These images are not my standard press pics. I didn't shoot any for this event... SORRY! These images are from my ArtBpics collection of photographs. These are higher resolution than the images posted on ArtBpics. If you find any others images that you would like to publish from ArtBpics, just send me an email and I'll send the high-res version. Thanks! -ART

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Please give photo credit: Art Baltrotsky
Captions are pasted below this press release.

ESA SURFERS RIDE WINTER STORM SURF TO KICK OFF MONTH-LONG TSUNAMI RELIEF FUND-RAISER

OCEAN CITY, MD -- February 7, 2005 -- The Maryland District of the Eastern Surfing Association hosted the 2005 Frozen Surf Open benefit surfing contest on Saturday, February 5, to launch the month-long K-Coast On-Line Raffle at www.MarylandESA.org and to join the world-wide tsunami relief effort. Gusting 20-25 mph, side-shore winds combined with overhead storm-surf, uncontrollable currents, and a frigid 37 degree water temperature couldn't stop the ESA surfers from showing their support for tsunami victims by the pier in Ocean City, Md.

A very strong low pressure system off the coast generated huge ground swells that would have been ideal for this first ever Maryland ESA mid-winter event, but poor wind conditions caused the surf to be nearly unrideable, closed-out and dangerous to anyone other than a very experienced surfer. Since postponing the event may have lessened the amount of donations from spectators, the decision was made to run the event regardless of the unfavorable conditions. Forty of the region's best surfers braved the extreme conditions in order to help tsunami victims by raising money for the non-profit group, SurfAid International.

Competitors ranged in age from 10 to 57 with surfers traveling from as far away as Virginia Beach, Va., Silver Spring, Md. and Dover De. to take part in this tsunami relief fundraising event. The only female surfer, Brandi Zirckel, 17, of Ocean Pines, Md., along with 4 other competitors in the first heat, had to deal with the most challenging conditions of the event. As the day progressed and the tide started to fill in, the surf became slightly more rideable and competitors were able to make it through the dredging shore-break to ride some of the larger set waves.

Three of the Frozen Surf Open finalists were also finalists this past September in the 2004 "Easterns", Eastern Surfing Championships, in Cape Hatteras, N.C. Frozen Surf Open finalists, Ted Smith and Wyatt Harrison, were the recipients of the 2004 Easterns Sr. and Jr. Hot Wave awards. In an extremely close final, newly registered, first-time ESA competitor, Tommy Harris of Salisbury, Md. upset the seasoned competitors to take the $200 first place cash prize and win the first Maryland ESA event of the 2005 competition season. Harris, a Salisbury University student from Bethesda, Md., spent 9 months in Costa Rica and just married his Costa Rican girlfriend one week prior to surfing in the Frozen Surf Open. Referring to his first place finish, "Most people didn't believe me when I told them," Harris said, "I got lucky and was in the right place."

Another standout competitor was the youngest surfer in the event, 10-year-old Avery Sieg. Sieg was put out of last year's ESA competition season due to a life threatening staph infection that led to surgery at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md. and an 8 day stay at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. After missing the final event of last year's season, Sieg has now fully recovered and at the Frozen Surf Open he surfed all the way through the semi-finals for an incredible 10th place finish against experienced surfers of all ages. The storm surf conditions didn't seem to phase the ten-year-old. "It was pretty huge", said Sieg, "I had a lot of fun."

Throughout the day hundreds of spectators watched as surfers tried to ride uncontrollable surf and compete for cash prizes and trophies donated by local businesses. The Comfort Inn on 5th Street donated $250, The Pirates Galley Coffee Shop donated $150 and Stephen Falck Construction donated $100 in prize money for the finalists. Local Artist Patti B of TumblingMonkeys.com created and donated one-of-a-kind trophies and Martin Furst of Coaches Corner and the Ocean City Surfing Memorial supplied free hot chocolate and chili for competitors and spectators. Finalists received $200, $100, $75, $50, $40 and $35 for 1st through 6th places, respectively. Finalists Mark Harrell and Art Baltrotsky donated their winnings to the SurfAid International ESA fund.

Help support tsunami victims by purchasing K-Coast On-line Raffle tickets from the Maryland ESA website at www.MarylandESA.org. Raffle tickets will be sold through midnight, February 27, and the drawing will take place on Sunday, February 28, at K-Coast Surf Shop on 78th Street in Ocean City, Md. The $500 gift card donated by K-Coast can be redeemed at their Ocean City location or on-line at www.kcoast.com. One hundred percent of all funds raised from contest entry fees, raffle tickets sold on the beach, and the K-Coast On-line Raffle will be donated to SurfAid International, "a non-profit organization dedicated to significantly improve the health of the Mentawai people, and to encourage and coordinate the support of the global surfing community."

