U.S. Open Ends Wavering, Will Stay in Surf City

The massive U.S. Open surfing competition will be held in Huntington Beach after all this summer, putting an end to well-founded worries that the event was leaving Surf City for Lower Trestles near San Clemente, never to return.

Officials from the city and U.S. Surfing, the organization that holds the contest, agreed Tuesday to bring it back to Huntington Beach, where the surfing event and its precursor, the OP Pro, have taken place since 1982, said city Community Services Director Ron Hagan.

“They’re very happy to be back, and we’re very happy to have them back,” Hagan said.

When it looked in January like the event was moving to Trestles, U.S. Surfing Managing Director Ian Cairns said it was unlikely it would then ever return to Huntington Beach.

But folks in the city are relieved the surfing competition isn’t relocating, said Nada Osline, chairwoman of the city’s Special Events Committee.

“A lot of people came to watch the event and identified the event with Surf City,” she said. “It would be a big loss not to have it in Surf City.”

But Hagan said city officials “didn’t worry for a minute that they would be back.” That’s because Huntington Beach offers a unique combination of waves, access and demographics, he said.

Some surfers had pushed to move the event from Huntington Beach to a beach with better waves, to better show off their expertise. But Cairns said the wide exposure given the U.S. Open, and the huge crowds that Huntington Beach can accommodate, help promote surfing to a wider audience. And he says all that is worth a few inferior waves.

“It’s good for the sport, it’s like payback for the fans, and it’s actually fun,” Cairns said. “These guys--like all top professional sportsmen--are showmen.”

About 100,000 people attended the U.S. Open last August. Trestles has some of the best waves in the world, but it also has scant parking, and a 1 1/2-mile hike from the lot to the beach.

Cairns said the U.S. Open will run Aug. 4-10 and will draw at least 50,000 people per day watching the world’s best surfers.

In comparison, Cairns said even 5,000 spectators would have taxed the Trestles site to its limit.

He said both the crowds and the prize money will exceed almost every other surfing competition in the world. Cairns said the U.S. Open will have $145,000 in prize money available for a men’s qualifying event, longboard and bodyboard competitions and championships for women and juniors.

The main problem the two sides had to work out was how to get around construction of the $12-million Pier Plaza, which begins in May and will limit some beach access, and have dust, noise and asphalt-grinding construction equipment working through this summer.

“Everyone’s committed to overcoming the problems we have this year. They’re not insurmountable,” Osline said. “It’s so worth it.

“If we can just get through this year, then next year is going to be so much better,” she said.

Once the yearlong project is done, the municipal pier will have a new entrance a mile wide that will feature an amphitheater, a grassy park and other amenities.

Though this year’s U.S. Open will be merely a qualifying event for other competitions on the pro tour, both Cairns and Hagan said they hope next year’s event at Huntington Beach will be part of the championship tour.

“I’ve always believed in Huntington,” Cairns said. “The bottom line is, it’s an American-style event. It’s hoopla, it’s got the stars--it’s Hollywood, for heaven’s sake.”