The 1996 WindanSea Surf Club Fall Classic was held on Saturday, December 7th, 1996, on the fifth weekend of the 7-week waiting period, when a clean 3-4' WNW swell rolled in under sunny skies, offering very contestable 6-8' faces on the set waves for the whole day. The morning high tide was a bit extreme, making for some slightly fat faces for the early morning heats, but as the tide went out it got better and better. The swell was very consistent, no heats were starved for waves, and the wind held off most of the day, providing glassy conditions early, then coming up lightly out of the north in the late afternoon and putting a little bit of a sideshore bump on the semi- and final heats. But it was only a light texturing and almost offshore into the lefts, so there were still barrels to be had.
The heats went off like clockwork, starting at 7:00 a.m. The Superheat wound up just as the sun set, and the awards were given out to the winners in the dying twilight after a great 10 hours of high performance surfing. Here's the final results:
Menehune Division (13 and under) 1. Ian Rotgans 2. John Maher 3. Derek Dunfee Junior's Division (14-17) 1. Adam Warren 2. Micah Anderson 3. Jackson Isaacs 4. John Maher 5. Mike "Spanky" Wilson 6. Brook Treas Men's Division (Open) 1. Saxon Boucher 2. Jason Weatherly 3. John Jacobs 4. Lonny Brothers 5. Bryan Jennings 6. Jon Boland Senior's Division (26-34) 1. Drew Littlemore 2. Mikko Fleming 3. J. P. DeKervor 4. Joe McLoughlin 5. Tim Senneff 6. Lonny Brothers Master's Division (35 and up) 1. Richard Kenvin 2. Ted Smith 3. Jeff Barton 4. Mark Magana 5. Bob Pierce 6. Bob Gutzler Longboard Division (Open) 1. Tom Ortner 2. Tad Hodgson 3. Osztar De Jourday 4. Mikko Fleming 5. John Bannon 6. Ted Smith Superheat (winners of each division) 1. Adam Warren 2. Richard Kenvin 3. Saxon Boucher 4. Ian Rotgans 5. Drew Littlemore