"1986 Stubbies Pro: Return to Form," by Bill Sharp, Surfing Magazine, January 1987

There were a lot of eyes on the 1986 Stubbies Pro. After all, it was the first event to be staged in California in the wake of the “disturbance” at the Op Pro four weeks earlier, and for a variety of reasons, a lot of people were very interested to see exactly what would go down this year in Oceanside.

There were questions that needed answers. Would Ian Cairns’ shocking resignation from the ASP and the association’s move to Australia cast a gloomy shadow over the event? Could Tom Curren maintain his turbocharged 12-cylinder quest for a second World Title? And what if somehow that feared “bad element” from Orange County managed to infiltrate Oceanside and started pulling down their bikini tops? Everyone knew what that would lead to . . . .

No, nothing horrible or even abnormal happened at the 1986 Stubbies, and on all these levels of concern it could pretty much be generalized as a return to business as usual.

Actually, the chances of a riot ever breaking out at the Stubbies are about the same as a violent bloodbath erupting at a Pat Boone concert. The Stubbies is a very laid-back, grassroots affair, and lacks the mega-scene rep ant frantic pageantry of “that other contest.” The competitors like this event because it’s almost relaxing; they can come into town to surf in a business-like manner and not need a bodyguard to get to the water. The Stubbies isn't any better or worse than the Op because of it—it’s just different, that’s all.

And different it was as a freak cold from defied late summer traditions and slammed the beach with a rainstorm early in the event to get things rolling for the third annual Stubbies Pro. Other than that brief weather freakout, Oceanside managed to maintain its good name as a contest venue with, as it seems to do every year, consistent surf while the rest of the coast suffered through pitiful wave conditions.

Some things, though, were noticeably different this year, as a number of the more indulgent portions of the Stubbies experience were eliminated due to a reduced budget. (Sadly, among the casualties was the famed Stubbies awards banquet which had grown to legendary status ever since the embryonic Stubbies Trials first started in 1979.) An interesting addition to the beachhead this year were a number of concession stands. As much as the Stubbies tries to be different from the Op, the fact that Op now actually makes vast sums of money off their event through merchandising t-shirts and accessories with the contest logo doesn’t seem to have gone unnoticed. So this year you could hit the Stubbies Pro Shop for some souvenirs or buy a Coke at the Coke stands or hang out in the shade of a thirty-foot California Cooler bottle. If you didn’t want to lose your seat on the sand, that was OK, because the Chipwich ice cream vendors would come to you, ready to endure the taunts of everyone else yelling at them to quit blocking the view.

And the crowd could become especially peeved if the Chipwich man was interfering with their view of Tom Curren, who was definitely the main attraction. And when he did appear, the fans were not to be disappointed in any way, shape or form. Any speculation that Curren might be slipping in the wake of his loss to Occhilupo in the Op semis was summarily quashed upon the World Champ’s first ride. (It’s pretty silly, actually, to imagine anyone whispering, “See! He couldn’t win five contests in a row . . . he’s cracking!”) Hot Hawaiian Sunny Garcia and defending Stubbies champ Brad Gerlach were the first to get mulched by Current competitive buzzsaw, and the oddsmakers weren’t about to name anyone else as the favorite.

Now it’s easy to forget that very likely the majority of people reading this and other contest reports have never had the opportunity to actually see Tom Curren surf, and I would imagine that some of these readers might well look upon all this gooey praise and wonder how any surfer could really be all that good. So I’ll go ahead and say it, like it was said of Mark Richards almost a decade ago, “Tom Curren is rapidly moving so far ahead of everyone else, it is becoming absurd.”

Of course, Tommy wasn’t the only surfer in the contest. In fact, two trialists in particular — Gary Clisby and Dave MacAulay— were positively ripping. Clisby, the NSSA alum from Huntington Beach, made his way past Terry Richardson, Hans Hedemann and Rabbit Bartholomew in the first rounds of the main event, looking sharp and loose in the head-high surf.

As an interesting sidelight, the special handicapped viewing area that is provided every year at the Stubbies was developed by Jim Watson after Gary’s near-fatal car accident a little over two years ago. That he would now be performing so well in front of the spectators in that area was a sweet irony.

