Joe Surf: Brett Simpson is working his way back into a groove

Brett Simpson has been easy to spot lately.

Go to the sand on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier and check out the crowd of surfers. Without being able to tell who’s who, there’s a good chance the one that you see getting air and landing it is Simpson.

Simpson certainly would prefer surfing less at Huntington and more on the World Surf League’s World Championship Tour (WCT), but this is where he is now.

For the first time since 2010, the Huntington native did not qualify for the WCT, and now finds himself having to work his way back to the world’s best competition tour.

It’s not all bad. He gets to spend more time at home with his young daughter and wife, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child.

“It’s been great, to be honest,” Simpson said. “I’ve had time to watch my daughter grow up and support my wife, as we are excited for our little boy at the end of June. I’ve missed moments of being on the tour, such as the close friends and the level you get to surf with on a daily basis. But other than that I’ve been enjoying myself and being home for a bit.”

However, he still has work to do. And that means re-qualifying for the WCT.

So Simpson, 31, still must make trips for the Qualifying Series (QS) contests, and this week finds himself in Japan for the Ichinomiya Chiba Open. The QS contests are not like the WCT contests because many more surfers can compete, and the surf spots may not always be as pristine as the world’s top surfers are used to.

“I had worked hard to get better in the longer and stronger WCT waves over the last handful of years,” Simpson said, “and now it’s back to ‘crumbier’ waves so your mindset and equipment have to change, and that is taking me a second to find what needs to be done. But I’m still enjoying competing even though it’s been a rough run. Let’s hope the U.S. Open is the breakthrough for me.”

The Ichinomiya Chiba Open had 120 competitors listed initially, meaning winning such a contest would be a matter of everything going right, in practically every heat, from conditions to who you’re matched up against in heats. Simpson was eliminated in the second round Tuesday in Japan.

“Yeah I haven’t had much success as of late,” he said. “To be honest, I’ve been working hard, surfing a lot, just haven’t strung heats together for some reason. It’s a bit of a reality check with the wave quality, I’m having to try to adjust my surfing and boards back to the crappier waves, and it’s taking a second. But most of all, I do want to get back there, but it’s going to take a concerted effort to do that.”

Simpson wasn’t the only Huntington surfer in Japan for the contest. Derek Peters and Matt Passaquindici also made the trip, and the three were pictured together on their Instagram pages. Tim Reyes, another Huntington surfer, made the trip to Japan for the contest too.

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Keeping up with Kanoa

With the next WCT contest not getting started until June 5, Huntington’s Kanoa Igarashi took the opportunity to travel to Japan and had planned to surf in the Ichinomiya Chiba Open at Shiba Point as well.

Returning to the WCT next year is no guarantee, so doing well in QS contests can help. But Igarashi also is a big celebrity in Japan, having starred in a reality TV show there since he was 11.

He’s also the first Japanese-American to qualify for the WCT, so his fans come from all over Asia.

“I didn’t really think about it at first, but now it’s sinking in that I am the first one,” Igarashi told NBC News. “I didn’t even know there were people watching surfing in Korea. It’s really cool because now I feel like I have not just Japan but all of Asia supporting me. Hopefully, it inspires more surfers from (there).”

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NSSA West Coast Regionals

The National Scholastic Surfing Assn. held its West Coast Regional Championships last weekend at the south side of the Huntington Pier, with several locals placing in their respective divisions.

Here are those from Huntington, Newport and Laguna who placed:

• Open Longboard (all ages) — Jovan Scott-Smith, 2nd place, Huntington Beach.

• Explorer Men (all ages) — Parker Cohn, 2nd place, Newport Beach; Dylan Hord, 3rd place, Huntington Beach.

• Explorer Boys (14 and under) — Kiko Nelson, 5th place, Laguna Beach.

• Explorer Menehuene (12 and under) — Jo Jo Whelan, 5th place, Newport Beach.

• Explorer Super Groms (10 and under) — Hayden Rodgers, 3rd place, Laguna Beach.

• Explorer Women (all ages) — Brook Daigneault, 4th place, Huntington Beach.

• Explorer Super Seniors (45 and up) — Rick Fignetti, 3rd place, Huntington Beach.

• Explorer Duke (55 and up) — Rick Fignetti, 3rd place, Huntington Beach.

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Fearless Fanning

Aussie Mick Fanning, who was attacked by a shark during the final heat of the J-Bay Open in South Africa last year, has announced that he will compete in the J-Bay Open this year in July.

At least, he says, he has it “penciled in,” so he reserves the right to pull out if he wants.

Fanning is taking a “semi-year” off this season, surfing only in selected events after an emotional year last year that included not only the shark attack but also the death of his brother.

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JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.