A mini city on the beach is being built on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier in anticipation of summer’s biggest action-sports beach festival, the Lexus US Open of Surfing, an event that has been a staple in the seaside town for decades.
The World Surf League tour stop has become a can’t-miss summer event with fans lining the pier or finding a sliver of sand for a front-row seat to the action.
While many of the events on the tour’s schedule are more subdued, the US Open is nine days packed with things to do and high-level competition to watch.
There will be dozens of booths set up on the sand by the festival’s opening on Saturday, July 26, offering samples or giving a glimpse at the latest surf lifestyle or outdoor products; sunset music concerts will wrap up several days of the competition; and the No Cap! Freestyle Moto Show will feature a high-flying motocross event on the beach. The surfing finals are Aug. 3.
There’s also everything from public beach cleanups to learn-to-surf sessions planned, as well as places to reapply sunscreen or learn about environmental issues. Meet-and-greets and autograph signings happen around town and on the sand, with movie premieres and appearances throughout the week.
And, of course, there’s the talented, hungry surfers from around the world battling it out in front of thousands of fans for the prestigious U.S. Open of Surfing title.
“I think it just really embraces Southern California, not just surf culture, but action sports culture,” said World Surf League commentator Joe Turpel, who has been an online announcer for the event for more than a decade. “You really feel the buzz in the area, this meeting place where everybody is going to show up and see who is the next big thing.”
Australian Sally Fitzgibbons won the event last year in the women’s division, a second time on the US Open podium following a win 13 years earlier. Last year’s contest also made history as Alan Cleland Jr. became the first surfer from Mexico to win the World Surf League Challenger Series event.
In the Huntington Beach Longboard Classic, it was a Southern California sweep, with Dana Point’s Rachael Tilly earning the women’s title and Taylor Jensen winning the men’s division.
Tilly recalled surfing amateur events at the same spot when she was just 8 years old, reflecting on how far she has come and how her experience at the surf spot in her younger years gave her an edge.
“I love competing at Huntington,” she said. “I have a lot of nostalgia for that event. I’ve put so many hours and years into trying to get to that moment. It was really special, to come together full circle on that same beach.”
The longboard event starts the US Open and is the first of four stops on the tour, with the last event landing in El Salvador in November. Competition starts daily at 7:30 a.m. and lasts until around 3:30 p.m.
“I think there’s always extra nerves going into the very first event of the year,” said Tilly, who recently moved to San Clemente. “It’s kind of a recalibration for everyone.”
A few of her fellow competitors will be staying with her — friends outside of the water, but competitors when they put the jerseys on.
“I’m looking forward to getting my feet in the wax and getting started from a competitive standpoint,” she said.
The Challenger Series competition could start as early as Tuesday, depending on the longboard contest and surf conditions.
On the Challenger Series tour — where surfers are vying for valuable points to earn a spot on the elite-level World Tour — the athletes are coming from near and far to compete. It’s the third stop of seven on the tour.
“This is the stage where people want to perform to make the (World) Tour,” Turpel said. “They are trying to build a name for themselves, or they are veterans that still have gas in the tank.”
San Clemente’s Kade Matson is one of the surfers hoping to get a strong result. The local surfer suffered a back injury and needed surgery a few years back, before having a major comeback and landing on the World Tour in 2023, the major leagues of the sport.
But his time among the ranks of the world’s best was short lived, when he failed to earn enough points by the mid-year cut to stay on tour.
“I think falling off was one of the hardest things I’ve had to go through, besides my back injury,” Matson said on a recent day. “Last year, I never came back mentally from falling off. This year, I’m more clear headed.”
Matson has had several months off from competing and is hungry, he said, to put the jersey back on — at a place where he grew up competing.
“It’s a special event for anybody who lives in California,” Matson said. “I grew up competing there every weekend. I feel like I know that wave more than 80% of the surfers in the event. That has a big effect on confidence going into it, for sure.”
He’ll also have his friends making the trek from San Clemente to support, including World Tour surfer and Olympian Griffin Colapinto, who will be helping out with some coaching from the sand, he said.
