The U.S. Open of Surfing is a week-long surfing competition held annually during the summer in Huntington Beach, California. Generally held on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, the U.S. Open is part of the qualification process for the World Surf League and is a WSL QS 10,000 event. [1] [2] It is the largest surfing competition in the world. [3] It has been owned by IMG since 2000. [4] [5]
As part of the event, notable people in the world of surfing are added to the Surfing Walk of Fame and to the Surfers' Hall of Fame, both directly across from the pier.
The U.S. Open, then called the West Coast Surfing Championship, was first held in 1959. In 1964 it became known as the United States Surfing Championships. In 1982 it became known as the OP Pro for its sponsor, Ocean Pacific. The event was renamed the U.S. Open of Surfing in 1994. [6]
The contest was traditionally held during Labor Day weekend. The event was changed to an earlier date following the 1986 event when riots occurred at the OP Pro. [7]
Rioting again marred the 2013 U.S. Open. On the final day of the event, as the crowds left the contest area and filled Main Street, a civil disturbance erupted, resulting in property damage and several arrests and some injuries. [8] As a result, the event owner IMG stated that in 2014 it will discontinue events such as free concerts and focus more on the sport. [9]
Spending at the nine-day event adds $21.5 million to the Orange County economy and $16.4 million in Huntington Beach. [2] It is attended by nearly 500,000 people. [10]
1959: Jack Haley, Linda Benson
1960: Mike Haley, Linda Benson
1961: Ron Sizemore, Linda Benson
1962: Ilima Kalama, Gudie Wilkie
1963: LJ Richards, Candy Calhoun
1964: Jim Craig, Linda Benson
1965: Mark Martinson, Joyce Hoffman
1966: Corky Carroll, Joyce Hoffman
1967: Corky Carroll, Joyce Hoffman
1968: David Nuuhiwa, Linda Benson
1969: Corky Carroll, Sharron Weber
1970: David Nuuhiwa, Joyce Hoffman
1971: Brad McCaul, Jericho Poppler
1972: Dale Dobson, Mary Setterholm
1982: Cheyne Horan, Becky Benson
1983: Tom Curren, Kim Mearig
1984: Tom Curren, Frieda Zamba
1985: Mark Occhilupo, Jodie Cooper
1986: Mark Occhilupo, Frieda Zamba
1987: Barton Lynch, Wendy Botha
1988: Tom Curren, Jorja Smith
1989: Richie Collins, Frieda Zamba
1990: Todd Holland, Frieda Zamba
1991: Barton Lynch, Frieda Zamba
1992: Team USA (Kelly Slater, Richie Collins, Todd Holland, Mike Parsons, Alisa Schwarzstein)
1993: Sunny Garcia, Kim Mearig
1994: Shane Beschen, Lisa Andersen
1995: Rob Machado, Neridah Falconer
1996: Kelly Slater, Layne Beachley
1997: Beau Emerton, Rochelle Ballard
1998: Andy Irons, Layne Beachley
1999: Shea Lopez, Keala Kennelly
2000: Sunny Garcia, Tita Tavares
2001: Rob Machado, Pauline Menczer
2002: Kalani Robb, Pauline Menczer
2003: Cory Lopez, Chelsea Georgeson
2004: Taj Burrow, Chelsea Georgeson
2005: Andy Irons, Julia Christian
2006: Rob Machado, Sofia Mulanovich
2007: C.J. Hobgood, Stephanie Gilmore
2008: Nathaniel Curran, Malia Manuel [11]
2009: Brett Simpson, Courtney Conlogue [12]
2010: Brett Simpson, Carissa Moore [13]
2011: Kelly Slater, Sally Fitzgibbons
2012: Julian Wilson, Lakey Peterson [14]
2013: Alejo Muniz, Carissa Moore [15]
2014: Filipe Toledo, Tyler Wright [16]
2015: Hiroto Ohhara, Johanne Defay [17]
2016: Filipe Toledo, Tatiana Weston-Webb [18]
2017: Kanoa Igarashi, Sage Erickson [19]
2018: Kanoa Igarashi, Courtney Conlogue
2019: Yago Dora, Sage Erickson [20]
2020: Cancelled
2021: Griffin Colapinto, Caitlin Simmers
2022: Ezekiel Lau, Bettylou-Sakura Johnson
2023: Eli Hanneman, Sawyer Lindblad [21]
Year | Pro Longboard Open |
---|---|
2013-2016 Duct Tape Invitational | Justin Quintal (wins 4 in a row) |
2012 Pacifico Noserider Invitational | Justin Quintal |
2010-2011 Pacifico Noserider Invitational | Joel Tudor (wins 2 in a row) |
2010 Trestles | Steven Mangiacapre [23] |
2009 Corona Noserider Invitational | Kevin Connolly |
2008 | Taylor Jensen [2] |
2007 | Colin McPhillips [2] |
2006 | Dodger Kremel |
2005 | Joel Tudor [8] |
2004 | Brendan White |
2003 | Taylor Jensen |
2002 | Joel Tudor [7] |
2001 | Josh Baxter |
1995–2000 | Joel Tudor (wins 6 in a row) |
1994 | Colin McPhillips |
Notable people are inducted into Surfing Walk of Fame and Surfers' Hall of Fame each year during the U.S. Open. The Walk of Fame has plaques imbedded in the sidewalk, while the Hall of Fame has handprints. Each are located across the street from one another and across Pacific Coast Highway from the Huntington Beach Pier.
Every year the Surfing Walk of Fame at Huntington Beach inducts members in the categories of surf pioneers, surfing champions, local heroes, surf culture, woman of the year, and honor roll. Eligibility for each award are as follows:
Inductees by year are as follows:
Robert Edward Machado is an American professional surfer.
Bruce Alan Brown was an American documentary film director, known as an early pioneer of the surf film. He was the father of filmmaker Dana Brown.
Skip Frye is an American surfer, surfboard designer and shaper, and environmental activist.
Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) is a public high school in Huntington Beach, California. Built in 1906, it is part of the Huntington Beach Union High School District. HBHS is a California Distinguished School. Huntington Beach High School is also the home of the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts.
Wendy Botha is a four-time world surfing champion. She won her first title as a South African citizen in 1987, then she became an Australian citizen and won three more titles in 1989, 1991, and 1992. She also posed nude for Australian Playboy for the September issue of 1992. Botha married New Zealand rugby league international and television star Brent Todd in 1993. They had two children, Jessica and Ethan, and split in about 2005.
Frieda Zamba is a four-time world surfing champion from the United States. She won three titles in a row from 1984 to 1986, then won again in 1988. She lives in Costa Rica.
Lynne Boyer is a two-time world surfing champion from the United States. She won her two titles in 1978 and 1979. It was the first time any woman had won the championship twice. She was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California in 2008, as that year's Woman of the Year.
The Huntington Beach Pier is a municipal pier located in Huntington Beach, California, at the west end of Main Street and west of Pacific Coast Highway. At 1,850 feet (560 m) in length, it is one of the longest public piers on the West Coast.. The deck of the pier is 30 feet (9.1 m) above sea level, while the top of the restaurant structure at the end of the pier is 77 feet (23 m).
Robert August is an American surfer and surfboard shaper. He is best known as one of the subjects of Bruce Brown's 1966 surf documentary The Endless Summer, along with his friend Mike Hynson.
Kanvas By Katin, founded in 1954 and located in Surfside, California, is one of the oldest surf shops in California.
Joyce Hoffman is an American surfer, considered a pioneer in her sport. She is often regarded as the first female international surfing star and was one of the first inductees of the International Surfing Hall of Fame. In 1968 she became the first woman to surf the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii.
Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman is the real-life inspiration for the fictional character of Franzie from the 1957 novel, Gidget: The Little Girl with Big Ideas, written by her father Frederick Kohner.
Mike Parsons is an American professional surfer and surfing coach.
Corky Carroll is a professional American surfer and is considered a pioneer in the sport by becoming the first real professional surfer as well as being the first to make paid endorsements.
Bruce Jones was a founding pioneer in the surfboard shaping industry.
Brett Simpson is an American surfer and coach from Huntington Beach, California. He is the inaugural head coach of the United States Olympic surfing team. As a surfer, he won the 2009 U.S. Open of Surfing contest, and repeated again in 2010 by successfully defending his title against South African surfer Jordy Smith. Simpson was named the Orange County Surfer of the Year in 2008 and 2009.
Sean Robb Collins was the American founder of Surfline and a noted figure in the areas of surfing and surf forecasting.
Kolohe Andino is an American surfer. Andino began surfing at a young age and holds the record for winning the most National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) titles of any male competitor, becoming the youngest to win one at age 15 in 2009. His breakthrough happened in 2011 after he won the Vans Pier Classic and the ASP 6-Star Quiksilver Brazil Open of Surfing. In 2019, Andino qualified to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in surfing.
The Vans US Open of Surfing 2015 was an event of the Association of Surfing Professionals for 2015 ASP World Tour.
Courtney Conlogue is an American professional surfer. She was born in Santa Ana, California. Courtney learned to surf at the age of 4. In 2004 when she was 11, Conlogue was the youngest athlete to be selected to the USA Junior Surf Team. She went on to achieve 11th place in the 2005 ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. By the time she was 14, she had won a surfing gold medal as a member of the U.S. Team in the X Games. When she was 17 she won the biggest competition in the US at the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing, held at her home break in Huntington Beach, California.