Zach Plopper Competes in Mexico

I was pretty psyched a few months ago when my friend Andy Peterson at Downtown Marketing announced that they would be putting on the first ever Rosarito Beach Pro-Am in conjunction with the city of Rosarito in Baja California, Mexico. The added $10,000 prize purse made it extra luring. And knowing that not many ripping grom’s parents would let them journey into the ‘danger zone’ for the weekend, I wondered, how stiff could the competition be? I rounded up my good friend’s Sam and Critter Baugh, landed a sweet timeshare on the beach from a co-worker at Wildcoast and headed south, just a bit south.

Although we were headed less than 30 miles from the border, to a spot I drive by several times a month, I felt like I was headed to a WQS event in some far flung corner of the world that I had never been to. I had never really been to Rosarito, I had no idea what the waves would be like, I had no idea what to expect in terms of set-up and I had no idea who would be doing this event. It felt like one of the comp adventures I enjoyed so much a few years back, like the Canary Islands, Atlantic City, Wales, Brazil or Northern France. And there of course were the butterflies of anticipation for the contest.

We arrived to a pumping left sandbar off the pier ala Spanish river mouth. There was a grinding left off the pier, right in front of the comp scaffold, with no one around. Although it was a little racy on the backhand, we had a blast sharing this mysterious wave that sits in our backyards yet we had never surfed.

There were only a few Americans in the event, which included Eric McHenry, Durran Bar, Sam, Critter and I, but a ton of shredding Mexicans from all over the country. Surfers came from Puerto Escondido, Colima, Acapulco, Cabo and even Puerto Rico and Venezuela all for a chance to pocket the $4000 first place prize. It was awesome to see such a high level of surfing among the Latin Americans and we can be certain to see at least one of the guys make a tour push soon.

I squeaked through a few heats, had a great quarterfinal, and then got beat out in the semi’s to McHenry and a teen phenom from Acapulco that got the only solid tube in the event. I was in a comfortable first until he dropped a 7.5 on that one, and then with only a few minutes left, McHenry got a pier bowl left and lofted about a four foot backside air in my face to seal the deal. I was left sitting out the back in a flat sea and my final aspirations dissipated rather quickly. I’d have to settle for an unsatisfying 5th.

Nonetheless I had an insane little weekend adventure, pocketed some prize coin, and the only mishap was a stolen sandy, wet, stinky wetsuit (keep an eye out for a Hoplite full in the lineup next time you head down there). Hopefully they do this event next year although I anticipate word will spread about what a sick comp it was. And not to mention these Mexican kids will probably be surfing circle around me by then. Be well.

Zach Plopper

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