U.S. Open of Surfing
July 26, 2009The U.S Open of surfing is held every year in my backyard at Huntington Beach….and I’ve never gone.
I had a good excuse for a long time (playing ball) but I’ve got no reason for not checking it out in recent years. I just thought crowds, parking, chaos, etc. I still had a picture in my mind of all the crazy Californians tipping over cop cars and starting fires during the 1986 Open…not exactly a kid friendly scene.
1986 US Open riot scene.
Well it all came to a head on Friday. We had an enormous south swell predicted, Kelly Slater was showing up for the first time in 10 years, the weather was nice, and an early morning start (thus better chance of finding a parking spot). It was now or never.
So I rounded up my son Noah and we made the dreaded 3 minute drive up the beach.
To sum it up, it was one of the best sporting events I’ve ever witnessed. The surf was huge…so big that they had to use jet skis to get the competitors into the line up. There was just too much water moving around to paddle out.
Slater killed it. It seemed as if his feet were glued to the board. Rob Machado surfed beautifully. Timmy Curran scored a perfect 10 on a wave. Yadin Nicol (a hot new young gun) broke his board and my son got it. He even got Yadin to autograph it. The TV cameras ate it up…this cute little kid with a smile from ear to ear with half a pro’s board. The LA Times took his photo and all the girls wanted a piece of Noah.
Shoot, I even got a parking spot close to the action. What can I say? It all came together. Here’s some images of our great day.
The scene
Jet skis towing guys into the waves.
Surfing action on a smaller wave.
Tim Curran after a perfect 10 score.
Rob Machado exiting.
Slater holding court.
Noah hitting up Yadin for an autograph on TV.
One very stoked little boy.
