Hermosa Hotdoggers Championships Longboard Surf Contest Presented by Subaru Pacific
Ritchie Hudson. Photo (CivicCouch.com)
Story
Photos (CivicCouch.com)
In the ‘60s Hoppy Swartz with the help of Leroy Grannis and the Kerwin brothers put on The Hermosa Beach Surfing Championships for The United States Surfing Association as part of The International Surfing Festival. It was one of the biggest surfing contests of the decade, drawing top surfers from around the world. The surfing world was well aware of South Bay roots with Velzy, Jacobs, Greg Noll, Dewey Weber, Bing and Rick Surf Shops all on Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach. The top South Bay surfers had full living room floors covered with sleeping bags filled with out-of-town surfers. You got to see all the best surfing styles from up and down the coast and share board design.
Eddie Solt and Wright Adaza wanted to bring it all back and did just that last Saturday on the South side of the Hermosa Beach Pier. He got a lot of help from Adam Davenport, Shawn O’Brien, Chris Wells and a good group of judges with plenty of volunteers.
“The one thing I wanted to stress is that the Hermosa Beach Hotdogger Championship presented by Subau Pacific is not only about the action in the water,” Solt said. “It’s about getting the community together and having a good time. Without the volunteers, we wouldn’t have had a contest.”
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The sun was glistening off fast 3-foot A-frames zipping off the pier. A few hundred old school longboarders were chomping at the bit to get out there. John Grannis, Bobby Warchola and I were ready to get this show going, judging the South Bay’s newest phenom Hudson Richie, who would spend most of the first heat camping on the nose. Once in awhile he would change things up by hanging heels and walking back to the tail, finishing off with a nice coaster.
“The rules are very specific and lean toward more classic style of surfing with the equipment being dictated by traditional designs,” he said. “The rules, as well as the cash purse provided by Aloha HR, attracted a stellar crew of surfers. I am putting it on the record — this was the highest caliber longboarding ever seen at the pier.”
Top old school longboarder and new school shortboarder Tommy Witt Jr. pointed out that Richie should be looking over his shoulder at a Dana Point surfer named River Covey, who dropped into a set wave with his front foot dangling over the tip as he pulled into the tube. Santa Monica ‘s West Adler also spent much of the heat jogging back and forth from the tail to the nose on little inside zippers.
The first superheat of the open pro division began in with South Bay’s newest female surf star, Morgan Sliff, in front of a pack of surfing male wolves. If it was any other heat Morgan would have won. Her mom says her daughter’s mission is to surf every day, no matter what the conditions are like, for one year. It’s paying off. She finished third in her first men’s heat and fourth in the second, just failing to advance. In the women’s open, she finished second. When you are surfing against Tommy Witt it’s like going against Kelly Slater on a shortboard. On one wave, Tom dropped in fin first, came off the bottom, hit the lip and spun the board around in the air before nailing the landing.
A super smooth Oceanside goofy footer named Pete Johnson Jr. kept the pressure on Witt. I used to surf with his father in the ‘60s with the Windansea Surf Club. Johnson Sr. rode 30-foot Waimea Bay when he was 14 years old.
Solt said he was talking to phenomenal local surfer Kris Hall, who graced the cover of Drop Zone in May. Hall was bummed after taking 4th in the semifinals. Solt reminded him that two of the surfers he was competing against have been on the cover of the Surfer’s Journal, the sport’s most prestigious honor, and one had taken second in Joel Tudor’s famed Duct Tape Invitational.
“You are stoked, dude,” Solt told Hall. “At one point, every heat could have been a final, with those names.”
Another of the day’s top contenders was Kai Takayama, who has a fondness for nasty barrels befitting the grandson of Hermosa Surfing Walk of Fame inductee Donald Takayama.
Hermosa’s own own Dave Shaefer also put on an impressive display of 360s, while Vince Felix brought it all back to the ‘60s with his smooth, Skip Frye style. Ventura’s Sean Tully surfed equally well both regular and goofy with the cleanest style ever. San Clemente’s Andy Nieblas was doing crazy things on a longboard — like standing up backwards through a barrel — that I have never seen before.
“We are glad so many of you drove a long way to get here for this event, but the South Bay rarely breaks like this,” Solt at one point in the day felt compelled to announce through the sound system (which was also used for a stellar soundtrack provided by Dirty Hippie Radio). “So in the future, I wouldn’t bother making the long trip up the freeway thinking you’ll find more waves like today’s.”
