The World's Greatest Little Surf Contest

The Rincon Classic

By Chuck Graham

It’s not often that we find ourselves surfing Rincon virtually alone; it’s a freak occurrence at best. On the rare occasion a surf forecaster might miss a sneaker swell from the west, maybe Highway 101 is closed from the east, or we capitalize on a post-storm swell that keeps most at home due to the heavy runoff spewing out of the river mouth.

However, I’m talking about surfing a 20-minute heat at the Rincon Classic. The lineup is relatively clear of non-contestants (except in 2004), and it’s just four jersey-clad competitors surfing empty, ruler-edged lines off the top of Indicator.
What is it about surf contests in fantastic waves? The caliber of surfing is potentially great, the vibe reverberating on the beach. That could be the scenario at any surf spot that hosts an event, but when it’s a point break with a long-standing reputation for memorable moments and long, leg-burning rides like Rincon Del Mar, the possibilities abound.

In the case of Rincon, it’s only the locals that experience that feeling. The Classic is closing in on its 29th year of running, and during that span the Queen of the Coast has stayed true to herself, never wavering to outside influences looking to infiltrate her local feel and corrupt the community involvement felt all along the famous cobbled point.

It’s tough enough to run surf contests, with their oodles of logistics to wade through, but try it with 70-something homeowners living on arguably the best point break in California.  Getting permission for an event with a national or international flavor would be a tough sell to the Rincon enclave. But that’s the beauty and reality of the Rincon Classic, a unique, once-a-year, locals-only event.

White Owl Vision

The late Jeff White had already run a couple of low key local contests out of his White Owl Surf Shop along Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz in the early 1960s, and was aching to get something off the ground when White’s Surf ‘n’ Wear shops opened in Santa Barbara and Goleta in 1965.

“Jeff and I were hashing this out in the back of the surf shop one day,” recalled Roger Nance, White’s former surf shop manager and now owner of the Beach House in Santa Barbara. “We thought, ‘What about Rincon?’ It was kind of scary with the homeowners, but I lived on the point at the time and knew some people. I didn’t want any impact on the point and convinced them we’d keep the contest small and leave the beach cleaner than when we found it.”

In 1979 the first Rincon Classic went off without a hitch. The inaugural contest saw about 50 to 60 surfers competing in tiny, uninspiring knee-high waves. It didn’t matter though. The scene was set for a long run of successful Classics.

“Davey Smith won the first one,” remembered Nance. “He was the only one who knew how to surf those kinds of waves.”

White, Nance and company ran the Classic up until 1994. Then a short hiatus ensued, the contest was put on hold until 1996.

Dodging the Big Stage

When you think about it, all the big name surf spots in California have at least endured a U.S. Pro event of some sort, and many of those same iconic locales have hosted International Professional Surfing (IPS) and/or Association of Surfing Professional (ASP) contests at various levels. All except Rincon.

Ocean Beach, Steamer Lane, Malibu, Huntington Beach Pier, Lower Trestles, Cardiff by the Sea, and many other breaks have seen towers of scaffolding rising from the sand and throngs of onlookers at the water’s edge. That’s not to say Nance didn’t feel the push by companies within the surfing industry to run a larger, more substantial event at Rincon.

“Gotcha and OP sponsored the contest for years,” he said. “Gotcha wanted a bigger event open to all surfers.”

Nance always instinctively talked his way out of it, citing wary homeowners, tricky permits and always keeping it local.

“I would say to Gotcha, ‘You can make it as big as you want, but it’s got to stay with local surfers.’”

When I posed the question to long-time ASP World Tour Manager, Al Hunt, who was between tour events, he replied, “Good question, probably because of permit problems like with Malibu,” he said. “However that may not be the case, and it could be just no one has opted for an event that far north of LA.”

Next Wave
Chris Keet was just a young grommet when White and Nance were in the midst of their run of Rincon Classics. Years later Keet was running his own surf series through his Surf Happens Surf School and was keen to bring back the Rincon Classic and add it to his series of local surf contests. He eventually approached Nance about taking it on.

“Chris was doing a good job running his own contests,” said Nance. “I encouraged him, though, to run just the Rincon contest because of the work involved.”

Eventually Keet bagged his surf series and focused strictly on the Rincon Classic. Nance helped Keet run the first one in ’96 in beautiful conditions. Along with facilitating its rebirth, Keet has brought in Quiksilver and Channel Islands Surfboards to sponsor the event over the last decade. He has also introduced computerized scoring and live stream viewing in 2009 and 2010. Water patrol, more divisions and as long a waiting period as the Eddie and Mavs contests, have also been important additions to the two-day contest.

“The Rincon Classic has always been an iconic event in Santa Barbara,” says Keet.  “When I took it over there was a whole new era of surfers in it.”

Former ASP World Champions Tom Curren and Kim Mearig competed in the Rincon Classic and now are watching their kids compete in the contest. Curren still surfs in it today.

And still there’s a push from the outside to take the Rincon Classic beyond the local realm. Keet said last year he received entries from surfers in Hawaii, Texas and even as far away as France.
“We have to hand-pick the local entries,” he said. “I’ve heard a rumor that Rip Curl has inquired about running an event.”

But for now, the Rincon Classic will continue to be something special to those lucky enough to surf in it.