Garcia Has Sunny Outlook About Surf City

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Sunny Garcia doesn’t understand all the bad-mouthing the surf seems to get when his professional counterparts come to town.

“I like Huntington Beach. It’s my California home when I’m here,” Garcia said. “I like the waves . . . I always have. And for me, it’s a good place for a surf venue.”

Garcia, along with 37 of the world’s top men surfers, will be among more than 500 competing in the G-Shock U.S. Open on the south side of Huntington Beach Pier.

The seven-day contest starts Monday, but Garcia and top-seeded surfers Kelly Slater, Shane Beschen, Taylor Knox and Barton Lynch won’t compete until Friday morning.

Garcia, who lives in Hawaii, might love this place, but others are less than pleased with the surf here.

There has been a growing trend in the last few years to move World Championship Tour events from “bad-wave sites,” such as Huntington Beach, to “good-wave sites,” such as Lower Trestles in San Clemente.

Consistently soft one-foot waves are considered bad and waves three feet or higher are considered good for competitions.

Last year, the Assn. of Surfing Professionals voted to dissolve the U.S. Open and move the contest to Lower Trestles, which has arguably the best break in California. But lack of sponsorship, poor public access and limited television coverage, forced the ASP to cancel the Trestles event before it started.

Quick work by U.S. Surfing and ASP officials resurrected the U.S. Open in Huntington Beach, though it isn’t a WCT event.

Garcia understands his colleagues’ desires to surf only good-break contests, such as Lower Trestles, G-Land (Grajagan, on the southeastern tip of Java), Pipeline and Makaha. But he’s tired of complaints about Huntington Beach.

“I’ve always loved it here in Huntington Beach. I bring my family when I come over and we visit old friends. I love the crowds that come out and watch the surfing. I get good vibes from the crowd, and the more the better,” Garcia said. “And about the bad wave thing, I’ve been to G-Land during some contests when it was flat.”

Garcia’s love of Huntington Beach began in 1983, when he surfed in the National Scholastic Surfing Assn. Championships. Now, the NSSA Championships are at Lower Trestles.

“I lost to Jeff Booth back then, but even so, I still loved this place when I came,” Garcia said. “The people were so nice to me, and I had a good time.”

Garcia turned pro in 1986, at age 16. Though he’s only 27 now, he’s the tour’s elder statesman.

“It seems like I’ve been surfing forever,” he said. “I mean, 12 years is a long time to do this. And when I started, I was surfing with some of the best, people like Shaun Tomson, Rabbit Bartholomew and Michael Ho. So some might look up to me. And if I can help, that’s good.

“As for being Hawaiian, I really don’t preach about it, but I am proud of my Hawaiian heritage. I’m not saying anything bad about the United States. I love the U.S. and I’m proud to be an American, but I’m also Hawaiian, and that’s also important.”

Steve Hawk, editor of Surfer magazine, said Garcia is one of the sport’s more influential people.

“A lot of surfers look up to him. And for some reason, Sunny has had this gruff facade that has followed him throughout his career,” Hawk said. “But I don’t think he’s like that. He is fiercely Hawaiian and he has some deep feelings about his heritage, but he’s a friendly guy.”

Despite his longevity and status on the tour, Garcia has never won the world title. He said he would love nothing better than to join Derek Ho as the only Hawaiians to ever win it.

“I’ve always followed the philosophy that if it comes, it comes, and if it doesn’t, then it wasn’t meant to be,” Garcia said of the world title. “Of course, I would love to win the title, but if I don’t win, I’m not going to kill myself.

“Looking back at it, I have nothing to complain about. I’ve always given my sponsors 100%, I’ve had a chance to travel, I met my wife in surfing, got married and had my kids. I can say I’ve done everything I wanted.”

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U.S. Open of Surfing

* What: The G-Shock U.S. Open of Surfing, the fourth stop on the Clarion Tour, will feature six divisions and more than 500 participants--including 36 of the world’s top male and 11 of the top female surfers--in competition for $155,000 in prizes.

* Where: Huntington Beach, south of the pier.

* When: Monday through Sunday, Aug. 10. Competition is 7 a.m.-5 p.m. each day except Aug. 10, when it’s 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

* In the water: The men’s U.S. Open is the highest-rated Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Qualifying Series event in the mainland United States. The Kahlua U.S. Open of Women’s Surfing is the sixth leg of the 13-event Coca-Cola/ASP Women’s Championship Tour. Wahine Women’s World Qualifying series, the Billabong/On A Mission Junior pro-am, the BZ U.S. Open of Bodyboarding and the U.S. Open of Longboarding also are scheduled.

* Schedule: Monday--Bodyboarding trials, longboarding trials, Wahine trials, junior pro-am trials; Tuesday--Men’s surfing trials, junior pro-am trials; Wednesday--Men’s surfing trials, Wahine quarterfinals, junior pro-am main event; Thursday--Men’s surfing trials and main event Round 1, bodyboarding quarterfinals and main event, longboarding main event, Wahine quarterfinals and semifinals; Friday--Men’s surfing main event Round 2, women’s surfing, longboarding quarterfinals; Saturday--Women’s surfing quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, men’s surfing main event Round 3, junior pro-am quarterfinals, longboarding semifinals and finals; Sunday--Men’s surfing quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, junior pro-am semifinals and finals, bodyboarding semifinals and finals.

* Tickets: Free sand and bleacher seating all days of the competition; however, premium stadium seating packages available for Saturday and Sunday.

* Parking: Available at the city parking structure one block in from Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway. However, arrive early as more than 200,000 spectators are expected over the event’s duration.