Friday, October 2, 2026
CHELAN — Team USA will try to end three years of European dominance when the Continental Surf Cup returns to Lakeside Surf in Chelan Sept. 5–6.
The two-day competition brings together 24 surfers, with 12 representing the United States and 12 representing Europe in a team format modeled after golf's Ryder Cup. Europe has won the Cup in each of its first three years, while the U.S. is still seeking its first team championship.
Competition begins at 3:40 p.m. Saturday and includes four rounds across the weekend. Surfers compete for individual scores while also accumulating points for their teams, with 51 team points available overall.
The event includes the Surfers Classic, two rounds of team heats and a Best Trick competition before concluding Sunday with team finals and men's and women's individual finals. More than half of the available team points — 26 of 51 — will be decided during the final rounds.
One of the weekend's central rivalries will again pit Germany's Lenny Weinhold against Team USA's Ben Benson.
Weinhold, who surfs out of Rheinriff in Düsseldorf, has won the individual Continental Surf Cup championship three consecutive times. Benson has finished second to Weinhold in each of those three competitions and qualified for this year's U.S. team through the 2025 Lopez Invitational.
The team competition was nearly as close in 2024, when Europe's victory came down to the men's final and was decided in the last heat.
Team USA has also added Jose “Cacaro” Lopez, the 2025 Panama National Surfing Champion, as an international wildcard. The American roster includes 2025 Lopez Invitational champion Cash Eygabroad and Jax Oshiro-Labbe of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, winner of the 2026 Battle of the Butte.
Europe's men's roster includes Marius Gerlach, who placed third at the 2024 Continental Surf Cup, 2025 Swiss National Champion Rivan Rosskopf, three-time German Junior Champion Toni Meier and international wildcard Gilbert Yeh of Singapore.
The women's field includes defending champion Cash Hoover of Kailua, O'ahu, who won the 2025 Lopez Invitational. Team USA also includes 2026 Battle of the Butte champion Maya Cowan and Lakeside Surf competitors Reese Bordner and Sierra White.
Europe will counter with Germany's Valeska Schneider, a three-time German national champion and Continental Surf Cup titleholder, and three-time Swiss national champion Alena Gubler.
New this year, both teams will have formal captains responsible for strategy and team preparation. Captains will also be allowed to make up to three changes to their heat lineups during the competition.
The Continental Surf Cup is held at Lakeside Surf's standing wave facility in Chelan. Scoring and a livestream of the competition will be available at LiveHeats.com.
Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media
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