September 10th and 11th were days of magic on Tambaba Beach. Guys up with the times and happy with life participated in the fourth Surf Open held at the famous naturist beach. Surfers competed for prizes and trophies, disputed with fervor and received with enthusiasm .

It was the fourth edition of the tournement, which began during the XXXI International Congress of Naturism in 2008, as an added attraction. It took on a life of its own and has almost become a tradition.

Always held by the United Naturists, NU, an independent group that frequents the city of Conde's naturist areas under the command of Carlos Santiago and Julíndio Macuxi, the surf competition has its main objectives to introduce youth to Naturism and to divulge the Naturist Movement in mass media. The competition also has the support of several local institutions, naturist and non-naturist, to make the project viable.

This year besides the competition the "Surf the Clean Wave" campaign took place, which aims to educate Tambaba beach goers on the issue of caring for the environment, leaving no debris of any kind on the sand. Also before the official opening, on Saturday morning there was a walk through the woods that surround the beach guided by Rosana Diniz, owner along with her husband of the famous Arca do Bilu, a small inn that attracts many young people, near Tambaba beach.

Rosana says that the ecological walk takes place whenever people call to schedule walks and is registered with Anda Brasil (the Brazilian Confederation of Walks' body which encourages non-competitive sports activities and social inclusion). On October 15 the official walk will take place, in which she invites everyone to participate. The walk is not naturist because the path has a lot of underbush and she prefers not to have to clear it in order not to interfere with the route's charm. Anyone totally without clothes can scratch or cut their most sensitive parts because of the large amount of purple nutsedge (a local plant) along the path.

Anyone who wants to participate in the walks can call +51 (83) 9972 8369 and speak directy to Rosana.

Along the Cliff Trails path insects, small animals and plants were identified on the route. There was a short break to lie on the grass and think about nature. The walk was easy and lasted about an hour and ended on Tambaba Beach, where finally we could take off our clothes. A fruit-laden table was waiting for the athletes at the Tambaba Naturista inn, prepared by the owners, the couple Rair and Hildebrand.

The final preparations on the cool and sometimes rainy morning hinted at the organizers' anxiety the everything would go well. Around 10 o'clock there were already many competitors training in waves that would serve as stage for the event later.

Around 11 o'clock the sun shone brightly and almost all those who had signed up were present for the opening ceremony, scheduled for noon. However due to delays in setting up some equipment the official opening only occurred about one-thirty in the afternoon, with the presence of the president of the FBrN, João Olavo Rosés, who spoke honoring the efforts of the organizers for holding the competition and thanking the competitors for their presence that would brighten the moment of naturist sports.

Having gotten through the ceremony, what the surfers really wanted was to jump into the warm waters of Paraíba on their inseparable boards. The first day of competition was the free presentation, known as Expression Session, where competitors could do whatever maneuvers they wanted, worth points for the next days' competition. Fourteen took part in this event, from beginners to experienced naturist surfers, divided into batteries each with four participants. The surfers wore only a colored shirt for easy identification by the judges while "catching the waves."

This year for the first time, the judges, who are part of the State of Paraíba Surf Confederation, performed their job as naturists, that is, naked. The competition is official and is worth points for the state's competitive surfing circuit.

At about five o'clock in the afternoon, with a breeze that challenged our determination to stay naked, the first day of competition ended. All were invited to return later to participate in the evening party, which was held in the non-naturist part of the Tambaba beach, a combination bar and restaurant, much to the sound of a lot of reggae and music of many genres. The night's fun attracted many young people and adults, including even those who weren't at the afternoon event because they can't visit naturist areas, either because of the nudity, or for personal reasons. By the one in the morning the party was over, so that everyone could be back on Sunday morning for more sports activities.

Early on a sunny Sunday, surfers were out practicing their maneuvers. Carlos Santiago was already feeling more relieved by the way things were going along as planned. He explained that expectation were still high for participation.

On the second and final day of competition cthe Local and Open categories were the attraction, the most competitive. The highlight was an amazing surfer only eight years old, who participated in the competition in the Local category and left many grown men envious of his precise maneuvers.

In addition to coverage by naturist news media, such as Jornal Olho Nu, Brasil Naturist, Blog da Glacy, among others, there also attended the event, filming and doing interviews, TV Cabo Branco (Globo), TV Mail (Record), TV Tambaú (SBT), TV Arapuan (RedeTV), and ESPORTV and TV Jornal do Comércio, as well as part of Paraíba's digital and print media.

 

At the end of the afternoon was the award ceremony, with prizes in three categories. The trophies and the coveted surfboards were delivered to the surfers by representatives of various institutions that supported the event. The winners reacted with the joy and euphoria typical of their ages. Winding up, what was difficult was to get everyone together for the inevitable official photo that capped the event, praised by the participants as a fair and organized competition.

 

Jackson Nogueira, 23, was the champion in the main category, Open, winning the coveted surfboard offered as prize, and was overjoyed with the victory. In a previous edition he had stood on the podium as the Local champion. He celebrated with his colleague Klauber Lins, second place. Jackson works at the Arca do Bilu.

 

The Champions were:

 

Expression Session Category: Klauber Lins.

 

Local Category: 1st Wellington Ferreira, 2nd Everton Lima, 3rd Jackson Nogueira and 4th Dã Maciel.

 

Open Category: 1st Jackson Nogueira, 2nd Klauber Lins, 3rd David Silva and 4th Linho Neto

 

The date of the 5th Tambaba Naturist Surf Open, celebrating five years of the "SurfNU" project, is already scheduled for the month of September 2012. It will be a major naturist sporting event with worldwide repercussion, according to organizers. Hope for it, and wait to see!

 

*Editor of jornal OLHO NU.

pedroribeiro@jornalolhonu.com