Nightglow Window

The Greatest Show On Sand

Calling the U.S. Open a "surf contest" has been a misnomer for years. The spectacle―and that's what it is in the truest definition―caters to all walks of life and nearly all interests.
Fashion show? Sure, check out Hurley's Walk The Walk. Its superlative is that it's the world's largest high school fashion show (although Hurley says even that is an understatement.) Music? Sure there was Weezer and Cold War Kids and Switchfoot. Skate? Coastal Carnage. $75,000 purse. Stadium mini-bowl. BMX? Nike 6.0 HB BMX Pro with a cool $100K in prize money.

Then there's the whole U.S. Open village. The drayage bill for that alone would boggle the mind and sink most marketing budgets. Through in sunshine and about 100,000 scantily clad people and the U.S. Open becomes by far the largest, best produced, and most expensive action sports event on the planet.

Nearly every action sports web site will be serving up content from the Open today, as they have been all week. We're no different. But there are also the small moments. Here are a few photos from the sidelines, practices sessions, and main street events that also make Huntington Beach truly the center of the boardsports world for a week in August.


Looking south from the pier--on a weekday no less.


Roll up, the circus is in town.


The BMX crew practicing in front of an appreciative audience.


Coastal Carnage at the Converse mini-ramp practice session.


Another boring tabletop ten feet above the coping. Sheesh!


Hurley, Nike 6.0, and Converse certainly made the most of the traffic with events, giveaways, and a massive store placed on the sand.



Walk Of Fame


Of course one of the best traditions of the U.S. Open is the induction ceremony to the Surfing Walk Of Fame in front of the legendary Jack's Surfboards.

The seventeenth class of inductees of the Surfing Walk Of Fame was an eclectic mix of surfing icons that featured Surf Pioneer Dewey Weber, Surfing Champions Sunny Garcia and Ian Cairns, Local Hero Rick "Rockin Fig" Fignetti, Surf Culture Dave Rochlen, Woman of the Year Candy Calhoun, and Honor Roll Dick Baker.

Here Una Baker accepts the award on Dick's behalf while MC Peter Townend, who was a close friend of Dick, looks on.

Dick lost his battle with cancer in April 2009, leaving a huge void in the surf industry. While his legacy and influence lives on, he is sorely missed.


Chuck Linnen, who received his own place on the Walk Of Fame in 2003, accepts induction of Candy Calhoun, who is the 2010 Woman Of The Year. Calhoun was unable to attend the event, but received a warm ovation from the crowd.


Pua Rochlen accepts the award for his father Dave Rocklan, who is the Surfing Walk Of Fame 2010 Surf Culture inductee.

The epitome of the entrepreneurial surfer, Dave Rochlen was born and raised in Santa Monica, and began surfing at age 15.

After serving in the Marine Corps, he returned to Santa Monica in 1946 where he surfed, worked as a lifeguard, and was building a line of surfboards and helped develop the popular Malibu chip board in the late '40's and early '50's.

The boards soon became popular among Malibu Colony movie celebrities, Dave even apparently dated Norma Jean Baker who of course went onto fame as Marilyn Monroe.

Dave moved to Hawaii, married a Hawaiian wahine and in the Sixties founded Surfline Hawaii and soon after launched Jams Beachwear which became hugely popular as the surf craze hit in the Sixties, even being featured in Life magazine.

The Jams brand continues to this day with his son Pua at the helm.


Rockin Fig! Yep, while he deserves to be inducted as 2010's Local Hero, Rick “Rockin' Fig Fignetti has influence far beyond the borders of Huntington Beach. A rabid competative force, Fig went on to open an iconic surf shop and was the voice of the KROQ surf report for decades.


Shea Weber accepts his father's award for Surf Pioneer with grace and humor.

Dewey founded surf industry powerhouse Dewey Weber Surfboards, opening his first store in Venice in 1960.

Early in his surfing life, Weber became friends with surfboard-maker Dale Velzy and it was the new wide-backed Velzy “pig” design, developed in the mid-‘50’s that Weber adapted to his boards that developed his prototypical hot-dog style. He was often referred to as “the Little Man on Wheels” for his hot-dogging style, especially at Malibu with his trademark red board and trunks.

Best remembered for his small-wave performances, Weber also rode well in the bigger Hawaiian surf.
Weber was featured in nearly every surf movie of the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, including Slippery When Wet (1958), Cat on a Hot Foam Board(1959) and Walk on the Wet Side (1963).

He was a force as a competitive surfer as well, placing second in the 1964 United States Surfing Championships, earned a slot in the 1965 Duke Kahanamoku invitational, made the finals of the 1965 and 1967 Malibu Invitational, and won the seniors division of the 1969 U.S. Championships.

Dewey passed away at the age of 54 in 1993, but the Weber family has continued the Dewey Weber Surfboards tradition now located in San Clemente, California. A huge chunk on the Weber clan was on hand today as his contribution to surfing was recognized.


The Bronzed Aussies unite! Peter Townend welcomes 2010 Surf Champion inductee Ian Cairns to the stage. These two have decades of stories on each other and it was a neat moment to see them together on stage.


Ian Cairns was the founder of the Association of Surfing Professionals in 1983 and world-ranked #2 in 1976 the first year of surfing’s pro tour.

Cairns has won six Western Australia state titles (1967 – 1972), won the 1973 Smirnoff Pro at Lanieakea and in 1975 won the Duke Kahanamoku Hawaiian Surfing Classic held in 25-foot surf at Waimea Bay and also the World Cups at Haleiwa in 1976 and 1980.

In 1975 Cairns co-founded the Australian Professional Surfing Association (APSA) which consolidated the nascent Australian pro events into a domestic circuit and the following year 1976, he won that APSA Australia tour and finished runner-up to fellow Aussie Peter “PT” Townend in the inaugural International Professional Surfers (IPS) World Championship.
In that same year 1976, Cairns and Townend were two founders of the Bronzed Aussies, a professional surfing team that also included Mark Warren, Cheyne Horan, Jim Banks and Steve Jones which won the Katin Pro-Am Team Challenge in Huntington Beach twice in 1978 and 1979.

Ian has reputation as an articulate and passionate supporter of all aspects of competitive surfing having been Executive Director of NSSA in the Eighties and re-launched big-time competitive surfing in the US with the running of the first OP Pro in Huntington Beach in 1982.

He is currently coaching the Pac-Sun USA Surf Team whilst raising twin boys with his second wife Alisa in Laguna Beach, California.


Sunny Garcia was the other 2010 Surf Champion inductee.

Born on the Westside of Oahu in 1970, Sunny was raised in Waianae and is a all-time winner of the Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing and was the 2000 ASP World Champion.

He began surfing at age seven, won the boys’ division of the 1984 United States Surfing Championships, then dropped out of school in the ninth grade to turn pro.

Two years later, at age 17, he was the 17th ranked surfer in the world, and already regarded as one of the sport’s great power surfers, later to be recognized as an elegant tube-rider at places like Backdoor Pipeline in Hawaii, one of the surfbreak sites of his many Vans Triple Crown victories.

Outside of surfing Sunny achieved stardom by starring in the WB’s “North Shore”, but becoming the 2000 ASP WCT World Champion was his greatest achievement, he also competively Garcia holds the record for most WQS event wins at twenty-two to go with his six Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing championships.

Sunny was the second professional surfer to win over $1 million in prize money.

This morning, in front of the large crowd gathered at Jack's, Garcia was humble, gracious and funny as he accepted his award.


Meanwhile, across the street and in the water, Brazil's Miguel Pupo was busy boosting this 8.6 in round three's heat three.


Evening practice session