Surfing’s Q school comes calling

Every winter, ASP surfers come to Hawaii seeking glory in the World Championship Tour finale at Pipeline and in the two preceding events that make up the Vans Triple Crown.

But there is another sort of competition going on that is not quite as glorious. As a matter of fact, it can be downright gloomy.

That’s because every year, the top-echelon of surfers on the ASP men’s and women’s tours automatically qualify for the tours next year. The surfers finishing near the bottom of the world rankings drop to a lower-tier circuit, the ASP’s World Qualifying Series.

At the same time, the top competitors on the qualifying series move up into the world tour.

On the men’s side, 14 of 34 world tour surfers have cemented spots for the 2015 tour and eight more will automatically qualify when the season wraps up at the Dec. 8-20 Billabong Pipe Masters.

The top 22 will be joined on next year’s tour by 10 from the qualifying series and two wild-card selections.

So, where does that leave Hawaii’s surfers? The North Shore’s John John Florence — the fourth-ranked world tour surfer — is in for 2015.

But Haleiwa’s Fred Patacchia (19th) and Kauai’s Sebastian Zietz (22nd) are scratching to requalify.

Zietz, who is sitting right in front of the cut line right now, is comfortable.

"I really like Pipe and Backdoor and I feel most confident there out of all the spots on tour," he said. "There’s not too much pressure."

Patacchia is also feeling good about requalifying.

"The guys behind me have to do quite a bit to get past me, so I’m not that worried about it," he said. "I always approach it like you have to perform on your own and not think about what other guys are doing."

Honolulu’s Keanu Asing is the ninth-ranked surfer on the qualifying series and, if he can stay within the top 10, will make it up with the big guns.

On the women’s side, five of the 17 on the women’s world tour are from Hawaii, including two-time world champion Carissa Moore of Honolulu, who is currently ranked fourth.

The other four are Kauai’s Malia Manuel (ranked fifth) and Alana Blanchard (17th) and Honolulu’s Coco Ho (12th) and Alessa Quizon (15th).

The top 10 after the final women’s world tour event, the Target Maui Pro at Honolua Bay, Nov. 22 through Dec. 6, will automatically requalify.

The top six from the qualifying series will move up to the world tour along with one wild-card pick.

It’s not official yet, but Moore and Manuel are all but in for 2015. Ho is likely to make the tour again, too. She can still make it into top 10 of the tour rankings, but even if she doesn’t, she’s sitting at No. 2 on the qualifying series.

Quizon, who is No. 7 on the qualifying series, needs to do well in the final event to get back on the tour.

Another Hawaii surfer, Kauai’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, No. 6 on the qualifying series, also has a shot at making the big tour.

"Five of 17 women surfers on the ASP Tour are from Hawaii, that’s almost one in three," said Jodi Wilmott, who does public relations for the ASP. "That shows the true dedication of those Hawaii women and how much they want it."