Local Knowledge Pays Off

For at least one day, it was a typical Honda U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach.

The waves were small in the morning and got smaller in the afternoon, when a brisk southwest wind turned them into nearly uncontestable slop.

Yet for many of the local competitors used to such conditions, the good news Thursday was that they advanced to the round of 48 and anticipate a predicted spike in the surf today and perhaps into the weekend.

“I’m kind of used to it so I feel at home,” said Mike Losness of San Clemente, after winning an afternoon heat. “You’ve got to make that middle section where the wave gets real mushy. You’ve got to get to the inside to get the score so that’s the hardest part. Even though I live here and can surf this [type of wave], it’s still hard.”

Since the start of the six-star World Qualifying Series event last Friday, the waves had ranged from two to four feet and conditions were reasonably clean. That was a departure from recent years, when prolonged flat spells plagued most or all of the contest.

Fortunately, a swell generated by Tropical Storm Emilia off Baja California is expected to arrive early this afternoon, bringing shoulder-high waves, according to Sean Collins of Surfline.com.

As for Southern California surfers hoping to advance beyond the round of 96, they fared poorly in the morning and better as conditions deteriorated.

Mike Todd of Laguna Beach finished second in the morning’s first four-man heat to remain in contention, but soon afterward Patrick Gudauskas of San Clemente and Shaun Ward of Huntington Beach were bounced by a pair of Australians. Brett Simpson of Huntington Beach was then sent home after finishing third.

The losses were damaging to Gudauskas and Simpson, who are ranked Nos. 17 and 18 on the WQS and will need better results as the season winds down to qualify for the elite World Championship Tour.

The proverbial tide began to turn as the noon wind raked the tops of the waves. Nathaniel Curran of Oxnard was fourth in a heat won by two-time U.S. Open champion Rob Machado of Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

Curran’s brother Tim later won a heat in which Losness finished second; the two advanced at the expense of surfers from Brazil and France.

“I saw a couple waves down at south end and stayed down there by myself and it paid off,” said Tim Curran, whose best-two-waves score of 15.33 was buoyed by a two-foot right-hander on which he snapped two crisp turns before adding another on the inside section to score an 8.0 out of a possible 10.

“It’s hard out there but to me this is something that I’ve always dreamt about competing in and now that I am, I’m just stoked to be here.”

Tim Reyes, who is ranked No. 9 on the WCT and probably won’t need the WQS points to re-qualify, won the day’s last heat -- edging fellow WCT competitor C.J. Hobgood -- and afterward was equally glowing in praise of an event held just a few miles from his home.

“I’ve watched this event since I was a little kid,” he said. “I’ve walked down here when I was in junior lifeguards and remember sitting on the beach watching all the guys surf. I’ve seen a lot of guys that I really looked up to surf here.”

On Thursday, hundreds of youngsters were looking up to Reyes as he spun reverses and snapped powerful top turns. To them, as to the surfer, the size of the waves didn’t really matter.