The Good: Finally a sunny day low 70’s, Hometown hero Brett Simpson wins, Julian Wilson is a bad ass, Rob Machado has got some serious hair, $100k to the winner

The Bad: Waves were inconsistent, Some heats barely any waves, Amateur photographers blocking your view of the line up, dust storms

The Bottom Line: Awesome live event that is actually still free! Where else can you see the best surfers, bikers and skateboarders on the planet competing for big money. This is a great venue that I think symbolizes what Southern California is about.

Congratulations to Brett Simpson for taking the win! This guy is really good. I watched as he took down Nathaniel Curren, Kelly Slater and then Jordy Smith for the win. What blew me away were the backside 360’s he was doing in some really difficult close out sections.

From his commentary at the event, he seems like a laid back guy that must of kept his cool out there. I mean, come on, he beat Kelly Slater who was getting alot of waves.

You got to love being on the beach and seeing the local hero Simpo being carried out of the water for a second year in a row. Just an incredible thing to witness with the huge crowd cheering on the beach.

I got to finally see Julian Wilson surf live in the All Star Expression Session. This guy can fly. None of the competitors except Dane Reynolds could even hold a candle to the size and type of airs Julian was doing. He won the Expression Session with a high flying backside 360 air right at the pier. HUGE! SPINNING THE ENTIRE 360 IN THE AIR… He deserved to win. Can’t wait to see his new movie, “Scratching The Surface.”
Mick Fanning said he saw the premiere on Friday night and it got him pumped up for his heat on Saturday. Should be a good one.

Bits and pieces… Rob Machado has got some serious beyond Jesus style hair. They could use that to soak up some of the oil in the gulf. He was a big crowd favorite at the US Open of Surfing. Mobs of people would wait for him to get out the water. Awesome guy.

I got to give it up to Hurley for putting on an awesome event. I’ve been coming to this event for 5 years now and this was the biggest crowd I have ever seen. You were lucky to get a seat at the BMX final and Coastal Carnage skateboard final. I was in the bleachers watching security turn away crowds of people. Max capacity at both of those events.

Amateur photographers were everywhere and pissing me off. My girlfriend and I get to the event at 8am for the start. Lay out our beach towel as close to the water as we could get and still you get these amateur photographers who want to come and stand right in front of you. The nerve! They could at least move to the side or sit on a towel.
Oh well, you just can’t fight the thousands of people all trying to get a look at there favorite surfers.

To wrap things up, if you’ve never been to this event I highly encourage you to attend at least one time. You may get to see the likes of Kelly Slater shooting the Huntington Beach Pier, Ryan Nyquist spinning 720 on his bike and legend Steve Caballero frontside grinding the bowl. Where can you find a better day than this?

Did you attend the event? What did you think? Leave your comments below, thanks!