Open to the public free-of-charge, the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing begins on Saturday, July 18 and runs through Sunday, July 26. Festival activities, BMX and skate competitions begin on Thursday, July 23. Live webcast and consumer information is available at www.usopenofsurfing.com. Anchored by the world's largest professional surfing competition, the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing features North America's only combined men's ($145,000) and women's ($35,000) six-star World Qualifying Series (WQS) competitions. Elite athletes slated to compete include three-time U.S. Open champion Rob Machado, nine-time world champion Kelly Slater and three-time world and former U.S. Open champion Andy Irons along with many of the sport's top rated men and women. Long considered America's “consumer showcase” for the sport of surfing, the Hurley U.S. Open also features the U.S. Open of Surfing Nike 6.0 Junior Pro competitions for boys ($10,000) and girls ($10,000), Life Rolls On Expression Session and Corona Nose Riding Invitational ($10,000). The first-ever World Professional Surfers All-Stars event lets the public chose 10 surfers competing in the U.S. Open while the Hurley Pro Trials will determine two coveted wild-card entrants into the ASP World Tour event at Trestles in September. Nike affiliates Converse and Nike 6.0 will be bringing top action sports athletes to Huntington by hosting world-class BMX and Skateboarding competitions south of the famed pier. The Nike 6.0 HB BMX Pro is a uniquely-formatted “park event,” featuring 20 invited riders – including the 2008 Dew Tour's Top 10. Not to be outdone, Converse and Red Bull introduce Converse Coastal Carnage, a Super Mini-Park event for skateboarding featuring an evolutionary combination of street and park skating, as well as an impressive roster of world-class skaters that are guaranteed to attract swarms of spectators.
July 18-26, 2009
