Empress of the Jetty, which was open to all. The organizers were hoping to attract a wider range of riders.
The event is named for Rell Sunn, a Hawaiian female surfing pioneer, who died at 47 of breast cancer in 1998, inspiring Roger Feit of Montauk to start his own surfing contest and fund-raiser. Originally born on Oahu, she was known for her “aloha spirit,” which she described as “real simple. You give and you give and you give . . . and you give from here (the heart), until you have nothing else to give.” This is the idea that the Rell Sunn competition was founded on and what keeps it going today.
The contest is entirely volunteer-run and raises money to help Shred the Love, based in Montauk, fulfill its mission to help aid local families experiencing unexpected urgent needs, like a sudden change of income or medical emergency. Last year, the contest raised a total of $70,000.
At 8:20 a.m. Saturday, Nancy Atlas sang the national anthem. Then, Evelyn O’Doherty, a Shred the Love volunteer, gave the opening remarks. This year, along with honoring other lost members of the surfing community, Shred the Love took a moment to remember Alison Seiffer, an artist and illustrator who donated the iconic poster art for Rell Sunn from 2015 until last year.
Seiffer’s daughter, Anni Spacek, her former husband, Peter Spacek, and her twin sister, Dale Seiffer Oberlander, spoke briefly. O’Doherty encouraged both participants and onlookers to take a flower from the buckets Spread the Love had set up and offer it to the ocean.
“We are so fortunate to have had such amazing, original, professional art, as well as the spirit of this incredible woman behind us every year for the last 11 years,” said Ms. O’Doherty.
Past Rell Sunn competition posters by Ms. Seiffer, as well as other pieces by East End artists, were part of an art auction that Shred the Love was hosting.
The contest results had not been posted as of Monday afternoon, but it was clear that it was the spirit of the event, not the top finishers, that mattered most.
