‘Dream Heat’ Looms as Contest Starts

As the world’s top surfers hit the waves today in the opening rounds of the Gotcha Pro at Huntington Beach, contest organizers, fans and competitors are looking forward to what can only be described as the dream heat.

“Any time you have the possibility of Mark Occhilupo and Tom Curren surfing against each other, you know everyone will be watching,” said Ian Cairns, executive director of U.S. Surfing and organizer of the Gotcha Pro.

Curren, 35, who lives in Santa Barbara, gained wild-card entry to this week’s contest because of his first-place finish on the 1998 G Shock tour. Occhilupo, 33, of Australia, is ranked No. 1 on the World Championship Tour.

Both are considered elder statesmen among professional surfers.

“Their heats against each other are legendary,” said Graham Stapelberg, former executive director of the Assn. of Surfing Professionals. “They seemed to feed off each other when they surfed. And it’s no different now. They both have a tremendous respect for each other.”

Cairns recalled a 1985 matchup between the two when Occhilupo came from behind to win the Op Pro title.

“They had some great matches here in Huntington Beach,” Cairns said. “It was electricity then, and it’s electricity now when they compete.”

If each advances, they could meet Friday in the third round.

After taking off four years (1990-94) for health reasons, Occhilupo is back on top. He finished second on the World Championship Tour in 1998, and recently took over the WCT’s No. 1 position after winning at the Quicksilver Pro in Fiji last month.

The Gotcha Pro, which will include the top 44 male and 15 female surfers, is the eighth stop on the 13-event WCT. A $15,000 cash prize is awarded to the men’s champion and $6,000 for the women’s champion.

A SLATER SIGHTING

Kelly Slater, who has been semi-retired from WCT competition, returns today to compete in a heat against Australian Taj Burrow and Victor Ribas of Brazil. Slater, from Cocoa Beach, Fla., is one of the Gotcha Pro’s four wild-card recipients.

While Slater has won six world titles, he has never won this WCT event in Huntington Beach.

* As in past years, the ASP offered four wild-card spots for this week’s event. Generally, the four are filled by non-WCT surfers from the U.S. Open the week before.

This year, however, the ASP invited Curren, Slater and Kaipo Jaquias, who dropped off the world tour a couple of months ago, to fill three of the spots.

Neco Padaratz of Brazil is the fourth wild-card entry, but he had to earn his position by advancing through six heats of the U.S. Open to reach the finals, where he finished third.

INJURY UPDATES

During the men’s quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Sunday, Sunny Garcia had to retire early from his heat after he came down hard on his board.

“He felt a shot of pain go through his body when he landed so he paddled in because he didn’t want to re-injure his knee,” said Mark Rayner of No Fear, Garcia’s sponsor. “He wanted to surf the [Gotcha Pro], so he didn’t want to take a chance. He’s fine and will surf today.”

* Layne Beachley, the defending Gotcha Pro women’s winner, withdrew from last week’s U.S. Open because of a knee injury suffered while surfing last week at Lower Trestles in San Clemente.

After getting the results from Monday’s MRI, Beachley’s doctor advised her against competing today in the first round of the women’s event.

“At this point, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Beachley said. “A lot of people are telling me I shouldn’t surf. I’ll probably weigh on caution’s side and not surf.

“But then again, I might paddle out [this] morning and stand on my board and see how my knee feels.”

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Surfing

* What: Gotcha Pro

* When: Today-Sunday

* Where: South side of Huntington Beach Pier, Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street

* Basics: The mainland’s only World Championship Tour event will feature the world’s top 44 men and top 15 women professional surfers in a double-elimination format.

* Today’s schedule: 7-8:40 a.m.--women’s Round 1; 8:40 a.m.-3:20 p.m.--men’s Round 1.

* Other activities: From Friday through Sunday will be an outdoor festival and exhibit that will include board-shaping demonstrations, surf-related products and displays and other beach activities.

* Admission: Free

* Parking: Available at the city parking structure one block in from Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway.

* Web site: https://www.gotcha.com

* Information: (714) 593-9834