California Rivalry Surf Contest

West Coast Surfing

Here is a description of the proposed Surf City competition. Each year, there will be TWO surfing contests, resulting in one trophy. One will be held in Huntington Beach, and one will be held in Santa Cruz. This will help surfers from both areas get to understand each other better, and provide annual bragging rights to the winners.

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The Events
Two contests will be held - one in Huntington Beach, and one in Santa Cruz.
All competing surfers will participate in both events.
The first contest held will be called SCS 1, and the second SCS 2.
If SCS 2 does not occur, then the results of SCS 1 will be null and void. The winner must score highly in both contests.

Trophies will be awarded to the top 6 performers.

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The Dates
1. Each city will determine when their half of the contest will be held.
2. Following the Maverick's format, each city will give the other 48 hours notice before the contest begins. (Maverick's is 24, but we want to make it easy for everyone - the prediction tools can do 48 pretty well.

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The Locations
1. The Santa Cruz contest will be held at Steamer Lane. Suggested first contest - November 2008
2. The Huntington Beach contest will be held at the Huntington Beach pier. Suggested first contest - November 2008

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The Invitees
For each contest, the surfers will be the same -
1. Santa Cruz will invite 12 surfers to participate in both contests.
2. All Santa Cruz participants must be from Northern California.
3. Huntington Beach will invite 12 surfers to participate in both contests.
4. All Huntington Beach participants must be from Southern California.

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The Judges
1. Huntington Beach shall select 5 judges from Huntington Beach, and Santa Cruz shall select 5 judges from Santa Cruz.

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The Format
1. The competition will be divided into 6 heats of 4 surfers each, followed by 3 semifinal heats of 4 surfers each.
2. There will be one final heat of 6 surfers.
3. The trophies will be awarded based on BOTH contests, and therefore awarded after the Second Contest of the year, where ever that might occur.

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The Governing Body
Ahh, the tricky one, Ideas?
The overriding factor must be the perception of fairness by both sides. How should we set this up?
Hey, Jeff Clark. You've got the experience. Wanna take over?



Maybe Jack O'Neill, the father of modern surfing, can be the President of the Surf City Series.
He has strong interests in both cities.


The top surfers from each city would elect a Primary Representative.
This person (such as Mike Rotkin, Corky Carroll) would be responsible for -
1. Selecting and notifying the surfers who will participate
2. Appointing the judges from his area
3. Setting the contest date each year for his city, and
4. Communicating that date to the other city's representative within 48 hours before the contest
5. and possibly, securing sponsorship

In other words, perform the function of Jeff Clark at Maverick's. There could be glory here for someone. As well as the prestige which might accrue from being a hero, and healing the effects of recent controversy.

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