Surf star drops in

After missing a year on the pro circuit because of a particularly painful injury, surfer Mick Fanning has made his return with a new film and top seeding on the World Champions Tour.

“He epitomizes the sidelined athlete who returns from injury better than he was before,” joked surfing coach and journalist Adam Morgan. “He’s got this aggressive energy about him in the water. But most people say that on tour, he’s one of the nicest guys to hang out with.”

The many sides of Mick Fanning will be on display tonight at the Lido Theater for the premiere of his film “Mick, Myself and I,” directed by Jon Frank, the creative force behind Fanning’s recent “This Way Up” DVD. Fans of the Australian surfer will have a chance to meet Fanning and fellow surfer and world tour mate Pancho Sullivan at Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach before the film.

Besides the new film, tonight’s event is a kickoff for the Rip Curl Search, the newest event on the World Circuit Tour. Rip Curl is the only company to have a roaming license with the Assn. of Surfing Professionals, the governing body of the World Circuit. The deal allows Rip Curl to hold its tour stops in different exotic locations each year. And unlike the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles, which draws thousands of people to the beach, organizers of this tour stop are keeping the location secret and inviting only a handful of media members to attend.

The only thing Rip Curl Marketing Director Marty Thomas will disclose is that the location is somewhere in Oaxaca, Mexico, near the famed Puerto Escondido, known to Californians as the Mexican Pipeline.

“In travel surfing, if you find a new spot, you don’t tell anyone about it,” Thomas said. “We’re trying to keep it low key and under wraps, instead of exploiting the location.”

Thomas said his primary concern is to preserve the community that lives near the surf spot ? a small fishing village of just a few thousand people. Months before the event, the Rip Curl crew met with locals to plan the event and hire villagers to help to put the event together. On Sunday, the company is holding a qualifier for Mexican surfers to fill one of Rip Curl’s two wild card seedings. The other spot will go to Rip Curl Hawaiian surfer Kekoa Bacalso.

“We want to come to this area and leave smiles on the faces of the locals, not the opposite,” Thomas said. “And the surfers look forward to it because they don’t know what they’re going to get.”

The contest will cost $1 million to host and will be online live from the Roxy website and later replayed on the Fuel TV cable station.

A lot of eyes in the contest will be on Fanning, who is entering his second year of touring after a major injury sidelined his career. In 2004, Fanning was attempting a maneuver when he slipped and did the splits on his board, ripping muscles off his bone and badly tearing his hamstring. He had to endure a painful, 48-hour journey ? which included 10 hours of sailing and three flights ? to Australia before he could receive any treatment.

It took him nearly a year to recover, but when he returned in 2005 he won three contests, including the Rip Curl Search held at Reunion Island near Madagascar.

This year, Fanning is having a slower start and is in a three-way tie for 16th place. Fans can watch him compete on the Rip Curl Search starting June 20 at www.aspworldtour.com.dpt.16-happs-3-CPhotoInfo7F1S1HC420060616j0xb9ancASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS(LA)Surfer Mick Fanning’s film, “Mick, Myself and Eugene,” will be on screen tonight at the Lido Theater. dpt.16-happs-2-BPhotoInfo7F1S1HCD20060616j0xb9oncPHOTOS FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS(LA)Mick Fanning dpt.16-happs-1-BPhotoInfo7F1S1GSG20060616j0xb8unc(LA)Mick Fanning’s film will be on screen at 7 tonight at the Lido Theater. Fans can meet Fanning beforehand at Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach.