US Open of Surfing is back with big action in the water and on the sand

For the surfers, the waves on the south side of the famed Huntington Beach Pier will turn into their salt-water arena as they battle for a title and key points, while the sand will fill with spectators cheering them on.

But the Lexus US Open of Surfing is more than the wave-riding action in the ocean.

The US Open of Surfing kicks off on Aug, running through Aug. 11 with tens of thousands of beachgoers expected over the nine days. They flood into the seaside festival that for decades has been a must-do, Southern California summer event.

Dozens of sponsor booths will make up a mini city already forming on 14 acres of Huntington Beach sand for the action-sports festival, luring festival-goers with merch, demos and free swag.

Skateboarding and music concerts are making a return this year and there will be a “beach bar” to soak in the sights while sipping on cocktails.

It’s all a chance to get up close to the world-class competitors, and maybe even nab an autograph or selfie from a pro surfer or skateboarder.

The surf action will follow the much-anticipated Olympics happening in Tahiti – it started Saturday, July 27  – and there’s even a chance if that contest wraps up in time, some of those athletes will come straight to Huntington Beach to compete, said Stefani Chinn, head of global marketing communications for the World Surf League.

The Huntington Beach stop on the World Surf League’s Challenger Series Tour is a favorite for competitive surfers, especially for those who call the area home.

“They love performing and excelling in front of their home crowd and community,” Chinn said. “Southern California fans really show up for this one and that’s why the athletes love it so much.”

Long Beach’s Nolan Rapoza, who recently moved to Huntington Beach to get more surf time at his favorite surf spot, has chased the prestigious US Open of Surfing title for years.

Winning the event could earn him the momentum he needs to qualify for the World Tour, a longtime dream for the local surfer.

“I’m just hoping for a smooth week. There’s always so much going on for the week of the US Open, but I just want to simplify things this year,” he said. “This year, I’m just hoping to not have too much stress on my shoulders.”

Last year, Rapoza, 26, made it to the semifinals, repeating the same finish he earned in 2021. This year, he wants to make it all the way.

“It’s hopefully the year I can actually take it home,” he said.

Rapoza has been surfing at the Huntington Beach Pier since he was 11, alongside other local surfers Kanoa Igarashi and Brett Simpson, both who have twice won the event.

“This is probably like the biggest event for me personally, I’ve grown up watching my peers accomplish the win here at the US Open,” he said. “I grew up surfing with these guys, and it just shows me that it’s totally possible, especially since I surf out here almost every other day and I know the break better than anyone in the contest. So it’s definitely the biggest competition for me to win.”

This year’s surf action kicks off the first weekend with the Huntington Beach Longboard Classic, the second stop for the World Surf League Longboard Tour, where a more traditional style of surfing is showcased with wave riders using bigger boards and doing stylish maneuvers, like walking on the board and “hanging 10” with their toes on the nose of the board.

The Challenger Series contest window starts Aug. 6, though the exact start date and time is not yet determined. Organizers keep a close eye on surf conditions closer to the event to determine the best times to run.

The US Open is the fourth of six stops on the WSL Challenger Series, where 80 men and 48 women are competing for points to qualify within the top 10 men and top five women to make the cut for next year’s World Tour, the major leagues of the sport.

Last year, San Clemente’s Sawyer Lindblad won the women’s event, propelling the teen surfer up the rankings to eventually land on the women’s World Tour.

Lindblad’s good friend Bella Kenworthy is hoping for the same – the fellow San Clemente surfer is coming off a big win in South Africa. A win here could help her goal of joining Lindblad at the elite level.

Kenworthy, 17, always looks forward to the event held just a few beach towns up the coast.

“It’s such a huge event, there’s so much going on,” she said. “I think it’s such a cool event for all the spectators. It’s super special, being so close to home. My family comes up for all my heats.”

Once at the big show, she said she tries to forget about the sea of people watching from the sand and pier.

“It definitely can be intimidating when you think about all the people who are there,” she said.

While the surfing is a big draw, the US Open is so much more, with a beach buffet of offerings.

“There’s just so many things to come for, over multiple days, depending on what people are interested in and want to check out,”  Chinn said. “It really gives families and fans a reason to want to hang around and enjoy a whole day, or days, at Huntington.”

A beachfront concert will once again be part of the festival, with Long Beach band Sublime performing the first day of the event. Tickets sold out in just a few days, Chinn said.

The concert will happen at the Hurley stage set inside the Beach Bar, with performers including original band members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh alongside Jakob Nowell, son of the Sublime’s original frontman Bradley Nowell, who died in 1996 at the height of the band’s popularity.

Big Wave World Champion Makua Rothman will give a special opening performance.

Tickets were sold with plans to keep the concert smaller-scale than a decade ago when free mega concerts with big-name acts hit a tipping point and, the last year, crowds spilled into the downtown area, a riot breaking out.

Big concerts haven’t been part of the US Open seascape since, with organizers clamping down and security beefed up on the sand. Smaller music acts were tested out last year and the crowd enjoyed the experience, Chinn said.

“We’re really excited about the music this year again,” she said. “This year, we’ve really taken that to the next level.”

There will be several other smaller concerts through the remainder of the event, everything from local reggae bands to a metal/experimental rock group, as well as a film screening in the final days of the festival.

Action sports has long been part of the footprint, last year Nitro Circus brought dirt bikes to the beach and this year the big draw will be the Lexus X Games Vert Pro, Chinn said.

The skate competitions on a 14-foot-tall vert ramp will showcase both women’s and men’s pro and amateur divisions and will be held on both the opening and final weekends.

Competitors include 12-time X Games medalist Jimmy Wilkins, 16-time medalist Elliot Sloan, and Tony Hawk’s protege, 12-year-old Reese Nelson.

Lexus has signed on as the title sponsor, meaning this year’s event will have a new look and vibe. Title sponsors set the tone for events, bringing products and offerings while using the exposure as a marketing tool to appeal to an action-sports audience.

New this year is the Lexus House, an area open to the public for fans to enjoy food, giveaways, athlete signings and on-the-sand surf lessons with A Great Day in the Stoke.

The surfing competition typically gets underway at about 8 a.m. each day and continues into the afternoon.

“It’s just such a special, historically-loved, community event,” Chinn said. “For us, we’re thrilled to be able to bring it to Huntington Beach each year. This community, it just absolutely welcomes us with open arms. We’re so excited to give them something that they want to keep coming back for, day after day, and year after year.”

For a full schedule of US Open events, go to: usopenofsurfing.com.