Curran second to none

Nathaniel Curran pounced early in the Men’s final of the U.S. Open Surfing on Sunday, and his strategy paid off at a jammed-pack Huntington Beach Pier.

Curran, who turns 24 Wednesday, rode a solid score — 6.33 — in the opening seconds of the 30-minute final and led the remainder of the way over his finals foe, Tim Boal of France.

There were several lulls in the surf throughout the day, with 2 to 3-foot waves for the final. The conditions went dead flat in the final five minutes.

Curran won the coveted title by defeating Boal by a score of 11.66 to 10.70.

“It was an awesome event,” said Curran, a resident of Oxnard. “It was kind of a bummer that the waves never really came in, though. My strategy was to get a good score early and take it from there. I’ve seen the surf here be fickle before. I’ve seen it happen to my brother.”

Curran’s brother, Tim, was a longtime regular on the World Championship Tour.

Although Curran, who said he has competed at the U.S. Open since he was 16 but won his first title Sunday, maintained the lead throughout the final, he still had to sweat out one final ride by Boal.

With 40 seconds to go, the Frenchman was able to take one final wave, and his strong effort was nearly good enough to overtake Curran.

“My back was to the action so I didn’t see him,” Curran said of Boal’s final attempt at victory.

Once the horn sounded to end the championship heat, both Curran and Boal had to wait for official word as to who won the coveted title. The two endured a waiting game as they were swarmed by media and well-wishers at the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

And they waited. And waited some more.

Curran, however, said someone told him he was the winner. He was just waiting for confirmation. But the wait didn’t stop supporters in the massive crowd at the pier — including his brothers Tim and Josh — from carrying their christened winner up the beach.

And their coronation was right-on.

When the announcement finally came, it secured Curran’s $15,000 grand prize, while Boal claimed $7,500.

“This is the biggest win of my life,” Curran said.

Sunday’s win moved Curran from No. 4 to the No. 1 spot on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Qualifying Series ratings. Boal comes in at No. 18.

The closing seconds of the final had an eerie similarity to one of the Men’s semifinal heats Sunday, when Boal pulled out a last-second ride score to deny Huntington Beach’s Brett Simpson from surfing in the championship final. Simpson held the lead in the closing seconds and had priority but Boal slashed his way for a 6.83 score to overtake Simpson and pull out a 12.10 to 11.93 victory.

“That was really bizarre,” said Simpson, who was both candid and philosophical about the mistake.

Simpson hadn’t lost a heat the entire contest prior to the semifinals.

“It’s super depressing to lose that way, but that’s part of the game,” he said. “Sometimes you end up on the bad end of things.

“I was hoping to make the finals. I had a lot of friends and family out here, cheering me on. They were awesome.”

Simpson was one of three locals to advance to the final day of competition of the 10-day event.

Simpson, Huntington Beach’s Timmy Reyes and Chris Waring, a schoolmate of Simpson’s at Huntington Beach High and resident of Seal Beach, all made it to the Round of 16 on Sunday. That’s where Reyes’ run ended and Waring fell in the quarterfinals against Curran. “It was awesome to have three locals go that far,” Simpson said. “You expect it from Timmy because he’s one of the best surfers in the world. For Chris, though, it’s amazing. He doesn’t have a lot of experience as the rest of these guys, so this is a great breakthrough for him.”

Also Sunday, Tanner Gudauskas of San Clemente won the Junior Pro and Taylor Jensen (Encinitas) won the U.S. Open of Longboarding.

PAST WINNERS

MEN

U.S. Open of Surfing

2008: Nathaniel Curran (Oxnard)

2007: C.J. Hobgood (Florida)

2006: Rob Machado (Cardiff)

2005: Andy Irons (Hawaii)

2004: Taj Burrow (Australia)

2003: Cory Lopez (Florida)

2002: Kalaniv Robb (Hawaii)

2001: Rob Machado (Cardiff)

2000: Sunny Garcia (Hawaii)

1999: Shea Lopez (San Clemente)

1998: Andy Irons (Hawaii)

1997: Beau Emerton (Australia)

1996: Kelly Slater (Florida)

1995: Rob Machado (Cardiff)

1994: Shane Beschen (San Clemente)

WOMEN

U.S. Open of Surfing

2008: Malia Manuel (Hawaii)

2007: Stephanie Gilmore (Australia)

2006: Sofia Mulanovich (Peru)

2005: Julia Christian (San Diego)

2004: Chelsea Georgeson (Australia)

2003: Chelsea Georgeson (Australia)

2002: Pauline Menczer (Australia)

2001: Pauline Menczer (Australia)

2000: Tita Tavares (Brazil)

1999: Keala Kennelly (Hawaii)

1998: Tita Tavares (Brazil)

1997: Lisa Andersen (Florida)

1996: Layne Beachley (Australia)

1995: Neridah Falconer (Australia)

1994: Lisa Andersen (Florida)

Men’s Junior Pro

2008: Tanner Gudauskas (San Clemente)

2007: Tonino Benson (Hawaii)

2006: Ben Dunn (Australia)

2005: Hank Gaskell (Hawaii)

2004: Adriano de Souza (Brazil)

2003: Kekoa Bacalso (Hawaii)

2002: Kekoa Bacalso (Hawaii)

2001: Bobby Martinez (Santa Barbara)

2000: Paulo Moura (Brazil)

1999: Travis Logie (South Africa)

Women’s Junior Pro

2008: Coco Ho (Hawaii)

2006: Lee Ann Curran (France/California)

2005: Nikita Robb (South Africa)

U.S. Open of Longboarding

2008: Taylor Jensen (Encinitas)

2007: Colin McPhillips (San Clemente)

2006: Dodger Kremel (Huntington Beach)

2005: Joel Tudor (Del Mar)

2004: Brendan White (San Clemente)

2003: Taylor Jensen (Imperial Beach)

2002: Joel Tudor (Del Mar)

2001: Josh Baxter (San Clemente)

2000: Joel Tudor (Cardiff)

1999: Joel Tudor (Cardiff)

1998: Joel Tudor (Cardiff)

1997: Joel Tudor (Cardiff)

1996: Joel Tudor (Cardiff)

1995: Joel Tudor (Cardiff)

1994: Colin McPhillips (Capistrano Beach)

U.S. Open of Bodyboarding

1999: Guilherme Tamega (Brazil)

1998: Guilherme Tamega (Brazil)

1997: Brian Wise (San Clemente)

1996: Ben Holland (Australia)

1995: Spencer Skipper (Hawaii)

1994: Guilherme Tamega (Brazil)

Women’s Bodyboarding

2001: Daniela Freitas (Brazil)

1996: Daniela Freitas (Brazil)