O.C. Surfers Fare Well at Trestles

With six-foot sets and an occasional eight-foot set breaking at Lower Trestles Wednesday, surfers were treated to near-perfect conditions for the second day of the Body Glove Surfbout.

Mark Austin of Huntington Beach, using the waves to his advantage, advanced with an overall score of 23.76, third-best on the day. Also advancing was Cory Lopez, who recently moved to San Clemente, and Mark Moreno of Huntington Beach.

Justin Postin, a little-known surfer from San Diego, was the top surfer of the day, scoring the best ride and highest heat score. Postin, who advanced to the second round of the main event, scored a 9.60 in his trials round and finished with 26.54 points.

Sean Collins, a surf forecaster from Huntington Beach, said a series of events in the Pacific are responsible for the surf conditions and they will continue to provide great surf throughout the week.

A significant southern hemisphere swell generated by a storm off New Zealand, a swell from Hurricane Juliette and a North Pacific swell from Typhoon Oscar have been contributing to Trestles’ conditions, Collins said.

A swell from Hurricane Juliette will peak on Thursday and Friday, Collins said, with the New Zealand storm slamming in on Friday. And if that isn’t enough, leftovers from Typhoon Oscar will arrive late Saturday and early Sunday to keep the swells coming.

“We haven’t had waves like this since June 15,” said Collins. “The bottom line is that there’s going to be some great surfing at Lower Trestles. And even if you can’t get out to watch the competition, at least get out there and surf.”

The first round of the main event concludes today. The first three rounds of bodyboarding trials are scheduled to start today.

Spencer Skipper, the U.S. Open champion, will head the bodyboard competition along with Brian Pearson of San Clemente and Curtis Payan of Laguna Niguel.