COCOA BEACH — Flocks of seagulls fluttered aimlessly around surfer Daya McCart and her semifinal competitors Monday morning, looking for a tasty Labor Day breakfast from the thousands of baitfish that had collected near the shore at low tide.
"It really didn't bother me. Well, maybe, just the smell (of the fish)," she said with a smile.
By early afternoon, the 14-year-old from Indialantic was smelling money, winning her first Cobian Sandals Women's Pro shortboard event at the 37th annual National Kidney Foundation Rich Salick Surf Fest at the Westgate Resorts Cocoa Beach Pier.
It was worth a personal-record payday of $1,200 and a 14-karat gold surfboard attached to a stainless steel necklace from Jesse's Jewelers.
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Previously:Surfing prodigy Pulcini looking for continued success at 37th annual NKF Salick Surf Fest
Trailing for most of the 25-minute final in ankle-deep waves, it took one maneuver — called a "fin release," part of blowing out the tail on a dynamic turn — with 2 minutes remaining to score a 5.90 and add on to her 5.33 score.
It was enough to offset runner-up Sofia Gamboa, third-place finisher Kylie Pulcini and fourth-place finisher Sienna Fleming.
"I thought it was going to come down between me and Kylie, but it really didn't go that way," said McCart, a home-schooled eighth grader, and like Pulcini, were recently selected as the only Florida girls on the USA National Jr. Surf Team.
Pulcini, who on Sunday had reached the quarterfinals of the OBX Pro on North Carolina's Outer Banks before riding back to Cocoa Beach, had grabbed the early lead, only to see McCart's late score and then got tagged with an interference penalty.
Up next for McCart, a Catalyst Surf Shop team rider, is a berth in the popular Super Girl Surf Pro in mid-September in Oceanside, Calif., where World Championship Tour standout Caroline Marks of Melbourne Beach is expected to compete.
To celebrate, McCart's father, Jayden, said they would go to Pineapples Restaurant in the Eau Gallie area of Melbourne, where owner Steve Young — who recently flew into space on a Blue Origin mission — has become her latest sponsor.
On the men's side, Melbourne's Corey Howell, 26, scored his biggest victory in 10 years, winning the Ron Jon Men's Pro, putting together scores of 8.50 and 7.10 to shake off Flagler Beach's Robbie McCormick (14.73), and earn $1,600 and the coveted necklace.
Howell's 8.50 ride came "on one of the better waves in the whole heat" completing three turns off his backside, and after watching McCormick's impressive air-reverse directly in front of hundreds of spectators, he decided to up his game, as well.
"This was epic; I'm stoked," said Howell, who since his last NKF win (also doubling up as the Jr. Pro a decade ago) has completed college; served as an intern for the Jacksonville Jaguars; and opened his own chiropractic business, the Central Florida Health Clinic in Indian Harbour Beach, where he is known as "The Shred Doctor."
"I used to sit a lot in school, and now I'm standing, and doing what I love to do," he said. "It makes the whole atmosphere better."
Satellite Beach's Logan Radd finished third to claim $900 and he also won the Luke Mackin Jr. Pro event — the biggest pro division in the NKF contest — after having competed in the OBX Pro in North Carolina earlier in the weekend.
Saxon Wilson, 22, of Flagler Beach put together a 14.77 total to slide past Cocoa Beach's Gavin Idone (13.27) and win the Men's Pro Longboard title for the fifth consecutive year.
Boca Raton's Kaylin Weinrich won the Women's Pro Longboard, beating out Cocoa Beach's Mackenzie Broughton, who was second.
Nearly $40,000 was raised for transplant patients at Sunday evening's Taste of Brevard and Silent Auction at the Cocoa Beach Counry Club.
"It was a good week," said event co-organizer Phil Salick, whose team wore shirts with the image of his twin brother, Rich, who passed away 10 years ago. "The waves were more than good enough. We've never been skunked!"
Men's Pro: 1. Corey Howell 15.60; 2. Robbie McCormick 14.73; 3. Logan Radd 12.24; 4. Gabe Griffin 7.50.
Women's Pro: 1. Daya McCart 11.23; 2. Sofia Gamboa 9.90; 3. Kylie Pulcini 7.00; 4. Sienna Fleming 5.96.
Jr. Pro: 1. Logan Radd 14.10; 2. Gabe Griffin 11.24; 3. Sebastian Peters 9.50; 4. Payton Lima 5.10.
Men's Pro Longboard: 1. Saxon Wilson 14.77; 2. Gavin Idone 13.27; James Palazzetto 11.30; 4. Sebastian Baker 9.64.
Women's Pro Longboard: 1. Kaylin Weinrich 12.83; 2. Mackenzie Broughton 8.90; 3. Aubrey Rasmussen 5.70; 4.Madison Bennett 5.67.