US Open Of Surfing Mens Finals Day

Brett Simpson winning his Qtr Finals Heat

Sunday, August 3, 2014 was Day 9, the final day of the Vans US Open Of Surfing in Huntington Beach, CA. Having rained throughout the night, the morning was dry, but cloudy with a 40% chance of rain and lightning. The lifeguard tower making announcements throughout the morning about the possibility of stopping the contest and evacuating the beach if the rain starts up since there will be a risk of lightning. Luckily, it stood dry, with the sun eventually coming out midday.

"40% chance of rain" Adam Melling
Garrett Parkes

Huntington Beach local and crowd favorite Brett Simpson won his heat in the quarter final, but lost to Brazilian Filipe Toledo in their Semi Final Heat, while another Brazilian, Willian Cardoso won his heat, making for a Brazilian versus Brazilian US Open finale.

Filipe Toledo
Brett Simpson
Filipe Toledo
Filipe Toledo
Willian Cardoso
Willian Cardoso
Filipe Toledo
Filipe Toledo
Filipe Toledo
Willian Cardoso
Willian Cardoso
Filipe Toledo The Final Heat started off slow, the waves were just not coming in. Eventually they picked up and no restart was needed. The two Brazilians started catching some waves. Willian Cardoso powerhouse hooks just weren't enough to out-score the aerials of Filipe Toledo. With the finale scores of 12.80 to 17.56, Filipe took the first place trophy.

Willian Cardoso pointing to the winner.
Filipe Toledo $100,000 richer
Vans US Open of Surfing 2014 winner: Filipe Toledo
There are over 400 photos of the 2014 US Open Of Surfing from various days, check out these galleries:

US Open Of Surfing: Womens Surfing Photo Highlights

Lakey Peterson

Shots of the Womens Rounds from this week at the Vans US Open Of Surfing in Huntington Beach, CA.

Tyler Wright
Paige Hareb
Coco Ho
Alana Blanchard
Malia Manuel
Leila Hurst
Carissa Moore
Stephanie Gilmore
Tatiana Weston-Webb
Alana Blanchard
Pauline Ado
Bianca Buitendag
Sally Fitzgibbons
Pauline Ado
There are over 400 photos of the 2014 US Open Of Surfing from various days, check out these galleries:

US Open Of Surfing: Mens Surfing Photo Highlights

Peterson Crisanto

Shots of the Mens Rounds 1 & 2 from this week at the Vans US Open Of Surfing in Huntington Beach, CA.

Kolohe Andino
Stu Kennedy
Keanu Asing
Thiago Camarao
Ryan Callinan
Hizunome Bettero
Kolohe Andino
Ryan Callinan
Brett Simpson
Santiago Muniz
Stu Kennedy
Hodei Collazo
Brett Simpson

There are over 400 photos of the 2014 US Open Of Surfing from various days, check out these galleries:

Despicablimp Photobombing the US Open

The Dispicablimp watching Nat Young

During the 2013 U.S. Open Of Surfing, everyone was startled by the appearance of the Despicablimp. It pretty much appeared out of nowhere, and to many on the sand and in the surf stadium stands, it looked as if it was going to hit the pier.

As the Dispicablimp circled the pier a couple times, it was clear it was just the forced perspective that made the blimp look like it was so close. "About 1/2 mile out from the pier" was the distance Dispicablimp pilot Allen Judd says he was. "I knew if I kept low enough there would be some photographer out there that would realize what I was doing". what Allen was doing was creating a great photo opportunity, unfortunately on the blimps first pass, there just were no waves, but on the second time around, Nat Young got a wave and rode it just was the Dispicablimp was flying low enough behind him to make for a killer shot.

We won't be seeing the Dispicablimp at this year's Open, but Allen pilots blimps year round, so he might make another flyby.