Wet ‘N’ Wild with Rockin’ Fig:

The 2009 S.I.M.A. Surfing America USA Surf Championships are on at the south side of the Huntington pier.

Ending Sunday, this an invite-only surf contest will crown the undisputed national champs of the different age brackets. There’s been a solid 2- to 4-foot southwest swell for the first half of the event, which already saw men’s, masters’, seniors’, legends’, and the men and women’s long board divisions surfing it up. More action today and Friday as boys and gals 14 and younger, 16 and younger, and 18 and younger have taken over the lineup.

By Saturday the 12 and younger boys and gals will be surfing it out with more elimination heats for the other divisions. It’ll be down to semi-finals and finals by Sunday. Some surfers to watch include San Clemente’s 15-year-old Kolohe Andino, who won the Governor’s Cup at Trestles earlier this summer and does it all — airs, big slashes, you name it. Sixteen-year-old local Courtney Conlogue has been on a roll, a win at the U.S. Open and a gold medal a few weeks ago in Costa Rica, and she looks tough to beat. Evan, 15, Geiselman has won more East Coast titles than most and is a hot goofy foot from New Smyrna Beach. Another hot Floridian is 17-year-old Evan Thompson of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., who surfs quick and fast. Hawaiian Keanu Asing has the power to do well and has been racking lots of finals. She’s young at 14, but Lakey Peterson knows how to go big; she won the N.S.S.A. Nationals busting a big air in the finals, a first for the gals.

Conner Coffin, a big leaguer from Santa Barbara, has been ripping lately. Huntington Beach’s 10-year-old Kanoa Igarashi broke the records for wins this season with 30, and it ain’t no fluke that 17-year-old Kyle McGeary is a standout on the Huntington Beach High School surf team and could do some damage if he finds the groove, and Newport’s Kaleigh Gilchrist is in top form.

Surfing America is the I.S.A.’s recognized National Governing Body for Surfing in the United States. And the International Surfing Assn. is recognized by the International Olympic Committee which is the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It’s big time. The contest starts at 8 each morning. Bill, a category four hurricane, with 115-knot wind speeds is ready to blast the East Coast with 10- to 15-foot waves Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Batten down the hatches.

The Chris Hawk fundraiser takes place Friday at the Huntington Beach Surf Museum from 5 to 6:30 p.m., then over to the new Shorebreak Hotel from 6:30 to 10 p.m. for the silent and live auction and performance by Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones.

RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.