The third annual World Surfing Championships came to sleepy Ocean Beach in the late summer of 1966. And Eric DuVall, head of the OB Historical Society, compiled a wonderful remembrance of that event and those early days of surfing in OB and Southern California.
Here are some quotes from DuVall’s historical piece in the Pt Loma – Ocean Beach Monthly:
Earlier that summer, the fabulous San Diego Municipal Fishing Pier (Ocean Beach Pier) had opened to much fanfare and revelry.
In fact, the location of the pier had helped lure the World Surfing Championship finals to Ocean Beach. That and our “diversified foamy breakers” and “the versatility” of our “offshore waters,” according to the San Diego Union.
Speaking to the media at the Mission Bay Aquatics Center in June, U.S. Surfing Association Chairman Brennan McClelland said:
“the championship site committee studied hundreds of miles of California coastline before deciding that San Diego city beaches offered the best surfing conditions.”
City Aquatics Director Don Vynne proclaimed:
“This contest will bring international attention and recognition to San Diego as the surfing capital of the world!”
Expecting a crowd in excess of 10,000, Vynne mentioned the installation of bleachers along the beach and suggested that the new fishing pier would be able to accommodate an additional 4,000 spectators.
… Many folks like to say the direction of surfing and the way folks surfed changed dramatically following the ’66 World Championships at Ocean Beach.
For the balance of the article, please go here.
Australian surfer Nat Young won the championship. Some believe Young’s approach represented a shift in surfing style, emphasizing turns from the top to the bottom of the wave rather than simply riding down the line.
There’s a new poster out partially to help raise funds for a new OB pier.
