The great Freddy Patacchia on the Quik Pro N.Y.

Shortly before Kelly Slater and Owen Wright went head to head in the final round of the Quiksilver Pro N.Y. competition on Sept. 9, The Herald caught up with pro surfer Freddy Patacchia of Hawaii in the lobby of the Allegria Hotel. He was so cool, he allowed us an interview right on the spot -- without any public relations people present. Patacchia -- who was eliminated in round five during his heat with Julian Wilson, but is currently ranked 23 in the 2011 ASP Men's World Title -- spoke about his experience during the ASP’s first competition ever held in New York and on the East Coast. Patacchia noted some early concerns among the pros in the months leading up to the event over whether there would be waves worthy of such an ASP tour. And, because Mother Nature delivered in a spectacular fashion last week, he said that he is confident the competition will return to Long Beach.

Herald: Everybody was talking about the waves early on, and a lot was made about how they may be a little too iffy for an ASP tour such as this. What did you think about all of that?

Freddy P: To be honest, coming here, yeah, the waves were a big issue, we weren’t sure if we were going to get waves or not. I’ve been to the East Coast a few times, but it turns out that we got great waves. Even with the weather, we don’t mind -- a lot of places that we go, it’s stormy and rainy -- and we’re basically used to that. So I thought we got some really great surf, and there was some really high performance surfing going on out there. For the most part, man, it’s been a great event.

Herald: For a pro such as yourself, what was your experience with the tour’s stop in Long Beach?

Freddy P: I’m having a great time, the city is great. It’s a big change for us because we’re always going to these little surf towns that are off the beaten path, so it’s nice to come here and have such great crowd support.

Herald: Have you found that people in Long Beach and New York City have welcomed the competitors, who usually don’t come to the East Coast as part of a pro tour?

Freddy P: Very [welcoming]. And they’re pretty surf-educated as well. Which is really cool. They know all of the surfers. They’re like “Hey Freddy, good job in Tahiti!” So, it’s really good to come to a place where they are really surf-supportive and psyched about it. And then they actually know who you are and what you do, your stats. So, I was surprised to see that, I didn’t know that they were so deep into surfing.

Herald: And there’s a very vital surf culture here, is that something you knew coming in?

Freddy P: I knew that the East Coast is full on into surfing. It’s one of the big surf meccas -- there’s California, the East Coast, Hawaii, Australia. So, the East Coast is definitely a big part of surfing. But I just didn’t know that New York had all this surf support. It’s just great to come to a big surf town and know that what you do is appreciated.

Herald: What does the competition mean for a local pro like Balaram [Stack] and the guys who competed in the Unsound trials?

Freddy P: He’s a great kid, he’s a part of the Quiksilver surf team, so I’ve known him for a little bit. He’s a great talent coming up in the ranks. I think they need to have that local aspect of things. When you come to Hawaii, there’s a lot of wildcards that get in. And it just opens doors for younger kids to start surfing, and it just perpetuates surfing. The parents get to say, ‘OK, Balaram is doing well, he’s traveling the world, he’s making money.’ And then they get to see us come here and they go, ‘Wow, these guys are athletes, they love what they do and they’re getting paid to do what they love.’ So parents and younger kids, the next generation, they see that, and they’re able to actually come up to us, see us, high five us and see what we do. You know, there might be a couple of New York surf stars now -- they might just go, ‘Oh man, Freddy P. or Kelly Slater is now my hero and I want to be just like them, just from our one time coming here.

Herald: Do you think the tour will come back to Long Beach?

Freddy P: I hope it does, yeah. I think it was a success, we had great waves. I hope it comes back. Hopefully, next time we come here, we’re as lucky with the surf as we were this time.

Herald: Thanks Freddy, I really appreciate the input.

Freddy P: Anytime.