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Publicists have called it, "Part Woodstock. Part Baywatch. Part Clambake," but no reports of bra-burning fans, crime-solving lifeguards, or "this was a real nice clam bake" singing (Rodgers and Hammerstein) characters - have graced the Huntington Beach OP Beach Festival to date.
Still - if free, top-notch outdoor entertainment is what one seeks, this festival is the place to be!
The two-week event scheduled to coincide with two major surfing competitions, the G-Shock US Open and the OP Pro, continues its run through this Sunday, August 2.
Yesterday, the festival welcomed the 17th Annual OP Pro. This year marks the Pro's return to Huntington Beach, a.k.a. Surf Town USA, after a four-year run in Hawaii.
Surf events yesterday, today and tomorrow occur seven a.m. to 3 p.m. Events Saturday and Sunday occur 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Festival booths and live musical entertainment may be enjoyed into the early evening.
Last week's Open ended Saturday for all female competitors and long boarders and Sunday for all other competitors.
Victories in the Wahine (female surfer; short board) division included: 1. Tita Taverez (Brazil); 2. Yvonne Rogencamp (Australia); 3. Serena Brooke (Australia); 4. Haley Tasker (Australia). Only one of the top 11 seeded women going into this event placed: Brooke, currently no. 5 seed.
Long boarding victories included: 1. Joel Tudor (La Jolla); 2. Colin McPhillips (San Clemente); 3. Steven Slater (Carlsbad); 4. Derek Constable (Australia).
Body boarding results included: 1. Guilhereme Tamega (Brazil); 2. Dean Seppings (Hawaii); 3. Jeff Hubbard (Hawaii); 4. Paul Cooper (Hawaii).
Junior winners included: 1. Damien Hobgood (Florida); 2. Ben Bourgeois (North Carolina); 3. Bobby Martinez (Santa Barbara); 4. Bruce Irons (Hawaii).
Men's surfing victories included: 1. Andy Irons (Hawaii); 2. Time Curran (Oxnard); 3. Daniel Wills (Australia); 4. Todd Prestage (Australia).
The Open was a qualifying event for amateurs seeking professional status and exposure. For many professional surfers, such as currently no. 1 seeded female surfer Layne Beachley, the event served as a warm-up for this week's Pro, a strictly professional contest controlled by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP).
Beachley, who won last year's Open, advanced only so far as the semifinals in this year's Open, perhaps because she usually surfs better in Hawaii. Regarding her performance in the event, Beachley explained she did not surf as well as usual but remained upbeat and optimistic that this first Huntington event provided a good warm-up for the Pro, the real professional competition.
Beachley is revered as a dynamic big-wave surfer. Still, she has proven consistent enough to perform well in all surf competition. Prior to this year, she was 1997's Triple Crown Winner and was consistently ranked as no. 2 seed overall behind four-year running champ, Lisa Anderson.
Anderson, whose face and surf stance dominate Roxy advertisements everywhere has had a disappointing year so far, particularly in last week's Open, never advancing to the quarterfinals. Before reaching Huntington Beach, Anderson was seeded eighth. At this point, Anderson is a long-shot for the women's no. 1 seed even by the year's end.
Perhaps seeds in all areas are due for a bit of shaking-up this year.
Evidence of moving and shaking in the men's division seeds shows definite signs from last week's competition, as well, with such victories as Andy Irons, 20, a recent addition to the men's division. On Sunday, he won $10,000 for his first Surf Town USA effort as a men's division competitor.
The Pro, like the Open consists of preliminary, semifinal and final heats of competition for female and male competitors. However the lineup of events is a bit different. In the Pro, men's and women's (short board) surfing are the sole competitive events. Long boarding is entertainment mid-Sunday in a nose-ride exhibition and both tandem surfing and women's expressional and radical sessions are offered as entertainment mid-Saturday.
All professional surfing events are controlled by the ASP. Gender equity does not exactly apply in the ASP yet, but the notion is certainly out there. During both the Pro and the Open, differences between male and female prize money is considerable mainly because of a larger number of men on the ASP circuit than women. Consider the ASP's top eleven women competing and touring along with the ASP's top 44 men. For the Pro, $150,600 in prizes will be awarded to contestants including $15,000 for the No.1 male and $8,000 for the no. 2 male, in turn $7,000 to the No.1 female and $4,000 to the no. 2 female. Female surf professionals earn less than $.50 to the male surf professional's dollar in most ASP competitions.
Whatever the prize money, whatever the ratios, one thing is for sure - plenty of fabulous wave riding by males and females alike will take place over the next few days just south of the Huntington Beach pier.
And all of it can be viewed right up close and personal - for free - from the sand, from a bevy of seaside stadium seats or from the Huntington pier. Additionally, great live music, tasty food, eclectic booths to peruse and salt and sea pleasantries abound.
Visit Surf Town USA, the longest stop on the ASP tour.
Other Huntington Beach local piques to visit include the much celebrated Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame located along Main Street and the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum.