As we approach the middle of summer here in our beautiful Orange County, the local surfing community is starting to brace for the big show, the Lexus US Open of Surfing.
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It’s coming to Huntington Beach July 25 through Aug. 2. This is one of the most attended surfing events on the planet, and it comes with a whole variety of side events that take place during the nine-day competition period.
One of my favorites is the annual Surfers Hall of Fame induction ceremony. This year it will take place at 9 a.m. on July 31 in the plaza on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Huntington Beach. Look for the big statue of Duke Kahanamoku right in front of Huntington Surf & Sport, across the street from the pier and Duke’s Restaurant.
If you are anywhere in the area and have a connection to surfing, this is a great event to attend, almost a “must do” kinda deal. It’s open to the public and admission is free.
This year’s inductees are Jay Larson and Courtney Conlogue. It’s the first time that both inductees are Orange County locals. I wrote about Courtney a couple of weeks ago, so today I am going to tell you about Jay Larson.
Off the top, Jay is a cool dude. A true and pure Huntington Beach local, or “pier rat” as we used to call ‘em. He started surfing when he was 10 and it was not long before he took to competing in local events, rising to the top of amateur competition quickly.
He was captain of the Huntington Beach High School Surf Team in 1993. Known for his “power” style, he gained international recognition through being on the cover of SURFING magazine and appearing in many surf films at the time as part of what was known as the “Momentum Generation.”
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Jay competed professionally from 1993 through 2002, earning many finals appearances and two wins. He became rooted in the surfing industry as part of the Huntington Surf & Sport crew early on.
In 2019, he, along with another HB local and cool dude, Lyndon Cabellon, started up the infamous “L8night with Choccy” podcast that has become incredibly popular. I was a guest on that myself last year, and it was amazingly fun and professionally done, I had a blast.
Jay still competes as part of the Huntington Beach Boardriders Club and holds down a major spot in the lineup at the pier.
It’s very cool for him and his family that he is getting the SHOF nod this year.
He and Courtney will be joining an incredible all-star line up of surf legends and industry icons that include Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, Phil Edwards, Mike Doyle, David Nuuhiwa, Bob Hurley, Gerry Lopez, Linda Benson, Mickey Munoz, Greg Noll, Shaun Tomson, Buffalo Kealana, Robert August, Tom Curren, our own Register reporter Laylan Connelly, Mark Richards, Joyce Hoffman, George Downing, Bud Llamas, Margo Oberg, Tom Carroll, Lisa Anderson, Rob Machado, Laird Hamilton, Ben Aipa, Michael Ho, Bruce Brown, Rabbit Kekai, Tom Servais, and many more (the best looking one would be me, except maybe Laylan).
One of the really great things that I like to point out about the SHOF ceremony is that it is always attended by a large number of both current and past surf stars and important surf industry biggies. And they are there just hangin’ out and available for you to meet and say hello to. Get something autographed if you want.
The event is hosted by arch local Aaron Pai and his entire family. Everybody in the Pai family surfs, it’s a wonderful thing to see them all working in one way or another at the ceremony. They sing songs and smile so brightly that the sun even has to go “whoa!!!!” And there are dozens of ‘em. It is a big part of the spirit of the event.
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So, there it is. Be there or be square.