Surfers, Sailors Share Long Beach Waters

It was simultaneously a familiar and new sight in Long Beach, as nationwide sailors and the world’s top surfers took to the ocean together in Long Beach Saturday morning.

Kelly Slater and other pro surfers joined local firefighters and police officers who rode their boards side-by-side in the Bravest vs. Finest Surf Challenge, while further off shore seasoned and amateur boaters set sail in the annual 9/11 Spirit Regatta at National Boulevard beach.

Slater, the 10-time world champion who came in second to Owen Wright in the Quicksilver Pro New York on Friday, opted to surf with the firefighters, since both his mother and stepfather were firefighters.

“I admit to a little bias,” he said before heading out into the surf.

The event's announcer said of having Slater surf in Long Beach’s waters: “It’s kind of like having Michael Jordan show up in your backyard court.”

The O’Keefe Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization, was founded in memory of Patrick O’Keefe, a FDNY firefighter who was killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Each September, the organization stages the regatta in Long Beach, the proceeds of which go toward a scholarship for a local high school senior who has lost a parent, or for an immigrant-turned-American citizen.

“This is something that makes us feel a little closer to our brother, Pat, a rescue fireman,” Noreen Costello, O’Keefe’s sister, stated. “We are trying to turn a negative into a positive by giving a hand up to young people in need of help.”