WET AND WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG:Hobgood gets 1st in bout

The Assn. of Surfing Professional’s Body Glove Surf Bout finished up on Saturday at Lower Trestles in San Clemente in some small 1- to 3-foot surf. It was a pretty close final that anybody could’ve won, but 2001 world champ C.J. Hobgood of Florida — riding a four fin quad board — ripped the lefts with some tail-out moves to win the $10,000 first-place prize.

Hobgood is ranked 30 on the world championship tour and is on his way to Tahiti as the next event starts in a few days. Second was Aussie Dayyan Neve who had some nice waves, too, and was in contention for a win, with new championship-tour rookie Gabe Kling third and Surf City’s Shaun Ward finishing a very impressive fourth, ripping the whole event. Ward is in a good position making the final for the Macy’s Trifecta points leader, with the Newport Pro in September and the Coldwater Classic in October in Santa Cruz still on the horizon locally. Honorable mention goes to Seal Beach’s Chris Waring, who lost in the quarterfinals; Huntington Beach’s Micah Byrne who lost in round six; Brad Ettinger who lost in round five; and Ted Navarro who lost in round four. They all tore it up through some heavy heats. In the juniors, Australian Brent Dorrington started strong with an 8.17 score but wasn’t in the lead till he caught a moderate wave in the last 10 seconds of the final to win.

Florida’s Eric Geiselman almost had it, but settled for second with some big slashes. Cory Arrambide finished third, surfing super quick, and up north’s Nick Rozsa finished fourth.

Over the weekend, early-pioneer, big-wave surfer “Da Bull” Greg Noll was in town autographing “Greg Noll: The Art of the Surfboard” by Drew Kampion at Huntington Surf and Sport. Noll was known for riding giant 20- to 30-foot-plus Wiamea Bay, Sunset and Makaha back in the days when few would. The book tells his life story, covers the craft of surfboard making, and includes lots of old classic surfing pictures. It shows some of the designs of his boards back in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and even current stuff. I was stoked to get his autograph in the book, on a poster, and he even signed a Noll big wave gun I had that I brought to the signing, too. If you missed out I think there will be a few more signings down south. The Huntington Beach Open beach volleyball is coming to the pier this weekend, and it should be hot. Fig, over and out.