The first day of the Surfing for Hope Longboard Classic was canceled on Friday because of King Tides and windy conditions in Pismo Beach.
Brian Robbins, World Surf League North America Tour Manager, explained what this means for the competitors.
“It's a combination of two things. We have a brand new swell, which is the ocean energy coming on to the shore, combining with a rising tide at 8 a.m. and a seven-foot high tide,” Robbins said.
Bucky Barry is one of the participants in this weekend's event. He says competing on Friday would not have been ideal for the longboard surfers.
“I think the toughest thing would be being able to catch as many waves as you want to in the 25-minute window. The paddle back out once you catch a wave is pretty long, not just because of the waves landing on you, but to get back out to the impact zone where you want to be surfing,” Barry said.
Event organizers say they were not surprised by the conditions.
“We've been here for two days watching the waves and swells. We knew the swell was increasing. There are buoys out here we read so we have empirical data to use and once we get here in the morning we confirm the data is real, watch it for a while and you do want to see some of the people surf,” Robbins said.
The concern is not necessarily about safety.
“The heats wouldn't have been competitive because they're just going to spend a lot of time paddling and trying to get through the break,” Robbins said.
Barry is hopeful the weather will improve.
“Tomorrow, waves should be a little smaller and hopefully with all the water moving today it will create lots of holes in the sand so it will be peaky conditions and lots of opportunities to do multiple maneuvers,” Barry said.
The surf competition is scheduled to continue on Saturday and Sunday and officials say they expect better conditions.
