Two big things happened quietly at Duke’s while the rest of the surfing world focused its attention on the water at the U.S. Open of Surfing two weeks ago.

The Assn. of Surfing Professionals held their regular board meeting (no pun intended) at the restaurant next to the contest and it was fitting, because two things on their agenda were all about raising the profile of world class surfing in California. First, Oxbow agreed to hold the men’s World Longboard Championship contest at Old Man’s in November. Second, work was begun on bringing another men’s WCT event to the state perhaps as soon as next year.

After an announcement months ago that Euro surf brand Oxbow would back a series of men’s longboard events concluding with the men’s title event here, the falling dollar and some bad financial planning briefly put the plan in limbo. But with a schedule and venue change, the ink is dry on a deal and the contest will take place Nov. 4-8.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for this to happen. I’m looking forward to a full tour next year, but extremely proud that we’ll be at Old Man’s,“ says contest organizer Henry Ford. The budget will be smaller than originally expected but Ford isn’t worried.  “It’s more grass roots that way. More for the surfers and about crowning a world champ.”

But three-time world champ Colin McPhillips of San Clemente doesn’t feel he has a homebreak advantage. “When it comes to contests there’s so much luck involved, and it’s the type of wave that’s so rip-able, it’s open. They’ll be a lot of guys who will show they can surf it really good.”

ASP wants to have the men’s shortboard world champ crowned in the U.S. too. They’ve always got the Pipeline Masters in December, however, with the second to last tour stop taking place in Brazil these days, the champ has often been crowned a hemisphere away. And as a media event, it might as well be the moon. The new event is slotted for November, which creates a good chance a title would be decided on the U.S. mainland.

Three proposals are currently being looked at, with at least one being put forth by a non-endemic surf brand. Brazilian promoters also have said they will begrudgingly move their event to the spring for the good of the tour. None of the plans mention a venue.
 
“We’ve got the biggest event in the world here and this works,” ASP President Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew said during the U.S. Open, ruling out Huntington Beach. “We’re looking for a prime location. And it’s a must to have it as the second to last event.”

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