In the women’s divisions, the South Bay was well represented with Morgan Sliff, Sarah Folley and Marisa Hirtzel. But Witt’s girlfriend Michelle Layton stole the show. She looked better than most the guys. Michelle is the daughter of legendary Jacobs Surf Team and Windansea Club member Kent Layton. Kent was my best friend and surfing fraternity brother. We called our group Charlie and the Horny Cougars. We were straight out of Animal House and changed every get-together into a Toga Party way before the movie. Kent settled down when he married and Michelle was born, and became a respected psychiatrist for the Alvarado Parkway Institute Mental Health Center in Carlsbad.
“Michelle and Tommy get the ‘Joanie loves Chachi’ award,” Solt said. “They were the Mr. and Miss Hotdogger.”
Layton spent the day on the nose hanging ten while flying down the face before scampering back to carve her turn. She would slide into a beautiful 360 when she got the chance, pulling the trick straight out of Witt’s book.
The cherry on the top of the pie was the King Harbor Brewing Company SuperDogger Espression Session. It was a heat for strictly pre-1968 surfboards, no leash, no wetsuit, with as many surfers surfing as possible. All competitors wear their own Hawaiian shirts and put $20 in a trophy made by King Harbor Brewing’s Tom Dunbabin before the heat. The winner takes the pot.
“The Superdogger was a concept that Shawn O’Brien came up with,” Solt said. “One of my favorite surfers of all time, Ventura’s Vince Felix, stole the show with the slingshot rights off the pier and a killer critical headstand.”
The wind picked up and the surf began to sour when I put down my judges clipboard and paddled out for the Legends heat behind Redondo High School Surf Team assistant coach Frank Payne. The set of the day caught us and Frank got sucked backwards over the falls, hitting me in the forehead with the tail of his board. The heat just started and I was already bleeding. I dropped in a scary looking bowl, getting the wave of the heat. I guess it all evens out.
In the Legends Final I couldn’t tell the whitecaps from the waves. The make-able waves were gone and we were left with 3-foot closeouts. Joe Lombardo kept dropping into what looked like a shoulder only to have the bottom suck out. Bobby Warchola got a few small lefts into the pier. Abel Yabera looked like his old self, getting smooth long rights off the pier in classic Hawaiian style. Troy Campbell was the most consistent, getting long inside lefts and bouncing off the lip down to win the heat.
“Thank you to all the sponsors for helping out this year. I didn’t expect it to be this big.” Solt said at the contest’s end. “Next year, I want to make it a two day event and bring more recognition to the city of Hermosa Beach as the ‘true surf city.” ER
Results:
Jonesea Young Mermaid Division 18 and under: 1st. Francesca Sealy, 2nd. Amelie Vergnolle, 3rd. Aliana Gomez, 4th. Hali Honea, 5th. Layla Lari, 6th. Emma Waldinger
Hippy Tree Gremlin Division Boys 18 and under: 1st. Hudson Ritchie. 2nd. Kai Takayama, 3rd. Ryan Hughes, 4th. Ben Goldstein, 5th. West Adler
Electric Bitchin’ Division 18-34: 1st. Mike Siordia, 2nd. Dirk Kay, 3rd. Kyle Pond, 4th. Adam Braun 5th. Neil Van Splinter, 6th. Whiskey Tango
Body Glove Lovely Ladies Division 18 and up: 1st. Michelle Layton, 2nd. Morgan Sliff, 3rd. Sarah Foley, 4th. Adrienne Olivera, 5th. Amelie Vergnolle, 6th. Marisa Hirtzel
Easy Reader Newspaper Elastic Waist Division Men’s (35-50) 1st. Vince Felix, 2nd. Jeremy Porfilio, 3rd. Hans, 5th Michael Takayama, 6th. Frank Mazzotta
Riviera Mexican Grill Legend’s Division (51+) 1. Troy Campbell, 2nd. Abel Ybbarra, 3rd. David Paquin, 4th. Mike Purpus, 5th. Bobby Warchola, 6th. Joey Lombardo
King Harbor Brewing Co. SuperDogger Expression Session: Vince Felix
Aloha HR Best Noseride: Mike Siordia
Aloha HR Best Wipeout: Todd Messick
Aloha HR Most Radical Rollercoaster: Kyle Pond
Aloha HR Hotdogger Open: 1st. Tommy Witt, 2nd. Steve Newton, 3rd. Sean Tully, 4th. Vince Felix, 5th. Mike Siordia, 6th. Jeremy Porfilio