Surf action as hot as the weather

RICK FIGNETTI

Last week, we were still taking advantage of those south swells that

have been rolling in and keeping things pumping in the surf zone with

overhead sets at the best breaks. And the heat wave continued with

the high pressure dominating the scene at the beaches with some hot

temperatures on the sands. The surfing action hasn’t slowed down yet

either, as this is probably prime time for a lot of the surfers in

this area. Crowds have thinned down a bit and there may be more south

swells coming -- and hopefully some early northwesters, too.

The $250,000 World Championship Tour’s Quiksilver-Boost Mobile Pro

concluded last week at Lower Trestles. It was 30-year-old Australian

Richie Lovett who came up with his first big CT win to pocket

$30,000. Lovett opened up with an eight-point ride in the finals,

throwing some mean backside slashes on a left. Another Aussie, Taj

Burrow, from western Australia, was ripping it up too. He still

needed a pretty big score at the end for him to win it. Burrow said

he might have ran out of gas a bit feeling a little tired after all

the prior heats and falling on a couple waves that could have made it

closer. Placing second, however, has pushed Burrow to the No. 3 spot

in the overall world standings.

Equal thirds went to, West Coast shredder Taylor Knox, who was

putting together some of the raddest cutbacks of the surf contest,

and the hard-charging Brazilian Victor Ribas. In the equal fifth

spots were the two up-and-coming hotties from the Gold Coast of

Australia Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson. Wildcard surfer Bruce

Irons made it to the quarterfinals, taking out his brother, World

Champ Andy Irons on the way. That was one of the big heats of the

event. And six-time world champ Kelly Slater met up with a charged-up

T-Knox and lost a close one in the quarters, too. But Slater has

closed in on Irons in the points race and still is a close second.

Last year’s champ Luke Egan placed ninth as did Laguna Beach’s Pat

O’Connell who tore up a bunch of heats. In the Best Darn Airshow

finals, Oxnard’s Timmy Curran busted big, a 5-foot, double hand grab,

air to fake maneuver to win the $20,000 prize. Curran in good

measure, donated $10,000 dollars, to the Jason Bogle Cancer Fund.

Bogle was an up-and-coming Hawaiian pro surfer who was diagnosed with

cancer recently, and who showed a lot of the Aloha Spirit wherever he

went. And all that know him, pray for him to get well soon.

The surf was Richter at times and all the pros were going off to

wrap up an action-packed week for the big boys. And off to Europe

quickly for the next contest in France at the end of the month.

Locally, at the pier, the HB Surf Series was taking advantage of a

classic weekend, too, with 3- to 5-foot, fair to good surf and killer

weather. Some of the stand-out winners of their prospective divisions

were: in the super groms Jessie Steelman with the win and the ratings

lead. Drew Poff took the boys’ division. In juniors, Chris Broman had

the moves to ice it. In mens, featuring some of the hottest surfing

action both days, it was Marc Belmonte who won -- that’s two in a row

making him first in the standings.

Big Mike Mattison was gouging some turns for the victory in

masters, and Marcello Guinaldo took the win in grand masters. The

women saw Cathy Jo Northam ripping it up to take first.

Next up is the HB Surf Series Championships at 9th Street Oct. 4

and 5, to end the 2003 season.

The United States Surfing Federation at Morro Bay, the Rock, was

canceled due to no surf and there were shark warning signs on the

beach due to the fatal attack at Avila Beach 20 miles to the south a

couple weeks ago. They said watch out for any unusual activity in the

water by sea creatures.

The City Surf Championships at the Huntington Beach Pier this

weekend, good luck. See ya Fig.

* RICK FIGNETTI is an eight-time West Coast champion, has

announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last nine years and has been

the KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 17 years, doing morning surf

reports. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at

(714) 536-1058.