The Vic skimboarding contest

The Vic is a skimboarding contest at Aliso Beach, in South Laguna. Victoria Skimboards runs it. The company says it was established in Laguna Beach in 1976, and its company page calls the contest the Annual World Championship of Skimboarding. The contest has its own site, titled “The Vic | Aliso Beach, CA.” It is not held at Victoria Beach, which is a separate beach.

The 2026 contest

The organizer’s registration page gave the 2026 dates as August 22 and 23 at Aliso Beach Parkway, with registration open until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19. Earlier versions of the site gave August 23 and 24, 2025, and August 17 and 18, 2024, so the contest has been scheduled for an August weekend in each of the last three years. The organizer had not posted 2027 dates as of October 27, 2026. Treat August as the pattern rather than a promise, and check the site for the date.

The organizer’s results page shows the structure of a contest year:

• Pro divisions for men and women, with eight finishers listed in each.
• Amateur divisions for women and for age groups: 8 and under, 9 to 11, 12 to 14, 15 to 17, 18 to 21, 22 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49 and 50 and over.
• Special awards: Best Wipeout, Best Wave, a spirit award and a sportsmanship award. The 2026 sportsmanship award honored a longtime figure in the Laguna Beach skimboarding community, and the organizer says its founder received an award from the mayor of Laguna Beach.

The organizer also posted a recap video and live coverage of the first day on YouTube, linked from its home page.

Who can enter

Entry runs through the organizer’s registration page. The pro division has a requirement, which the organizer’s rules page states this way: at least two first- or second-place finishes in a qualifying skimboard contest, or advancement from the first round at an earlier Pro Vic. Pro riders must be at least 15. The organizer says it considers exceptions for merit or extenuating circumstances. The amateur divisions are set by age, and the organizer’s rules page does not list a requirement for them.

How it is judged

The rules page describes the judging in some detail:

• Riders are judged on riding waves, not on gaming the system. A rider who takes three steps toward a wave has committed and loses priority.
• Interference calls are made by the judges and heat director, and the head judge has the final word. The penalty is the loss of the rider’s highest-scoring wave, and two interference calls disqualify the rider.
• A rider’s top three scores count, and riders may go left or right.
• Scoring follows completion of the ride, then difficulty and control or style of the maneuver, then how critical and large the wave is, then the length of the ride.
• The rules give judges a guideline 10-point scale. On it, 5 is an average ride and the maximum for an incomplete one.

Aliso Beach

Aliso Beach Park sits in the 31000 block of South Coast Highway, where Aliso Creek meets the ocean. Visit Laguna Beach says skimboarders practice on the shore break there year-round and that you should stay out of the creek itself, on the County Health Department’s recommendation. The organizer’s pages list no spectator information, ticket price or parking advice, so use the Aliso Beach page for parking, hours and dog rules, and the parking guide for the city’s wider rules.

The city also lists a skimboarding area at Brooks Street Beach, the beach that gives the Brooks Street Surfing Classic its name. The surfing guide covers the other breaks, and Laguna Beach in August covers the month’s calendar and weather.