Chris Frohoff in Right Place at Right Time to Catch Right Waves : Surfing: Redondo Beach surfer takes a couple of long rides and defeats the local competition at San Clemente meet.

Chris Frohoff paddled out for the finals of the Body Glove San Clemente Surf meet Sunday afternoon aware that he had to overcome at least a couple of disadvantages to win.

First, very small waves and very large surfers seldom add up to a winning combination. Frohoff is 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds. The other three surfers in the final--Dino Andino, Brian McNulty and Matt Archbold--average about 5-7 and 140. And these waves were very, very small. By the 3 p.m. final, the tide was low and what little there had been of a one- to two-foot southwest swell had deteriorated into knee-slappers breaking 25 feet offshore.

Second, local surfers figure to have the edge in wave selection, which is so important during inconsistent conditions. Frohoff lives in Redondo Beach. Andino, McNulty and Archbold were able to walk to work Sunday.

As for the intangibles, well, the loyalty of the crowd--estimated at 10,000 by promoters--was split, but there certainly weren’t too many people rooting for Frohoff.

So much for disadvantages.

Frohoff was the right surfer in the right takeoff spot and used his size to generate speed for a couple of long rides that carried him to victory on this sixth stop of the Professional Surfing Assn. of America tour. Andino was second, McNulty third and Archbold fourth.

“I got what little there was out there,” Frohoff said. “I got a couple of waves that opened up and I just went down the line as fast as I could. But it was so small, it was pathetic.”

How small was it?

Archbold: “It was really (bad). I felt like coming in.”

Dana Point’s Chris Billy, who lost in the quarterfinals: “It was pretty dismal. All we did is sit out there and look at each other.”

Sometimes, the surfers did more than just sit, however. A number of heats ended up in paddling duels with competitors literally hanging onto pilings of the San Clemente Pier to establish position in the unlikely case a wave might happen by.

Three-time PSAA bodyboarding champion Mike Stewart was called for a major interference during the final and ended up fourth. Stewart and fellow Hawaiian Ben Severson, who has been second in the rankings behind Stewart each of the last three years, crossed paths and officials ruled Severson had priority on the wave. Severson won the event.

“I’m sorry this happened, but you can’t keep giving up waves,” said Severson, who earned $1,550.

There wasn’t any controversy surrounding the surfing final. Frohoff simply managed to hook into the only couple of waves that held up long enough for him to get in more than one maneuver.

“The low tide helped me because the waves were hollowed and closed out and I’m used to that, surfing beach breaks in Hermosa (Beach) every day,” Frohoff said. “If it was this small and mushy, my size would have been a huge disadvantage.

“I was lucky. I got the set waves.”

With nothing at stake, Frohoff probably would have preferred to mow the lawn than surf under these conditions. But then again, it wasn’t such a difficult way to earn $5,875.

Andino earned $3,150 but seemed more happy with the 900 points that carried him from fifth to second in the PSAA rankings. Frohoff earned 1,000 points, but he also competes on the Assn. of Surfing Professional world tour and misses too many PSAA events to be a contender for the title. Frohoff has 1,879 points. Andino has 3,550, just 72 behind points leader Charlie Kuhn of Indian Harbor, Fla.

“I’m stoked to get back into a final,” said Andino, who hadn’t made it out of the semifinals since the first event of the season in Puerto Rico, where he finished third. “Fro just got all the long waves.

“There wasn’t any hassling. We just took turns and he seemed to be next to the pier every time a worthwhile wave came in. It was a case of just trying to get two maneuvers in . . . like Fro did.”

Surfing Notes

San Clemente’s Matt Archbold, who won seven consecutive heats before falling to fourth in the final, on why he stayed 100 feet north of the pier during the final, even though the best waves seemed to be wedging up next to the pier: “I don’t like all that hassling next to the pier, especially when it’s with a bunch of friends. It’s hard to snake by a friend.” It might have been a costly show of friendship. The best five rides out of a maximum of 15 are judged during the 30-minute final. Chris Frohoff rode 11 waves. Dino Andino had 15. Archbold managed to catch just seven.

Brothers Brian and Terence McNulty were in the same four-man quarterfinal heat Sunday morning with Brian edging his brother out of the contest. Richie Rudolph, of Cocoa Beach, Fla., won the heat with Brian taking second and Terence third. (Two surfers from each heat advance). Four members of Capistrano Beach’s first family of surfing were entered in the contest. Joe and Sean also competed. Brian says he recently moved to San Clemente, though.

Kelly Slater finished in a tie for fifth, but the 18-year-old sensation from Cocoa Beach, Fla. continued to live up to the expectations of those who believe he can be a future world champion. He was clearly the most acrobatic surfer competing at San Clemente this week. Slater, who won the award for the Most Radical Aerial at a recent ASP event in Oceanside, went airborne twice and pulled off successful landings both times to advance out of the quarterfinals. And then he pulled off another spectacular flight in the semifinals.

San Clemente’s Shane Beschen, who couldn’t get a plane out of Mexico in time for his first event Saturday, fell from third to fifth in the PSAA rankings. . . . Vince De La Pena of Laguna Niguel finished tied for seventh. Chris Billy of Dana Point, Bryan Pottger of Fountain Valley and Terence McNulty tied for ninth. Pat O’Connell of Laguna Niguel finished in a tie for 13th.