Going for Gold at Surfing Events : Economy: Merchants, sponsors are banking on big financial rewards from the Op Pro and the U.S. Open championships in Huntington Beach.

Surf’s up here, and Sebastian International Inc. is hoping to catch a wave.

So the Woodland Hills-based hair salon products company is bringing more than 2,000 people to Huntington Beach’s Waterfront Hilton next week for a convention and sales force pep rally tied to the company’s role as a major sponsor of the inaugural U.S. Open of Surfing. Sebastian will also be introducing a new line of products.

“We’re involved with the U.S. Open because surfing is something that forms trends in clothing, music and people’s lifestyles,” said Michael Hastings, Sebastian’s executive vice president.

Standing to gain just as much are local businesses and the city itself.

Merchants are counting on a strong boost from surfers and fans at the U.S. Open, as well as from corporate guests of the contest’s sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Chevrolet and Haagen-Dazs. And they are hoping that, when conventioneers and visiting dignitaries aren’t working, they’ll be eating, drinking and shopping around town.

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City officials see an opportunity to improve an image tarnished by Fourth of July disturbances two years in a row and scenes of police officers in riot gear trying to clear the downtown streets. Late-night violence this year resulted in more than 50 people being arrested on a variety of charges, including public drunkenness and failure to disperse.

To counter that negative picture, the televised surf coverage to be provided by Prime Ticket “is publicity that you can’t buy,” said Diane Baker, president of the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau. “It’s all about building image and pride.

“We are a beach community, and we market ourselves as 8 1/2 miles of beautiful beach. That’s what people are going to see on TV.”

Many surfers and fans are already arriving for the 13th annual Ocean Pacific Pro Surfing Championship (Op Pro), which runs through Sunday. The Op Pro serves as a qualifying event for the U.S. Open, which begins Tuesday and runs through Aug. 7 and is the first Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ world tour event on the U.S. mainland since 1991.

City officials say they’re prepared for the thousands of beach-goers expected to jam the beach in downtown Huntington Beach during the next two weeks.

The Op Pro is expected to draw as many as 5,000 fans on weekdays and 20,000 people daily on the weekend.

For the U.S. Open next week, attendance is expected to soar. “We’re prepared for the maximum-case scenario, which is 25,000 people a day for the qualifying days, jumping to 50,000 on Friday and 100,000 daily on Saturday and Sunday,” said Ron Hagan, Huntington Beach’s director of community services.

Nor do local officials expect violence like the beachfront riot that marred the Op Pro in 1986.

“The year after the riot, we changed the logistics. We haven’t had a problem since,” Hagan said. “We don’t let people get inebriated on the beach, we eliminated the bikini contest, and we don’t have live bands.

“We’ve changed the event from a ‘Beach Blanket Bingo’ type thing to a major sporting event. You don’t get the party animal types . . . you get the person who’s interested in” sports.

There are early signs that beachfront businesses are doing well. Aaron Pai, owner of Huntington Beach Surf & Sport on Main Street across from the pier, reports that his shop has already sold out of two shipments of U.S. Open T-shirts.

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Hotel space is scarce. Sebastian International, for example, was able to book enough rooms at the Waterfront Hilton for the first half of its convention but will have to move to a Long Beach hotel for the second half.

Baker, of the Conference and Visitors Bureau, said it’s too early to predict just how much additional business the two surf events will generate. “We’ll have a much better idea in the next few days,” she said. “But we think the Huntington Beach area and its neighbors, including Fountain Valley and Newport Beach, should benefit.”

Huntington Beach officials see potential gains far beyond image enhancement. Surfing fans will use city-owned garages and will patronize beach-area food concessions that generate tax revenue for the city.

“We’re hoping that lots of people show up, park in our garage and buy food,” Hagan said.