Irons - who was raised in Hawaii - has been on a break from the World Tour, and apparently it’s showing. The three-time world champ was taking out in heat 16 of round of 96.

Ouch.

The contest only ran two heats today to finish up the round of 96. There’s still plenty  of OC surfers to root for through the weekend.

Huntington Beach’s Brett Simpson is up early tomorrow (if the contest runs) in the round of 64, and will be going up against Andy’s bro, Bruce Irons.

A few heats later, San Clemente’s Tanner Gudauskas is up,  followed by Nathan Yeomans, and then Tanner’s brother Patrick competes.

HB’s Tim Reyes is later in the day, in a heat against Sunny Garcia.

Check out how the OC surfers did earlier in the contest.

Watch the action live here.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

Contests:

The NSSA contest will bring some of So Cal’s best 18 and under amateur surfers to battle it out at  54th Street in Newport Beach. It’s the sixth stop of the National Scholastic Surfing Association Southwest Conference Open Season. The event will have a special air show division, with cash up for grabs for the surfer who can pull off the most radical aerial.

 Keep an eye out for these OC names:  Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi and Christian Saenz, Capistrano Beach’s Luke Davis, Costa Mesa’s Colin Moran, Newport Beach’s Tyler Gunter and Kaleigh Gilchrist.

Read more about it here.

 Volcom contest:

If you’re an amateur or pro competitive surfer, then here’s your last chance to qualify for Volcom’s big championship event next year.

The third and final stop of the Volcom Totally Crustaceous Surf  Tour, Orange County Starfish Series is happening next weekend.

The one-day event, held at River Jetties in Newport Beach, will likely draw lots of top talent from up and down the California coast. 

Read more about the event here. Next weekend’s Volcom contest takes place at River Jetties in Newport Beach. Check out more info here.

Beach clean up:

Save Our Beach in Seal is hosting its monthly beach clean up starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Meet at 1st Street Beach lot at the corner of Ocean and 1st near River’s End restaurant. They usually go until about 1 p.m. 

They provide parking passes, garbage bags, protective gloves and certificates if you need it for school or community service credit. They are also asking that people bring at least one canned good, so they can take some grub to the local food bank. More info: www.saveourbeach.org

Surf shop openings:

There’s a couple of grand opening parties for surf companies that are a bit off the OC coast, but it sounds like they will be worth the drive.  

Here in Orange County, Faction Surfboards is opening shop and factory in Santa Ana and is throwing a party on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Faction Surfboards was launched in 2007 by local Huntington Beach shaper Mike Huseman. There will be tons of giveaways and free Wahoos fish tacos.  Click here for Surf Junkie Jeff’s write up about it, or check out factionsurfboards.com for more info.

Address:  1981 Ritchey Street, Santa Ana 92705

A bit up the coast in Santa Monica, Hurley and ZJ Boarding House are hosting a grand opening party in Santa Monica on Saturday.

There will be live music, drinks, food, and plenty of prizes. If you purchase any goods from the store, you’ll also get a free “Drifter” tee, the new Rob Machado, Taylor Steele movie. Check out more info here.

Celebrate Surf:

If you’re in the Oceanside area,  swing by the California Surf Museum for the second annual Surf Festival. The  surf culture festival will feature performances, speeches and slideshows from three of the most talented people to bubble up from the surfing world: Evolutionary surfer and author Nat Young, master ukulele strummer Jake Shimabukuro and Clark Little — whose shorebreak art photography offers stunning views of surf and sea.

There’s a full weekend of festivities, including Surfer Magazine’s 50 year anniversary tribute party on Saturday night.

Check out more info here, or to purchase tickets  go to the California Surf Festival website at www.californiasurffestival.com or call 760-721-6876.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

A nice swell filled in today. Finally.

I shot down to Huntington Beach today to snap some photos. Check out slideshow here.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

While many big surf brands have been affected by the sluggish economy in the last year or so, one major brand is showing no signs of slowing down.

Hurley once again is teaming up with another core surf, skate and snowboard shop.  This time the action sports giant is opening a store inside ZJ Boarding House in Santa Monica.

This weekend there’s a huge Grand Opening party at the new Hurley Store.  There will be live music, drinks, food, and plenty of prizes. 

If you purchase any goods from the store you’ll also get a FREE “Drifter” tee, the new Rob Machado, Taylor Steele movie. 

The band MK and the Gentlemen will also be jamming from 2 to 3 p.m.  Everyone is invited, it’s FREE and all ages are welcome.  For more info. check out,zjboardinghouse.com/zjhurleystore.html.

When: Saturday, November 21st 12 p.m to 6 p.m

Where: ZJ Boarding House 2619 Main Street, Santa Monica

Post from: OC Beach Blog

Huntington Beach’s Brad Ettinger  placed 2nd in his heat earlier today. HB’s Shaun Ward advanced earlier in the day, and will go up against fellow Huntington Beach local Tim Reyes in heat 14 of round of 96.

It didn’t go so well for San Clemente’s Dane Gudauskas, who came in third after only pulling in a 8.93.

