Boardfest to hit the beach

The second annual Hello Kitty Boardfest is hitting the shores of Surf

City on Labor Day weekend Sept. 2 to 5 on the south side of the

Huntington Pier.

The festival is unique and showcases the active lifestyle of women

and girls in the surf and skate scenes. There will be an Assn. of

Surfing Professionals World Qualifying Series four-star event, which

is one of the last stops of the 2005 season and will determine the

North American champion, World Qualifying Series champion and the

qualifiers for the 2006 women’s World Championship Tour.

Big bucks are at stake as the top 64 women will surf it out for

more than $20,000 in cash and prizes.

Some big guns are entered, like Australian ripper Serena Brooke

and former World Championship Tour star Julia Christian, just off the

win at the U.S. Open. And there will be other hotties like Palos

Verdes’ Holly Beck, Orange County’s Courtney Conlogue, Newport

Beach’s Erica Hosseini, Surfside’s Jodie Nelson and a rising star

from Hawaii, Coco Ho -- daughter of legendary surfer Michael Ho.

There will be a pro-am women’s longboarding division and an

amateur 16-and-under division, too. There will be daily surf clinics

hosted by Beck and Santa Cruzer Siri Cota, along with the H.B. Wahine

surf school.

There’s lots of stuff to get involved with down on the sand if ya

make it -- like the sand castle building contest and the hula-hoop,

limbo and tug of war contests. Or you can try the crab walk races,

listen to live music, check out the skateboard demonstrations and the

beach obstacle coarse, or ride a mechanical surfboard!

Plus there’s an Elle Girl fashion show with models, a Paul

Mitchell Cut-a-Thon and there will also be some giveaways -- a new

surfboard, surf accessories and other Hello Kitty products that will

be on display around the event.

The festival is open to the public, free of charge, from 9 a.m. to

5 p.m. The women’s pro surf competition starts at 8 a.m. The surf and

skate clinics run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Should be a happening for the last blast of summer, and that

weekend always seems to have waves.

Speaking of waves, the surf should be hitting today from the

former Hurricane Hillary, which went by the tip of Cabo on Monday. My

buddy who was there said it was about 15 feet, but on the stormy side

with winds and rain during the first part of the week. I didn’t hear

from him later, but it could have gotten killer, as Hillary went out

to sea moving northwest midweek.

Locally, the red tide keeps coming and going. The other day, there

were tons of jellyfish out there again, with lots of reported stings

by the surfers in the area. Luckily, they were on the arms, hands and

legs, but none on the face. Ouch.

Last week’s swell came through bigger than expected, with sets

eight-feet-plus by the pier. Longboarder Josh Mohr got some insane

barrels, as did former U.S. champ Ryan Simmons, who pulled into a

back door pit. Jeff Deffenbaugh, a former world top 30, was slashing

away, and Mike Hoisington was throwing some big time tail!

It could’ve been the best day all summer, in my eyes, surf-wise.

That’s it for now. See ya. Fig over and out.

* RICK FIGNETTI is an nine-time West Coast champion, has

announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last 12 years and has been the

KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 18 years, doing morning surf

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

(714) 536-1058.