To make a donation, check out the highest donations to date, view thousands of contest photos, see the 2005 events schedule, or get more information about the ESA please go to the Maryland Eastern Surfing Association's web-site at www.MarylandESA.org or contact MD ESA Director Art Baltrotsky, P.O. Box 207, Ocean City, MD 21843, 410-641-3329, delmarva@surfesa.org.

MD ESA 2005 Frozen Surf Open finalists are:

1 - Tommy Harris, 22, Salisbury, Md.
2 - Ted Smith, 21, Ocean City, Md.
3 - Wyatt Harrison, 16, Ocean City, Md.
4 - Art Baltrotsky, 40, Berlin, Md.
5 - Mark Harrell, 30, Frankford, De.
6 - Randy Jenkins, 30, Ocean City, Md.

The Eastern Surfing Association (ESA), founded in 1967, a non-profit, IRS tax-exempt corporation, is the largest amateur surfing organization in the world with more than 7,000 members. It is dedicated to the sport of amateur surfing, to the operation of a program of amateur competition for surfers of all ages and abilities, and to the establishment and preservation of public access to a clean shoreline and ocean environment. The association's activities are organized in a total of twenty-six districts, which extend along nearly 2,000 miles of coastline, stretching from Maine through the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama and also around the Great Lakes. The Maryland District currently has more than 350 active members and is operated by a non-paid, all volunteer staff. Visit the Maryland ESA on-line at www.marylandesa.org.

For more information about the Eastern Surfing Association contact:

Art Baltrotsky
Maryland District ESA Director
P.O. Box 207 Ocean City, MD 21843
410-641-3329
delmarva@surfesa.org

ArtB_Frozen_Surf_Open_01.jpg - OCEAN CITY, MD.--February 5, 2005-- The Maryland District of the Eastern Surfing Association hosted the 2005 Frozen Surf Open benefit surfing contest on Saturday, February 5, to launch the month-long K-Coast On-Line Raffle at www.MarylandESA.org for tsunami victims. Mark Harrell of K-Coast Surf Shop holds the surfboard he broke while trying to ride the unforgiving waves by the pier in Ocean City, Md. photo by ART BALTROTSKY, 410-641-3329, art@tumblingmonkeys.com

ArtB_Frozen_Surf_Open_02.jpg - OCEAN CITY, MD.--February 5, 2005-- Surfers waiting for the start of their 2005 Frozen Surf Open quarterfinal are (from left); Gatey Dawkins of Chinqoteague, Va., logan Helmuth of Ocean Pines, Md., Ted Smith of Ocean City, Md. and Drew Cox of Ocean City, Md. The Maryland District of the Eastern Surfing Association hosted the 2005 Frozen Surf Open benefit surfing contest on Saturday, February 5, to launch the month-long K-Coast On-Line Raffle at www.MarylandESA.org for tsunami victims. photo by ART BALTROTSKY, 410-641-3329, art@tumblingmonkeys.com

ArtB_Frozen_Surf_Open_03.jpg - OCEAN CITY, MD.--February 5, 2005-- The Maryland District of the Eastern Surfing Association hosted the 2005 Frozen Surf Open benefit surfing contest on Saturday, February 5, to launch the month-long K-Coast On-Line Raffle at www.MarylandESA.org for tsunami victims. Mark Harrell of K-Coast Surf Shop holds the surfboard he broke while trying to ride the unforgiving waves by the pier in Ocean City, Md. photo by ART BALTROTSKY, 410-641-3329, art@tumblingmonkeys.com

ArtB_Frozen_Surf_Open_04.jpg - OCEAN CITY, MD.--February 5, 2005-- The Maryland District of the Eastern Surfing Association hosted the 2005 Frozen Surf Open benefit surfing contest on Saturday, February 5, to launch the month-long K-Coast On-Line Raffle at www.MarylandESA.org for tsunami victims. Mark Harrell of K-Coast Surf Shop holds the surfboard he broke while trying to ride the unforgiving waves by the pier in Ocean City, Md. photo by ART BALTROTSKY, 410-641-3329, art@tumblingmonkeys.com

ArtB_Frozen_Surf_Open_05.jpg - OCEAN CITY, MD.--February 5, 2005-- The Maryland District of the Eastern Surfing Association hosted the 2005 Frozen Surf Open benefit surfing contest on Saturday, February 5, to launch the month-long K-Coast On-Line Raffle at www.MarylandESA.org for tsunami victims. Competitors and spectators stay warm under the ESA tent by the pier in Ocean City, Md. photo by ART BALTROTSKY, 410-641-3329, art@tumblingmonkeys.com