Like many businesses, Unsound was forced to close after it sustained significant damage from Sandy, and reopened in April after major renovations. Organizing the contest this year presented a number of challenges, particularly when it came to finding a sponsor, but owners Mike Nelson and Dave Juan said that they were determined to move forward with the event.

“In light of everything that went on this year in town, we just did what we had to do, tried to pull it together and got it done,” said co-owner Mike Nelson. “For us, personally, we were just like, we had to do something. It took us a little while, and we didn’t have enough time to really plan to do as big an event as we would have liked to. But we did it, and a lot of the competitors are happy. And it’s great to see now with the kids’ contest, the King and Queen of the Beach, how many people are actually down here and how many families are in it.”