With a score of 12.93 to 13.04, Lucca Mesinas beat Taro Watanabe by only 0.11 of a point on Sunday, April 6, the last day of the Vans Jack’s Surfboards Pro 2025 competition.
The eighth annual Vans Jack’s Surfboards Pro competition was held at the Huntington Beach Pier and took place over the course of four days from April 3 to April 6.
During the first day of the competition on April 3, Latin American surfers dominated the competition as they earned the highest three scores.
Gabriel Arturo Vargas from Peru took the highest score that day, earning a score of 15.66, while Mexican surfers Rey Hernandez and Jhony Corzo came in second and third place with scores of 13.37 and 12.90.
“Everyone surfs a lot here, there’s a lot of competitors. In Peru there’s only a few good ones,” said Gabriel Arturo Vargas.
When Corzo was asked about how Huntington Beach compares to the beaches in Puerto Escondido, a city in Mexico where he’s from, he said, “The water is colder, waves are similar, it’s not that far either so I feel at home.”
Corzo and Hernandez were eliminated on the second day of the competition, while Vargas went on to compete on the third day but was eliminated that same day.
Surfers Wesley Santos (Photo one), Yago Ramos (Photo two and four), and Oscar Urbina (Photo three) participate in Vans Jacks Surfboard Pro at Huntington Beach Pier on April 3. (Sam Villa and Paloma Maciel)
When asked about how the surfers prepared for the competition, many answered that they went to the gym and were eating healthy, in addition to surfing.
“I’ve trained my entire life for this competition,” said Gavin Lusby, a 18 year old surfer at the competition who has been surfing since he was 5 years old, and a resident of Huntington Beach City.
Lusby made it to the fourth round of the competition, winning two rounds on the first day of the competition, one on day two, but was eliminated from the first round on day three.
“This competition gives us a good mentality for the year,” said Mason O’Toole, another surfer at the competition who’s from Oceanside, California.
The Vans Jack’s Surfboards Pro 2025 competition is the opening qualifying competition for the 2025 to 2026 season located in North America.