THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508240174
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
HURRICANE FELIX DID us wrong, man! It went bogus and is going to miss the party. The stupid thing has no idea what it's missing.
Not cool. Not cool at all. The gnarly dude could have made things very happening for the surfing portion of the 33rd annual Budweiser East Coast Surfing Championships.
Threatening the coast all last week with high winds and torrential rains, the storm pushed ahead of it some of the best midsummer surf seen in a long time.
Conditions for almost two weeks were outstanding.
With the storm moseying off the mid-Atlantic coast, things were looking good for the championships, which started Thursday with amateur surfing first rounds and continue today with the start of the professionals.
While the potential remains for better than average surf, Felix - at least in regard to surfing - will be missed.
``Seriously, we could have used a little of that swell,'' said Paul West, competition director for the Eastern Surfing Association, the governing body for the amateur portion of the contest.
``Just before the storm started working its way up here, the ground swell was some of the best I've ever seen in Virginia Beach. It was hot, just really hot and everybody was getting some great times in.''
West said that because of a few low pressure systems that are supposed to move through the area and a pair of tropical waves that were closing in on the Caribbean late Tuesday, chances are good for high-caliber conditions.
``The surf has been better than average all summer,'' he said. ``The sandbar by the jetty is set up great right now, so we could have some good stuff regardless.''
``Besides,'' he said, laughing, ``waves are just a bonus for this weekend.''
True, the ECSC is many things besides surfing.
While the competition is the second-oldest continuous-running surfing contest in the world, the events surrounding it have earned the reputation of being the summer-ending beach party to end all beach parties.
There will be live music beginning tonight, swimsuit contests, tug-of-war contests, children's activities, food and beverages and a sports festival.
In addition to surfing, a golf tournament, 5K race, skimboarding, volleyball and sailing events are all part of the mix for the nearly 100,000 people who will be on hand.
But surfing is still - and always will be - the heart of this event.
In the amateur portion, about 200 entries are expected. What's different this year is that more amateurs are traveling to Virginia Beach for the event.
``We've had lots of letters from all over asking about coming down for the contest,'' West said. ``We've got people from all over the East Coast.''
On the professional side, 75 to 100 competitors are expected for the sixth stop on the eight-city Bud Surf Tour.
This year the Bud Surf Tour is bringing its own beach set-up to the contest - an 18-wheeler that was scheduled to roll into town sometime Thursday to set up shop.
The Bud Surf tour determines surfing's U.S. champion and is sanctioned by the Association of Surfing Professionals as a World Qualifying Series event. The Bud Surf Tour is the largest ASP domestic circuit in the world - offering the most total World Qualifying Series points and the largest purse.
The ECSC stop is the largest on the East Coast with a $25,000 total purse - with $20,000 designated for the men ($4,000 to the winner), $2,500 for the women, and $2,500 for the longboard division - currently surfing's fastest growing division at any level.
Last year's men's tour winner - Jeff Brown - is currently in ninth place in the overall points standings, although any of the surfers through the No. 15 position could overtake current leader Chris Gallagher. Brown was second in 1993. Jeff Deffenbaugh won last year's ECSC pro men's division and is currently in 14th place.
Last year's women's ECSC winner - Falina Spires - is expected to return, as are a vast majority of the top professionals on the tour. ILLUSTRATION: [color cover photo -man surfing]
[no cutline or photo credit]
File photos by IAN MARTIN
A surfer slashes through the surf last year in the East Coast
Surfing Championships. About 200 amateurs and between 75 and 100
professional surfers are expected this year.
Surfers dash for the water to compete in the second-oldest
continuous-running surfing contest in the world.
Spectators watch the action in the surf last year in a summer-ending
beach party to end all beach parties.
KEYWORDS: EAST COAST SURFING CHAMPIONSHIP by CNB