World tour set to wind down in Hawaii

RICK FIGNETTI

I know it’s the middle of November, but it was looking like summer

again here in Surf City this week with the sunny skies we were having

and the warm air temps during the days. Not quite the crowd on the

beaches though, and those water temperatures have finally started

taking a dip into the 60s. Uh oh, full suits again.

The surf scene has switched over to the North Shore of Hawaii for

the first event in the Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing, the Hawaiian

Pro at Haliewa. The surf was running head high with offshore

conditions as they started on Monday, and the swell was supposed to

pick up more over the next few days.

The event is a popular one and is totally filled up, starting with

the round of 132 where you can pull some big-name talent, even in the

early going. Sixty-six alternates were waiting to get in, but I

wouldn’t count on more than five opening slots opening up.

There were some big upsets already. Former world champ and

multiple Triple Crown winner Derek Ho lost in the first round, along

with fellow Hawaiians Dustin Barca, just off a recent final placing,

and National Air winner Ola Eleogram, not to mention Japan’s rad man

Masatoshi Ohno. Getting to the next round were three-time world champ

Tom Curren, Hawaiian local shredder Mikala Jones, and Aussies Luke

Munro and the “Flying” Kirk Flintoff, to name a few.

The women’s will also run at Haliewa, but it’s a World

Championship Tour event for them -- the Roxy Pro. The top 17 gals and

a wildcard will battle it out in the second to the last event of the

season.

Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich still has a 480-point lead over Hawaiian

Rochelle Ballard in the points race. The women’s tour has pretty much

been dominated by Australian Layne Beachley the last six years, but

her reign looks like it might be coming to an end this season, as she

is down a few spots in the ratings.

Last week, an Xcel Pro warm-up session at Sunset produced an

all-Hawaiian final. The weather had been stormy, rainy and windy,

with some murky brown water runoff, but there was some 4- to 8-foot

contestable surf. Winning again was local boy Fred Pattachia Jr. for

his second in a row. Second was Brian Pacheco. Third went to the

outer island’s Ian Walsh with fourth going to Kauai’s Barca.

We’ve had a few shark attacks here in California, but most haven’t

been fatal. Over in Cape Town, South Africa, an elderly lady was

swimming off the beach on Monday at Sunny Cove when an estimated

18-foot great white swam up and attacked her. Not much could be done

as the attack, witnessed by people on the beach, happened so fast

that the only thing left was her bathing cap. There had been other

attacks in that area the last few years.

The John Boozer Memorial Paddle-Out has been rescheduled for

Saturday at North Bolsa, by Warner Street in the morning. Huntington

Beach will miss another fallen hero and surfer who passed away

recently. Our best wishes and prayers go out to Morgan, his wife, and

family.

That’s it for now; see ya, Fig over and out.

* 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.