Feds block Jet Skis at Ocean Beach surfing contest
Photo: Flickr user jai Mansson
UPDATED 4:15 p.m. Sept. 16
Surfers in the Rip Curl Pro Search surfing contest scheduled for Ocean Beach in November will have to paddle out and catch waves just like the Kelly’s Cove locals, as the National Park Service has decided to prohibit all personal watercraft except for those used by lifeguards at the event.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area Superintendent Frank Dean made the decision within the past two weeks, reversing an earlier understanding between the park and contest organizers, and on Monday sent organizers a letter explaining the decision. The GGNRA is the part of the National Park Service that manages Ocean Beach and other nearby federal park lands.
The Ocean Beach Bulletin obtained a copy of the letter Dean sent to Rip Curl international events manager Brooke Farris.
“While we commend your approach to go beyond rescue operations and actively protect athletes from potential hazards, ultimately we believe that towing out contestants is more of a convenience that allows a quicker pace to the competition than a true life/safety measure,” the letter reads.
“We realize this is a substantial change from our understandings to date, and sincerely apologize for the logistical difficulty this places on Rip Curl and those working for you.”
“[Organizers] requested the use of PWCs … in case the waves are over 10 feet high, they asked permission to tow the surfers out,” said GGNRA spokesman George Durgerian.
“The Park Service considered that, and was favorably leaning toward it,” Durgerian said, but in the end the agency decided against the request “because we don’t want to sent a precedent that could be used by other athletic events in the park.”
“We acknowledge this is gong to be a challenge for them,” Durgerian said.
Dave Prodan, international media director for ASP International, an arm of the Association of Surfing Professionals, emailed the Ocean Beach Bulletin a statement about the decision against allowing PWCs: “The recent NPS decision regarding the prohibition of PWCs for the Rip Curl Pro Search is unfortunate. The use of PWCs at ASP World Title events serve to key purposes: 1) Safety: to ensure the safety of our competitors and event staff, and 2) to allow more waves to be ridden and provide the best possible show for our fans. We will continue to work with Rip Curl and NPS in hopes of creating a better solution.”
The use of personal watercraft to assist surfing has become controversial, with their use conflicting with bans on PWCs — popularly known under the Jet Ski brand — in place in many areas to protect wildlife.
At San Mateo County’s famous Mavericks surf spot, where a yearly contest and huge waves attract competitors from around the world, surfer Sion Milosky died in March and Jacob Trette nearly drowned in January. Some have credited a photographer who was illegally operating a PWC in the area with saving Trette’s life, and suggest that the craft should be allowed under some circumstances as a safety measure.
Durgerian said that the decision against allowing personal watercraft doesn’t mean the GGNRA opposes the contest, which is scheduled for Nov. 1-11.
“I should also say that Rip Curl has been a great partner to date,” he said. “We’re welcoming the contest.”
Durgerian also noted that there are no special restrictions on boats at Ocean Beach, and the contest could use inflatable Zodiac boats or other boats.
Although the surfing contest will not be allowed to tow surfers out with personal watercraft, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any PWCs at the beach. Durgerian said GGNRA lifeguards will be standing by at the contest with PWCs, though he said it would be up to the lifeguards to decide when to put them in the water.
Rip Curl representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
GGNRA letter to Rip Curl prohibiting use of PWCs at Rip Curl Pro Search Ocean Beach
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This article has been updated to include comments from ASP International’s Dave Prodan.
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22 Comments
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- No PWC Assists at Rip Curl Contest in San Francisco in November, 2011
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They should have a ski lift type of thing installed there to help with the paddle out. The paddle out is the reason for the jet skis. It is not for safety. I have surfed OB triple overhead. The paddle out is impossible. You have to be lucky to get out then once your out there might be a clean up set that washes you into the inside. I have had 30 foot clean up waves wash me in there. Maybe a large jetty that goes out to the outside reefs that people could walk on and get out would be nice. It might create a sand bar that makes the waves peel better.
What a bunch of wankers these professional surfing prima-donnaʻs are; and most of you younger guys have have sold yourselves and everyone else out to it. Tow Assist at the beach? Since when? Back in the day we had to paddle into all of it and we were rewarded with mind blowing waves on the outside – tow assist – right. Let them battle it out like the rest of us did paying our dues, year after year. Of course this was before surfing at Ocean Beach became a hipster meets “I am a big wave claimer ” snot-fest. Boycott RIPCURSE.
I surf OB all the time, so the thought of the pros getting pounded in a relentless paddle out is kind of nice. But yeah, in reality these guys are surfing the world’s gnarliest waves every day of the year, 10-hour sessions on the regular, they will have no problem padding out. It should be fun to watch, the haters need to chill out. OB will never be HB, don’t worry.
…GGNRA, which has been infected and infested from within by extremist environmentalists out to “change the world”.
What?
Lets all get a grip and maybe even some facts straight. The GGNRA is an area (not an organization) that is managed by the National Parks Service, and while most of the NPS folks I’ve met over the years are pretty cool – “extremist environmentalists out to “change the world” – they aint. These folks are basically conservationists (of the small slices left) of our local cultural history and landscape, so they are actually working to keep things as they were rather than changing anything. So I may not be a fan of everything they do, but on balance, I’m glad they are there to play the ongoing role of protecting our undeveloped natural spaces. The ban on PWC at OB is longstanding and perfectly coherent with NPS’s general conservation policies, so I’m not surprised that in the end, the Pros will just need to suck it up like the rest of us, and brush up on their duckdiving skills. The biggest mistake the NPS made was to initially signal that they “might” consider changing their normal (and longstanding) policy. Besides, these guys are the best in the world & will undoubtedly put on one hell of a surfing show with or without PWCs.
