VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – It’s an unfortunate case of déjà v. More Memorial Day weekend events were canceled because of bad weather.
The Coastal Edge Steel Pier Classic was supposed to start on Saturday, but high winds and rain postponed it until the next day.
When Sunday came around, surfers still weren’t able to hit the water.
One of the event organizers said the 20th annual event brought over 300 athletes from around the world to Virginia Beach.
“The event has grown tremendously over the last couple of decades. Now we have short board and amateur and professional and we have longboard amateur and professional as well as the women’s professional,” said Coastal Edge manager Wes Laine.
The delays left some surfers thinking that they wouldn’t be able to catch the waves at all.
However, Laine said there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Instead of completely calling the competition off, they plan to have surfers compete on Monday, packing all three days of the event into one.
“That’s because we haven’t been able to run heats. We’ve basically consolidated down to where we can run the whole event in one day. But we’re going to have to start very early and finish later than normal,” he said.
And while some surfers came from all over the world, some were right at home like Camden Hoover.
She’s competed in the Steel Pier Classic since she was 5 years old.
She said the delays have been frustrating.
“I’m kind of getting a little restless. I really want to compete, but I know that they’re wanting to run a clean contest, so to me it’s whatever they want to do, and I’ll be ready for whenever they start it and I’m super excited for that.”
She told 10 On Your Side how out-of-town competitors were reacting to the surprising holiday weekend weather.
“They’re all kind of confused asking what is this, why is it so gnarly? And I’m just like, it’s just the storm, tomorrow’s going to be so fun. We’re all in good spirits and we’re all happy for what’s to come.”
The contest will start at 6:30 a.m. Monday and go well into the evening.