Rules and scoring from the 1st Annual Surf Liberia Contest

Here are the rules Nate drew up, read to competitors and kept with the judges during the 1st Annual Surf Liberia Contest:

1. Marshal is right. [Marshal is the head judge and one of the most respected surfers in the water. He's also the eldest, so culturally this presented no issue to the local surfers -- or anyone, for that matter. We all love Marshal.]
2. Bad sportsmanship, bad attitudes and rude behavior are causes for disqualification.
3. Whoever is sitting deepest has the right of way.
4. Judge the maneuvers, not the wave and not the length of the ride.
5. Dropping in, interfering, collapsing sections, leash pulling and snaking all constitute interference. If you think this is happening, tell Marshal.
   

Here's what was on the score sheet. I find it a little intimidating, but we had to come up with something. Thanks to the Eastern Surf Association and the peeps of NYNJSurf.com for helping us put the rules and criteria together.

"Please use whole or half points unless expressing small differences in the excellent range.

0-2: Wipe-outs, shaky rides, rides straight to the beach
3-4: Rides with little confidence and no real turns or with one maneuver and nothing else
5-6: Average waves -- a couple of turns but nothing bold, no variety: just a safe ordinary ride
7-8: Good, confident varied ride with a couple high quality turns/moves, but not too risky/bold
9-10: Excellent rides: surfer stays in the pocket, making big moves at critical sections, shows commitment, flow and variety. Barrels, airs, huge spray, top class."

I have a spreadsheet of all the participants' wave scores, so e-mail me if you were in the contest and want to see how you did.