UPDATE:

Nate Yeomans - the last remaining surfer to make it through to the quarterfinals - was knocked out, leaving no local hopefuls left during the Reef Hawaiian Pro.

Yeomans scored only a 7.07 in his last heat, putting him in the 4th place position behind Sunny Garcia, who many predicted would go far during this contest because of his past successes during this contest.

His showing at the contest, however, qualifies him to compete in the 2010 ASP Dream Tour against the best competitive surfers in the world.

Yeomans climbed to 6th on the World Qualifying Series ratings and will be among a few other OC locals who will be vying for the world title.
Yeomans finished =13th today.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing now moves to Sunset Beach for the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing.

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San Clemente’s Nate Yeomans is the sole surfer left at the Reef Hawaiian Pro, the first leg of the Triple Crown of Surfing.

Yeomans moves on to the quarter finals, which will likely run today. He’s the last remaining surfer from Orange County in the contest.

The 6-star prime World Qualifying Series contest means big points for up-and-coming surfers, a few of whom are on the cusp of making next year’s World Tour to surf against the top surfers in the world.

Brett Simpson scored only a 9.33, not enough to qualify. In the same heat, Bruce Irons came in last with a 4.17.

Tanner Gudauskas, of San Clemente, had a good showing at an earlier heat, scoring a 15.45 to move forward, but was later knocked out when he scored only  a 5.40.

His brother, Patrick, was also taken out before reaching the quarter finals, scoring a 9.23 and coming in at third place.

Watch all the action live here.  

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I was lucky enough to watch Kanoa Igarashi surf - if you haven’t seen this kid rip, keep an ear out for his name. This young HB surfer has broken a ton of records for his age group, and his surfing yesterday showed off his skill as he was busting major airs and crazy maneuvers.

Here’s a slideshow from the event.

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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.

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If you’re thinking about picking up a new board, then you might want to check out this event happening on Saturday. 

Faction Surfboards is having a huge Grand Opening party for its new store and surfboard factory.

Faction Surfboards was launched in 2007 by local Huntington Beach shaper Mike Huseman who has been mowing foam for several years.

The big shindig will include: surfboard and product giveaways from several companies including: Future fins, Austin Foam Cores, S.E.R.F Academy, Graphite Masters and many more.  There will also be FREE food catered by Wahoos fish tacos and beverages from Monster Energy Drinks.

Faction Surfboards produces all sorts of equipment including: shortboards, fishes, funboards, longboards and stand-up paddleboards.  The new 2010 line of boards will be on display and if you find one you like you can place your custom order at the event.  

The Grand Opening party will also have live music performed by the Lone Watti Orchestra, Guns Don’t Argue and Bob Milspaugh.  For more info. and directions, check outFactionsurfboards.com. or call (714) 496-5383.

When: Saturday, November 21st 11 a.m to 6 p.m

Where: Faction Surfboards 1981 Ritchey Street, Santa Ana 92705

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A nice swell filled in today. Finally.

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

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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.

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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.

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Props out to Capo Beach longboarder Joe Aaron, who can be found gracing the cover of the upcoming issue of Pacific Longboarder Magazine.

Aaron is one of the young surfers currently on the World Qualifying Series longboard division.  Aaron - who was named the OC Register’s 2009 OC Longboarder of the Year,  can also be found at many local surf events showcasing his paintings. His sponsors include Jed Noll Surfboards, Smartwater.

Grab the magazine if you see it on the stands! Find out more about Joe Aaron at joemotion.com.

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The final event in the national series brought together some of the best young surfers from around the nation, with Kolohe earning an all-expenses paid trip to Bells Beach in Australia in April to go up against the best from around the globe.

Kolohe posted a heat total of 15.36 in the final, where he went up against - and beat out -  Newport’s Taylor Thorne.

Andino is no stranger to winning and has had a stellar year - in June, he took home national titles in three divisions during the National Scholastic Surfing Championship.

The Rip Curl contest is meant to groom young talent to face similar conditions to those they would see in the World Championship Tour, on which undoubtedly we’ll see some of these young surfers in the near future.

O.C.’s Lakey Peterson also did really well, placing second in the finals for girls younger than 16.

It’s the 10th year the event has been held, and through the years several now well-known names have been among the winners, including surfers such as Stephanie Gilmore, Mason Ho (who beat Jordy Smith to become the first non-Australian Rip Curl GromSearch Champion in 2005), Owen Wright, Sally Fitzgibbons and Alana Blanchard, according to the Web site.

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