BONES RIDER CURREN CAPLES WINS A VQS SURF CONTEST

We all know 13-year-old skate prodigy Curren Caples has a flawless "surf" style. But what most people don't know is that the Ventura resident is quickly becoming as skilled in the water as is he is on cement. For proof, check the results of the recent Volcom VQS event on Kauai, where Curren happened to be there on a family vacation and happened to enter the contest on a whim. "They let him in as a 'seventh man' in the first round," said his dad Evan. "He was skins."

But Curren squeaked through the first heat, made it through the second, then the semis. Before he knew it, he was up against some of the heaviest little big guns in the surf world: Ian Gentil and Koa Smith. Granted, it was waist-high, semi-walled Pine Trees. But Curren went out, clicked on a couple rights, and ended up winning the contest. He's now automatically qualified for the VQS Championships in Newport next May. Curren himself is pretty casual about it all and is quick to praise the talents of Gentil and Smith.

But we know what this could mean. With a little more time in the water (his skate schedule currently keeps him away from the ocean for weeks at a time), Curren could be the first legitimate skate/surf crossover star since the Dogtown days.

Keep checking those surf mags for the other "Curren."