Clean, glassy conditions made for a great day at "The Jimmy" Surf Fiesta, as surfers hit the waves for a friendly competition on Saturday. 

The consistent two- to four-foot surf, with light winds, made for "a perfect fall day," said Jeff Miller, board member of the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation (JMMF). "It was arguably the best full day of surf in El Porto in months." 

More than 120 surfers from age 6 to age 65 hit the waves for this unique team event. Teams consisted of five people of various abilities from rippers to beginners, and for many, The Jimmy was the first surf contest they ever experienced. 

Special teams included five “all girls” teams, a team from the Manhattan Beach Rotary club, participants from the Friendship Foundation, the Culture Club, Mira Costa Surf Team, MBMS Surf Team, Hermosa Valley Surf Team and South Bay Boardriders Club.

Competitors were offered the chance to ride high performance boards from the demo fleet of Firewire Surfboards. Some of the boards were so popular that competitors had to play “rock, paper, scissors” to see who got to ride that board for their heat. 

The contest judges were from the South Bay Boardriders and included legends Matt Walls, Scott Daley and Jani Lange - all good friends of Jimmy and Jeff Miller.

The competition's Team 21 took the top prize with a young lineup. 

"Team 21 had three kids under 10 years old who were ripping all day and took down a lot of teams with more experienced surfers and teams from Mira Costa and MBMS surf team," noted Miller.

Results were as follows: 

FIRST PLACE - Team 21
Maysie Montoya
Kainoa Snow
Locky McMaster
Jack Johnston
Dani Ace
Hudson Radden
Mary Wright
Luke Rudy

SECOND PLACE - Team 5
Isla Kang
London Meza
Teagan Meza
Keani Honda-Snow
Lucy Harris
Owen Mooney

Spyder Surfboard Best Wave: Teagan Meza
ET Surfboards Beach Lounger Award: The Culture Club Crew
Best Wipeout: Owen Mooney
Best Performance by a Family: The Geller Family (making it all the way to the semifinals!)

Best Performance by a Boy Grom (young surfer): Locky McMaster ("Locky flew all the way from New Zealand by way of NYC to come to the event," noted Miller. "This was a highly competitive battle all day, but Locky bested his young teammates Kainoa Snow and Jack Johnston, who were also ripping.")

Best Performance by a Girl Grom: Isla Kang. ("Isla surfed courageously all day, carrying the torch from her teammate Teagan Meza who won it a few years ago," said Miller.)

Pure Surfing Experience Award: Russell Wolfe ("Wolfe helped push multiple kids into the waves and was honored for his epic pre-event social media posts beefing with the Meza girls.")

The Jimmy is presented by The Rotary Club of Manhattan Beach, Northwestern Mutual – Manhattan Beach Branch, Chevron and long-time sponsor, Fresh Brothers Pizza.

For breakfast, participants enjoyed hot chocolate and pastries from Mychal’s Learning Place and fruit, sweets and donuts provided by Lazy Acres. Lunchtime featured Fresh Brothers pizza, while National Charity League members provided Jimmy’s favorite peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, Lil Vegerie dished out samples of their famous vegan chili, and Sandpipers provided cookies for the crowd of about 250 participants and spectators.

Throughout the day, a live podcast on the sand (complete with sandy red carpet) was hosted by Boyd Jeffery and I Heart Radio and supported by Providence Little Company of Mary. Jeffery, who was an avid surfer before having a hemorrhagic stroke, had not surfed in four years until he joined a group of health care workers from Providence as a participant in JMMF’s Ocean Therapy sessions and wanted to share his experience. As participants and spectators arrived at the beach, they had a chance to learn about heart health and share stories about surfing, mental health, and their impressions about The Jimmy. 

The Jimmy's traditional giant raffle featured gear and prizes from sponsors including Florence Marine, FCS, Sun Bum, ET, Spyder Surfboards, Hurley, and Kai Fragrance. Raffle prizes included a variety of games, clothing, Halloween items from Kole Imports, Brent Broza, Nixon, Dawn Nguyen & Salt Water Fix, Jodie Davis, Patagonia and more. New this year were the “Raffle Super Prizes” which included a giant basket of gear from Tower 60, a framed and signed photo and hat from Kelly Slater, provided by Surf Ranch, and Hurley wetsuits.