The West Coast Board Riders express rolled through Huntington Beach Saturday with stop number 3 on the trail to the Wheat Cup.
One of the favorites to reach the Cup final, Huntington Beach, surfed their way to a win in the HSS@the Pier event with a total of 229.69.
It wasn't easy tho as the other three teams battled all day. Northern LA finished second with 201.14, followed by South Bay 191.42 and Seal Beach 170.11.
The win puts HB in front in their division, joining San Clemente and Santa Cruz as early season winners.
But first things first, let's go the famous Pier at Huntington Beach.
15-19 year-olds
Huntington Beach 37.46, South Bay 24.86, Seal Beach 23.13, Northern LA 22.74
The older teens got Huntington Beach off to a hot start and in particular, the surfing of Luke Guinaldo. The whammy surfer put up a huge 9.33 final wave and doubled it to 18.66. That grabbed the lead for his team and the following surfers added to it.
Max Lambert and Mahteo Gonzalez put up wave scores of 7.20 and 6.43 respectively to add to the big 37.46 score. That was the largest heat score of the day.
South Bay had a good score from Karsten Wanke, who whammied a 6.83 (13.66) and Finn Ketola added a 5.77.
Seal Beach got a 5.90 (11.80) from Hamilton Zahn and Sebastian Bluhm led the way for Northern LA with a 5.67 (11.34) score.
14 & under
Huntington Beach 36.33, South Bay 28.57, Northern LA 27.56, Seal Beach 16.71
HB extended their lead with the young guns and it was a total team effort.
The brothers Castle, Makai and Finn put up the biggest numbers but got big help along the way.
Makai opened the heat with a huge 8.67 and tagged off to whammy surfer Petey Romaniuk who doubled a 7.00 (14.00).
Next up was Wyatt Yount, who put up a 6.33 and then tagged in Finn Castle, who's last wave tallied a 7.33. Great heat by all four.
South Bay put up a solid heat, led by Cooper Wixom and Carson Stone. Wixom scored a 7.50 on his final wave and Stone, the fourth surfer, put up a 5.70 on his best effort. Cole Saffell whammied a 5.20 (10.40).
Northern LA was led by Ryji Masuda who whammied a 7.33 (14.66) and Remington Runyan with a 5.00. Seal Beach high scorers were Sawyer Abing with a 5.74 and Jake Coster with a 4.93.
Women
Huntington Beach 33.56, South Bay 27.84, Northern LA 27.14, Seal Beach 16.26
As the ladies hit the water, the momentum for HB continued.
Sara Freyre led the way as the whammy surfer and promptly put up a 7.83 on her first and only wave and whammied it to a 15.66. She got back up from Bailey Turner who tallied a 5.10 score.
South Bay put up a good fight in this one behind a 6.07 by London Meza, a 6.00 by her sister Teagan and a 5.90 whammied to 11.80 by Marlo Harris.
Northern LA was led by Talia Swindal, who was coming off a 5th place finish at the WSL QS event in Santa Cruz. She continued her hot surfing with a 9.17 whammied to an 18.34. She got back-up help by Lilie Kulber's 6.17 score.
Rachel Wilson led the way for Seal Beach with a 6.00 score.
50 and Over
Northern LA 35.47, Seal Beach 31.67, South Bay 26.58, Huntigntin Beach 23.30
The over 50's came out firing for Northern LA.
Yves Bright started off as the whammy surfer and after throwing away a 7.00, doubled up on his 9.17 for an 18.34. Ricky Shaffer added a 6.83 to the winning score.
Chas Wickwire lifted Seal Beach to second with an 8.27 (16.54) and right behind was South Bay.
They were led by Chris Wells who had a 6.07 and Ty Cukr who tallied a 5.57 (11.14).
Peter Kelly Jr's 5.67 and Jason Robinett's 5.33 (10.66) led the way for Huntington.
40-49
Northern LA 33.13, Seal Beach 31.87, South Bay 27.67, Huntigntin Beach 27.16
Northern LA continued their surge in the older divisions as they got a big-time team performance building a 33-point heat.
Jordy Tappis led the way with and whammied 8.00 (16.00), while Jesse Faen added a 6.93 and Cory Pierce put up a 5.77.
Pat Starkey led Seal Beach with a nice 8.17 opening wave then tagged in Ryan Simmons, who promptly whammied his only wave of 5.93 (11.86) and ending the heat was Mike Reilly with a 6.77 score.
Jay Larson put up a 7.53 (15.06) to lead the way for Huntington Beach. Kevin Castle ended the heat for HB with a 5.57. It marked the third member of the Castle family to compete in the event following sons Makai and Finn earlier.
30-39
Huntington Beach 35.63, Seal Beach 30.77, Northern LA 27.36, South Bay 24.53
Huntington Beach got back on the winning side of things as the 30's rolled around led by their star Brett Simpson.
The former two-time US Open winner needed just one wave, and whammied a 9.50 (19.00) and HB was off and running. Brandon Guilmette added a 6.23 to help in the win.
Seal Beach had a nice heat led by Chris Waring 7.67 (15.34), Sephen Sendejas with a 5.80 and Blake Myers with a 5.50.
Northern LA got great wave scores by Dillon Perillo 7.50 (15.00) and Luke Cheadle 6.13 while South Bay was led by Dane Zaun's 6.13 (12.26)
20-29
Huntington Beach 36.25, South Bay 31.37, Northern LA 27.74, Seal Beach 19.60
The final heat, like most of the day, belonged to the team in black from HB.
Jack Boyes led off and got started the right way with an 8.33. The tag went to Matt Passaquindici who whammied a 7.63 (15.66) and putting the finishing touches on the win was Derek Peters who posted a 7.83.
Kelly Zaun led South Bay with an 8.00 and Will Reid added a 6.70 (13.40). Northern LA saw Shane Borland use his final wave as his whammy 7.17 (14.34) and Colton Sarlo add a 5.13.
Rounding out the day, Kirk Weissinger led the way for Seal Bech with a 6.00 wave score.
"We had some good performances. The older guys came out and took it apart," said Northern LA coach Dillon Perillo. "Last year was our first time doing this and I'm pretty happy with today. We don't have much experience with the tag team style, but we did well."
Next up is the Oneil/Hansens @ the Reef on February 4th featuring the South teams of Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas and La Jolla.