Wet and Wild with Rockin Fig

The United States Surfing Federations 2002 season kicked off last

weekend at San Onofre at Trail One beach. The surf was a small pulse of

southwest and west swells with sunny skies and light winds.

There’s gonna be 13 events in this year’s season, as far north as

Santa Cruz, and as far south as Seaside Reef in San Diego. There’ll be

big stops at Church’s, Huntington, Topanga, Ventura, Morro Bay and the

West Coast Championships at Malibu this year. The top nine best placings

will determine West Coast Champs, and best seven results will qualify

surfers to go to the U.S. Championships.

This weekend local surfers having a good run at the USSF were: Harold

Bessa, who made the finals of the masters division, throwing a couple

tail slides in a couple heats; James Webb, finishing third overall in

seniors, with some nice turns.

In an all-Surf City final in grand masters, Patrick Schlick took it,

a new comer to the division, Figster second, U.S. champ Steve Weaver

third and Jay Bolt fourth. The Hamrock gals surfed impressively and took

one and two in the womens longboarding, too.

In the miniseries in the open mens, Jeff Combs placed second, and was

also awarded the scholarship award for the season with an amazing 3.8

grade-point average.

Morro Bay is next in September.

The World Oxbow Longboard Championships are going on at J-Bay,

Jeffreys Bay, South Africa known for those perfect peeling rights off the

point. Currently still in it are: Californians Joel Tudor, the style

master; Colin McPhillips, with one of the sweetest cutbacks; the U.S.

Open winner Josh Baxter; plus hot Hawaiians Rusty Keaulana and Bonga

Perkins and Australian ripper Beau Young. All are former world champs

with the exception of Baxter. Stay tuned for big results.

The World Qualifying Series has a few contests slated for the east

coast: the East Coast Surfing Championships at Virginia Beach, Va., a

two-star event from Aug 21-26; then the Heritage Rip Curl Pro at Sea Isle

City, N.J. for a one-star on Aug. 31 through Sept. 2; and then the

Unsound Surf Shop Pro, a one-star at Long Beach, N.Y., Sept. 6-9. I heard

Surf City hotties Jeff Deffenbaugh, Micah Byrne, Ryan Turner and Chris

Camaucho were heading back to steam roll a couple.

Don’t forget we have one more biggie here on the mainland, and that’s

the Rip Curl Pro, a four-star event worth $60,000 on Sept. 4-9 at 54th

St. in Newport Beach. No doubt all the nation’s finest will be on hand to

rip it up. That’s right smack in the hurricane swell window, so things

could be very interesting.

Summer is winding down -- just a few more weekends before the groms

have to go back to school. I’m telling ya what, its been a zoo out in the

water lately; since the Open its been crowded and the beach’s have been

packed. Well September’s around the corner, still south swells and

hopefully some Santa Ana winds, offshore winds, and, you got it, less

people. I like summer, but I love fall, too. See ya in the lineup, and I

hope not in front of me. Just kidding. Fig over and out.

* RICK FIGNETTI is a six-time West Coast champion, has announced the

U.S. Open of Surfing the last seven years and has been the KROQ-FM

surfologist for the last 15 years where he’s done morning surf reports.

He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.