FAB FORTIES : It’s Been an Endless Summer for Surfers Still Competing on Longboards After All These Years

The first surfers paddled out early--as in 6:30 a.m., cold-and-foggy--for Saturday’s preliminaries at the 1996 California Beach Party Longboard Championships. These guys were in their 40s, but they were glad to have their heats scheduled first.

“Good waves,” said Wes Standard, 48, of Ventura. “No winds to mess them up.”

The 40- to 49-year-old bracket accounted for nearly a third of the 262 entries in this year’s contest that also included divisions for everyone from grade-school children to senior citizens. It was strictly amateur, no prize money, no sponsorships, but you could hardly tell that from the 40-year-olds.

“Most of these guys have surfed this point since they were 6 or 7 years old and they never quit,” said Thom Theys, the contest announcer. “This is the most competitive bracket.”

Competitive enough that Standard, suffering from a painful back, strapped on a brace and struggled out for his heat.

“Everybody who goes out there wants to win,” he said. “But we want to have some fun, too.”

True to its name, the championship looked much like a beach party beneath morning skies that eventually cleared. Burgers crackled on a nearby grill. Beach Boys harmonies and the stinging Fender guitar riffs of Dick Dale pumped from the public address system.

Now in its 10th year, the weekend contest began a reunion of Ventura’s older surfers, guys who began hanging around together since the 1950s. Each year, the gathering grew. In 1992, it joined forces with the city’s annual California Beach Party, a festival of live entertainment and food booths, and drew entries from throughout California.

Some of the contestants follow the amateur longboard circuit, competing up and down the coast at spots such Malibu and Lower Trestles in San Clemente. Others look to the beach party, with its carnival atmosphere, as their only contest each year.

They gather to compete in 15-minute heats. During that time limit, they try to accumulate three high-scoring waves.

Judges award points for maneuvers such as cutback turns and nose rides, as well as length of ride. All of this takes place at Surfer’s Point Park, a wide-open beach where the waves are relatively clean and inviting.

“It’s a unique contest site,” said surf legend Mickey Munoz, who served as a judge. “And Ventura has always been a real friendly place. I think that attitude is reflected in this contest.”

The annual event has found a middle ground in the realm of surfing, somewhere between the cutthroat competition at pro contests and the absolute soulfulness of paddling out at a deserted break at dawn.

“Contests are not usually of the Aloha spirit,” said Steve Klingenberger, 49, of Oxnard, whose nickname Hawk harkens to his Seneca Indian heritage. “But this contest is. It’s like a Native American powwow.”

On Saturday, rows of longboards leaned against a low wall, an aroma of root beer-scented deck wax carrying on the breeze. New boards lay beside vintage models that showed their years in increments of faded decals and fiberglass patches.

They had to measure nine feet or longer to qualify for the contest, a throwback to surfing’s early days. It was not until the late 1960s that surfboard shapers began shortening their designs, experimenting with seven- and then six-foot lengths.

Shortboards dominated surfing for many years but, in the long run, would serve to augment rather than replace the longboard. Certain maneuvers, such as nose rides and elongated bottom turns, could not be performed on the jittery, quick shortboards. By the same token, as more and more longboards returned to the scene, their riders incorporated the acrobatics of the newer generation.

“People are doing things on longboards that we would not have dreamed of doing when we were young,” said Frank Sentes, 47, of Ventura.

The new longboarding has attracted young surfers such as 14-year-old Brian Mico of Santa Monica, whose father competed once in the California Beach Party. Ian Nagy, 15, of Ventura, enjoyed being around surfers who have been paddling out for roughly twice as long as he has been on the planet.

“It makes me think, ‘Yeah, I could surf for my whole life, like these guys,’ ” Nagy said.

Someday, he might even find himself gathered around the results board, like all the 40-year-olds who checked out the competition, swapping stories and critiquing each others’ performances.

“You were ripping out there.”

“Did you see that first wave?”

“I was right in the wrong spot.”

“Hey, I’ve lost eight pounds. Look at this stomach.”

The crowd hooted and hollered as the judges announced heat winners. There was much discussion about the matchups in upcoming rounds, not to mention today’s finals.

Standard will not be competing, having finished fifth in his heat. But he embodied the determination of his age bracket and, as he emerged from the water, Theys paid tribute.

“That guy’s supposed to be in the hospital,” the announcer boomed. “He unplugged the IV stuff, came out here and caught a few waves.”