Solomon’s aloha spirit lives on

RICK FIGNETTI

Burrrr, sure has been chilly lately, as we’re right smack in the

middle of winter. Even though it’s been sunny, air temps have dipped

down a few degrees, water temps have dropped to the mid-50s -- ouch

-- and some Santa Ana winds blew hard early this week, throwing some

wind-chill and upwelling into the mix too.

The surf’s been on the small side lately, but it’s expected to

pick up this weekend, with some over-head sets out of the northwest.

The United States Surfing Federation held its Donnie Solomon Red

Cross fundraiser at Ventura Point over the weekend. Solomon was an

up-and-coming pro surfer and all-around nice guy from Ventura who

drowned at Waimea Bay on a big day a few years back.

On the wave before, he shared and rode with six-time world champ

Kelly Slater and big wave standout Ross Clarke-Jones of Australia --

three guys streaking across and having fun. Paddling back out, a huge

set broke on him, and he went over the falls, never to regain

consciousness again. The eerie thing about it is that another big

wave rider, Mark Foo from Hawaii, drowned at Mavericks on the same

day and time a year later.

Solomon’s friends, some of the top pros, come together to surf in

the Pro-Am division every year. Last year, three-time world champ Tom

Curren took the win with some mind-barreling moves.

This year, local standout Henry Mills was slashing it up to take

the victory. Seal Beach’s Ryan Simmons was going off and placed

second with some nice ones in the final, while Capistrano’s Chris

Drummy pulled into third and Ventura’s Dylan Slater rounded out the

top four. Making it to the semis, placing equal fifth, were

Huntington’s Mike Hoisington and Micah Byrnes.

On the championship tour, Surf City’s Cody Bertrand was fifth in

boys and Long Beach’s Raquel Bartlow won girls, while Fountain

Valley’s Jasmine Lyons finished fourth. Among Huntington Beach

transplants from Japan, Kokaora Maruyama placed fourth in men’s,

Taichi Maruyama was second in masters, and finishing second in

women’s was Terumi Nakajima. In the grand masters, Pat Schlick nailed

some sets and busted the moves for the win, with the Figster hot on

his heels, coming in a close second.

The Red Cross has raised more than $40,000 over the last eight

years at this event. Thousands of dollars of donated products are

raffled off and given away, along with some of the top pros’

surfboards, like world champ Andy Irons’ authentic, autographed

model. Skateboards, tons of clothes, hats, posters and more went to

the lucky ticket holders. Three Queen Palms were planted to

commemorate the day, which saw Solomon’s dad helping keep the stoke

level up. It was a celebration to remember one of the guys who

touched a lot of people’s lives with Aloha Spirit.

Tonight is the premier of “Windows,” the new Rip Curl movie at the

Surf Theatre in Huntington Beach at 7 and 9 p.m. Hot surfers like

Aussies Mick Fanning and Nathan Hedge, Hawaiian Jamie O’Brien, Kieren

Perrow and Tahitian Manoa Drollet are tearing it up.

That’s it for now, see ya.

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

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

the KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 17 years, doing morning surf

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

(714) 536-1058.