It’s One Big Beach Party Now

The long, peeling left-hand turns that spilled into the Huntington Beach pier looked identical to the waves David Nuuhiwa surfed nearly 40 year ago. The water churned to foam as it cut through the barnacle-encrusted pilings, crawled to a stop at the waterline, then slowly dissipated into the sea.

For Nuuhiwa, the scene brought back memories of 1968, the year he won the first of two U.S. surfing titles. But a closer look at this week’s Philips U.S. Open of Surfing shows little remains from past contests at this historic tour stop.

Nuuhiwa, considered by many to be among Southern California’s best-ever surfers, stood atop his usual perch one afternoon this week and looked out over the dozens of competitors and thousands of surf fans who have traveled to his home break.

When he first competed at Huntington Beach in the 1960s and ‘70s, the only structure other than the city’s famed pier was a row of scaffolding that elevated the judges. Today, the surf contest has become part of a beached metropolis of extreme sporting venues, concert stages and rows of sponsor booths occupying a quarter-mile of sand.

The scene is much busier than at the first West Coast Surfing Championships held here in 1959, and barely resembles the initial stadium setting that was erected 20 years ago. The event has grown so large in the last two years--a crowd approaching 50,000 is expected for the men’s short board final Sunday afternoon; the women’s final is on Saturday afternoon--it makes the city’s first beach festival in 1997 look like a garage sale.

But is it a benefit to the Huntington Beach tour stop, which was viable long before the mobile tattoo parlors and hair care booths moved in? Or does it water down an event that has long been among the most popular in the world? Everyone involved seems to feel comfortable sharing the space.

“I love it,” said Nuuhiwa, 54, the owner of a Huntington Beach surfboard company. “The kids are here to enjoy themselves and there’s a lot to do.”

While some hard-core surf fans and professionals won’t take their eyes off the waves this weekend, casual fans are anticipating some of the alternative entertainment. Former world champion Sunny Garcia isn’t scheduled to compete until Saturday, but he has been wandering the venue since Tuesday.

“I think it’s cool,” Garcia, who lives in Hawaii, said of the activity. “If there’s a lull in the surf you can go in the back and check out a concert or some skaters or whatever.”

Shea Lopez, ranked third in the World Championship Tour standings, spends most of his time surfing in desolate places such as Teahupoo in Tahiti and Jeffreys Bay in South Africa. As he sat in a chair at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, signing autographs for dozens of fans, Lopez said he never feels more like a professional than when he comes to Huntington Beach.

“This isn’t a surf contest, this is an event,” Lopez said. “It’s a good chance for us to get out of our bubble a little bit and see what else is out there.”

Travis Mellem, a surfer who will be a senior at San Clemente High this fall, likes the way the event draws enthusiasts from other backgrounds. Although he doesn’t skateboard or ride BMX, he’s more than happy to share his stage this week.

“The bikers and skaters come down and draw a big crowd,” Mellem said. “Then they also come over and watch the surfing.”

However, the Huntington Beach environment is not best for every tour stop. “You couldn’t do this at a place like Tahiti,” Garcia said.

The atmosphere does little to lessen the goal of winning the six-star surf contest, the highest-rated event on the World Qualifying Series tour. But those who came to Huntington Beach this week to compete in the skateboarding and BMX competitions said winning this event is not as important as others on their schedules.

“This is more like fun,” said Brian Patch of Huntington Beach, world record-holder with a skateboard jump of 58 feet. “Everybody wants to win, but nobody takes it that seriously.”

Ryan Brennan of Huntington Beach, who makes a living performing BMX jumping exhibitions at elementary schools, said this week’s competition is more rewarding for its accessibility.

“It’s not too often that you get to use a ramp for free on the beach,” he said. “It’s doesn’t get much better than this.”

Some of the moves limited to skateboard ramps in previous years are now being tried on the waves, too. Surfers are completing 360-degree spins and other aerial tricks, and getting higher points for their efforts. Two years ago, the Assn. of Surfing Professionals began rewarding competitors for innovative and progressive surfing, such as risky aerial moves. No longer do they look for long, drawn-out rides, a maneuver traditionally used at beach breaks such as Huntington Beach, where competitors used to struggle to ride the whitewater to shore, hoping to receive points for a long ride.

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Mike Todd of Laguna Beach, Chris Drummy of San Juan Capistrano, David Pinto of Dana Point and Micah Byrne of Huntington Beach won their seventh-round heats Thursday to advance to today’s round of 96 at the Philips U.S. Open of Surfing. Nathaniel Curran of Oxnard, Henry Mills of Carpinteria, Gavin Beschen of San Clemente, Shaun Burrell of Redondo Beach and Adam Virs of Ventura also transferred in the four-to-six foot surf, which held up throughout the afternoon.

Kim Hamrock of Huntington Beach and Erica Hosseini of Newport Beach advanced to today’s round of 32 in the women’s division.