Two local surf icons will be given traditional paddle-out memorials at the end of the month, with dates now released for celebrations to honor surf shop owner and announcer Rick “Rockin’ Fig” Fignetti and Seal Beach shaper Rich Harbour.
The first will be for Fignetti on Aug. 28, as long as surf conditions cooperate, according to Aaron Pai, a longtime friend who owns Huntington Surf & Sport and is organizing the gathering.
The morning will start with a memorial on the sand at 9 a.m. Two-time U.S. Open of Surfing champion and USA Surfing coach Brett Simpson and Pai will be leading the remembrance.
Surfers will paddle out at 10 a.m., forming a circle on the northside of the famed pier, a spot where Fignetti was a regular fixture in the line up.
“That’s his home spot, that’s his turf here,” said Pai, who surfed those waves with Fignetti for decades. “That’s his home.”
Fignetti, who died on July 16 at age 64, was known for his exuberant commentary that echoed across the beach at countless surf contests. For 25 years, he also did the surf report on KROQ for listeners across Southern California.
He was inducted in the Surfers’ Hall of Fame and the Surfing Walk of Fame, both on Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway where he passed nearly every day when going from his surf shop to the ocean to catch waves.
He was a longtime emcee for the Surfers’ Hall of Fame ceremonies, the Surf City Splash, the Blessing of the Waves and countless other events that showcased his beloved city.
“Some people live in a town. Rockin’ Fig was the town,” Pai said. “He was active in so many things, always volunteering to help out in different ways. He was just a very positive energy in our town.”
Fignetti was also a fierce competitor who had the longest National Scholastic Surfing Association track record, first entering in 1978 and competing for decades, in recent years earning national titles.
The weekend picked for his paddle-out memorial is a fitting one, falling during the West Coast NSSA championships, an event he both commentated and earned 10 championship titles through.
Last year, Huntington Beach hosted an event in front of his surf shop called the “Rockin’ Fig Vintage Surf Festival,” a way to help merchants who were struggling during the coronavirus pandemic and also to honor his long-time shop that has become a staple in the community.
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Huntington Beach officials approved “Rockin’ Fig Day” to coincide with the annual Surf City Days and the Rockin’ Fig Vintage Surf Festival, this year pushed back from September to October. It will land on Oct. 9 this year.
“He was so humble. He was larger than life, but he was always just the guy next door,” Mayor Kim Carr said. “Here’s this humble surfer who just loved Huntington Beach so much and we loved him back. I think this is a great way to honor him and memorialize his life.”
Carr said Fignetti had a special quality to make everyone he met feel like a best friend.
“He really was an ambassador, not just of the surf community, but the city, and he did it so well,” she said. ” He was so loved.”
In addition to the paddle-out plans, there will be a celebration in Fignetti’s honor put on by the city, with friend Don Ramsey playing music from noon to 4 p.m. at the Pier Plaza.
“We are forecasting one of the biggest paddles-outs in the history of Huntington,” Pai said.
The following day, Aug. 29, a similar surfer memorial will happen on the northside of the Seal Beach Pier for Harbour, who died on July 11 at age 77.
Harbour started shaping surfboards as a teen and opened up a shop on the city’s Main Street, which today is considered among longest operating surf shops.
Over the span of six decades, Harbour and his team of shapers would create 32,680 surfboards with the iconic logo bearing his name – his boards were always numbered.
Harbour was one of the early board makers who started out with balsa wood and transitioned to foam when the lighter material started becoming more popular.
Through the decades, big-name shapers such as Mike Marshall, Dale Velzy and, more recently, Tim Stamps, shaped under the Harbour label before branching out on their own.
Harbour had fans around the world and a cult-like following among surfboard enthusiasts. There were some who even gathered over the years for Harbour Surf Days to ride waves at Bolsa Chica State Beach and swap stories about his boards, both historic and new designs.
The paddle out for Harbour starts at 9 a.m. at 8th Street in Seal Beach.
This post first appeared on ocregister.com
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