What to Watch, How to Survive The U.s. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.
What to watch, how to survive the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. Known for its combination of speed, style, flow, amplitude and creativity, park terrain is the fastest growing discipline in competitive skateboarding. Competitors are battling for a total prize purse of more than $500,000 during the entire world tour series. In the skate competition, park terrain skateboarding world champions Alex Sorgente and Brighton Zeuner face off against top contenders like Pedro Barros, Curren Caples and others at the park terrain for the final VPS Pro Tour global qualifying stop before the world championships. The women’s finals will be held Thursday, Aug. 3, while the men’s final will be Saturday, Aug. 5. In BMX, the inaugural Vans BMX Pro Cup Series gears up for the ultimate grand finale World Championships event in Huntington Beach on Aug. 4 and Aug. 6. The championships showdown will bring the top-ranking contenders to battle it out for the first-ever Vans BMX Pro Cup World Champion of BMX park terrain. The series has gone from Australia to Spain and Mexico, and now to the U.S., with pros and regional qualifiers competing for their final chance to win in the World Championships.
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The concrete in the skate bowl has been poured, the city on the sand is nearly complete, and a hurricane might bring better-than-decent waves to the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing.
The action sports event, which kicks off on July 29, annually draws some of the world’s best surfers, skaters and BMX competitors, along with
tens of thousands of fans and festival-goers, for a nine-day stint on the south side of the Huntington Beach pier.
Navigating the U.S. Open of Surfing can be a task, overwhelming for newcomers and changing enough from year to year that even veteran fans can use a cheat sheet. Here’s some info to help you enjoy this year’s event:
Hurricane surf
This year’s U.S. Open could start with some epic — or at least very decent — waves. Huntington Beach surf forecasting company Surfline.com expects a 3 to 5 foot swell for Saturday, growing up to 8 foot by Sunday, all courtesy of Hurricane Hilary.
Here’s the word-by-word description of the model from Surfline forecaster Kevin Wallis:
Head high to overhead surf is a strong possibility on the south side (of the pier) by Sun-Mon and there is potential for larger surf, dependent on how Hilary behaves later this week. As the swell
from Hilary winds down early next week, we’ll see a new south swell build from a South Pacific storm currently off of Chile. This should keep the surf strong, with more overhead waves at the pier.
At this point it looks like this swell will slowly fade into the finals weekend, but even the last two days of the event could see fun, rippable surf in the chest-head high range.”
Locals to cheer
With more than 200 surfers from around the world competing in the men’s, women’s and junior divisions, there’s no telling who will be hoisted over the sand in victory during
the final day winner’s ceremony on Aug. 6. Whoever wins the QS10,000 event will get big points to help them nab — or keep — a spot on the World Tour.
But some will know the local waves better than others, and get a boost from their hometown crowd: Here are the top six to watch:
Kolohe Andino, of San Clemente, holds the highest ranking on the World Tour (No. 14) of any U.S. surfer. He’s had strong finishes in previous U.S. Opens, but has yet to win the event.
Kanoa Igarashi, of Huntington Beach, is the event’s only other World Tour surfer (made up of the world’s top 34 surfers) and is ranked 29th for his second year on tour. He got to the finals last year, but lost out to Brazil’s Felipe Tolido.
Brett Simpson in recent years fell off the World Tour, but as a two-time consecutive winner of the US Open in 2009 and 2010, he’s always a crowd favorite.
Courtney Conlogue will be hoping to take a win at the event to boost her ratings in her run for a World Title. The Santa Ana surfer is currently ranked fourth on the women’s world tour.
Tanner and Pat Gudauskas: The San Clemente surfers are always stand outs at the event, and both will be looking for a solid finish to earn points to try and get back on the World Tour.
Skate and BMX
Despite the name, the U.S. Open of Surfing isn’t just about watching competitors in the water.
Skate and BMX fans will have plenty to watch on the sand, with some of the world’s best athletes showcasing their skills for the Vans Park Series and the inaugural Vans BMX Pro Cup World Championships.
The 2017 Vans Park Series Pro Tour is the premiere series for professional park terrain skateboarders. The series consists of five men’s global qualifiers and one
women’s global qualifier spanning five countries over six months and culminating with the official Vans Park Series World Championships in Shanghai, China.
