The first ever surf contest that paid money to the top competitor was at “C” street in Ventura.

It was put together by Tom Morey in summer of 1965. Morey was head of the USSA at the time and seems with that position would be the right ingredient for a successful event… which it was.

Keep in mind that in the mid sixties the only surfboards being ridden were what we now call long boards. As I’ve said in past posts we just called the boards we surfed back then  a surfboard. One of the most difficult things to do on a long board is to execute a nose ride. Some people can nose ride and get pretty good at it. Others have a difficult time even getting close to the nose let alone hang what we call toes over the nose.

What Morey did with the first ever cash prize surf event ( pro surf contest ) was make the judging of the event objective. The objective was record the length of time the contestants spent on the nose… 25% of the boards length from the tip of the nose. It didn’t matter what you looked like getting to the nose or after, your style or anything else. The judges held stop watches and recorded the time a contestant spent in the 25% area of their board while on what ever wave they caught.

The surfer with the highest total time on the nose won the event. No subjective judging at all. That’s never happened since. Of course how could you have an objective surf meet when riding the surfboard of today? Unless the event is a long board event. The nose riding event the judges only had to do a little math as opposed to deciding how well a surfer maneuvered through the wave that was caught.  And, if the surfers style was more likeable than other competitors.

Then there is the luck of the draw on what competitors were in the right place at the right time to paddle into the better waves that come through the time of day and time of the heat being surfed in. Morey’s surf meet had that part sure, the competitors had to find the best waves that would give them the best opportunity to hang on the nose. That’s a skill that is developed but still when the better waves were caught only the time spent on the nose was counted.

At some point a “pro surf event” had to happen to set up the possibility for a future of professionals. Someone had to be first and it had to be somewhere…. That place was Ventura. Not just a surf spot in Ventura County but in the town of Ventura.

The point in Ventura  produces a nice long board wave that can have a nice line for nose riding if not one of the better ones on the coast. Though the waves are pretty much thought a bit soft. However the secrets to the spot are held close by the locals. Like tides, winds, best swell directions, when the sands have moved around some to produce the better lines for nose riding   Or, for good all around recreational surfing.

Even gets surf all year long.

D.R.