An annual chance for local rippers to compete against Santa Cruz pros, itinerant Hawaiians and Mavericks heroes in snappy summer surf has ebbed away, but, as a listing in the city's fall activities guide shows, it hasn't been forgotten.
"You hit about that seven-year lull and you get a drop-off in participation," said Jim Tjogas, the Cabrillo Unified School District director of maintenance operations, a local surfer and the contest's founder in 1999. "And I think that's what happened."
 Masanobu Kashimura of Alameda turns on a wave during the Half Moon Bay Surf Contest in 2005. Organizers couldn't stage the event last year and are still working to come up with funding for an event this fall. |
"I think it's needed for the kids," Tjogas said. "The first couple of years were killer. We had some big-name surfers from Santa Cruz, like (Darryl "Flea" Virostko) come up. We had some Hawaiians, all these guys that were surfing professionally. And you had the Mavericks guys like Shane Desmond who surfed in it."
The Half Moon Bay Recreation Department is still interested in hosting the contest, said Recreation Supervisor Dirk Alvarado. Tjogas is taking the lead in current plans.
"We should have some more information in the next few weeks," said Alvarado. "It's really a great asset for our community."
Winter swells are not far off. And unlike the celebrated Mavericks contest nearby, quality performance surf - not giant open-water slabs - are what works for the classic.
Tjogas has been busy with his day job, as a school year rife with major construction projects kicks off, but he said that a contest was still a possibility for this year.
"My guess is it will come back," said Tjogas, who has competed in about half of the contests and has watched his son out-surf him in the event as well. "September and October are pretty good months for surf. Later and it just gets too big."
Darin Bingham of Half Moon Bay Board Shop, the main sponsor of the event in the past, said the contest had always been a good event, but that he wasn't willing to sponsor it again.
"We donated quite a bit," said Bingham. "But in the past years we weren't sure what we were donating to."
Tjogas said early proceeds from the contest went to found a surf team at Half Moon Bay High School. The team lasted about three years, but faltered when a key coach moved on, he added.
Since then, dwindling participation in the classic meant that sponsorship money went back into running the event, said Tjogas. He is hopeful that cooperation among local surf shops can spark a revival.
"We definitely want (the Half Moon Bay Recreation Department) to be the main city agency carrying the ball," Tjogas said. "And they're willing. Now we just need some volunteers and some sponsorship."
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