RICK FUGNETTI
It was a big week down at the Body Glove Surf Bout at Lower Trestles,
San Clemente, for world champ Andy Irons, who came up with the win,
and also the Huntington Beach crew, who were ripping heat after heat
throughout the event.
The final showdown saw "A.I." catching some mean ones in the
final. On one wave, he did a couple rad forehand gouges on a right
overhead set and finished the wave off by boosting an air, which
received a 9-plus score and an ovation on the beach. That wave gave
him the lead all the way till the end.
The "Mobster," U.S. champ Rob Machado, was hot on his heels,
tearing lefts apart, throwing buckets of water and closing the gap to
less than a half a point in the final minutes, but he came up short
and placed second. Oxnard's Timmy Curren, who's won this event a few
times, was ripping heats all the way till the final, but needed a
good score at the end and settled for third.
The "H.B. Mauler," Timmy Reyes, was surfing at a really high
level, throwing some of the meanest front-side lip bashes out there,
and an insane vertical backside attack, too. Reyes made the final and
ended up fourth, but in my book he looked better than that. He still
scored some nice cash and ratings points.
Some big guns, like top-10 world standout Taylor Knox, lost out in
the semis, needing less than a two score to get out of the heat. He
needed another wave, but was seen going off on some rights like he
was at J-Bay when he caught the sets.
Former three-time world champ Tom Curren was in top form, even as
he approaches his 40s, making it to the semis by throwing those
classic T.C. carves.
H.B.'s Mike Hoisington and Shaun Ward, who were on fire at Lowers
and blowing up every heat, just missed the final. Another one of the
Surf City new guard, Brett Simpson, made it to the quarters with some
big moves. Also, Seal Beach's Ryan Simmons had some good moments and
Huntington's Ted Navarro, Micah Byrne and Danny Nichols, were seen
going through the rounds with advancements, busting some tail.
In the women's, one-star final, which had some great waves,
Carlsbad's former C.T. surfer Julia Christian found some super long
rights and came from behind doing a ton of moves, slashes and
cutbacks, taking the win.
The most amazing thing was 11-year-old Hawaiian Carissa Moore
placing second, setting the record for the youngest women's surfing
competitor to make a World Qualifying Series final. Carissa has great
possibilities of being the U.S.'s shot for an Assn. of Surfing
