HIC Pro at Sunset Beach begins holding period

Jade Eckardt

The HIC Pro surf contest at Sunset Beach began its 14-day holding period on Thursday, October 28 and will last until November 10. According to Surfline.com, contest organizers will make the call whether to hold the contest or not at 7:00 a.m. each morning and will post the event status on the live website at Vans.com. The contest was called off on Friday due to small waves but organizers and surfers are seeing Tuesday as possibly sufficient surf to hold the contest.

Approximately 112 surfers from seven nations including Japan, Brazil, Venezuela, and Australia are expected to compete in the contest. The contest was called the XCel pro for 26 years until becoming the HIC Pro with Vans as the presenting sponsor. The ASP sanctioned 4-star event features an $85,000 purse, and will be the final contest for surfers hoping to qualify for the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing which includes the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Alii Beach Park, the O’Neill World Cup at Sunset Beach, and the Billabong Pipeline Masters. The HIC pro will be held over three days of the best surf during the holding period.

For more information, visit Vans.com.