Surfing at Oceanside : Gerlach’s Late Gamble Pays Off

Was it a “midnight gamble” that beat Mike Lambresi of Oceanside Friday?

Brad Gerlach of Encinitas defeated Lambresi in the second round of the $42,000 Stubbies Pro surfing competition at Oceanside Pier.

Gerlach was surfing with a new board designed by Gary Lindon, who also designs Lambresi’s boards. Lindon called the board a “midnight gamble” because of the late-night chance he took by designing Gerlach a new board in the middle of a competition.

Gerlach had been dissatisfied with the way his previous board had been performing on the small waves at Oceanside. He tried a friend’s board on a whim and found that it was perfect.

Lindon worked from Wednesday night until early Thursday morning to finish a duplicate board. Although Gerlach had only one day to test the board, the results Friday showed that the gamble was worth it.

Gerlach finished 10th on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals tour last season, but, before Friday, he had not won a heat in four contests this season.

Gerlach, 21, and Lambresi, 23, often surf locally together. But Friday was only the second time they had met in head-to-head competition. The other time was in the third round of the Oceanside contest two years ago. Gerlach beat Lambresi then, too, and went on to win the contest.

Lambresi said he was disappointed about the loss, but not because of a rivalry with Gerlach or because of the new surfboard.

“I’d have liked to have beaten him,” said Lambresi, the Professional Surfers Assn. of America points leader. “But then I would have liked to have beaten anyone. We’re friends. I didn’t get up any more than usual to surf against him.”

Today’s matchups Men--Shaun Tomson, Los Angeles, vs. Gary Elkerton, Mooloollabah, Australia; Dave Parmenter, Huntington Beach, vs. Barton Lynch, Manly, Australia; Merrick Davis, Manly, Australia, vs. Tom Carroll, Newport, Australia; Cheyne Horan, Byron Bay, Australia, vs. Tom Curren, Santa Barbara; John Shimooka, Haleiwa, Hawaii, vs. Mike Burness, Durban, South Africa; Sunny Garcia, Hawaii, vs. Brad Gerlach, Encinitas; Mark Occhilupo, Cronulla, Australia, vs. Derek Ho, Sunset Beach, Hawaii; Glen Winton, Newport, Australia, vs. Ted Robinson, Manhattan Beach.

Women--Wendy Botha, Australia, vs. Jorja Smith, San Clemente; Jolene Smith, San Clemente, vs. Freida Zamba, Flagler Beach, Fla.; Pam Burridge, Australia, vs. Tricia Gill, Newport Beach; Jodie Cooper, Australia, vs. Michele Donahoe, Australia.