Lastly – why so much focus on the PWC issue? I’m more interested about what happens once they drop in…
One thing that maybe didn’t come through as well as I’d hoped is the fact that the GGNRA didn’t go out of its way to not allow PWCs for the contest. They aren’t allowed at any time, aside from their use by lifeguards for search and rescue purposes. So if the GGNRA had let the contest use PWCs, that would have been an exception to the baseline rules. The contest thought the PWCs were necessary for public-safety purposes, but the GGNRA disagreed and didn’t want to create a precedent of allowing them. Clear?
Isn’t 10 feet a little too small for tow outs anyway? I know and have seen enough OB locals who consider 10 feet “A little on the small side”. OB tends to be big, even people like me are doing 6-8 feet. I’m not crazy about the GGNRA, but I’m kind of surprised the surfing contest thingie would set the threshold for tow outs so low.
You PWC proponents outrage is blinding you to the fact that contest surfing will be taking over our spot.
I don’t care that PWC are banned. They don’t belong here. Neither do the contests.
Why does anyone want pro surfing to take over their beach? Kelly’s is a unique break to the rest of OB, and dependent on several variables (tide, longshore current, swell, wind, sand bars etc.) the A-frames that jack from the rebound occur only in a limited area of Kelly’s..
Hope conest happens on a big cold day, so “the pros” can get worked like the rest of us, and show the world that OB should be left out of the contest circuit. Understanding that they surf for a living and are in good paddling shape, I still suspect a few of the contestants couldn’t handle a 20 minute brain freeze paddle out.
Just say NO to OB contests.
What’s so horrible about a single one-off pro contest for a week out of the year? It’s a rare occurrence and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the top ASP guys can do out there. I’m a local surfer and resident and I think it’s going to be a blast – much more fun than sitting behind my computer watching the webcast. It’s a huge exaggeration to say that they’re “taking over our spot.” And besides, it’s not your spot anyway. It’s everybody’s.
I agree with Joe. It’s just Kelly’s, and just for a couple days. Part of the appeal of Ocean Beach is that it’s so big there’s plenty of room for everyone. Everyone who’s willing to deal with the eccentricities of surfing here, that is. Its not like they are going to take over your secret magic sandbar that only you and two other guys ride, until somebody see you and the next weekend there are 15 guys on it, but it doesn’t matter since the next big storm rips it up and you have a brand new secret magic sandbar that nobody knows about. And if you don’t have a secret magic sandbar on OB, you probably don’t surf here nearly enough.
“Secret magic sandbar.” I love that. Fishermen have those at OB too. The fish aren’t always where all the rods are in the water.
Totally support the GGNRA on this one. The pro surfers coming to OB are surfing machines, the very best in the world — they don’t need jet ski assist. On the biggest winter days in December and January, I’ve never needed a jet ski to get out into the lineup and I’m not half as fit as your average ASP pro.
I really don’t understand all of the whining here. So far, no one has offered an explanation here. Other than getting guys into the lineup more quickly and maybe a better camera angle for the webcast, what is the value of jet skis at the contest? I’m all ears…
Anyone want to buy a few zap cats and a couple sea riders?
Make them paddle. Is it a surf contest or a clothing company fantasy show?
Yet another example of an out of control, incoherent, non-empirical Green agenda….
Let’s see the study that proves PWC harm to wildlife. Yet another ideology based decision from the GGNRA, which has been infected and infested from within by extremist environmentalists out to “change the world”.
Ironically, I prefer doing the tournament “old school”, without the PWC’s, but some commenters are conflating two separate issues here.
it is a little strange they allow zodiacs but not jet skis… seems they would do equal harm (if any) to the wildlife (presumably the reason for the ban). Still, looking forward to watching the pros paddle out and rip. I remember the bud pro tour hitting the beach a decade ago and those guys were ripping the OH surf without any issues on their 6-1s… these guys are pros- they paddle every day, they will be fine and show us all how its done, watch and learn
Everyone should teach these and other control freaks a lesson
boycott all events that change the rules at the last minute, surfers just don’t show up and demand refunds, and watch them scramble, it will be a PR nightmare and many will get fired,
trust me they will never try it again for another 20 years,
or let them ride all over you and see what they can REALLY DO to make your lives a living hell,
Huh?
This pisses me off, and I’m not even a surfer. GGNRA is an out-of-control extremist agency and I’m mad my tax dollars are paying them.
How are they extreme? They’re allowing the event, just not the jet skis. And as you can read from the other comments, if locals can paddle, then so can pros.
BRAVO GGNRA !! Let’s do this the old fashioned way. Competitors: bring your arms. Virtually ALL of the guys that have been ripping OB all these years have managed to get themselves out using their own strength. I welcome the world’s best surfers to OB and encourage them to experience it real time under their own locomotion.
so i could sit there and do donuts all day with a 2 stroke engine from 1940 and dump gallons of oil into the water at Kelly’s, but i can’t use a jet ski? get your head out of your tail, GGNRA and quit shoving granola down my throat