In the first heat of the 2019 Duct Tape Invitational – a disruption from the high performance surfing many fans and spectators anticipate while breathing dust on the shores of Huntington Beach during the annual Vans U.S. Open of Surfing – Justin Quintal and Troy Elmore each shot the pier on back to back waves. The crowd that watched on from the cement structure hooted and hollered as each surfer went left and got to the nose on their respective wave then glided effortlessly beneath them – most couldn’t care less what each surfer scored or that in the case of Elmore that he was eliminated in the first round. The droves of people that came in west on California State Route 91 to see the sport live got what they came for.
Not much has changed. Writing about the United States Surfing Championships that was widely regarded as the preeminent event for competitive surfing in its heyday and took place in H.B. from ’64 to ’72, Matt Warshaw explains of the near 10,000 spectators that littered the beach on weekends in those days, “the loudest cheers [were] often reserved for those surfers who shot the Huntington Pier on the biggest waves.” Looking out at the Duct Tape this year, you’d be forgiven if you thought you’d been transported back to 1969. The only dead giveaway being the hundreds of iPhones pointed toward the sea for a piece of the event to take back home, or, more likely, post to social media (#blessed).
In the coming days, you’re bound to come across highlights from the quarter and semifinals of the 2019 Duct Tape Invitational that saw 32 of the best longboarders in the world (16 male and 16 female) whittled down to 8. But, for posterity’s sake we implore you to take a quick scroll through some moments captured on film (gasp!) by The Inertia social media editor Alyssa Eurell. And be on the lookout for a highlight reel coming soon.
Words by: Dylan Heyden
Photos by: Alyssa Eurell
