A surfing celebration for Solomon

WET AND WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG

Is this really January? It’s hard to tell with the kind of weather

we’ve been having.

The high pressure system has been bumping the storms to the north,

leaving us with unseasonably warm air temps. This, in turn, has been

keeping the beaches lively, with even a few beachgoers donning

bikini’s and swim shorts while taking advantage of it. Of course,

that water is still pretty nippy, and we seem to be getting at least

one northwest swell every week.

Two weeks ago, up at Ventura, the United States Surfing Federation

had a fund-raiser surf contest for the Red Cross, a memorial at

California Street for the late Donnie Solomon. Donnie was one of the

top-ranked California pros in the mid-90s who was liked by all and

was a real charger in big surf. He drowned at Waimea Bay on the North

shore of Hawaii on a big day. A lot of his buddies showed up, and

showed some respect and remembered good old times with him. This

event is held every year at Ventura, where he was from.

Donnie must have been looking down from heaven in delight, as the

surf was cranking 4 to 8 feet and peeling off the point. A

star-studded field of surfers was ripping it up in the pro-am

division with world-class moves. The final was pretty close, until

four-time world champ Tom Curren got an insane double barrel in the

last five minutes and iced it.

An Oxnard local back on the Championship Tour this year, Timmy

Curran, was close behind with some killer waves and placed second.

Third was Huntington Beach wonder boy Timmy Reyes, who was ripping

big time, too. Fourth was the hot up-and-coming brother of Timmy,

Nathaniel Curran, who’s been opening up some eyes with some of his

flashy moves lately. Equal fifth was Seal Beach’s Ryan Simmons, who

had some great heats on the way to the semis.

In the amateur part of the event, Huntington’s Jay Boldt proved to

be unstoppable in the grandmasters division. He came up with the win.

Surf City’s Bob “The Greek” Bolen pulled into second and won the

legends division, too. In a tough battle in the senior mens, Danny

Ray LeMaster wasn’t holding back, nabbing some big sets and racing

them down the point. He placed fourth to wrap up an action-packed fun

weekend.

On one of those last big swells, Huntington Beach’s Ryan Turner

and “D.J.” Mark Moreno teamed up with one of the Offspring band

members. They were getting some macking 10- to 15-foot surf. Things

were going good until a big set broke wide, right on the boat with

the photographer. Needless to say we probably won’t see much of that

session.

The H2O Surf and Snowboard Winter Classic is coming Feb. 8 and 9,

with the surfing at the Huntington Pier Saturday at 7 a.m. among two

divisions and a combo to see who’s the best overall. See ya.

* RICK FIGNETTI is a seven-time West Coast champion, has

announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last nine years and has been

the KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 17 years where he’s done morning

surf reports. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him

at (714) 536-1058.