Irons presses on to another victory

RICK FUGNETTI

It was a big week down at the Body Glove Surf Bout at Lower Trestles,

San Clemente, for world champ Andy Irons, who came up with the win,

and also the Huntington Beach crew, who were ripping heat after heat

throughout the event.

The final showdown saw “A.I.” catching some mean ones in the

final. On one wave, he did a couple rad forehand gouges on a right

overhead set and finished the wave off by boosting an air, which

received a 9-plus score and an ovation on the beach. That wave gave

him the lead all the way till the end.

The “Mobster,” U.S. champ Rob Machado, was hot on his heels,

tearing lefts apart, throwing buckets of water and closing the gap to

less than a half a point in the final minutes, but he came up short

and placed second. Oxnard’s Timmy Curren, who’s won this event a few

times, was ripping heats all the way till the final, but needed a

good score at the end and settled for third.

The “H.B. Mauler,” Timmy Reyes, was surfing at a really high

level, throwing some of the meanest front-side lip bashes out there,

and an insane vertical backside attack, too. Reyes made the final and

ended up fourth, but in my book he looked better than that. He still

scored some nice cash and ratings points.

Some big guns, like top-10 world standout Taylor Knox, lost out in

the semis, needing less than a two score to get out of the heat. He

needed another wave, but was seen going off on some rights like he

was at J-Bay when he caught the sets.

Former three-time world champ Tom Curren was in top form, even as

he approaches his 40s, making it to the semis by throwing those

classic T.C. carves.

H.B.’s Mike Hoisington and Shaun Ward, who were on fire at Lowers

and blowing up every heat, just missed the final. Another one of the

Surf City new guard, Brett Simpson, made it to the quarters with some

big moves. Also, Seal Beach’s Ryan Simmons had some good moments and

Huntington’s Ted Navarro, Micah Byrne and Danny Nichols, were seen

going through the rounds with advancements, busting some tail.

In the women’s, one-star final, which had some great waves,

Carlsbad’s former C.T. surfer Julia Christian found some super long

rights and came from behind doing a ton of moves, slashes and

cutbacks, taking the win.

The most amazing thing was 11-year-old Hawaiian Carissa Moore

placing second, setting the record for the youngest women’s surfing

competitor to make a World Qualifying Series final. Carissa has great

possibilities of being the U.S.’s shot for an Assn. of Surfing

Professionals world title, in a couple years. Third was Newport

Beach’s amateur national champ Erica Hosseini, who won a bunch of

heats at the Surfer Girl Lowers Pro, and fourth was up-and-coming

Kyla Langen. Surfside’s Jodie Nelson had a lot of good waves and heat

wins, but lost a close one in the semis.

The surf throughout the week was a combo of southwest and

northwest swells, with a few of the Southern Hemi lines showing early

pulses for the Surf Bout finals last Saturday. That southwest was one

of the first ones of the season that’s thrown good-sized overhead

sets at the best southwest-facing breaks.

Points and reefs have been best, with reports of Malibu and Lowers

going Richter on that swell, but they’ve been crowded. Our local Surf

City beaches had some big sets, 8-foot-plus, but they’ve mostly

closed out and walled up with tons of drift. You really needed those

paddling arms!

Happy Birthday to Huntington’s Danny Misken, one of our top

air-busters in the lineup, who just recovered from a fin slice that

needed some stitches, but he’s back in the water again. A special

shout out goes to all of you I saw on Earth Day cleaning our beaches.

Thank you!

See ya.

* 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.