However, his bro Tanner just killed it during his heat about 3:30 p.m., placing first with a 15.0 score. These events are crucial for Tanner, who is on the cusp of qualifying for the World Tour. He is in 17th place on the WQS rankings.

“I was excited, that’s the sort of surfing we want to see,” said one of the announcers.

San Clemente’s Nate Yeomans just posted first place in his heat, with a total heat score of 11.17. He sits on the 8th spot of the tour, and will likely have a spot on next year’s World Tour to surf against the best surfers in the world.

Huntington’s Brett Simpson is up duing the round of 64, as is  the last Gudauskas bro, Patrick (likely to run tomorrow).

The event - to run through Nov. 24 - is a 6-star prime, meaning major points for those on ASP’s World Qualifying Series.  There’s a lot of money on the line during the Triple Crown, with a total prize purse of $1,000,000.

Watch the action live here.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

OC Register’s Jaimee Lynn Fletcher just did a story about the city’s decision last night.

This comes after the State Parks bumped up their lots from $10 to $15 recently at state run beaches like Bolsa Chica, Huntington State Beach and San Clemente State Beach.

Remember when it cost like $3 to park at the lots? Oh, the good ol’ days…

Post from: OC Beach Blog

Overseas, there are about 70 teams that compete in the Jim Beam SurfTag event – and organizers are hoping the Cali event will one day be as prestigious as the one Down Under, where surfers such as Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Taj Burrow join the event

The contest is a team format, with five surfers per team who each have an hour to try to get three stellar waves for points. As soon as the third wave is caught, the teammate runs up on the sand to slap hands with the next surfer.

CHECK OUT A SLIDESHOW FROM THE EVENT.

Donny Wilson knew his second wave had to be a good one.

The waves weren’t anything special, 2-3 foot on the south side of the Huntington Pier on Friday, the first of the two-day Jim Beam SurfTag contest.

With his teammates holding their breath on the sand, Wilson crouched down into a wave, and suddenly found himself getting barreled.

His teammates cheered from the sand. The second wave out of three the surfers had to catch – called a “power wave” – is worth double the points.

“Where did he find that wave?” an announcer asked over the loudspeaker.

Surfer Wayne Kelly, on team “Safety” from Santa Cruz, stacked up major points for his team after pulling off an aerial maneuver.

“I find myself rooting for my guys, and really wanting my friends to do well,” he said. “Usually during competitions, I want them to go down.”

In the end, Carlsbad’s Team Reef took the win and now holds the title of “Best Surf Team in California.”

Post from: OC Beach Blog

This NSSA event is single A rated, but will have a special Airshow division which is always exciting to watch.  And sometimes there’s even some cash up for grabs for the surfer who can pull off the most radical aerial.

Some of the other divisions that will be taking to the water this weekend include: Boys, Juniors, Longboard, Mens, Mini-Grom and Womens.

As always there’s a lot of top talent from Orange County that will be competing.  They include: Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi and Christian Saenz, Capistrano Beach’s Luke Davis, Costa Mesa’s Colin Moran, Newport Beach’s Tyler Gunter and Kaleigh Gilchrist.

The two day competition starts about 7:30 a.m each day and wraps up about 5 p.m.  For more info. and heat times, check out nssa.org.

When: Saturday, November 21st and Sunday, November 22nd

Where: 54th Street, Newport Beach

Post from: OC Beach Blog

“Even when the surf is virtually flat at most beaches, as it was this morning, you can usually count on finding something surfable at Trestles.

And so it was with day one of the 2009 South Coast League Surfing Finals today at Upper Trestles, a popular surf break that tends to squeeze the most out of any swell…”

Read more and see a photo slideshow here.

Post from: OC Beach Blog

Hurley Warehouse Sale:

Hurley extended its sale and will continue offering 50 to 70 percent off at its Irvine warehouse starting Wednesday through the weekend. I stopped in last weekend and shot these photos of what people can expect to find. There were really good deals - T-shirts for $10, wetsuits for $10, hoodies for $25, etc.

So if you want to check it out, the sale doors open about noon and close at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Saturday it runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Address: 2323 Main Street
Irvine, California 92614
(Corner of Main St & Von Karman)

O’Neill Lost Rusty Metal Mulisha Warehouse Sale:

This one kicks off at 11 a.m. on Thursday and runs to about 7 p.m. at the O’Neill/Lost headquarters in Irvine.   Same hours on Friday, doors open at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and closes about 5 p.m.

Address:  17 Pasteur
Irvine CA 92618

More info here.

Body Glove Warehouse Sale
If you don’t mind heading out of town, Body Glove will have a warehouse sale in Torrance starting Wednesday (for VIP), and open to the public through the weekend. They’ll have reduced prices on Body Glove’s watersports clothing and accessories. Click here for more info or call (310) 320-7873.

RVCA Holiday Warehouse Sale
This is a bit further out, but check out the RVCA sale on Dec. 4 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Costa Mesa.

Read more beach news:

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