Op Pro Surfing Championships : Californians Curren and Smith Capture Titles on Small Waves

Santa Barbara’s Tom Curren and San Clemente’s Jorja Smith won the titles in the Op Pro Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach Sunday.

Local favorite Jeff Booth of Laguna Beach lost in the semifinals, but went away from this championship feeling pretty good, just the same.

Both finals featured Australia vs. Southern California showdowns.

Curren defeated Australian Gary Elkerton to win his third Op title, and Smith defeated Pam Burridge of Australia to win her first Op title.

Booth, a rookie, advanced the hard way, through the trials. He ousted defending Op champion Barton Lynch on Friday and by Sunday he was clearly a crowd favorite.

The final moments of the semi-final between Booth, who is ranked 45th in the world, and Elkerton typified the problems surfers faced throughout the competition with conditions producing unusually small waves.

Until the final minutes, the heat was too close to call as Booth held his own against one of the world’s best surfers.

Then, with about 90 seconds left in the heat, Elkerton caught his best wave, riding it all the way to the beach. He got out of the water, confident his 7-6 wave edge would hold up.

In normal conditions, that might have been a risky move. Booth was free to catch the first good wave that came by. But he waited in vain for a wave that didn’t come.

“I was out there all by myself ready to take whatever came up,” he said. “But nothing did. How many times will you see that? The water just didn’t cooperate.”

But Booth was not displeased. “I made a name for myself here this week,” he said. “This is a happy day.”

Curren’s third Op victory made him a happy man. “Winning the Op in front of this great crowd (estimated at 25,000) is always a thrill,” said Curren, who received $10,000. “This is the most prestigious event in the world, and it’s the one that I want to win more than any other.”

Curren, ranked fifth in the world, began the day by winning his 30-minute semifinal heat against defending world champion and top-ranked Damien Hardman of Australia.

He ripped a fin off his board coming off a wave, forcing him to use a spare in the best two out of three heats final with Elkerton, who had advanced by beating Booth. In the first 30-minute heat, Elkerton and Curren collided trying to catch the same wave, and were assessed a double interference penalty.

“We were both paddling for the same wave, and neither of us had priority,” Curren said. “I made it to my feet first, but then (Elkerton) came up right beside me.”

Curren won the final in straight heats, but Elkerton said the penalty call, which wiped out one of his rides, affected the outcome.

“I really didn’t think it should have been a double penalty,” Elkerton said. “It had a bearing, because it was a close heat.”

Smith, ranked first in the world, defeated Australia’s Toni Sawyer, ranked fifth, in the early morning semifinals. But she couldn’t beat the jitters.

“I don’t know why I was so nervous, but I was,” Smith said. “It’s not like I’m a rookie. I’ve been on the tour for four years, so I should be used to it now.”

Smith overcame the nerves and showed the kind of savvy it took to catch the few, two- to three-foot waves that occasionally rippled by. She won in straight heats over Burridge, ranked third, to take the $6,000 winner’s prize.

“It was tight until the last few minutes,” said Burridge, who advanced by beating second-ranked Frieda Zamba of Florida. “Then Jorja ripped off that last wave and scored some major points. I knew it was over with then.”

As a rookie in 1985, Smith finished second to Australia’s Jodie Cooper at the Op. But before Sunday, she had recorded only two victories in her surfing career.

“It’s about time I had a good run,” she said. “I took a couple of months off and I just got started back. I hope this is only the beginning.”