Where's the real Surf City, USA?

Just hold onto your surfboard wax, say Huntington Beach aficionados.

First: they host the US Open of Surfing every July, the largest surfing competition in the world, which draws competitors from Australia to Africa to Hawaii. Besides 40 other competitions a year, several billion-dollar surfing and lifestyle companies are headquartered here as well as a Surfing Hall of Fame and Surfing Walk of Fame.

Unlike Santa Cruz - where surfing is a lonely and more dangerous pursuit by top surfers who have to don wetsuits because of the cold water - Huntington Beach has long been the center of surf culture, both beginner and expert, they say. That means a place where surfers hang out together on the beach, sun themselves, play music, spear fish and barbecue late into the evening.

"It was the surf media which first dubbed this place Surf City," says Dean Torrance, half of the singing duo Jan and Dean, who, along with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, penned the famous song "Surf City." He says it is Huntington Beach which embodies the song's spirit of freedom and California fun.

By trademark law, Huntington Beach has a two-year, wait-and-see period in which formal challenges, such as Santa Cruz's, will be weighed by the US Department of Commerce. Besides the number of such complaints, considerations include what happens to Santa Cruz businesses - Surf City Produce, Surf City Coffee - if Huntington Beach wins the trademark bid.

Chiranjeev Kohli, a marketing professor at Cal State, Fullerton, says the Huntington Beach idea to market itself as a way to distinguish itself from other California destinations - if valid - is economically sound. But he says if Santa Cruz's claim proves worthy, Huntington Beach might have to pay damages and suffer loss of credibility.

"The moment someone makes a credible claim against your trademark, you are in trouble and it raises the question of how much trademark research you did," he says.

Some say Malibu or San Diego could present equally forceful complaints, while others say the title should rest with Hawaii or a US town already dubbed "Surf City"- Surf City, N.C, Surf City, N.J. Others say "Surf City, USA" is a state of mind. "Anywhere the surf is up and the waves are good is Surf City, USA for that moment," says Harry Mayo, a lifelong surfer working as a volunteer in the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum.

The proposed - and somewhat tongue-in-cheek - surf-off between the two city councils to settle the matter has been scheduled for Sept. 3. But some observers say a more serious surfing championship should help decide.

"Honestly a running competition might be the best answer," says Chris Mauro, editor of Surfer Magazine. He says both cities have legitimate claims to the title. "They should let the title shift back and forth based on who wins each year - that would be a great incentive for both to work for the privilege."

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