HUNTINGTON BEACH : OP Surfing Contest to Stay Through ’93

Ocean Pacific Sunwear will continue to sponsor its OP Pro Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach through 1993 under a three-year agreement reached with the City Council last week.

This year’s competition, the eighth annual, will take place July 22-28 south of the Municipal Pier.

This year, however, the contest will be affected by the ongoing construction at the pier. Surfing has been banned within 150 feet of the pier while the city landmark is being replaced. That law will apply to the contest professionals as well as to locals, said Ron Hagan, city community services director.

Many surfers prefer the waves closest to the pier. During both the preliminary competition and the main event this year, however, they will be ordered to keep their distance. Construction is expected to be suspended during the weekend of the finals, when the largest number of spectators is expected, Hagan said.

The pier is scheduled to open by spring, 1992, so construction should not be a factor in future surfing events.

Under the terms of its contract with the city, Ocean Pacific will pay the city $12,500 for each of the next three events, covering rental of the beach, police and lifeguard services and electrical connections. With the past events, most of the city’s revenue has come from hotel and sales taxes, Hagan said.

The city will also receive two 60-second tourism advertisements on ESPN, the cable television station that will broadcast the championships, Hagan said. If the city had to pay for those ads, he said, it would have to spend $60,000.

Approval of the OP event comes two months after the council rejected a bid by the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. to have a tournament on the beach because an alcoholic beverage company, Coors, was one of its sponsors.

After turning down the event scheduled for June 29 and 30, the council adopted a policy banning any alcohol advertising on the city beach and at city-sponsored events. The tournament has since been moved to Camp Pendleton.

In arguing against alcohol sponsorships, some council members cited the 1986 riot at the OP surfing event, which police attributed partly to drunkenness among the spectators. Ocean Pacific, however, does not accept alcohol company ads, and the council was unanimous in favoring a welcome-back for the surfing competition.