GISBORNE’S Ricardo Christie will be looking to boost his Qualifying Series campaign with a big result at the US Open Surfing, which has started at Huntington Beach in California.
It is only the second of six QS 10,000 events this year and gives Christie, sitting 50th on the QS rankings,a prime opportunity to get his campaign back on track.
Gold Coast-based Christie enters the competition in heat 5 of round 6 after the lower seeded surfers battled out the early stages of the competition.
He faces Championship Tour surfer Kolohe Andino (United States), Jesse Mendes (Brazil) and Marco Giorgi (Uruguay).
With the women’s CT event running today, Christie’s heat was expected to get under way early tomorrow morning (NZ time).
Fellow New Zealand surfer Billy Stairmand will surf in heat 16 of round 6.
The forecast is for waist-to-shoulder-high waves with variable winds over the next few days, and the potential for slightly larger surf by the end of the week.
Christie’s best result this year is ninth at the Australian Open of Surfing in Manly in March.
The mushy beach break at Huntington has not tended to suit his style in the past, with 49th place finishes in 2014 and last year although he will be able to draw inspiration from his good result in Manly in similar conditions.
