Events: Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic

This past weekend we were in Flagler Beach, Florida to join Will Tant for the Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic Presented by Nautica.  Will has been featured in our Nautica Ocean 2 Ocean stories and has become the lead model for the Nautica brand’s recent national advertising campaign.  The small but close-knit community of Flagler Beach comes together in an incredibly moving way to celebrate the two-day surf event and fundraiser, started in 1999 to honor Will’s late brother. This year the event, gave away 21 academic scholarships. Karen Murray, President of Nautica, spoke to heighten the awareness for Marfan’s Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that abruptly took Tommy Tant’s life at the age of 24.   Karen’s son, Michael, has Marfan’s Syndrome, and she has been an outspoken advocate for awareness and prevention of the disease for many years.

Men, women and kids of all ages competed in the surf contests, with the highlight being a very moving memorial “paddle out “ circle and moment of silence in honor of Tommy and other loved ones who have passed.  Local artist Patrick Maxcy painted a live mural from start to finish, and each panel was auctioned off.  Local restaurants donated food for the annual food festival and concert on Saturday night that took place in the Flagler Beach town square.  Flood lights illuminated the water for a night surf, as spectators filled the fishing pier and beaches to watch the event.  On Sunday, trophies were awarded to the top six places in the eleven categories for men, women, juniors and tadpoles and cash prizes were awarded to the top three surfers in the pro categories.  All proceeds from the competition, mural, silent auction, and food festival were raised for the Tommy Tant Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Flagler County Food Bank and the National Marfan Foundation.

See more pictures from the event on the Nautica flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/360nautica/

Find out more: www.tommytant.com/

Marfan link: www.marfan.org/marfan/

020 link: www.nauticaocean2ocean.com/