MacAulay, from West Australia, had taken out Mark Richards, Shaun Tomson and Wes Laine in his campaign through the man-on-man rounds. MacAulay had really made the big time just the week before, winning the Hang Loose International in Florianopolis, Brazil, a new event on the ASP tour. Fairly new faces in the upper brackets, the two goofyfoots from north and south were receiving well- deserved attention.

Saturday’s quarterfinals opened with Clisby facing Aussie Glen Winton. Winton has always been on his own surfing plane, and he maintained that reputation by choosing to don a pair of webbed gloves whenever he entered the water. Even with the designer handwear, Mr. X still couldn’t get a grip on the slippery Clisby. Curren, continuing to terminate the hopes of his opponents, then handed Martin Potter his walking papers. MacAulay then faced fellow Australian Mark Occhilupo, a rematch of the recent Brazil final. Beating Occhilupo ranks just behind going to the moon (and beating Curren) on a scale of difficult things to do, but MacAulay managed it for the second time in as many weeks to move through to the semis. Tom Carroll then took out Florida’s Charlie Kuhn in the crumbly afternoon surf to close out Saturday’s proceedings.

On Sunday, it was plain to see that female breast displays or any other inciteful behavior would simply not be tolerated. The security force that was on hand to “control” the crowd which had begun to arrive for the contest and the post-event concert bordered on grand-scale ridiculousness. There were dozens of Oceanside cops (some with friendly attack dogs), heaps of San Diego Sheriff's Deputies, a couple of ambulances, a helicopter, at least 20 huge Samoan security guards with rotten dispositions, and I’m sure the Marine Corps had an amphibious landing craft on standby in case things got really ugly. You couldn’t be too careful, though, with all those surfing fans on the same beach as the Kingsmen (known for their 25-year-old pre-punk hit “Louie, Louie”). Lord only knew what kind of horrible scene could have erupted. Perhaps some sort of vile beachfront toga party? Better safe than sorry.

The crowd was there to watch the surfing, obviously, since there’s not much else to do out by the Oceanside Harbor. Dedication was required since the parking situation found all but the earliest arrivals forced to hike a good mile into the contest site. Although even the most optimistic crowd estimate wouldn’t have accounted for one-fourth of the Op turnout, those who were there were ready to watch some hot surfing and that is just what they got as the semifinals began.

Clisby had done a hell of a job so far. That he now had to surf against Curren was unfortunate but the plucky goofyfoot went at the monumental task in a thrilling fashion. The surf was still pretty good, three-to four-feet with most waves connecting through to the inside and Clisby opened his assault with an outside set left that he used to catapult himself into a blistering A+ reentry. Whoa! Could he keep it up? Could he unseat Curren, a few thousand minds wondered as he hopped his board through the flat middle area towards the inside? But then a mental error—a caught edge and a spill. And then a virtual replay on another wave. Meanwhile, Curren was flawless, as per usual. There would be no Cinderella story on the top side of the draw.

MacAulay then went after former World Champ Tom Carroll. Carroll was hungry for a win in what has been not a very good season for him so far, but then MacAulay (who is this guy?) was ripping insanely. It was close, but most observers were giving the nod to the young upstart from WA. The judges had another idea, however, posting Carroll on top in a split decision, and putting the terror of the Newport Peak on through to his third Stubbies Pro final in three years.

The women did their Michelob Cup thing and then it was TC vs. TC in a one hour final, changed in format from last year’s best two-out-of-three. And Carroll, hoping to avoid taking second for the third year in a row was working extra hard, blitzing the first two exchanges and taking the lead. But then the Australian made an unusual move, paddling north from the standard lineup to sit out where he’d seen the odd perfect peak coming in. Unfortunately, the gambit failed as he was left a bit stranded out there. Meanwhile, Curren just sat in the main takeoff spot and took his pick of the sets, annihilating each one until it crumbled onto the shore. Before long he was so far ahead he started trying very uncharacteristic moves like 360s just for a little spice. There was no question, Curren had handily taken his fifth win in six events. He may not be perfect, but he’s getting perilously close.

Everything in the sport was back to normal, it seemed, and everyone felt pretty good about it. Curren had won, there hadn’t been a riot, and pro surfing looked like it would be staying with us at least a little while longer. It was, thankfully for all concerned, a return to form.

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

1986 Stubbies Pro International

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