Hi LensView,
beauty is in the eye of the beholder....
This is just my personal preference, but have you considered to crop the shot? Just include the surfer and the water.....crop the horizon and the foliage out.
This gives the shot more focus and also eliminates most of the lens flare in the upper half of the picture.
Hint : Might help to use a lens hood when shooting into the light to minimize lens flare in the future (unless it is intentional).
My 2 cents....hope that helps.
Bernard