Wave Hello

Ryan Brunick didn’t care about the corporate banners hanging off the Huntington Beach Pier advertising two weeks of back-to-back surfing contests.

Brunick, 20, came to cheer a friend.

Sitting with friends in front of the massive scaffolding that will house judges, officials and corporate sponsors, Brunick said he was excited about watching his friend surf and being able to enjoy the world’s top-rated surfers.

An estimated 350,000 spectators will visit Huntington Beach in the next two weeks to watch the Air Touch Pro, which kicked off Monday and runs through Sunday, and the U.S. Open of Surfing, the largest surfing contest in the United States, which runs Aug. 6-11.

Also scheduled is an induction ceremony to the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame on Aug. 8. Five surfing celebrities will be honored and two posthumous awards given at the 10 a.m. ceremony in front of Jack’s Surfboards at Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street.

“The city is looking forward to the next two weeks,” said Mayor Dave Sullivan. “In fact, the U.S. Open in the second week removes any doubt that Huntington Beach is, in fact, Surf City USA.”

City officials said that all three events help market the city’s image as a surfing venue.

“The U.S. Open is putting the city on a world stage, if you will,” said Ron Hagan, Huntington Beach community services director. “And it’s great for marketing Huntington Beach. When people in Plano, Texas, and other parts of the world see the U.S. Open on television, they end up wanting to visit Huntington Beach and go and see the surf.”

For local merchants, such as Robert Abdelfattah, co-owner of Jack’s Surf Shop, the surfing spotlight means a 20% to 30% boost in sales revenue because of the fans.

“These two weeks are as good as Christmas,” Abdelfattah said. “In fact, this is our Christmas.”

Across Main Street at Huntington Surf and Sport, owner Aaron Pai was stocking his shelves with surf shorts and trunks while monitoring an outside booth that will sell contest T-shirts.

“These two weeks bring so much of our clientele through our store that we sell about 30% to 40% more,” Pai said. “And we intend to join other stores and have a booth on the sand at the U.S. Open too.”

Ian Cairns of Laguna Beach, director of both contests, said the matches provide contestants with an opportunity to surf with the best in the world while allowing spectators to see their favorite surf stars.

Orange County fans will have someone to cheer for at this year’s U.S. Open, Cairns said. San Clemente’s Shane Beschen is vying for world champion against defending world champion Kelly Slater of Florida and Hawaii’s Sunny Garcia, he said.

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The Air Touch Pro, Cairns said, provides a “vital steppingstone” for West Coast amateur surfers anxious to go up the ladder into professionalism. The contest is open to both amateurs and professionals.

“Where else can a young kid from Southern California get his day in the sun surfing against a top-rated pro in front of an audience of hundreds of thousands?” Cairns said. “As for the U.S. Open, it’s one of the biggest contests in surfing.”

The Air Touch Pro marks the first entry by the Irvine-based cellular phone company into surf contest sponsorship. The company has sponsored other teams and events including the Mighty Ducks, Clippers basketball and the Long Beach Grand Prix.

“Our demographics are changing,” said Melissa May, a spokeswoman for Air Touch. “This event appeals to a lot of people getting into cellular for the first time, and many of our potential customers are into the California lifestyle.”

Spectators such as Ralph Byrne, 40, of Huntington Beach are excited.

“I have never missed a major contest at the Huntington Beach Pier in 17 years,” said Byrne, whose son Micah, 14, was competing in the Air Touch. “It’s always exciting.”

The five Walk of Fame inductees are surfing pioneer Greg Noll, Australian champion Nat Young, filmmaker Bud Browne, five-time U.S. champion Corky Carroll and veteran female surfer Rell Sunn. The other two awards are for the late John Rothrock, former surfing coach at Huntington Beach’s Edison High School, and Tom Pratte, who was active in beach conservation until his death from cancer in 1994.