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Surfing Competitions
Corky Carroll used to tell what happened years ago when he listed professional surfer as his occupation on his tax return. Nobody could believe there was such a thing then. Today that’s all changed and the surf competition industry is largely responsible for it. Love it or not, competitive surfing’s main contribution may be simply that it’s freed today top tier surfers to become even greater by liberating them from the need to make a living in some more conventional manner. Competition among surfers likely began the first time there were two in the water at the same time. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Polynesian cultures held formal contests to demonstrate skill on waves. Minor organized meets began to appear on the mainland and Hawaii in the early 20th century. But it’s generally agreed that the first major organized event was the International Surfing Championship at Makaha in 1954. It included a category called Night Torch Surfing, which seems to be a lost art. Competition, personal achievement, and a trophy were the recompense in that era. Nobody got to quit their day job, much less make a career out of this. The Duke Kahanamoku Classic began at Sunset Beach in 1965. By 1969 the Duke Classic offered surfers the biggest prize purse in the sport: $1,000.No promoter got rich selling tickets, either, as the nature of most events made it impossible to charge admission to anything but a limited grandstand. Surf contests remained a niche attraction into the early Seventies. Once a year, ABC’s Wide World Of Sports would assign a camera crew to Huntington Beach or some other mainstream meet, but it wasn’t what you’d call a major media event. It wasn’t until downwind corporate interests -- surf attire manufacturers, mainly -- caught the scent of profit in surfing that the exposure, and the money, and everything that goes with that, entered the sport. Today there are so many contests you wonder how anyone gets a wave anywhere without paying an entry fee to somebody. Here are a few notables: - ASP World Tour: What really rescued the ASP from the niche market near-oblivion it teetered on for years has been the internet. Never a real great “grandstand” draw, and perennially ignored by the non-surfing world, surf competitions suffered financially from a lot of problems NASCAR never had, like the vagaries of wave conditions and the necessity for locales accessible enough to host a paying crowd.
- US Open of Surfing: Not long ago, the Hurley US Open was called the OP Pro, and Ocean Pacific wasn’t sold exclusively at WalMart. Still, this remains a solid All-American event, a 50-year tradition in hallowed water on the south side of the Huntington Beach pier. And like most stateside events, there’s a certain three-ring circus vibe to it.
- East Coast Surfing Championship: The East Coast Surfing Championship started, appropriately, in Long Island, New York in 1961. It moved to Virginia Beach in 1963 and stayed. The oldest surf contest in North America and the second longest-running, continuously-staged surfing event in the world (Bell’s Beach Classic in Australia is first) the ECSC offers both pro and amateur categories.
- Mavericks Surf Contest (now renamed the Jay At Mavericks): I enjoy watching people ride waves I’ll never catch, or want to. Late every Fall/early Winter the window opens and the waiting period for waves begins. If they show, 24 surfers get the call to head to Mavericks. When the surf is firing and the big guns are competing on these monster waves, it’s compelling stuff. Sponsors keep dropping in, then out, but I hope this latest incarnation of the tournament survives.
- Billabong Pipe Masters: The stars are all out there, all right, but it’s the wave that fascinates. It’s a natural wonder when the timing is right, and the fact that people are riding it just makes it all that much more theatrical. The aura of danger and the allure of Banzai barrels is high drama. Since they first started handing out entrance forms to this contest in 1971, it has been a must-see in the surfing world. Today, with full webcast coverage, it’s a can’t miss.
- Oxbow World Longboard Tour: There are always recognized names/old favorites on this tour, and the women’s events on longboards, especially, are things of grace and beauty. Sometimes there are WLT events at breaks you actually surf. You can learn a number of invaluable things from watching tournament-quality surfing at your favorite spot, then put it to use next time you paddle out on those same waves.
- No-Name Events: I enjoy the occasional contest in really crummy surf. The kind where, normally, you wouldn’t even go out yourself. It’s enlightening to see how pros take those conditions and make something out of it. A lot of UK contests seem to take place in less-than-ideal conditions, but you’ll still see some very game surfers wringing out some great rides. Something to remember next time you’re impatiently holding out for the perfect wave.
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