Party On: Day One At The Duct Tape Invitational Sayulita

Locked beneath the piercing rays of the Mexican sun, tucked into the cove that is Sayulita, the first event of the Duct Tape Invitational’s 10-Year Anniversary Tour found itself a fitting home. With a soft peeling right that lends itself to logging, and a hard-hitting nightlife scene that lends itself to loggers off duty, Sayulita may very well be the Shangri-la for all things Duct Tape.

But enough with the sensationalizing. 

After a long night at the kick-off party filled with tequila and cervezas aplenty, the cast of the world’s most creative and respected loggers made their way down to the sand for day one of the DT Invitational. The words, “I’m still feeling last night” could be heard beneath the breath of the cast of loggers as they acquired their singlets and stepped to the water’s edge. Nonetheless, the surfers got into it. With the quarterfinal kick-off (16 men & 16 women surfing in their respective divisions), there was no time to be hungover, only time to perform.

Daily standouts included Andy Nieblas, David Arganda, Kaniela Stewart, Kelis Kaleopa’a, Josie Prendergast, and Hallie Rohr, all of whom stamped their signature flavor of logging on the perfectly soft, peeling waves on tap. Local boy Jonathan Melendres also put on a hell of a show.

As for the no-holds-barred paddling contest, Mahina Akaka and Kaniela Stewart took the titles and the $1k of spending cash. While Mahina made a case for playing clean and winning fair-and-square, Kaniela took another approach and leaned into the no rules format to secure a diving finish. Either way you pour the drink, we’re celebrating. We’ll see you tomorrow for Finals Day of the Duct Tape Invitational Sayulita.

As Joel Tudor stated, “This ain’t a fucking nose-riding contest. You’ve gotta do turns. You’ve gotta mix it up.” Or something of that nature.

So who’s gonna take the cake?