Southern California’s best kept secret is about to be revealed. The first ever surf contest is being held at Point Mugu and everyone is invited.Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) surf contest will be held on Saturday, Oct. 25. The entry fee to participate is $20 for military and $25 for civilians.
“Point Mugu is one of the best surfing spots in California so a lot of people want to come and surf on it,” Kent Blankenship, NBVC MWR Athletics Director said. “We are encouraging the public to either participate or come out and watch.”
This particular stretch of ocean at Point Mugu is such a special spot because it faces in a south direction which gives it a unique wave. “Especially when there is a south swell coming the wave breaks different and a lot bigger then a lot of different beaches along the coast here,” Blankenship said.Todd Proctor, owner of Proctor Surfboards, agrees that Point Mugu provides a world class wave. He says everyone should come down and enjoy the ocean and socialize.
This may be the first time Point Mugu surfing break is open to the public, but participants should remember that the point of the day is community engagement. “I just hope that people will really keep in perspective that it’s a contest to bring people together,” Proctor said. “Hopefully people will realize that it is really no one person’s wave.”
The idea for the contest came from a challenge. MWR was challenged to form more community engagement events. And who can resist a challenge? Not Naval Base Ventura County.
MWR decided to host the surfing contest to get the community involved with their military.
Proctor says that a lot of time a gap can form between the military and their community members. He says that opening Point Mugu will join two groups that both enjoy the same thing. The ocean forms a common ground. “I think the motive is really cool,” Proctor said. “To bridge that gap will be a really cool thing.”
Blankenship says the contest will be broken up into six different divisions. “We will have an open men and open women division, a body board division, military men and military women division and a professional division,” Blankenship said. “Surf contest check in starts at 6:30 that morning and then the surfing starts at 7:30 a.m. and runs up until 3 or 4 p.m. depending on how long the heats go.”
Each heat lasts 20 minutes and six people participate per heat. There will be three heats per division and the top two people from each heat will then go to the finals for that division. Each division is only allowed 18 people so sign up fast before the spaces fill up.
“It kind of makes for a long day, but it’s also fun for people watching the surf because we have a lot of great surfers out there,” Blankenship said.
In order to participate in the surfing competition, participants have to turn in a registration form. These forms will be available in the local surf shops soon, or anyone can call the athletics department to get a form sent to them. Contact Fred Morgan at (805) 982-3007 for more information.
“We expect it to sell out really quickly,” Blankenship said.
If you would rather watch then participate, Blankenship says parking will be available at the beach, but only for people that get their names on the guard gate list. In order to get your name on the list, again you will have to contact Fred Morgan.
If you aren’t able to get your name on the list, the base is setting up a special shuttle van that will take people from the front gate at Point Mugu out to the beach and back. The van will run all day so everyone will have an opportunity to participate by showing their support. Proctor Surfboards will be participating by giving away a custom board to the winner of the competition. The company may even give the winner a voucher to get their very own board custom made.
“We are also going to have a booth at the beach and be there to explain how boards are made,” Proctor said. “We are going to have two of our pros competing and two other guys that are ex pros.”
The two professional surfers that will be participating are Jarrah Tutton and Danny Estes. Proctor also says that there is an outside chance that Tamayo Perry may come out to surf. Proctor says he is one of the best Pipeline surfers in the world.
The winners of the competition will be chosen on how well they follow the rules of the sport. “There will basically be three different judges out and they judge on the size of the wave, how long they ride and what the surfer does on the ride,” Blankenship said.
“We are actually working on some celebrity judges.”
All contestants will receive a special event t-shirt, and a first, second and third place winner will be chosen from each division.
The winners will receive either plaques or trophies.
If you can’t participate this year, you may have another opportunity to surf this rare area.
“We hope it will become an annual event but it might even become a two day event so we can get more people surfing and more people entered in it,” Blankenship said.
This is the first time ever that Point Mugu will be open for a surf competition, so don’t miss out on this extraordinary event. This competition is a great way to bring the entire community together.
“There is a delicate balance between protecting a wave that is really cool and not over exposing it and coming together as a community and getting to know one another and enjoying something that really God has made and is really special in that way,” Proctor said. “My desire is to see that delicate balance come together, where we all just enjoy one another and enjoy the waves but don’t overexpose it.”
