Surf’s Up, and So Are Tensions : Championships: Baxter bemoans short-boarders but advances in long board.

Josh Baxter can’t understand all the tension among short-boarders. After all, one of the coolest things about surfing is its mellowness.

“I look at those guys and they look so stressed out,” the long-boarder from San Clemente said Tuesday at Huntington Beach. “I’m out there to have some fun. And to me, that’s what’s surfing is all about.”

Baxter, 24, who placed third last week in a Pacific Long Board Assn. contest and will be competing in the long-board quarterfinals Thursday at the Op Pro Surfing Championships, still loves his own short board.

“I started on a short board,” said Baxter, noting that he recently bought his friend Chris Ward’s short board. “And a lot of my friends are short-boarders. So, I love to get on my 5-foot-8 board and rip.”

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

“I guess I got this wild [idea] to enter the short-board contest,” he said, laughing. “But I really don’t care about winning. I just want to have fun.”

Baxter said he just laughs at how intense some of the short-boarders become.

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

Bad vibes aside, Baxter said each board has its advantages.

“On a long board, it takes a long time to draw your line,” he said. “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.

For now, at least, he is concentrating on the long board. Sponsors are willing to back him on it, rather than on the short board, so he said: “I can pay the bills [this way].”

In Tuesday’s men’s trials, more than 200 competitors battled for places in the next round, riding waves of about two to three feet.

Surf forecaster Sean Collins of Huntington Beach expects conditions to remain the same throughout the week.