Super Bowl weekend came and went. Somewhere, someone won a football game.
At Rincon Point, folks were focused on the waves.
In this case, an incredible swell — a fresh west pulse clocked at six feet at 14 seconds — wrapping cleanly and unloading double-overhead sets down the point. Offshore wind. Long walls. A Rincon gift, which the Queen of the Coast giveth abundantly.
“Best event of the history, as far as waves,” said Jenny Keet, media director and creative director of Surf Happens, the crew behind the Rincon Classic. “Double overhead sets. All day, just beautiful, sparkling conditions; most crowd we ever had; the physical vibe; everyone was just stoked.”
Saturday, February 7, marked the opening day of the 25th Rincon Classic — the oldest surf contest in Santa Barbara County — and the call to run it proved prescient. Organizers had originally eyed the previous weekend but held off, sticking to the Classic’s long-standing philosophy: Wait for the right waves.
At its core, the Rincon Classic is fiercely local — open only to 805 residents under the contest’s “Ripple Effect” entry system, which prioritizes surfers closest to the point. Twelve divisions run the gamut from 12-and-under Gremlins to Super Legends 65-plus.
The pro division, supported by Channel Islands Surfboards and Rincon Brewery, was stacked: Dane Reynolds, Conner Coffin, Dimitri Poulos, Mickey Clarke.
When the ocean spray settled, it was Poulos who took the Rincon Brewery Pro title with a 15.14 total, defeating Clarke, Coffin, and Reynolds in the final.
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“Dimitri won pro,” Keet said. “He is a local Ventura guy and is on his way to the WSL [World Surf League] right now.”
In the Masters division, Pete Mussio posted a commanding 17.30 to win by more than four points. Brian Switzer claimed the Grand Masters crown. In the Gremlins Under 12 final, Alex Poulos edged Jack Keet in a tie-break thriller — both finishing on identical 11.06 totals. From groms to graybeards, the waves powered some amazing showings.
The Rincon Classic operates within a six-week waiting period, calling the event only when conditions align. Founded in 1979 and revived in 2001 by the Surf Happens crew, it has always prioritized wave quality above all else.
That ethos was on full display this weekend.
“What’s really happening is that we are gathering together in person in nature watching a full day of changes to the tides and the rhythms together,” Keet said. “That’s really what this event is about. We are playing a game, and that’s really fun. Humans like to play games. But what’s really happening is that we are gathering.”
Sunday offered smaller but “dreamy” conditions, Keet said — ideal for youth divisions.
And as always, it wasn’t just about scoring waves. “Of course there was the beach cleanup with Heal the Ocean,” Keet added. “’Leave it more beautiful than we found it’ is an important message.”
For those who were there, it was a rare Rincon weekend which also happened to fall on football’s biggest day of the year. But down at the point, no one was refreshing the scoreboard. Instead, they watched blue lines stack to the horizon.
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