WET AND WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG:Tandem Tour a success

The first Surf City USA Longboard Pro-Am featuring the Guy Takayama Pro Noseriding Series, Open Modern Progressive Longboarding and the International Tandem Surfing Assn. World Tandem Tour was a huge success over the weekend. Longboarders competed on the new circuit for cash and prizes. The waves were up, too, in the 3- to 5-foot zone, with a combo swell that gave way to good workable rights and lefts to add to the excitement.

There were plenty of divisions, and a lot of the local surfers did quite well, starting with Huntington Beach’s Jeff Newell winning the 14-and-under division. In the boys’ 15-to-19-division, Billy Hopkins caught some great rides outside to inside that earned the win. He also placed second in the noseriding final. Big Shane Van Herk was close behind, throwing some cutties to place second and Edison’s Sterling Foxcraft finished fifth.

In the women’s 15-to-19 division, Long Beach’s Sofia Bartlow, daughter of legendary Jericho Popler, took top honors.

In the men’s amateur division, Kelly Kraushaar dominated. His shaper, Rocky McKinnon, came in third and also donated one of his hand-crafted shapes away in the raffle.

In the men’s pro nose-riding division, Florida’s Brent Russell logged more than 10 seconds on the nose — it was even timed by the judges who had stopwatches — to take the win and $2,000. San Clemente’s Christian Wach was second, while Hawaiian Kai Salas was third. Salas came back to win the pro open longboard with a good-sized set, a heavy lip bash getting half his nine-footer out of the water combo-ing up with a slicing cuttie and another bash off the oncoming section to score a wave in the nine range for the win. Salas pocketed $2,000.

Three-time world champ Colin McPhillips ripped, too, with some hard hits, beautiful round-house cutbacks, nose rides and reforms to get second. Oceanside’s Taylor Jensen, who had the wave of the day on Saturday’s competition, finished third. The local hotties, Josh Mohr and Dodger Kremmel, lost a close one in the semis. In the tandem surf final, Kalani Vierra and Blanche Yoshida pulled off some incredible holds — like the high swan, the pyramid and the Americano.

The four-star, $75,000 Jeep-Body Glove Surf bout is happening at Lower Trestles, San Clemente, this week. The trial started on Tuesday and will go till Saturday’s finals. Also going on is the Junior’s Oakley Pro Junior worth $10,000 dollars. That’s it for now. Fig, over and out.