Info:
from Dan Neelands

Reported conditions from the airport nearby during the tournament ;
high temp 73F
low temp 69F
max. wind 11.5mph
min wind 6.9mph
clear skies. Observed conditions at the field were somewhat hotter and somewhat less wind. There was extreme thermal activity. Organized and hosted by Erik Fields, Santa Barbara is the premiere US long distance event. This year 17 throwers competed with most completing 3 sets of 5 throws each. 8.5 % of the throwers were women, 8.5% were left-handed, nearly 25% of the group got into the 100m club, 58% threw over 100m and 100% had qualifying throws.

Everybody competing threw amazingly well. All day long people claimed greater and greater personal best distances. Several people got into the 100 meter club and a US record was broken. The overall mood was one of camaraderie and mutual support. Only a year after David Schummy introduced the Buzzwhip and a few months after plans for Manual Schutz Voyager were published throwers showed up with many beautiful versions of these high performance boomerangs. A good bit of time the day before the tournament was spent tuning booms and adjusting throws. David Schummy shocked the LD scene yet again with his newest developmental boomerangs of the "Protégé" class. With some full returns easily in excess of of 200m, these boomerangs take a very high throw and seem to require almost no wind. After spotting some throws out in the 200m area, I am convinced that 300m is not impossible. Throwers were welcome to try David's boomerangs and several people started to get the hang of the new throw with David's expert instruction.

Beginning distance throwers faired well in the tournament. Notable achievements were Bud Jamieson with 121m his second day with a long distance boomerang and Rob Lands throwing in excess of 120m at his second only LD tourney. Paul Cooper from Lake County CA started the day with no experience in LD. Paul's day ended with solid 85m ranges and a vow to be at every LD event he could get to. Southbay Johnny strengthened the case for Super Aussie Round by throwing a 124 that shocked the judges by hovering into his hands for a gentle catch a few paces behind the line.

At the beginning of the day throwers were awarded commemorative boom socks with custom labels sewn by the Harding family(mostly Sue I think but they operate as a team). Each sock had a place to write the throwers best distance of the day. The "fill in the blank" idea became more and more fun as ranges increased steadily during the day.

After the competition throwers reconvened at Erik fields house for an "all you can eat" feast of fresh grilled beef and unlimited side dishes prepared by Steve Conaway with the support of his rad family. Spirits were generally very high although we were all tired. Erik presented each thrower with a cedar stake painted with the word "Storke" and the range of their longest throw. Awesome cakes were provided by Sue Harding and Andrea Lehman just when we thought we couldn't eat another bite. We were wrong.

While the US record of over a decade was finally bested, I think this was only a formality and a way to recognize our entrance into a new era of fun long distance boomerang throwing when everyone will improve by leaps and bounds. The record will most likely stand for a very short time with throwers like Dan and Mike Harding improving quickly and Erik Fields throwing distances like this regularly in practice. Other contenders include throwers like Rob Land and Bud Jamieson whose potentials are yet unknown. Andy "Strong like tractor" Strum may amaze us all if he ever retires his beloved dinosaurs. Southbay Johnny should be doing hacky catches from 150 meters soon and if that gets boring there will always be 200m Glorp. Steve Conaway is claiming some sucess with frozen turkeys without wings though this technology may be a ways off.

Erik's tournaments showcase the sport of Long distance boomerang throwing in a celebration of friendship, excitement and fun. In 2 years throwers at these tournaments have raised about 400$ for the UCSB Rec. sports "HOPE" fund just by doing what they love. Many thanks go out to sponsors at UCSB Rec. Sports Erin Dominy, Qiara Edwards, Nancy Clayton, and Dave Lagomarsino from Rec Sports. Without their help we couldn't have had such a great, safe event at such an awesome field.