Special Events : TUBED AND WEBBED : ‘Surfing the Net’ Takes on New Meaning as the Beach Industry Gets On-Line With Trends and Contest News

In the new world of surfing, there are no jellyfish, stingrays, jampacked beaches or Barneys waiting to drop in on you. There is only the relaxing hum of the computer linkingyou to the World Wide Web.

From there, you can style onto the U.S. Open home page, and then it’s a quick jump to order T-shirts and memorabilia or download profiles on Kelly Slater, Lisa Andersen and other stars.

But perhaps the biggest step forward will come Aug. 1, when the 1995 U.S. Open of Surfing begins in Huntington Beach. As the action heats up in the water, surf fans will be able to dial for daily results, which will be posted on the web site through the finals Aug. 6. Such timely information has been sorely lacking in the sport. And this lack of immediacy, some contend, is what’s keeping surfing from exploding big time.

Begun in June, the Internet venture is the most ambitious attempt to claim a piece of the action, which ironically has borrowed a term that has melded into the lexicon of cyber wonks: “Surfing the Net.”

“Every time I hear that phrase,” said Ian Cairns, U.S. Open contest director and former Australian surfing champion, “I feel like, ‘There goes someone else exploiting our action, our sport.’ And when I see surfers using the magic of computers to create web sites, I view it as surfers taking control of our destiny.”

In short, surfing’s contest promoters and industry insiders are reclaiming their turf.

Our beach. Our waves. Our words, dude.

Cairns, 42, said the web site idea was spawned at an April meeting with Don Meek, a vice president at Prime Sports Event Group, the L.A.-based group formerly known as Prime Ticket, which now owns the U.S. Open. When Meek, Cairns and others brainstormed about a surfing web site, they envisioned state-of-the-art graphics and building a popular web site that once users discovered it, could link them to other surf-oriented sites such as Surfrider and Rusty.

While anyone can claim a web site, which is a boon to electronic equality, only Prime has the financial clout to help publicize, market and advertise the site on its television programs that are seen by millions of viewers.

Though Meek, 37, and others have creative rights to the web site (https://www.usopenofsurfing.com) and are now using it to market the U.S. Open, they also created it with the intent of showcasing surfing to the world.

Even after the contest is over, the scaffolding has come down and surfers have headed for the next contest, the web site will continue, Meek and Cairns said. ASP contest results will be added on a regular basis, and merchandising features are expected to be enhanced.

“This is my baby, my child,” said Meek, a former Newport Beach lifeguard who lives in Pacific Palisades and still surfs. “I was reading Nicholas Negraponte’s book ‘Being Digital,’ and all of a sudden it hit me. It was unbelievable. I didn’t fundamentally understand all this, but after reading that book I understood that pretty soon, you won’t be able to tell the difference between your television set and your computer.”

The idea of tackling their own destiny was intriguing, Meek said, who with Prime’s backing hired CyberWorks to establish and monitor the web site. Though Prime declined to say how much it paid to set up the site, typical costs are from $2,500 to $10,000 depending on the client. In addition, there is a monthly fee for the monitoring. Meek said this is Prime’s way to act as an anchor for those interested in information on active lifestyles and sports.

Already people are talking about Prime’s capability to someday make interviews available on CD-ROM video. Or if you weren’t in Hawaii for the finals of the Pipeline or missed how the pros shredded Indonesia, you can access a CD-ROM and watch it at home.

“It’s the time for the industry’s marketers to get with the program,” Meek said.

Meg Bernardo, manager of the Huntington Beach-based Assn. of Surfing Professionals, which runs surfing’s world tour, is fully behind the operation.

“If we want to take surfing to another level, really try and get it out there, we have to do this because that’s where it’s at,” she said.

And, while cyber critics downgrade the Net as losing its earlier glitz, get a load of what’s available using this cool web site:

* Competition standings: A chance to find out how your favorite professional surfer did at any contest in the world, including Hossegor, France.

* Talk: The latest surf lingo, allowing people in Des Moines the chance to shred, go Richter and get hollow.

* Surf chat: A chance for surfers to E-mail with others about the dangers of Tavarua’s Cloudbreak, or whether wet suits are necessary in Baja in October. This file, however, could use some order.

* Links: Click the mouse here and access the San Clemente-based beach conservation organization known as the Surfrider Foundation and find out how to take ocean water samplings and start Surfrider chapters. Click again and get the home page for Sony, a U.S. Open sponsor. Another click and the Rusty home page pops up, offering Rage, Rusty’s in-house mini-mag, plus inside information on the surfboard and clothing company from surf team members such as Pat O’Connell, the star of “Endless Summer II.”

How popular is the U.S. Open’s home page?

“I think they had 3,500 hits on that [home] page in one day,” Cairns said. “They’ve had something like 40,000 hits from people seeking information off the home page since it’s been out in June. So that speaks for itself.”

People living in the United Kingdom, Thailand, Switzerland, Ireland and even Slovenia and Estonia are among those who have sought surfing information on the web site, according to Pasadena-based CyberWorks, said Michael Kingsbury, a Huntington Beach publicist for the U.S. Open and the surfing industry.

“And if this gets on the web-line hot list, it’s going to go Richter,” Kingsbury said.

Ironically, in an age of mass media and instant information, surfers have been left dead in the water. They often must wait several weeks for contest results or for a major competition to be shown on television. Surfing magazines can take as long as two months to cover an event. The best that surfers can hope for now is that a newspaper will run condensed results the next day.

