Action Will Come in Waves at ‘Surf City’ : Entertainment: Ocean Pacific and U.S. Open will attract crowds and their dollars in next two weeks.

Eve Allerton gets the jitters just thinking about surfing in front of the hometown crowd in this week’s Ocean Pacific Pro Surfing Championship.

Surfing in the event “definitely gets the butterflies going in the stomach,” said Allerton, 23, a Huntington Beach surfer taking part in the contest. On the other hand, she added, with family, friends and former classmates all watching, “if you do good out here, it’s like winning a gold medal.”

Brilliant blue skies, temperatures in the 70s, but disappointingly small two- to three-foot waves marked Tuesday’s qualifying rounds of the surfing championship, which is expected to draw about 400 surfers and thousands of spectators to this beach city before the competition ends Sunday.

In fact, “Surf City” is gearing up for thousands more surfing fans and participants to arrive here next week, when the city for the first time will host the U.S. Open of Surfing, the first world-tour surfing event since the 1991 Op Pro.

The Op Pro dropped off the world tour after filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors and dropping its prize money below the $125,000 required by the Assn. of Surfing Professionals. The Op has since organized world-tour qualifying events, attracting some, but not all, of the world’s top surfers.

The U.S. Open is expected not only to draw all of the top 50 surfers to Huntington Beach, but also large crowds that have been absent in recent years.

But officials of this seaside community, which has had its share of trouble during special events, including a July 4 melee that ended in more than 100 arrests, also said they have taken extra measures to prepare for the crowds and ward off problems.

In the wake of that disturbance, when downtown Main Street crowds turned rowdy and police were later accused of using excessive force to disperse people, extra officers will patrol the beach on the weekends and additional security personnel, hired by event organizers, will assist with crowd control.

“We’re not anticipating any problems, but certainly we are prepared,” Mayor Linda Moulton Patterson said. “We just want people to have a good and safe time. We’re expecting a great couple of weeks.”

Deputy City Administrator Richard Barnard called the 13th annual Op Pro event one of the “crown jewels of surfing.” But, he added, “any time we have any major event that’s going to draw a large number of people (to) the city--you need to be prepared.”

Police are expecting the largest crowds on the weekends, because that’s when top surfers worldwide will be showcased in semifinal and final competitions--and parking is expected to be at a premium.

“We anticipate a busy weekend,” Police Lt. Jim Cutshaw said.

Crowds at the Op Pro have dwindled since the 1989 event, which drew an estimated 40,000 people to the pier for the final day of competition. Op officials estimated crowds at 30,000 in the past couple of years, although veteran lifeguards said the figures ranged between 10,000 and 15,000.

Contest organizers hope for bigger crowds this year by scheduling the Op and U.S. Open back-to-back. They also are banking on a renewed interest in the sport after the release of Bruce Brown’s surfing movie, “The Endless Summer II” in June.

Cutshaw said the department will deploy normal beach staffing, which includes 10 police officers and eight part-time temporary employees to patrol the sands. But he said that police staffing will be increased at the beach on both weekends.

Ian Cairns, Op Pro contest director, said organizers have been working closely with police for the past six months to ensure a safe and problem-free event.

Cutshaw said the surfing competition has attracted minimal trouble since the 1986 event, staged over Labor Day weekend, when a riot broke out behind the viewing stands during the surfing finals.

One strategy for ensuring that the event’s primary focus remained on surfing was to avoid holding it in conjunction with a major holiday, City Administrator Michael T. Uberuagasaid.

“The last couple years (the event) has not posed a problem as it relates to unruliness, and we would expect the same this year,” Uberuaga said.

Moulton Patterson said the surfing championship “symbolizes what Huntington Beach is all about.”

The mayor said the surfing events will stimulate the local economy and tourist industry.

“Economywise, it will fill up the restaurants, fill up the parking and increase the night life because a lot of people are staying for the weekend,” said Emil Jinx Varona, who owns seven downtown businesses.

The back-to-back surfing contests are a boon to business that will “keep the city and the people alive,” Abdelmuti said, adding that he expects his own sales to increase by at least 30% during that period.

During Tuesday’s qualifying rounds, light crowds--young and old--dotted the beach, grandstands and pier. Traditionally, the crowds are small during the early rounds of the event, which are held on weekdays, but generally increase to the thousands by the weekend.

Those who basked under the sun in swimsuits Tuesday to view the contenders up close included local surfers who got a thrill watching their counterparts in the water.

“It’s good to see surfers in their final heats because you’re used to seeing them in videos and magazines,” said Adam Terry,21, of Newport Beach. “When you’re watching them live, you see them on a personal basis and what they’re capable of doing.”

Competitors, too, seemed enthusiastic at the opportunity to take part in one of surfing’s most prestigious competitions.

Surfing the Op Pro, said Allerton, “is the most unbelievable feeling ever.”

Times staff writer Mike Reilley also contributed to this report.