Xcel Pro starts this week

I’m going to try to make it up to Sunset Beach this weekend to see some of the Xcel Pro, a full WQS event. Apart from Jamie O’Brien, I don’t recognize any of the surfers’ names listed in the latest news posting on the official website, but it hardly matters. I’m looking forward to seeing some killer surfing and enjoying the atmosphere.

Last year I went up to the North Shore to catch the final day of the Op Pro (the first event of the Triple Crown) and really enjoyed it. It was such a mellow scene, far more… familial, I guess, than I thought it would be. It is the Triple Crown, after all, but you’d have thought it was a company picnic from the vibe. There was almost no security. Why? They didn’t need it. I think that’s pretty great, especially contrasted with other major sporting events.

Case in point: I stood under a tree at the back of the beach park right next to Ben Aipa (I don’t think legend is too strong a word here) and Jeff Bushman, who shaped the boards that the eventual champion, Pancho Sullivan, rode throughout the contest. I didn’t know that at the time, of course, but I figured they had some juice when the pros, including Sunny Garcia, started coming up to them to say hello. This is Sunny Garcia, standing three feet in front of me:

As an aside, I think it’s safe to say that Sunny Garcia is his own security.

Anyway, I’m excited to see another contest, and I’ll post more photos if/when I make it up there.