Custom Forecast for the 2010 Vans Pier Classic

The guys over at Transworld SURF asked me to put together a forecast for the2010 Vans Pier Classic contest that is going to run at the HB Pier March 24-28. I thought I would share what I put together…hopefully it will help a few of you (and me too) score a few waves this week while the contest is on…keep in mind that this forecast is just for the South Side of the pier…the other spots in the region will be different, but if you check the pier enough, you will already know how these swells will affect the other breaks…



What: The first stop of the ASP World Qualifying Series North America Tour, The Vans Pier Classic. Plus the Ezekiel Pro Junior contest.
When: March 24-28
Where: The southside of Huntington Beach Pier
Watch it live at http://www.vans.com/

Surf Forecast Summary

Looks like a fun run of surf on tap for the Vans Pier Classic. There will be a decent S-SW swell already in the water as the contest kicks off on Wednesday and there will also be enough WNW-NW energy from local windswell, and a medium-period WNW-NW swell, to break up the bigger Southern Hemi sets. Wednesday and Thursday look like the biggest days with some shoulder-head high sets pushing through on the lower tides. The swell mix slowly backs down on Friday but holds onto enough energy to keep the surf rideable/playful over the weekend.

Weatherwise things look ok…there will be a bit of coastal eddy developing on Thursday that will bring in some overcast skies, fog, and light S-SW winds (basically the standard HB eddy crumble that plagues the region during Spring). Thursday’s wind looks like the funkiest day…by Friday, and on into the weekend, we should see the cleaner morning conditions return.

Keep in mind the tide-swings during the contest…the sandbars around the pier, (well really throughout a lot of Southern California), got chewed up by all the big winter swells and even a couple of feet of tide change can make a big difference.

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This is just the summary…click through to the Transworld SURF website to see the day by day breakdown.

http://surf.transworld.net/1000100825/features/2010-vans-pier-classic-surf-forecast/