Surfing Contest Begins at Huntington Beach

Several hundred of the most accomplished surfers in the world, along with 100,000 spectators, a crew from MTV and the Goodyear blimp will gather near the Huntington Beach Pier this week for the O.P. Pro, the largest surfing contest in the continental United States.

Among the favorites in the $45,000 men’s competition, which begins today with qualifying trials, are World Champion Tommy Curren of Carpinteria, defending O.P. Pro champion Mark Occhilupo of Australia and Brad Gerlach of Huntington Beach, who is ranked second in the Assn. of Surfing Professionals standings behind Curren.

Curren won the O.P. Pro in 1983 and 1984, only to be beaten by Occhilupo in the finals last year. But Curren has the momentum; he has swept all four ASP contests he has entered this season.

Two other potential challengers are 32-year-old Shaun Tomson of Santa Monica, having one of his best seasons in several years, and Mike Parsons of Laguna Beach, fourth in the world standings.

The women’s event, which begins Thursday, is led by World Champion Frieda Zamba of Flagler Beach, Fla., and defending O.P. champion Jodie Cooper of West Australia. At least two Orange County surfers will also compete in the main event Thursday and Friday--Jorja Smith of San Clemente, an O.P. finalist in 1985, and Tricia Gill of Newport Beach, who is seeded eighth this year.

Thanks in part to a hurricane off Baja California, wave conditions are expected to be good for the men’s trials today and should grow increasingly favorable as the week progresses.

“We expect strong three-to-five-foot waves Tuesday, building to solid 4- to 6-foot waves with an occasional 8-foot face by Wednesday and Thursday,” said Jerry Arnold, one of the owners of Surf Line, a weather service that records ocean conditions twice daily along the Southern California coast.

The men’s California Trials begin this morning at 6:30, pitting a field of unseeded American surfers against each other in man-on-man competition for the right to become one of 32 qualifiers for Wednesday’s World Trials. In that round, first-day qualifiers face competitors from Australia, England and South Africa seeded 33-50 by the Assn. of Surfing Professionals.

Thursday, the survivors of the California and World Trials will meet surfers seeded 17-32. The main event trials, featuring the top 16 seeds, begin Friday at 7:30 a.m. Women’s quarterfinals and the second round of the men’s main event are scheduled for Saturday.