Oregon-based firm will hold sponsorship rights to the annual Huntington Beach event, which drew 500,000 attendees in 2009.

The owners of the U.S. Open of Surfing have inked a multiyear agreement with Oregon-based NIKE Inc. for sponsorship rights to the annual Huntington Beach event.

The world’s largest professional surfing competition, slated this year for July 31 through Aug. 8, drew 500,000 onlookers last year. The number was a record high, according to Los Angeles-based IMG Action Sports, the event’s executive producer and owner.

The event brings $25 million into Huntington Beach, according to estimates by IMG Sports.

The 12-acre festival is held adjacent to the pier and also features skateboarding and BMX events, among other activities.

NIKE’s subsidiaries, including Hurley, Nike 6.0 and Converse, will maintain visual branding at the event.

“Some of our best creative work comes out of the collaboration of our three brands,” says Sandy Bodecker, vice president of global design and action sports for NIKE. “Our goal is to help transform the U.S. Open into one of the most exciting sporting moments of the summer.”

“Last year’s relationship with Hurley, Nike 6.0 and Converse provided a glimpse of the U.S. Open of Surfing’s true potential,” says James Leitz, senior vice president of IMG Action Sports, a division of IMG Worldwide. “The NIKE Inc. action-sports family raised the bar in all areas and continues an aggressive push toward excellence in 2010.”

The Huntington Beach venue is the only location in North America to offer combined six-star World Qualifying Series-rated men’s and women’s events. IMG Action Sports calls the competition a “pivotal point” in the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour.

“As we saw last year, there’s no better ‘surf stadium’ than Huntington Beach,” says Bob Hurley, Hurley founder and chairman. “We’re always looking to improve the experience both in the water and on the sand, and we’re excited to continue working with Nike 6.0 and Converse to help make that happen in 2010 and beyond.”

The U.S. Open was founded in 1994, but the event’s roots go back to 1959 as the U.S. Surfing Championships.

Huntington Beach, also known as Surf City USA, is home to the International Surfing Museum, the Surfing Walk of Fame and the Surfers’ Hall of Fame.

story via ocmetro.com

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Note: this report seems to have several flaws.

1. 79% of data comes from a form, the rest from news ect. The site itself notes this problem, “accounts of what happened were based primarily upon information supplied by persons who were neither the objects of the attacks nor were they even there at the time to actually see what happened”

2. Also this report seems to be cherry picking the data to some degree. Note that shark attacks this year for surfers was up, but if you look at the bigger picture divers made up the majority of attacks: divers 50 (46%) ; surfers, 41 (38%); swimmers, 12 (11%); and kayakers, 5 (5%).

3. The Committee is focused on the Pacific Coast of North America.

4. Lastly, this site is providing a valuable service to  the International Shark Attack File, so I thank them for their work.

To get a broader view of shark attacks world wide visit the ISAF.

There were 7 unprovoked shark attacks authenticated from the Pacific Coast of North America during 2009. All 7 of the reported attacks occurred in California and were distributed in the following months; April (1), July (1), August (2), October (1) and November (2), with 5 of the 7 attacks occurring South of the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line.

Activities of the victims were; 3 Surfing, 1 Paddle-Boarding, 1 Diving, 1Surf- Fishing, and 1 Swimming. The Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, was positively identified or highly suspect as the causal species in 5 of the attacks with 1 attack attributable to the Thresher Shark, Alopias sp., and 1 unknown species.

The publication “Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century” authenticated 108 unprovoked shark attacks from the Pacific Coast between 1900 and 1999. The Great White Shark was implicated in 94 (87%) of the attacks with an annual average of slightly more than one shark attack per year. The 7 cases reported for 2009 brings the total number of unprovoked shark attacks occurring along the West Coast during the first 9 years of the 21st Century to 49.

This is ‘more than five times’ the Twentieth Century annual average and represents 45% of the total number of attacks reported for the entire Twentieth Century, and all in less than a decade. The Great White Shark has been implicated in 41 (80%) of the 49 attacks reported during this Century. Of the 157 unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast since 1900, the Great White Shark has been positively identified or highly suspect in 133 (85%).

Victim activity for the 49 unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast since 20000 are distributed in the following groups; surfers 35 (71%) of the documented attacks with 5 (10%) swimmers, 3 (6%) kayakers, 3 (6%) divers, 2 (4%) paddle boarders, and 1 (2%) surf fishing. The number of adult, sub-adult, and juvenile Great White Sharks observed in Southern California during 2009 suggests a possible change in their population dynamics and seasonal site preferences.

The number of stranded marine mammal carcasses reported, specifically their location and time of year, would seem to support this observation. The Shark Research Committee will continue to closely monitor this activity in the coming year.

Additional information regarding the Shark Research Committee’s conservation, education, and research programs are available at:  sharkresearchcommittee.com. ‘Save the Sharks – Save the Oceans’

www.sharkresearchcommittee.com

story from surfersvillage

After more than three months of waiting, contestants and fans alike were rewarded for their patience with an historic day for big-wave surfing, as Chris Bertish etched his name in Mavericks lore and was crowned champion of the
2009/2010 Mavericks Surf Contest® Presented by Sony Ericsson and Barracuda Networks.

With waves described by the competitors as some of the biggest they have ever paddled into, and in front of a crowd of approximately 50,000 fans, Bertish outlasted Shane Desmond, Anthony Tashnick, Dave Wassel, Carlos Burle, and Kenny “Skindog” Collins to claim the Jim Beam Jersey and a $50,000 check from prize purse sponsors Moose Guen and Jane Sutherland of MVision and Barracuda Networks.

The total prize purse of $150,000 was the largest in big-wave surfing history, with $50,000 going to Bertish, $25,000 to Desmond in second, $15,000 to Tashnick in third, $10,000 to Wassel in fourth, $8,000 to Burle in fifth, and $6,000 to Collins in sixth.

2008 Champion Greg Long summed up the day perfectly while passing along the Jim Beam Champion’s jersey to Bertish.  “The entire book of big wave surfing was rewritten today.”  Bertish, a native of Cape Town, South Africa was overcome with emotion, adding, “It was an honor just to be here today and paddle out with these other guys.  I flew 36 hours to be here, and this has been a dream come true.”

The competitors were greeted by huge waves as soon as the Contest began, with heats one through four being won by Dave Wassel, Peter Mel, Alex Martins, and Ryan Seelbach respectively.  “These were  definitely the biggest waves I have ever paddled into,” said second-place winner, Shane Desmond.    After two memorable semi-f-inals which were won by Anthony Tashnick and Carlos Burle, the hard-charging Bertish pulled through in the final round.

read more at surfertoday