Surfing Newport Beach

Coronadel Mar was once California's premier surfing spot, holding the sport's firstPacific Coast competition in 1928.

Attempts to tame Corona and to make theNewport Beach harbor mouth safe for watercraft drastically altered boardriding, destroying the great "wave-making machine" of Corona and creating thesurf giant of today known as the "Wedge." Read about Newport before World WarII: experience the Great Rescue of 1925 by Duke Kahanamoku and others, the rum runnersof Balboa and the evolution of Newport Bay.

Pioneering surfers such as GeorgeFreeth, Tom Blake, the Vultee brothers and Pete Peterson helped make a name forthe city in surf culture.

Authors Claudine Burnett and her surfer husband,Paul, have delved deeply into the past, sharing stories that will give readersnever-before-revealed facts not only about surfing but Newport Beach and Coronadel Mar history as well.