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Surf contest in Huntington Beach is the first of three that will draw pro surfers

By malls on August 6, 2021

The first in a wave of professional surf contests happening in Huntington Beach is this weekend, kicking off a series of events where fans can watch up-close elite wave riders from around the globe.

The Jack’s Surfboards Pro runs through Sunday, Aug. 8, with stellar surf conditions in the 4-foot to 5-foot range kicking off at the event Thursday south of the Huntington Beach Pier.

Cancel by the pandemic last year, it is the first major professional surf contest in more than a year in Southern California.

The Jack’s Surfboards Pro is a World Surf League Qualifying Series event, or QS1,000, a chance for up-and-comer surfers to earn points for spots in larger events.

WSL North American Regional Manager Meg Bernardo said 128 men and 40 women from around the world are competing.

“It really is a fantastic feeling, we can feel the energy just through the surfers,” she said. “It’s a full event, it’s really nice to see everybody ready to go.”

Tents are popped up on the sand with several surf brands involved, with spectators watching from the shoreline or the pier above.

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On the horizon, are the first-ever WSL Finals, for which the world’s best will be heading to Lower Trestles just south of San Clemente for just one day of competition in September, a change from the format that used to crown a champ based on points accumulated throughout the competitive year.

The WSL Finals will have a window from Sept. 8 to  17, with the contest to run on the day with the best surf conditions.

This year, the men’s and women’s World Titles will bring together the top five men and top five women – based on points accumulated throughout the season – for the new surf-off format at the high-performance wave.

Currently, three Brazilians are on the top of the list for the men’s line-up: Gabriel Medina at 1st place, followed by newly-crowed Olympic gold medalists Italo Ferreira and San Clemente transplant Filipe Toledo.

Local fans could have recognizable surfers to cheer for. San Clemente’s Griffin Colapinto is currently fifth in the ranks. On the women’s side, San Clemente surfer Caroline Marks, originally from Florida, leads in points and will likely have a spot among the top five in the finals.

There’s still two events before the WSL Finals – the Corona Open Mexico and Outerknown Tahiti Pro – so the surfer rankings may change before they hit Trestles.

The event brings professional surfing back to Lower Trestles, one of the mainland’s best spots for waves, for the first time in four years since the Hurley Pro was canceled. And it won’t be the last big event held here, with the WSL announcing this week a World Tour stop at Lower Trestles next June.

After the WSL Finals this September, the surf action will be back in Surf City with the U.S. Open of Surfing, which is returning after a pandemic hiatus as mostly as a surf contest.

The event runs Sept. 20-26 and is expected to draw top pro surfers at the “Challenger Series” event, which allows surfers on the qualifying series to earn points and nudge up the ranks for a spot on the following year’s World Tour, or help give a safety net to surfers already on tour who need back-up points.

But Vans, the Costa Mesa brand that has sponsored the event since 2013, has pulled out of this year’s event and it’s still unclear what kind of festival footprint the event will have on the sand.

The competition field will include 96 men and 64 women – including 34 men and 17 women from the Championship Tour, 58 men and 44 women allocated by the WSL regions, two men’s and women’s World Junior wildcards, and two men’s and one women’s wildcards. Any unused Championship Tour spots will become wildcards.

Prize money for winners will be $20,000 for both men and women divisions.


Source: Orange County Register

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