“Being at home, around family and friends, it feels amazing,” he said. “I think traveling around the world, it’s obviously really cool and we love doing it. But the comfort of sleeping in your own bed, being around familiar places and doing the same thing you would on a day-to-day basis, it’s super important to have that comfortable mindset. It feels really good.”
Fellow San Clemente surfer Kirra Pinkerton also knows the wave well, competing in Surf City as a kid as she moved up the amateur rankings.
“I’m pretty excited, every year I’m excited to surf close to home. I want to take it this year,” said Pinkerton. “Just the excitement it brings, and the hometown vibes you get from family and friends, that’s my favorite thing about it.”
Pinkerton is part of a crop of young female surfers who’ve been pushing the limits, leaving fans excited about watching the women’s progression.
“Women’s surfing has been amazing ever since I can remember, but I feel like the past few years there’s been an extra push of young girls,” Pinkerton said. “If one girl pushes, the rest will follow, and it’s been really cool. There’s been so much development on the women’s side, you hear it everywhere. Men’s surfing is obviously great, but women’s surfing is on the rise and I’m super stoked to be a part of it and see where it goes.”
Pinkerton recalls going to the US Open as a youngster with her dad, who used to run a booth for Boost Mobile, when that company was the sponsor.
“There’s so many booths and activities, it’s kind of like a blur. You have to hone in your focus and get down there to surf,” she said. “It’s a lot, but it’s really cool.”
Turpel also talked about his first memories of the US Open, standing on the pier as a kid and watching the competitors below.
“You were able to talk to the surfers in the water. I wasn’t one of the ones yelling, but you could cheer them on,” he said.
The US Open of Surfing’s history dates back to the 1950s with the inception of the West Coast Surfing Championships and has evolved through the ages to the spectacle it is now.
Some of surfing’s most iconic names, including Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, Layne Beachley, Stephanie Gilmore, Tom Curren and more have etched their names into Huntington Beach history with memorable wins, carried above a blanket of surf fans cheering as they are lifted to the stage.
Some of Turpel’s favorite moments include watching three-time world champion Irons when he won the US Open and the OP Pro, and watching Sunny Garcia compete in 2000, the year he was vying for a world championship.
He recalls watching Rochelle Ballard in the late ’90s collide with the concrete pier pilings because she was so hungry for the win.
“Those moments for me, as a surf fan, are some of the ones I’ll never forget,” he said. “We would wait in line and meet all our favorite surfers.”
Turpel can still remember the sound of Rick “Rockin’ Fig” Fignetti’s voice, the KROQ and longtime US Open surf announcer who was a staple through the ’90s and early 2000s. He had a knack for keeping the crowds on the beach engaged, entertained and informed.
“His voice just sounds like the US Open to me. The way he would entertain the crowd, how invested he was in surfing and how he was the forever grommet at heart,” Turpel said of Fignetti, who died four years ago. “Any time I think of the US Open, I’ll think of him.”
The event speaks to what Southern California is all about — you see the best in action sports meeting up in one spot in a festival set out on the beach, he said.
“There’s so much on the line to call yourself a US Open champion,” Turpel said. “You see the importance of people wanting to add their name to the legacy of the US Open.”
Beyond the surf
The U.S. Open isn’t just about the surf, but also a chance to enjoy the festival area set up on the sand.
Here are a few highlights for opening weekend starting Saturday:
• The Sundown Set Concert Series kicks off the first day of the event, with Common Kings playing at 5 p.m. At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Capital Dub, Lively Up and Casey Smiles take to the stage. Tickets are available online. Music performances will be held at the Beach Bar, south of the pier. All shows are ages 21 and older. A portion of ticket sales benefits the Surfrider Foundation, which works to protect and preserve the world’s oceans and beaches.
• On the sand, don’t miss the kick off of the No Cap! Freestyle Moto Show from motocross legend and 16-time X Games medalist Jarryd McNeil, sponsored by No Cap! Soda Pop. McNeil, Taka Higashino, Wyatt Fontenot and Levia Farias will showcase their extreme motocross skills on a track created on the southside of the pier. Shows will be held 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
• At 1 p.m. catch the Lexus Culinary Master Food Sampling in the Lexus House on Saturday and Sunday.
More info: usopenofsurfing.com