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Crown Prince takes 4th in Sunset Youth Surf Contest
Princess Margaret: "The Crown Prince has a lot of Natural Talent"
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
August 30, 5657


Minor Crown Prince Fredrick-Martin Ananto-Collins finishes 4th in Sunset Youth Open

In his first major youth surfing competition, His Highness, Minor Crown Prince Fredrick-Martin Ananto-Collins took 4th place in the Sunset Youth Open. Considered one of the final contests on the annual Surfing Circuit, the open competition allows surfers as young as 14 to compete on the relatively gentle waters of Sunset Beach, about 45 miles south of Kaliburg. This was the first competition that the Minor Crown Prince was allowed to sign up for, and the results were fairly impressive all things considered.

"The Crown Prince has a lot of natural talent," said the Crown Prince's aunt, Her Highness Princess Margret Ananto-DeLaurentis, herself an avid surfer. "He's practiced specifically for this competition for months, and maybe was a little disappointed in how he did, but the fact is, the three competitors who did better than him have probably trained for this for several years. The Crown Prince surfs recreationally, and whenever we go out, I try to teach him some technique, but he's still pretty young, and if he keeps up his training, soon, he'll be riding the waves in Luxon."

Sunset is the perfect spot for an open Youth competition, because the characteristics of the sea floor aren't as dangerous or punishing as other places, most notable in Suldanor or in Luxon. "There's a nice sandy bottom here, and the shelf drops off pretty quickly," said Princess Margaret. "And much of the wave energy is directed further down the coast, so the waves that come in here rarely get above 6 feet, and they break pretty quickly. You'll never see a 15 foot face here like you will in Luxon. If they wipe out, they aren't going to hit hard bedrock or coral. And there aren't really weird things like rip currents and square waves here. Just a nice set of swells that roll in, break and are easy to get out of if you get in trouble."

This is not to say that Sunset is not challenging. "Most people use this beach to just casually surf" said His Majesty, the Minor Crown Prince. "And a lot of surfers, like me, learned here. But the reason why the waves can get a little taller than are a normal beach is because they come in fast and the shelf builds real quick, so by the time they get into the place where they are breaking, you still have a lot of sea coming at you. It's just not as dangerous." The Crown Prince said he regularly surfs at Sunset Beach, and knows the patterns really well, but just couldn't seem to get his tricks down or get enough points by staying in the curl long enough. "Most of it was I was nervous," said the 15 year old future monarch. "I've never actually competed before, so sometimes I would bail when I didn't need to. But I did ok."

The fourth place finish would make the Crown Prince Eligible for the Circuit next year, if he was older. But at 15 year old, most contests will bar the Crown Prince from Participating. "Let's see how we do next year," said the Crown Prince. "I want to train a lot for next year's competition as soon as the beaches open after the winter and the current comes up here. So if I train from April to August, I should be in great shape for the contest." The Crown Prince says that staying at Wood House in the summers prevents him from training and hopes to stay with his Aunt next summer so her can get in practice and attempt to win the contest.

"I think he can do it," said Princess Margaret. "And I think I've looked at how he did this year, and we can work on some improvement to get him some more confidence." But, she added, 4th place out of a field of 24 is not too shabby. "Take the placing," she said, "and go on from there." The competition was won by Nathaniel Arribe of Yoshimi, Suldanor, and he is considered a rising star in the youth surfing world.

@LaModa