Yancy Spencer III at the Cross in 1972 (pretty sure).
I love this photo – partly because I remember when it was published in the Pensacola News Journal (top photo) and knowing I was out that day, and partly because it’s a great shot of Yancy’s backside bottom turn. Yancy was pretty much at peak performance during this era. It was also shortly after I discovered the long rolling waves of the Cross. To me, it was so nice to find a wave at our beach that didn’t suck out at take off. You could actually turn, cut back, turn, and cut back – all the way to the beach. More like an east coast wave, than a Pensacola Beach wave.
It’s interesting to me how the sand bars at the Cross continue to break like this. Yes, they change after storms and big swells, but they tend to eventually return over time, while most of our other sandbars break (hard) on the inside and offer a much shorter ride.
Photo by Dave Skelton