Joe Surf: SUP galore in HB

The U.S. Open is back!

No, not that U.S. Open. The U.S. Open of Stand Up Paddling starts Saturday and will continue through Oct. 4 on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

Called the Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam last year, the event combines shortboard and longboard surfing, as well as all kinds of stand up paddle boarding, including distance and sprint races.

The Stand Up World Tour takes the spotlight starting Saturday with an Open Trials event for both men and women. The main event for both men and women — stop No. 4 on the World Championship Tour — could start as early as Sunday.

The Stand Up World Racing Series gets underway Oct. 2 with long distance and sprint paddle board races that are open to all levels of competitors.

The final day of the event, Oct. 4, will feature a waterman’s challenge to include swimming, prone and stand up paddle boarding, as well as the pier shootout surfing exhibition and the finals of the paddle board races. Prize money of $45,000 will be awarded, as well as points in the 2015 World Tour and World Racing Series standings.

The event is open to pros, amateurs and youths alike. To register, go to: https://usopenofstanduppaddling.eventbrite.com.

Part of the Waterman League, the Stand Up World Tour and Stand Up World Series have a series of contests all over the world, with points standings and eventual world champions.

The rankings are dominated by Brazilians, Hawaiians and Europeans, but in the women’s Stand Up World Series rankings, the current No. 1 competitor is San Clemente’s Candice Appleby. Although she has since moved to Hawaii, we’re going to count her as a local this weekend.

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HURLEY PRO/SWATCH WOMEN’S PRO

Congrats to Australia’s Mick Fanning and Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, the men’s and women’s winners of the Hurley Pro and Swatch Women’s Pro, respectively, last week at Lower Trestles.

Both Fanning and Moore moved from No. 2 to No 1 in the men’s and women’s world rankings, Fanning moving past Brazil’s Adriano De Souza and Moore moving ahead of Santa Ana’s Courtney Conlogue.

While the men have until Oct. 6 before the start of the next contest in France, the women were scheduled to get right back at it Tuesday in Portugal. For Moore, it was especially stressful considering her surfboards didn’t arrive at the airport with her.

“It’s been a trying 24 hours for me,” Moore told worldsurfleague.com. “I work with one of the best shapers on the planet in Matt Biolos and not having my equipment with me a day before the event is scheduled to start is frustrating.”

For Conlogue, dropping out of the No. 1 spot is a bummer but she says it won’t slow her down in her quest to become the first Orange County woman in nearly 50 years to win a world surfing title.

“Disappointing to not have done a bit better at Trestles, but I’m excited to be in Europe,” Conlogue told worldsurfleague. “There’s a lot of opportunity [in] the next few events and I’m really looking forward to putting some more results on the board. It will be an exciting finish to the season.”

Huntington Beach’s Brett Simpson was eliminated in the Round 2 of the Hurley Pro for 25th place. He is sitting at No 35 in the world rankings.

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KEEPING UP WITH KANOA

Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi, ranked No. 3 in the World Surf League’s Qualifying Series, is currently competing in the 10,000-point prime SATA Azores Pro in Portugal.

If he finishes the season in the top 10 in the QS, he’ll qualify for the WSL’s World Championship Tour next year. Unfortunately, one of the current WCT surfers whose spot Igarashi might take on the tour is Simpson.

JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.