Beth Leighfield at Mexi Log Fest
For almost a decade now, Mexico’s celebration of classic longboard surfing has been the must-visit event on the alt-surf scene. As much a coming-together of the tribe as a surf contest, Mexi Log Fest runs over the course of a week with a one-of-a-kind contest format that creates a carnival atmosphere on land and in the water. For the last few years, C-Skins team rider Beth Leighfield has been invited to compete in the event and has made the trip to Mexico.
Over 200 surfers are invited to Mexi Log Fest, and each surfs three heats over the course of six days, with the scores of their best two rides in each heat and their highest scoring wave being combined to create a seven-wave average. The top 16 surfers in each division then go on to the finals day. Surfboards must be classic logs, all single fins at least 9’2” long and weighing at least 6.8kg with 50/50 or lower 60/40 rails, and no leash.
“Ah, MexiLogFest - a single fin longboard contest south of the border, where dogs roam the beaches free of the confinement of leashes, as do the surfers.”
After several years being run at the idyllic and mechanical tropical lefts of La Saladita, on Guerrero State’s Costa Grande, this year the event moved to the bright lights of Mazatlan, one of Mexico’s most popular tourist towns 1000km north along Mexico’s Pacific coast. Mazatlan sits opposite the southernmost tip of the Baja Peninsula, opposite Cabo San Lucas. The headline wave in town is Los Pinos, another long left point, and there are more to be found to the north of town, as well as a selection of beach breaks to choose from on either side.
We spoke to Beth about her experience at the week-long event, from Mexican wrestling to leash-less heats.
How did your experience this year differ from previous events at La Saladita?
There’s a huge surf community in Mazatlan City, and it was really cool to meet everyone, hang out at the events and surf together. They gave us recommendations no the best local taco spots, as well as surf spots, and it was great to integrate into the local surf scene and get to know everyone who lives there.
What makes this event so special – in and out of the water?
Visually it’s so different. Mazatlan is a really big city, you can see skyscrapers whilst surfing, plus there’s way more hustle and bustle and loads of different stuff going on. One reason it’s so special is that whilst everyone is primarily there to compete, the social aspect is still huge. As it’s based over a week you get to meet so many people, make new friends from across the world, and really connect with a crazy range of different people. Linking the competitive side with the social side makes this event really different. Israel [Israel Preciado, pro longboarder and event organiser] has done such a good job in cultivating such a special event.
What’s it like competing without a leash?
I found it a little bit scary on a couple of the days this year. There were some head high-plus heats over pretty shallow reef with a lot of urchins, plus a few rocks on the inside. However another great part of Mexi Log is if you lose your board its not like any other competition - someone from the beach will jump in and start paddling your board to you. There’s way more camaraderie between competitors.
There’s loads going on around Mexi Log Fest besides the surfing – can you tell us a bit about that?
Each evening there is a social event on. There’s different live music, DJs, one night they had Lucha Libre, which is like Mexican wrestling, all in different costumes. It almost felt like a theatre production but it was really immersive. THERAsurf come down and you help get local kids into the water who have any learning disabilities or difficulties. There are beach cleans during the day, everyone watches all the heats, drinks beers and eats nice seafood. It’s so good.
What were the highlights of your trip this year?
We had a really cool house this year. There were 4 of us from the UK who went out and that was Emily, Jack Unsworth, Jack’s girlfriend at the time, plus [Californian longboard superstar] Rachael Tilly stayed with us and Emily’s friend from Portugal. We had quite an international house and it was really cool with everyone getting to know each other and razzing around on these little pimped out golf carts called pulmonias. Trying to put long boards on them to get around to the different surf spots was quite entertaining.
