From Dec. 4 – 10, the SLO CAL Open surfing competition had its first regional longboard qualifying series at Morro Rock, along with the return of the World Surf League (WSL) North America Qualifying Series (QS).
The longboard competition is presented by Surfing for Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to raising funds for cancer foundations through surfing programs, according to their website.
After the inaugural Surfing For Hope Longboard Classic last year in Pismo Beach, the event returned to Morro Rock, according to the WSL website.
Surf competitions are comprised of rounds made up of heats with four surfers competing to get their two highest-scoring waves. Then, the top two surfers from each heat move on in a bracket system, according to the WSL’s rules and regulations.
The athletes have 20 minutes to try and get the best waves of the day. If no one catches a wave during the first ten minutes, a head judge can restart the heat.
Carlsbad High School student Reid Van Wagoner was able to support her brother before competing herself.
“Watching my older brother grow up and surf has kind of kept me going,” Wagoner said.
She came with her friends Chloe Coleman and Maddie Stanton, who are also both surfers. The competitors are graded on a scale from 1 – 10 and get points by doing different tricks.
Other factors the judges consider are commitment and degree of difficulty, innovation, variety, speed, power, flow and the combination of maneuvers.
One announcer of the competition said that Morro Bay’s big open ocean feel is much different from Pismo, making these waves hard to surf.
“There’s a little lump and bump; a bounce to these waves,” the announcer said.
Ella McCaffray and Levi Slawson won the QS Finals on Dec. 8, McCaffray scoring 15.5/20 and Slawson with 17.4/20, as reported by the WSL website. This event was McCaffray’s first QS win.
The following day, Natalia Wunderlich and Jack Van Wagoner won the longboard classic according to WSL, Wunderlich’s best wave being a 6.5/10 and Wagoner getting a near-perfect 9.25/10.
Reid Van Wagoner encourages people to try surfing for themselves and to enjoy the nature surrounding them.
“It takes a little bit to get to know surfing and trying to start surfing, but once you do, it’s gonna be something you’ll keep forever.”
The next event, VANS Pipe Masters, is hosted in Oahu, Hawaii, and goes until Dec. 20. For more information, visit their website.