Slater notches 7th title

NEWS FLASH:

Andy Irons has lost to Australian Nathan Hedge in the quarterfinals at the $250,000 Nova Schin Surf Festival, and Damien Hobgood beat Brazilian Victor Ribas in the final to get the win.

But the big news from Brazil is that with Irons going down, Kelly Slater earns a record seventh world championship title.

*

Last week there was a big meeting about an effort to save one of our classic surf breaks in San Clemente.

On Nov. 3, more than 1,000 concerned activists went to the California Parks and Recreation meeting and voiced their opinions and opposition to the planned extension of the Foothill South tollway. The extension would be about a quarter-mile inland off Trestles beach going right over San Mateo Creek, which empties into the ocean between Upper and Lower Trestles -- a pristine wildlife habitat with some classic surfing spots.

This area is a refuge for seven endangered species of birds, toads, mice, fish and shrimp. The pollution and traffic is not the solution, as the runoff would definitely be seen and would ruin Trestles water quality and damage the San Onofre State Beach Park in general for the animals and beachgoers alike.

The area is one of the last remaining natural coastal wetlands and beachfronts without development, and it deserves to be left alone.

There was also a paddle-out at the break where lots of concerned surfers spoke about the situation and traded waves. They came from all walks of life -- doctors and lawyers and regular people who hold 9-to-5 jobs. All were trying to bring some attention to this premiere break’s future.

One of Huntington Beach’s prominent surfers, Mike Downey, was there to voice his opinion, along with one of surfing’s first women legends, Long Beach’s Jericho Poppler. Both have been going up to Sacramento as well, talking to some of the representatives there, trying to lobby some support for the cause.

A couple big groups like the Surfrider Foundation and Friends of the Foothills Coalition have been working hard to spread the word too. For more information, check out www.savetrestles.org.

Over in Hawaii, they finished up the 22nd annual Xcel Pro at Sunset Beach in some windy conditions, with 20 mph gusty off-shores and 4- to 8-foot-plus surf. It was a sweep by Maui’s Ian Walsh and Hank “G” Gaskell, as the two changed leads a few times in the final, with Walsh coming out on top to win $7,000. Both surfers were throwing some big carves and snaps to outdistance two Sunset locals, Raymond Reichle and Nathan Carrol, who placed third and fourth respectively.

Reichle and Carrol took out two seasoned vets: North Shore standout Pancho Sullivan and the Big Island’s Miles Padaca, in the semis.

That was the warmup, as the legendary Triple Crown starts this week.

As I reported, things are over in Brazil at the Nova Schin Surf Festival.

Early upsets saw Hawaiian Bruce Irons and Aussies Trent Munro and Danny Wills lose out to some tough, pumped-up Brazilians. In fact, an incredible number of locals -- 14 -- made it through some big heats with the crowd going wild.

Huntington’s Timmy Reyes has been surfing well but was up against local favorite Victor Ribas on the draw sheet. Hawaii’s Freddy Boy Patacchia was up against another hero, Renan Rocha, in round three.

The rookies couldn’t stop the big guns, as Kelly Slater blew up, getting an 8.5 and 9.0 score to blow out Guilherme Ferreira. Andy Irons, bashing the lip hard, took one over recent Brazil World Qualifying Series finalist Heitor Alves, who scored a nine in the later goings, but a little too late.

East Coaster Corey Lopez won one over wild-card Tom Curren, and Australia’s Mick Fanning beat out Odirlei Coutinho to advance to round four.

The surf has been in the 2- to 3-foot range, and it’s been a little windy at times.

Did I hear Surf City’s Ryan Turner got towed into a 50-foot plus bomb set wave in Indo recently? Yup, don’t tell his wife, that sounds pretty massive and scary, but it could put him in the race for the XXL big-wave awards.

That’s it for now. See ya, Fig over and out.

* RICK FIGNETTI is a nine-time West Coast champion, has announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last 12 years and has been the KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 18 years, doing morning surf reports. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.

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