A professional surfing competition got under way at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach this morning.
Organizers of Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco determined this morning that weather and ocean conditions were good enough to begin the contest, and surfers hit the water at about 8 a.m.
Surf legend Kelly Slater is among the 36 surfers competing in the event, which is expected to run for a total of 27.5 hours over four days.
The Pro Search contest is the 10th of 11 events in the Association of Surfing Professionals’ World Tour and is held in a different spot around the world each year. It came to San Francisco after being held in Puerto Rico, Portugal and Indonesia in recent years.
Slater, 39, the reigning 10-time ASP world champion, has a chance to clinch his 11th title if he advances through just two heats in the competition.
The event is being held on the northern end of Ocean Beach near stairways 18-20 and is being streamed online in a free webcast at www.live.ripcurl.com.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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