More than 150 people – including surfing legend and best-selling author Shaun Tomson – gathered at Bird’s Surf Shed on Morena Boulevard to celebrate the official kick-off to the 13th annual 100 Wave Challenge on Sept. 13.

The objective of this signature surf-a-thon is to catch 100 waves in one day for the benefit of the Boys to Men Mentoring Network in what is the largest annual fundraising event for the network. The current two-month wave window has a set goal of raising $500,000 to benefit the boys in the network with the 100 Wave Challenge using a peer-to-peer fundraising model similar to the Susan G Komen Foundation. Between Sept. 17 and Nov. 20, hundreds of surfers will hit the water at various locations in order to reach their objective.

“As surfers register, they build a landing page and create a link,” said event organizer Joe Sigurdson. “They take that link and email it to family, friends, and co-workers announcing they’re doing this for a wonderful cause.”

At the event on Tuesday, the 1977 world surfing champion and author Tomson discussed and signed copies of his new book, “The Surfer and The Sage,” to provide a source of inspiration for those attending along with getting a chance to speak one-on-one with veterans 100 Wave Challenge. The book, which was co-authored with acclaimed poet and philosopher Noah benShe, provides a valuable code that Tomson developed with the goal of empowerment.

“It was a code I developed about 20 years ago to empower these young people who were coming down to the beach and were facing environmental problems,” said Tomson. “Basic lessons that surfing had taught me about life and now I get hundreds of thousands of people around the world to write their own.”

Attendees were also treated to a Baja-style taco dinner, live music, and a raffle of surf-themed prizes that included an inspiring video presentation as surfers learned the finer points of team building while registering for this year’s challenge.