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Pender sweeps Attack of Danger Bay

Longboarding
danger bay
Pender dominates the podium at Attack of Danger Bay 17. Race founder Bricin Lyons (left) announces the winners: Danger Dane Hanna (centre) took first, Scott Scoot Smith (right) was second, and Sawyer Bonez Cote third.

May 20 was a good day to be a Pender Harbour longboarder. For the first time in Attack of Danger Bay’s 17-year history, local longboarders swept the podium.

Clinching first place was Dane Hannah from Pender Harbour’s Team Irene. Scott Smith, who grew up on the Sunshine Coast, placed second. In third place was another Team Irene member, Sawyer Cote.

This is also the first time a Pender Harbourite has won Attack of Danger Bay.

“I wanted to be the first but I don’t feel so bad losing to a Pender Harbour local,” Smith said.

After the Pender sweep came Californian Max Capps in fourth.

About 150 racers participated from across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. The race started on Esquire Drive and wound down to the finish line on Murdoch Road. An “L” is formed where those two roads meet, earning the nickname “carnage corner,” the toughest spot on the track due in part to the low-quality pavement in the transition.

Smith founded Team Green and calls Pender Harbour’s Team Irene the up-and-comers. “They have a really cool scene going on with those guys,” Smith said. To practise, Team Irene members shut down roads and use walkie-talkies to communicate while hurtling down hills in the Pender Harbour area. Parents also help supervise. “We didn’t really have that so it’s good to see the parents be involved too, and it’s paid off,” Smith said.

Smith said organizer Bricin Lyons was almost in tears at the race following the Pender sweep. This year, Smith said, all winners donated their prize money to Lyon’s effort to create a longboarding hostel and “Church of Skaten” in Cape Breton. The race is known as one of the most lucrative for winners. “We’ve taken from Attack of Danger Bay 16 times and this year we thought we’d give one back and donate all the winnings to the church… It was a pretty special year for the Attack of Danger Bay,” Smith said.

For photos and more from the races, see www.facebook.com/TEAM-GREEN-291578073385 and www.facebook.com/Team-Irene-450050248399302