A great time for those with a nose for longboards

RICK FIGNETTI

There was more big action right here in Surf City over the weekend as

the Toes on the Nose Women’s World Longboard Championships and a

men’s pro-am longboard event were held Oct. 29-31 on the south side

of the pier.

Some of the top 48 women in the world were invited to surf in it.

This contest has been held down south at Boca Barranca, Costa Rica,

the last few years, but contest organizers felt a lot of the best

women long boarders were from the states and more would turn out if

it were closer to home. This event also posted a bigger purse for the

women than the men, as $11,000 in prize money was given away to the

gals.

Summer Romero from San Diego won and clinched the world title with

some awesome nose rides, doing some fancy footwork and even getting a

barrel on a left in some fun two-to-four foot surf. Close behind was

Julie Whitegon, placing second by less than a half a point, with some

nice rides too.

Third went to Huntington’s resident Kim Hamrock, who was the 2002

winner, but fell on a wave that could’ve possibly given her the win.

She pulled a rad floater and tried to bash the last section but came

unglued from her board.

Kelly Sloan rounded out the top four places, as she had some great

heats throughout the event as well.

In the men’s longboard final, local pier standout Josh Mohr was on

fire, leading from the get go, never looking back, busting the moves

and getting all the sets for the big win. Mohr was feeling the . pier

blessing him on Sunday, breaking a streak where he hasn’t won a big

one out there for a while, but was stoked with his No. 1 finish.

Second was former world champ Bonga Perkins from Hawaii, who was hot

on his heels; third went to “Style Master” Taylor Jensen from

Imperial Beach and fourth was San Clemente nose riding expert Josh

Baxter.

A couple of Huntington hotties did well too. Former world champ

Joey Hawkins made the semis and busted one of the highest scores of

the contest, in the nine zone, so the “Hawk” is back. Dodger Kremmel

had some nice waves too. Three-time world champ Colin McPhillips was

upset in the quarterfinals, losing a tight one. To wrap it up, it was

a fun weekend.

Big news flash hot off the press -- Huntington’s ripping Timmy

Reyes just made another World Qualifying Series final, this time in

Brazil at the Onbongo Pro at Florianapolis, placing third in the

six-star. This rockets Reyes into the top 12 in the qualifying series

standings and it’s already calculated that he has enough points to

make the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ big show, the World

Championship Tour. A tough feat and a job well done. Not since Jeff

Deffenbaugh made it in the ‘90s has a local surfer been on the elite

tour of the top 44 surfers in the world. A congratulations party was

held at Dukes on Wednesday night, attended by a lot of his bros and

people that have seen him rise to the mega talent he is today.

Congrats!

On a sadder note, legendary surfer John Boozer, known for his

fearless big wave surfing and his witty personality, passed away

recently. I can remember a full page shot of him in a magazine where

he was flexing with his favorite big wave gun with the caption,

“Beautiful Boozer in paradise,” when I was a grom back in the ‘70s. A

paddle out is scheduled at Bolsa Chica Beach this Saturday, one last

time for Boozer.

Hope ya got some barrels on the offshore days. That’s it for now,

see ya.

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

announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last 11 years and has been the

KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 18 years, doing morning surf

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

(714) 536-1058.