Long or Short, Baxter Hangs In : Surfing: Long-boarder from San Clemente has a strong day on short board to advance in Op Pro.

Josh Baxter can’t understand all the tension. After all, one of the coolest things about surfing is it’s such a mellow endeavor.

“I look at those guys [short-boarders] and they look so stressed out,” said Baxter, a long-boarder from San Clemente. “I’m out there to have some fun. And to me, that’s what’s surfing is all about.”

Baxter, who took third last week at a Pacific Long Board Assn. contest in Huntington Beach and will be competing in the long-board quarterfinals Thursday at the Op Pro Surfing Championships, still loves his short board.

“I started on a short board,” Baxter said. “And a lot of my friends are short-boarders. So I love to get on my 5-foot-8 board and rip.”

Although Baxter, 24, is becoming one of the top long-boarders in the country, he’s not bad on his short board.

Tuesday at the Op Pro, Baxter had one of the highest scores of the day with 22.95 points and advanced to the third round of the men’s qualifying round.

Baxter said he just laughs at how intense some of these short-boarders are.

“In long-board contests, it’s like a family. Guys will give you high fives and tell you how good you did. In short-board competition, [competitors] don’t even look at you. They’re all so vibed out.”

Bad vibes aside, Baxter still says each board has its advantages.

“On a long board, it takes a long time to draw your line. On a short board, you can put it anywhere. It’s so agile and loose. That’s why I like it because it’s different than the long board,” Baxter said.

But Baxter, for now, prefers his long board. And since sponsors are willing to sponsor him on his long board rather than the short board, he’s a devotee of his nine-foot long board.

“I can pay the bills with my long board, but I wouldn’t be able to with my short board,” Baxter said.

But Baxter doesn’t want to be caught up in that short-board-long-board thing. But instead, keep surfing on what ever gives him that feeling only surfing can. For now, the long board is meeting his requirements.

“I’m really stoked to get this far in the competition, but I would never think of giving up the long-board,” Baxter said.

In men’s surfing trials, it was a grueling session of wave after wave of surfers hoping to get their big chance to advance to the next round. And with more than 200 competitors in this event, it made for a long day.

All things considered, it still ran smoothly. The waves were a bit better than Monday’s, with the surf running two to three feet.

Surf forecaster Sean Collins of Huntington Beach expects the surf to remain the same through the week. As for any lingering storms in the Pacific, Collins isn’t holding his breath.

“It’s really not that bad. Especially when you compare it to last week when it was flat,” Collins said.

In any event, the surfers don’t seem to be complaining with plenty of good waves and some decent shape.

Notes

For the first time in Op Pro history, some heats today will be run simultaneously. The reason? Because there are so many surfers entered, event organizers were forced to run Round 3, 4 and 5 concurrently so all the surfers would be able to get their 20 minutes of competition before the sun sets. The Op Pro has set another record: the longest day of surfing competition in the history of the sport. Competition Tuesday started at 7 a.m. and ended at 8 p.m.