Pro Surfing Contest on Verge of a Wipeout : Second Sponsor Is Sought for World-Class Competition in Oceanside

Fearful of losing dollars and prestige, Oceanside’s city and business leaders are frantically searching for a sponsor to finance the coastal community’s annual surfing competition after a major backer withdrew from the lucrative summer event.

For the last five years, the Stubbies Pro International Surfing Tournament has brought the world’s greatest surfers to Oceanside. But more important to local merchants, the event has lured thousands of tourists with fat wallets.

However, this year’s six-day tournament, scheduled for July 25-30, is in jeopardy because one of the two sponsors has decided not to contribute to the event.

According to event organizers, Stubbies Inc.--the San Francisco clothing company that has served as the sole sponsor since the tournament’s first year--recruited another company this year to help underwrite 50% of the event’s cost. Stubbies refused to divulge the identity of the company.

One Sponsor Left

The withdrawal has left Stubbies alone with the bill. In early March, Stubbies informed city officials and organizers that, without financial help from another company, it would not be able to hold the event. Last year, Stubbies paid more than $250,000 as sole sponsor.

“Both from the economic point of view and the prestige it gives our community . . . it’s important that the event continue to be held in Oceanside,” said Larry Bauman, Oceanside’s public information officer.

City leaders, although fretting about the potential loss of revenue, have worked closely with Jim Watson, an independent event director, who has been charged with recruiting a new sponsor. Watson was originally hired by Stubbies to organize the event.

Although optimistic that a surfing tournament will be held in Oceanside this summer, Watson said it is unlikely the event will be rated by the Assn. of Surfing Professionals, or ASP, the sport’s governing body. In a rated event, the association awards points to competitors to establish professional ranking.

Key Deadline

In order to obtain a rated event status, event organizers must find a suitable sponsor for the Oceanside event by today.

“That doesn’t look very feasible right now,” said Watson, who has contacted about a dozen potential sponsors in recent weeks. “I would say about five of them expressed serious interest. Most of them said they would love to be here in 1990, but said it would be impossible to get everything together on such short notice.”

Should today’s deadline not be met, the surfing association could consider another organizer’s offer to hold an event at a different location. But Watson is still courting sponsors capable of providing big prize money to lure the world’s top surfers to Oceanside.

“Even if it’s not a rated event I think you’ll get plenty of people,” Watson said. “Surfers like Oceanside and, if they have a shot at winning money, they’ll be here.”

As long as a sponsor can be found by the end of May, Watson said he would have enough time to organize an event.

Meanwhile, Oceanside’s businessmen are keeping their fingers crossed.

The surfing tournament attracted more than 50,000 spectators last year and generated a “conservative estimate” of $250,000 for local merchants, said Stebbins Dean, executive vice president of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.

“When any event such as this is staged in our community . . . people take advantage of our lodging and food,” Dean said. “And then, on top of that, this kind of event gains national exposure. The benefits of that are incredible.”

“We see the benefits and advantages of having Stubbies here, and we want them here,” Dean said. “We’re willing to help in any way that we can.”

And so are the city’s officials.

Bauman said the city has written a letter to the association asking that it continue to reserve the July dates for an Oceanside surfing tournament.

“We’ve asked them to keep open those dates as a stopover on their international circuit,” Bauman said. “We don’t want them to cross us off just because Stubbies pulled out. We’re hoping to find a sponsor that’s suitable to them. We’re anxious to keep it going.”