CATCH A WAVE? NOT EASILY DONE POOR CONDITIONS WON'T STOP THE PART.Byline: Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer HUNTINGTON BEACH Huntington Beach, city (1990 pop. 181,519), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast, across from Santa Catalina Island, in an oil-producing area; inc. 1909. It manufactures aerospace vehicles, aircraft parts, optical instruments, and heat transfer equipment. - Other than a mild-mannered challenge from Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, city, United States Santa Cruz (săn`tə kr  z), city (1990 pop. 49,040), seat of Santa Cruz co., W Calif., on the north shore of Monterey Bay; inc. 1866. for the title of ``Surf City Surf City may refer to:
Some 350,000 spectators are expected to invade the Huntington Beach Pier The Huntington Beach Pier is a publicly owned pier located in Huntington Beach, California. At 1,853 feet in length, it is one of the longest public piers on the West Coast. (The longest is Oceanside Pier at 1942 feet). this weekend to watch the U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
According to Sean Collins, president of surfline.com, one of the world's premier surf-forecasting organizations, conditions this week at Huntington Beach will range from about 2 to 6 feet, and the quality is poor because they are wind-blown, beach waves. ``It's an unreal event to come to. The crowds are unreal, the venue is unreal. It's probably the biggest set-up on the tour,'' Australian surfer Sean Cansdell said. ``The waves aren't always the best, but sometimes you can get some good sets. It's the same for everybody, though. You have to be able to surf in anything.'' During qualifying rounds, some of the pretournament favorites, including defending champion Taj Burrow, were eliminated primarily because they couldn't find waves good enough to score highly with. Taylor Knox, who was born in Thousand Oaks and lives in Carlsbad, was among the early exits from the competition Wednesday. Knox, regarded as one of the legends of the sport, finished fourth in his 20-minute qualifying heat. ``It's a shame - we've kind of been getting skunked in Huntington the last few years,'' Knox said. ``I want to do well here because its my home, but it's tough to surf well when the waves are so small.'' Knox's and Burrow's difficulties this week underscore the problem professional surfing has encountered in its quest to reach a more mainstream audience. Mainstream sports need live television coverage to prosper, but how can you schedule good surfing conditions? Traditional surfing events take place over a longer period of time, up to a month, and competitors wait for optimum conditions. These events rely on local media, surfing magazines and documentary filmmakers for coverage. Ramona Shelburne, (818) 713-3617 ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com U.S. OPEN OF SURFING When: Through Sunday. Where: Huntington Beach Pier, Pacific Coast Highway Pacific Coast Highway may refer to:
What: World's largest professional surfing competition, with men's, women's, juniors and longboard A longboard generally designates a longer board variant in various .
Information: www.usopenofsurfing.com/home.php. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Thousand Oaks native Taylor Knox, shown competing in South Africa, struggled with conditions and was eliminated from the U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach. Karen Wilson/ASP via Getty Images Box: U.S. OPEN OF SURFING |
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