Op Pro Begins Two Weeks of Top Competition : Surfing: Some of the world’s best wave-riders will converge on Huntington Beach for this week’s Bud Pro event and next week’s U.S. Open.

The world’s best surfers convene for two weeks of “shredding” in Huntington Beach beginning with the Op Pro Surfing Championships this morning and concluding with the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 1.

More than 400 professional and amateur surfers will compete in the Op Pro, which is part of the Bud Surf Tour. The United States-based tour is a World Qualifying Series circuit.

For a few, the Op Pro offers a window of opportunity to qualify the next week against the best surfers in the world. The top four men who are not in the U.S. Open field, earn a spot in the world tour event.

At last year’s competition, Rob Machado of Cardiff upset world champion Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla., to win the men’s championship and Frieda Zamba of Flagler Beach, Fla., edged Lisa Andersen of Ormond Beach, Fla., for the women’s title.

From the county, Jeff Deffenbaugh of Huntington Beach, Shane Stoneman of San Juan Capistrano and Richie Collins of Newport Beach had good showings at the event last year, and are expected to be top contenders.

In the Op Junior competition, Seal Beach surfer Mike Reilly is starting to come on strong. Reilly, 16, recently was touted in Surfer magazine as one of the Hot 100 in amateur surfing. Ian McPhillips of San Juan Capistrano also will be one of the top amateurs. In longboarding, Brendan White, 16, of Capistrano Beach, who is the recently crowned amateur longboard national champion, is also expected to excel.

For the first time in the Op Pro’s 14-year history, there will be a sanctioned women’s division. And beginning with this competition, a four-event series will determine the 1995 U.S. women’s champion and provide crucial points toward year-end women’s world tour standings.

Bud Tour Director Ian Cairns said the sanctioned women’s event was a long time in coming. Cairns admits women are not eagerly accepted by male counterparts within the sport. Nevertheless, he is hoping events such as this will help bolster the presence of women surfers by showcasing their talent and help drive women’s professional surfing in America.

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As in any surfing contest, nature will play a major role.

“I’m hoping we’ll get some good waves,” Cairns said. “The talent is great and this could be the best [tournament] so far.”

Surf forecaster Sean Collins, who is known in the surfing community as the guru of wave predictors operates a company in Huntington Beach called Surfline/Wavetrak. He said he’s keeping his fingers crossed for decent surf.

“Unfortunately, Cosme was a bust,” said Collins, referring to a tropical storm that was supposed to provide good surf, but petered out near Baja last week. “He [Cosme] came around Baja and slammed into a pool of cold water and died in three hours.”

Collins said he’s keeping his eye on a tropical storm off the coast of Mexico which could produce good surf midweek. But Collins cautioned that the first part of the contest might suffer.

“We always have tropical

storms,” Collins said. “They form very quick and can have an immediate impact on our surf. So we can always hope for one of those to develop.”

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Notes

Like gymnastics and diving, surfing is scored by judges. In the Op Pro there are five judges per heat, including finals. High and low scores are thrown out, with the rest averaged.

Waves are scored from 0-10 points, with 10 being the best.

Judging criteria include: best maneuvers; rides closest to the curl; biggest and or best wave and longest distance ridden.

Heats are 20 minutes long with four surfers competing. The top two advance; the final heat is 20 minutes long.

Competitors are allowed to ride a maximum of 10 waves with the best four counting, depending on wave conditions.

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Op Pro Facts

What: The Op Pro Surfing Championships.

When: Monday, July 24 through Sunday, July 30.

Time: All competition starts at 7 a.m.

Where: Huntington Beach Pier, Huntington Beach (South side of pier, near the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway.)

Who: Some of the world’s top men and women professional and amateur surfers. Amateurs compete in the Op Junior.

Format: Assn. of Surfing Professionals-sanctioned, four-person format.

Events: Include men’s and women’s surfing, longboarding and Op Junior competition.

Purse: A combined prize purse of $71,000, with $60,000 for men, $5,000 for women and $5,000 for longboarders. Junior winners are awarded $1,000 in scholarships.

Cost: Free to the public.

Tip: With more than 200,000 people expected throughout the week, parking could be a drag, so be prepared to walk and bring lots of quarters.