“That’s been the downfall here,” Kingsbury said. “The quicker we can get information up and to the public helps us market the winners, surfing’s stars such as the Kelly Slaters, Lisa Andersens and Jeff Booths of the world. Agents have known for a long time that it’s easier to sell the athlete and surfer personalities than the events.”

The ASP’s Bernardo said that for surfing to be ranked among Southern California’s top money sports, it has to begin presenting itself in a professional manner to gain credibility.

“We already have people who are really into sports and finding out new things by using the Net. They want news,” Bernardo said. “That’s where they’re turning. So we need to be there. We need to be accessible to them.”

The ASP has added short biographical information on the top 44 men surfers in the world and the top 16 women to the web site. Also listed are the 12 ASP events, the previous champion and the top prize money, she said.

“Surfing is not just a bunch of pot-smoking surfers hanging out near the pier,” Bernardo said. “We need to show the public, and this is one way [to show] what a real positive influence surfing has become in Southern California. Just look at our major sponsors now: Coca-Cola, Prime Sports, Sony. These are bridges we didn’t have in the past.”

It also represents the first time the surf industry has pushed the computer envelope. Cairn’s friend Peter Townend, a marketing executive for Rusty Co. and former surfing world champion known to fans simply as “PT,” said web sites are the next big niche in marketing.

At Rusty, which manufactures and markets beachwear, snowboards and surfboards, Townend said they have settled on a convenient combination of marketing and advertising and plan on using Rusty’s own web site and the new U.S. Open’s, but only as extensions of current marketing programs.

For example, Rusty offers information on Rage and its Rusty Around America tour, a surf-skate-snow national promo tour with rock bands that Rusty is using to help market its line of beach-style clothing, Townend said.

Also available is Fresh Nugs, Townend’s idea to post the times and channels when surfing programs are broadcast on television.

“Currently there is no way for any kid to find out when surfing is going to be on television,” Townend said. “But with my contacts as host of some of Prime’s surfing shows, I’ll be able to post the dates as a kind of surfing the tube with PT.”

The obvious advantage to web sites, Townend said, is that you can be living in Indianapolis--where you normally wouldn’t see Rage with its surfer interviews and hot ideas on trends--and you can sign on to the Net and enjoy a slice of California surf culture.

Townend wants to try having Rusty’s owner--Rusty Preisendorfer, a prominent surfboard shaper--go on-line for an interactive talk on surfboard design.

“Think about it, say from 3 to 4 p.m., we block out a time frame and Rusty will answer any question on shaping surfboards,” Townend said.

For Cairns, it is the Net’s ability to interact with other users/surfers that’s exciting.

“I’m stoked about that home page,” Cairns said. “You can type in how the surf is breaking at your local beach and build an enormous database that you can share with other surfers around the world. “Or can you imagine writing on the Internet, ‘Hello I’m Dave, and I like warm water. I surf Huntington Beach, where we have five-foot waves that break on a south swell. I have a vacation coming up. Where can I surf and find good waves?’ You have the ability of getting a surf report from every corner of the world that will help you score the best waves. That’s the power of that Internet to surfers someday.”

* What: Op Pro Surfing Championships and the U.S. Open of Surfing.

* When: The Op Pro is July 24-30, followed by the U.S. Open from Aug. 1-6. The U.S. Open Beach Expo runs Aug. 4-6.

* Where: Huntington Beach Pier.

* Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to Beach Boulevard and head south to Pacific Coast Highway. Turn right and look for parking near the pier.

* Wherewithal: The beach expo and Op Pro are free. Seating at the U.S. Open is free Aug. 1 through Aug. 5. Grandstand seating Aug. 6 is $5.

* Where to call: Op Pro: (714) 580-1888. U.S. Open: (714) 374-2845.

Op Pro Surfing Championships

Monday to July 30

Grandstand seating is free throughout the contest.

Monday, 7 a.m. to 4:40 p.m.: Juniors Round 1; women’s trials, Round 1; long-board trials, Round 1.

Men’s surfing trials, Round 1, Round 2.

Wednesday, 7 a.m. to 5:40 p.m.: Men’s surfing trials, Rounds 3 and 4.

Men’s surfing main event, Round 1; women’s surfing main event, Round 1; long-board trials, Round 2.

Men’s surfing main event, Round 2; Op Long-board paddle race; women’s surfing quarterfinals; Long-board main event Round 1.

Long-board quarterfinals; men’s surfing main event, Round 3; women’s surfing semifinals; long-board semifinals; Op celebrity invitational; women’s surfing finals; long-board finals.

Op tandem invitational; junior finals.

U.S. Open of Surfing

Aug. 1-6

Grandstand, pier and sand seating are free through Saturday. On Sunday, grandstand seating is $5.

Aug. 1, 7 a.m. to 5:40 p.m.: Bodyboarding trials, Rounds 1 and 2; women’s surfing trials, Round 1; long-boarding trials, Round 1.

Men’s surfing, Round 2; women’s surfing trials, Round 2; women’s main event, Round 1; long-boarding main event, Round 1.

Men’s surfing, Round 2; bodyboarding main event, Round 1; long-board main event, Round 1.

Men’s surfing, Round 3; women’s surfing main event, Round 2; long-boarding quarterfinals. U.S. Open Beach Expo starts.

Women’s surfing quarterfinals and finals; men’s surfing, Round 4; long-boarding semifinals and finals; lifeguard competition.

Bodyboarding quarterfinals and finals; men’s surfing quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Beach expo remains open to 5:30 p.m.