Jacksonville Beach native wins World Longboard Championship

When the World Surf League’s Open World Longboard Championship was held in December at Jinzun Harbor, Taiwan, the Beaches got represented in a big way. Jacksonville Beach native and Fletcher graduate Justin Quintal claimed the World Title and the first prize of $10,000.
 “It’s been a busy year. It’s just starting to settle in,” said Quintal. “We got home and went straight into the holidays and we were celebrating but the whole thing was such a blur. I’m just starting to process it and it feels good.”
Following his World Surf League triumph, Quintal went on to represent his title and his own label, Black Rose Manufacturing, at the industry’s Surf Expo in Orlando. It was a heady mix of self-promotion and insider conversation.
“We were there meeting with our accounts and giving them the opportunity to see our boards in person and talk to me in person,” said Quintal. “Mitch Kaufmann made me a coffee mug that said ‘World Champ’ so I was just drinking my coffee out of that all day, especially when I was talking to shops.”
For those interested in what kind of board he rides and wins on, Black Rose made a couple just like it. He also brought his personal boards to give hopefuls the opportunity to pick them up, feel them and check them out in person.
“You can tell someone about a board and give them the dimensions and everything, But unless you see it in person, it’s hard to really know what it’s like,” he said.
The same can be said for Quintal’s approach to surfing. Before he was known as the world champion, Quintal, who surfed his first pro contest at 14, quickly made a name for himself up and down the East Coast as the best longboarder in the sport, winning the US Open five years in a row, including the unofficial world title for the “Duct Tape Invitational.”
Quintal’s style is fluid and graceful, a throwback to the board riders of the '60s. In Taiwan, he put that style into practice against a literal sea of contenders.
“Any time you surf a new wave, there is going to be some extent of a learning curve. I was really surprised at how fun the waves were there. There was a lot of raw energy. That was probably the most difficult thing to get adjusted to. Even the guys from Hawaii were tripping out on just how much power it had and how much the conditions would change from moment to moment,” he said.
“Once we got there and started talking to some of the locals, they were showing us photos of waves at other parts of the country that were just amazing so I would totally go back and surf and explore some more. You have to think outside the box and go to places that are off the radar if you want to get good waves.”
The language barrier and local cuisine were tricky to navigate so Quintal said his group stuck close to a restaurant where most employees knew English and served American fare. “We had some good food but if we had been there just cruising around, we would have charged more,” he said. “It was definitely a culture shock compared to most places I’ve traveled to.”
To make it to Taiwan, Quintal won the Noosa Longboard Open held in Australia and the Galicia Longboard Classic in Spain. He didn’t perform as well in the New York round but earned enough total points to capture the world title and $10,000 purse in Taiwan. Not bad for a 30-year-old wildcard from Jax Beach, right?
“Actually, I had the worst seeding you could have. I had to surf in the very first round at the first contest. I surfed about 10 rounds. It’s a really popular contest so a lot of people signed up for that one. Because I did well there, I was able to compete at the rest of the events. I won the first two back to back so that gave me a really good lead. Going into Taiwan, I was in the top 24,” he said, noting that the nearly doubled point value still made room for a competitor far back in the ranking to take the win. “The first heat, I was really nerve wracked because I could’ve got put out early and someone in eighth or 10th place could’ve won. I knew I still had a good amount of work to do.”
With the elimination of the second- and third-place holders, Quintal found his rhythm, fighting through a wonky wave sequence that tested his resolve. “That was probably the most nerve-wracking heat of my life,” he said. I looked like I was choking at the beginning but it wasn’t the nerves that got me. The waves I went on didn’t quite line up. After that I got a couple good ones and luckily won the heat.”
After being celebrated by the surf community with an event at Surfer the Bar, Quintal has settled into his new home in Atlantic Beach. For now, he’s committed to staying present and looking forward to diving into passion projects outside of competition.
“A lot of people don’t understand how much you really sacrifice when you spend this much time on the road and how much it can really wear on you -- going through different time zones, jet lag, missing family and friends, and dealing with the stress of winning a big contest,” said Quintal.
“That’s the balance you have to find and that’s one thing I love about living in North Florida. This is where I grew up surfing and it’s one of my favorite places in the world to surf. You can find good waves, good friends and people that you’ve grown up with. I live here because it feels open and free and reminds me of where it all came from.”
Quintal is also developing a concept for a film or video series framed around the traditional surf culture. Quintal says it’s part of who is he and where he’s been; he counts such North Florida legends as Larry Miniard, Dick “Rozo” Rosborough, Joe Roland and Bruce Clelland among his influences.
Quintal said the series “will involve revisiting some of the legends that are still alive, where they came from and really drive it home and educate people on where it comes from. To a lot of people, ‘traditional’ surfing is just kind of a word. The idea is to be really stylish and smooth and to slow things down a bit even though in reality, you’re moving pretty fast and there’s a lot going on. But when you do it right, you make it look easy.”