The SPY crew headed to Virginia Beach, Va., Aug. 22-28, for the 49th Annual East Coast Surfing Championships. Impending Hurricane Irene sped things along for all involved, forcing heats to run from sun-up through sundown.

While the SPY crew held it down in the sand, our surf team held it down in the water. Cody Thompson and 2011 NSSA/Surfing American National Champion Parker Coffin, 15, surfed their ways into the quarterfinals of the WQS 4-Star-rated event, with Evan Thompson making it into the semi-finals of the Pro Junior!

SPY once again proved to be the crowd pleaser with giveaways and a shooting gallery that attracted thousands of spectators scrambling to get their hands on some SPY booty.

In spite of a looming storm threat, our posse  decided to hold-off evacuation plans and, instead, partnered with a local watering hole, The Boxx, on a pre-hurricane, over-21 shindig.

Cody, aka DJ Code Red, kept the party moving and the shoes shuffling with a body-rocking DJ set that thumped well into the early morning hours.

Last call at the Boxx heralded a shift of venues, kicking-off an after-hours soiree where the only rules were no cameras, no stories and no hard feelings.

With the final days of the competition canceled due to the hurricane, SPY took the high road (which paralleled the prescribed evacuation route) with heads held high and stomachs turning from the previous night that officially didn’t happen.

There’s no doubt that the SPY crew helped out ol’ Irene by doing a little damage of its own…