San Clemente’s Beschen Riding High on World Tour

With the world tour wrapping up three contests in France, Rockin’ Fig couldn’t stop yakking about the outstanding season San Clemente’s Shane Beschen has been having.

Said Fig: Beschen made it to the semifinals at the Rip Curl Pro in Hossegor, France, and HE’S IN SECOND PLACE IN THE WORLD RANKINGS! Former world champion Kelly Slater of Florida is leading with 5,350 points, to Beschen’s 4,460 points.

Beschen did really well in France. And he wasn’t the only O.C. ripper over there. Jeff Booth got second at Biarritz. So Booth, the Laguna Beach power slasher, must have looked good over there, too. In fact, the local O.C. boys have been getting hot on the world tour.

That’s different from a few years ago, when Richie Collins of Newport Beach was the only great Orange County hope, huh Fig?

Yup. A coupla years ago is a long time ago. This year is like a whole new book for U.S. pro surfers. Especially with Beschen’s second - place ranking.

Rounding out the world tour’s Top 10 are Shane Powell and Dave Macaulay, both of Australia, third and fourth respectively. In fifth place is Hawaii’s Sunny Garcia, followed by Brazil’s Jojo Olivenca, and Martin Potter of Great Britain. In eighth place it’s a tie for Flavio Padaratz of Brazil and Stuart Bedford-Brown of Australia, and in 10th place is Fabio Gouveia of Brazil. Cardiff’s Rob Machado is 12th, and Booth is 13th.

What are Beschen’s chances of catching Slater?

Well, Beschen’s been on quite a roll. But I gotta say that with only three world tour events left--Brazil, Hawaii and Australia--and with the nearly 1,000-point lead that Slater has , it looks like Slater may get his second world championship.

Can Beschen make up the difference in one contest? I know that if Beschen wins the world title, it’ll make surfers in San Clemente go nuts.

Well, I gotta say that in Slater’s case, if he goes to any of the remaining three contests, and he gets out of his first heat, he racks up 240 points right there. So Beschen has a big mountain to climb.

Whoomp! There it is! The Figster taking another look into the crystal ball and calling it Slater’s victory for ‘94!

Where’s the current champion, Derek Ho?

Not in the Top 10. It looks like he’s out of it for a repeat. But there are success stories. Look at Ricardo Tatui of Brazil. He was ranked 45th on the roster at Biarritz, had his name last on the contest page. And he wins! They’re calling it the contest of his life. He took home $14,000!

Yeah, a world tour news release said: “More than 15,000 spectators watched (Tatui) in disbelief.”

A little closer to home, the Fig said we can look for Slater at the U.S. Bud Tour’s Body Glove Surfbout VII contest at Trestles in northern San Diego County. It’s part of the World Qualifying Series. Action got started Tuesday. Figgy says it’s a tri-combo affair with long boards, short boards and body boards.

It’s gonna be one of the longest Bud Surf Tour events and will run six days, through Sunday.

Fig, as a contest announcer for the tour, don’t you have to get up every morning at 5 and trek to Trestles?

Yeah. I know one thing. The Fig’s probably gonna camp on that beach to get the evening-to-dark glass - off, or maybe wake up early for the dawn patrol. The Fig has been known to hit it, mosquitoes or no mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes? Trestles has mosquitoes?

Oh man, that lagoon. I’ve been down there for previous contests and they got so thick when the sun went down, I had to wear long-sleeved shirts, pants and a hat over my head for complete coverage. They just get you. I’ve been known to get 100 bites just changing into my wet suit down there. They’re treacherous!

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Foundation: Meg Bernardo, the U.S. manager for the Assn. of Surfing Professionals, said the Huntington Beach-based ASP (the governing body of professional surfing) has a new project: The ASP Foundation. They’re tapping into the popularity of surfing in Southern California and encouraging $15 memberships for non-professional surfers willing to help pay for some fun projects.

“We need money to help with projects that are supported by many of our pro surfers,” Bernardo said. “In Vietnam, for instance, the younger surfers there are so enthusiastic about surfing but they don’t have enough surfboards to go around, and we’re trying to develop an interest in programs.”

Bernardo said they’re also talking about projects to develop judges at the amateur level and scholarships. The ASP has about 1,000 members. For more information, contact Meg at the ASP office: (714) 842-8826.

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Toppled: After reigning as king of the beach in publicity for the recent Op Pro and U.S. Open of Surfing here, Mike Kingsbury of MKM Marketing and Promotions got tossed off the pedestal--by his wife, Barbara. Seems that Kingsbury dropped everything one Friday night to speak to the Orange County Tortoise Society. That’s not a typo. Mike and Barbara keep the shelled creatures as pets, and Barbara is a society member. So, instead of talking to CNN about Slater or Sunny Garcia getting tubed, Kingsbury shared his experiences with leafy greens and turtle runways.

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Lost: Has anyone seen T. K. Brimer of the Frog House surf shop in Newport Beach? Seems that T.K. got involved in a paddleboard competition to Santa Catalina on Aug. 28. But somehow he got lost for several hours while at sea. We left messages for T.K. to call but believe he’s somewhere on Gilligan’s Island hangin’ with the professor and Mary Ann. (Turns out he zigged when he shoulda zagged and took the long way to Avalon.)