Fosters Cup is on

WET AND WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG

Well, spring break has come and gone and it sure was a chilly one.

With a couple days of rain and wind coming from all directions, a lot

of the week was more mellow crowd wise then some I remember in the

past.

A few days at the beach saw the solitude of just the seagulls

hanging out. Although there was some surf out there, it was

wind-blown most of the time. It did get better toward the weekend for

Easter, though. Hope everyone had a good one.

The Fosters Cup is on this week down at Lower Trestles near Camp

Pendleton in San Clemente with some of the hottest surfers in the

nation tearing it up. Again, early southwest swells have been giving

the surfers something to work with, although those pesky winds have

been hitting there too. The finals will be on Saturday, but there has

been big heats in all the surfing rounds and the action has been

fierce.

The No. 1 seeded surfer in the event, is former world tour star

Shane Beschen. Beschen has won the event a few times before and is no

stranger to the break, having grown up right in San Clemente.

Beschen’s big year was in 1996 when he finished runner-up in the

ratings to six-time world champ Kelly Slater. He’s trying to

requalify for the Championship Tour and all ready has a couple good

result’s this year on the World Qualifying Series.

Also in for the competition is another former Championship Tour

star, former Pipe and U.S. Open winner Rob Machado from Cardiff.

Machado is hot off a win on the East Coast at Jacksonville, Fla. just

a few weeks back and is always a threat in any conditions.

Another top seed is East Coaster Ben Bourgeious from North

Carolina who’s been a top-30 Assn. of Surfing Professionals ripper

the past few years. Some of Huntington Beach’s talent is entered,

too. Leading the charge is Jeff Deffenbaugh who’s had some pretty

good runs there over the years. Seal Beach’s Ryan Simmons, the

Professional Surfing Tour of America champ, surfs Trestles well and

has placed before. Plus Jay Larsen, the “Larsenator,” who won the

Rusty C-5 challenge a few years ago is one to watch.

New ASP WQS star Timmy Reyes has surfed Trestles a lot, going back

to his amateur roots in the Nationals. Others to watch include Danny

Nichols, Mike Hoisington, Ryan Turner (just back from Mexico) and Tom

Rezvan -- the crew of Huntington Beach shredders. And new the new

guard, of Shaun Ward, Brett Simpson, who is back from Oz, and Danny

Misken, who’s been busting those huge airs lately. We’ll see when the

dust clears, final results next week. At the world championship tour,

the Rip Curl Cup in Australia, they’ve been rolling too. The early

stand-out of the event has been the U.S.’s Kelly Slater who’s been

pulling nines from the judges no problem. Hawaiian Kalani Robb has

been on fire, too, winning some heats, as well. The Lopez brothers,

Shea and Corey, have looked good, as has the world champ Andy Irons

and former world champ C.J. Hobgood. Aussie Mick Fanning broke a

board in half but still advanced. Big upsets include West Coast

surfers Pat O’Connell, Timmy Curran and Australian Taj Burrow.

Stay Tuned. Do your thing and pick up some trash on the beach,

this week, Earth Day this week and, of course, every week. Let’s keep

it clean.

On a sad note, we lost one of our surfing bros, who surfed

Huntington Beach for many years, Nelson Richardson died last week.

Nelson made a few surf finals, but was just known as a nice

all-around guy. Never lost his temper out there and will be

definitely missed by the boys. He’s surfing point perfection right

now. That’s it for now. See ya.

* RICK FIGNETTI is a seven-time West Coast champion, has

announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last nine. He owns a surf shop

on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.