Promoters jockey for
spot in Pipeline lineupFour surfing contests aim
to secure dates at the
site early next year
Everybody wants a piece of the Pipeline.
A wish list of when and where promoters want to hold North Shore surf contests this fall shows more requests for the Banzai Pipeline in January and February than will fit under the city's surf contest rules.
Manny Menendez, the city official charged with creating a contest schedule among the 18 different applicants, said he hopes that a meeting tomorrow at Sunset Elementary will work out the overlaps.
Potentially bumping heads in the lineup are four pro contests: the Backdoors Shoot Out, the World Bodyboard Championship, the Pipeline Body Surfing Classic and the World Championship of Women's Bodyboarding.
The promoters "are being cooperative and trying to come up with a schedule with no conflicts," Menendez said. "We're close, but we're not there yet."
But other observers of the situation aren't as sure that the promoters with conflicting dates will compromise.
"The biggest problem (among promoters) is a diversity of opinion," said Randy Rarick, promoter of the Triple Crown of Surfing. "Everybody likes to think that their events are more important than anyone else's."
Rarick said he supports the city's goal of striking a balance among men and women, pro and amateur, surfboard, bodyboard and bodysurfing contests.
Promoter Eddie Rothman said he'd be satisfied if his Backdoors Shoot Out is held any three days between January 1 and February 14.
Rothman said his contest deserves consideration because it involves more local surfers than the other pro contests.
Promoter Carol Philips noted that the World Championship of Women's Bodyboarding is the only all-women contest in the lineup.
"I just want to see the women keep our status quo and not get cut back" from primetime to the shoulder season, she said.
Surf contest promoters that have applied for city permits will meet at Sunset Elementary School from 4 to 5:30 p.m. tomorrow and a general meeting to update area residents will follow from 6 to 7:30. Both are open to anyone, Menendez said.
Menendez emphasized that the city will hold the total number of surf contest days at any one beach park to 16 days over the months of October to March. That limit and a rule that required a 10-day "cooling off" period between contests were violated in 2001-2002, leading local surfers to form the Let's Surf Coalition.
"We just want to be fair about the whole equation," said Gil Riviere, Let's Surf Coalition president. "We don't think the public should just be kicked aside because of what promoters want. ... No one owns the ocean."
