Rioting May Mean End of Annual Surf Competition

The riot that broke out during the Ocean Pacific Pro Surfing championships Sunday probably means that the event won’t be held in Huntington Beach again and that other major surfing events in Southern California could be jeopardized, according to the organizer of the world surfing tour.

“It’s more than disappointing; it’s terribly depressing,” said Ian Cairns, executive director of the Assn. of Surfing Professionals, which governs the world tour and hosted the four previous Huntington Beach events. “It’s going to make everyone take a long hard look at what we’re doing.

‘Far-Reaching Ramifications’

“A lot of decisions are going to have to be made that are going to have far-reaching ramifications for the potential growth of surfing in California, or even America.”

Cairns did not say what steps his organization might take, but he said he did not want the tour to be associated with an area that has demonstrated a potential for such dangerous disruptions.

“Maybe people in L.A. can’t handle it,” he said, referring to the crowd’s behavior Sunday. “We’re law-abiding citizens and none of us want to see that situation happening again. I mean people were hurt and people could have been killed. I doubt OP is going to want to risk that sort of liability.”

Representatives of Ocean Pacific Sunwear Ltd. could not be reached for comment Sunday. The sportswear manufacturer sponsors the annual surfing contest, which was being held over the weekend for the fifth time.

Cairns emphasized that the rioters were not part of the crowd watching the competition.

“There were a lot of people watching the surfing and they had nothing to do with it,” he said. “But surfing is going to get the bum rap again because of a pack of drunken, drug-crazed maniacs who came down to the beach and weren’t part of the surfing crowd at all.

“I was flabbergasted. I can’t believe there are that many animals out there who could do that sort of stuff. We were lucky the police were able to get it under control before anybody was killed.”

Cairns said the violence spoiled what had been a well-run sporting event.

“This could have been a milestone, and it turned out to be a milestone--in a negative way,” he said. “Before this happened, it was a fantastic thing--big surf, a great final day. It would have been wonderful. Instead, (pro) surfing gets set back 10 or 20 years.”