Pro/Am Surf Series begins

Summer officially arrived with the Summer Solstice Wednesday, giving us the longest day of the year. And we’ve been getting lucky with sunny skies and not much June gloom at all.

Air temps have been hovering around the 70s at the beaches, and water temps have been incredibly warm in the upper 60s. Plus, a macking south swell hit the first part of the week with 4- to 8-foot-plus waves at the Huntington Pier.

Taking advantage of the rising swell was the Surfline Hawaii California Classic hosted by Longboard Magazine last weekend. It featured some of the best longboard surfers in the world doing an assortment of moves: nose-riding, cross-stepping, modern progressive stuff and even a few fin-first take-offs and helicopter 360s.

In the international final, Australian Josh Constable, an Aussie national champ, took top honors, winning $4,000. Imperial Beach’s Taylor Jensen came in second and holds the No. 1 spot in the overall ratings. Three-time world champ Colin McPhillips had some nice rides and finished third, while Hawaiian Keegan Edwards rounded out the top four.

In the nose-riding competition, 17-year-old Christian Wach had some super-long tip time and won that division. And taking the women’s title was veteran longboarder Julie Whitegon. Next up, Waikiki in Hawaii for the U.S. Championships.

The National Scholastic Surfing Assn. will kick off its national championships Friday at Salt Creek for the Explorer, Scholastic and Air Show competitions. The site will then move to premier break Lower Trestles next Tuesday through July 1 for more Explorer and the prestigious Open season heats.

All finals will be slated for Saturday in all divisions, as well as the Governor’s Cup. Should be quite a show, with the top amateurs from around the nation on hand.

The Huntington Beach Pro/Am Surf Series kicks off its 12th season and first event Saturday and Sunday at Ninth Street, right here in beautiful Surf City. Eight divisions will surf, and as usual these events promise some great local talent.

Event director Jeff Deffenbaugh, a former top 30 world pro himself, has hooked up with Huntington Beach Dodge, and the winner of the overall Pro/Am series at the end of the season will be driving off the beach in a new Dodge truck.

Other events are July 22-23 at Golden West Street and Aug. 12-13 at Ninth Street. There’s more than $40,000 in prizes for 2006. Not bad!

The World Championship Tour is down in Mexico, ready to kick off the Rip Curl Search contest down by Puerto Escondito at a surf spot called La Lolla. The surf’s been going off, double overhead at the classic right-hand point. Oscar Moncada won the trials and will be seeded into the main contest. He is Mexico’s first surfer ever to surf in a championship tour event with the big boys.

We’ll keep ya posted. That’s it for now. Figgy, over and out.