Quiksilver Pro New York: World's Best Surfers To Hit Long Beach - International Business Times

Long Beach, NY is getting ready to host the Quiksilver Pro New York Surf Competition, the world's first $1 million professional surfing event.

The Quiksilver Pro New York will be held from September 1 - 15, marking the 6th stop on the ASP 2011 World Tour and the first-ever ASP World Title Race stop on the east coast of the United States.

"We are beyond excited to host the biggest pro surf event in the world this September in New York," said Bob McKnight, CEO of Quiksilver.

"There has always been a huge contingent of dedicated surfers and surf enthusiasts on the East Coast and they will now get a chance to watch the world's best surfers in Long Beach."

The best and brightest Quiksilver, Roxy and DC athletes will be brought to New York City for 12 days of surf, skate, BMX, fashion, art and music, said McKnight.

Quiksilver Pro New York will offer a $1 million dollar prize purse to competitors, an amount unprecedented in professional surfing.
 

Despite Hurricane Irene, some of the surfers rather arrived early and practiced amidst the storm on Saturday.

Long Beach was directly hit by Irene, with storm surge, big waves and a coinciding high tide causing large scale erosion to the beach at the host site, according to Quiksilver website. However, the event structures were removed prior to the storm, so there is no st ructure loss. Quiksilver and the City of Long Beach are monitoring the building, trying to manufacture the same experience as initially intended.

Organizers of the Quiksilver Pro New York returned to the ground in Long Beach on Tuesday working to rebuild the surf competition and festival sites to deliver the action sports and music experience originally intended before the hurricane, said the site.

"We chose the upcoming weeks to stage the event because it was hurricane season, offering the greatest potential for good surf," said Quiksilver's Luke Watson in a statement released on Monday.

"Our event has an extended 15-day holding period precisely to negotiate the elements of nature, which is the essence of our sport."

There is flexibility in scheduling the event, said Watson.

"We will not be extending the period beyond its original end-date of September 15 and we definitely have the ability to take a little extra time on the front end to assess conditions and rebuild the site when the city deems it is safe to do so," he added.

Organizers concede they don't know what to expect, but they are planning for thousands, suggesting many take the Long Island Rail Road, or drive to nearby Jones Beach and take shuttle buses to the site, reports the Associated Press.

According to the report, along with the surfing, there will be a companion festival featuring "indy" bands like the Flaming Lips, as well as BMX bike and skate demonstrations, including an appearance by retired skateboarding ace Tony Hawk.

The festival sideshows that coincide with the competition has allegedly been canceled, according to what the City of Long Beach Manager Charles Theofan told LongBeachPatch on Monday morning. Amidst the rumor, Unsound Surf is planning a silent protest outside of city hall Tuesday morning, to keep the entire competition running, reports LongBeachPatch.

"This is an event that so many have wanted for so long, and cancelling it will do nothing positive for out great city," Unsound Surf stated on Facebook.