Surfing at Huntington Beach : Collins Says a New Attitude Helps Him Beat Curren

Perhaps the days when Richie Collins would pound his head against the wall in frustration or get into fights just for the sake of it are gone. So is his nickname, Skeletor, and his new-wave haircut and cocky attitude.

He claims his life style and appearance have changed along with his surfing fortunes in the past month.

Collins, using brash, bold maneuvers, defeated defending-champion Tom Curren Sunday to win the Op Pro Surfing Championships before about 20,000 at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Frieda Zamba of Flagler Beach, Fla., overcame a bout with the flu and defeated Kim Mearig of Carpinteria, 91 to 64.8, in the women’s final. Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla., beat Rob Machado of Cardiff, Calif., 97.4 to 89.5, to win the junior amateur title.

Collins, of Newport Beach, won $8,000. Curren, of Santa Barbara, earned $4,000.

Collins, a gangly, 20-year-old who designs his boards in the Costa Mesa shop owned by his father, Lance, claimed the victory marked a turning point in his life.

Although he has been a born-again Christian most of his life, Collins said he has adjusted his behavior in the past two months.

Frustrated when he would do poorly in a contest, Collins used to take his aggression out on himself--and others.

“I was fighting myself,” Collins said. “I was breaking things using my head. I would get into fights a lot.

“After the Gotcha (surf championships) last month, I couldn’t handle life anymore.”

He said he started going to church again, which he claims helped inspire his surfing.

Collins, seeded 15th, said he needed to build an early lead against Curren, a two-time world champion. Collins caught 11 waves to Curren’s eight and turned in high scores of 25 out of a possible 30 on two of his first six waves.

But Curren fought back with consistent scores of 21, 20.7 and 21.9 on his final three waves.

Collins said he didn’t think he won. Scores were not announced during the final 10 minutes of the 45-minute heat to keep the crowd and the surfers in suspense.

“I thought Curren had won it on his last wave,” Collins said. “Sometimes the judges will look at the last wave more.”

Curren said he was nervous competing in his first contest of the 1989 season. He spent most of the year living and training in France.

“I was a little disappointed I didn’t win,” he said. “We had a good heat. It was one of the best I have been in. I was glad I made it close at the end.”

During the competition, Collins videotaped Curren’s heats as well as his own. He studied Curren’s style.

“I saw that I was getting through the waves a little looser,” Collins said. “But he’s an awful lot stronger than I am.”

Collins used the meet to experiment with several new moves, including a twisting maneuver he calls the rock n’ roll. Collins glides down the face of the wave, twists three-fourths of the way around and then twists back the way he came. He used the high-scoring, crowd pleasing move sparingly in the final.

“I’ve been changing my style to score on faster, quicker and bigger moves,” he said.

Collins said his performance helped him overcome a frustrating past at the Op Pro. He placed 33rd last year and his best finish before Sunday was ninth, in 1987.

“I’ve always wanted to win this,” Collins said. “But I’ve always had bad luck. This year it wasn’t so much luck.”

A new attitude, perhaps?

“I’m just kicking back, cruising and having fun,” Collins said. “Some (surfers) try to go out and blow peoples’ minds, but I just go out and hang five.”