Airline Delays Take a Toll

The ripple effect from an airline strike in South Africa washed ashore at the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.

A handful of surfers from the 44-man World Championship Tour scrambled to make heats Wednesday in the round of 96. Some were stranded in South Africa, where they had completed a contest Friday at Jeffreys Bay. One competitor never arrived because of the delays, and those who did were hardly feeling their best in the small, inconsistent surf.

Andy Irons, the three-time defending WCT champion from Hawaii who finished second at the Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay, spent three days, including his 27th birthday, trying to leave Johannesburg. He finally arranged a roundabout trip to Los Angeles International Airport, traveling through Singapore before landing late Tuesday.

“It was a mission,” Irons said of the 14,000-mile trek. “It was definitely the longest route I’ve ever had to go to get from point A to point B.”

Scheduled to compete at 10 a.m. in the opening heat of the round of 96, Irons said he took a long bath after arriving in the Southland, slept a few hours and then headed for the beach. He surfed well enough to advance to the round of 48, scheduled to begin today at 1 p.m. and conclude Friday afternoon.

“I was just glad to make it through that heat,” Irons said. “Hopefully, I’ll get my legs back and get used to the time zone.”

The same day the final four rounds were held at Jeffreys Bay, the cabin crew and ground staff for South African Airways, the largest airline in Africa, went on strike, forcing the cancellation of all international flights.

“It was pretty crazy,” said Taylor Knox of Carlsbad, who did not advance from the round of 96 at the U.S. Open. “All these flights were shut down, people were just scattered everywhere. You couldn’t even get to Johannesburg, and if you did, the whole airport was packed.”

Raoni Monteiro of Brazil, who was eliminated by Irons in the quarterfinals at Jeffreys Bay, never made it to Huntington Beach. That allowed former world champion Derek Ho of Hawaii into the round of 96 as an alternate, but he was eliminated.

Trent Munro of Australia, a finalist here last season and ranked No. 3 on the WCT, also scratched because of a knee injury. Other top-seeded surfers who were eliminated Wednesday included Chris Ward of San Clemente, Damien Hobgood and Cory Lopez of Florida, and defending champion Taj Burrow of Australia.

Several young Americans continued their push deeper into the scoring rounds. Pat and Dane Gudauskas, 19-year-old twins from San Clemente, put themselves in position for the best results of their careers, as did Gavin Gillette, 19, of Hawaii, who entered the event as an alternate. Dane Reynolds of Ventura, also 19, and Brett Simpson, 20, of Huntington Beach, also advanced by winning their heats.