SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The top seeds competing at the Association of Surfing Professionals World Qualifying Series 6-Star PRIME O’Neill Cold Water Classic California took to the water in clean four-foot conditions at the famed California Pointbreak of Steamer Lane
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The top seeds competing at the Association of Surfing Professionals World Qualifying Series 6-Star PRIME O’Neill Cold Water Classic California took to the water in clean four-foot conditions at the famed California Pointbreak of Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, Tuesday. An ASP press release states that the premier surfers crushed the event’s highest scores while the local favorites fell early.
All surfers competing in the ASP 6-Star PRIME event are looking to capitalize on the crucial ratings points on offer at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic to solidify their spot on the 2010 ASP Dream Tour before heading to Hawai‘i.
Lahaina’s Granger Larsen, 19, who finished third overall at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic last year, relied on a crisp variety of forehand tail drifts and powerful turns to eliminate local Santa Cruz favorites Nat Young, 18, who was the defending O’Neill Cold Water Classic Champion, and Noi Kaulukukui, 28.
“It’s heavy that those guys didn’t advance,” Larsen said. “When I saw the draw and saw that I had Nat (Young) and Noi (Kaulukukui), they’re the locals here and Nathaniel (Curran) is on the World Tour, so I knew it was going to be a stacked heat.”
Larsen wasted no time in his bout against the local heavyweights, logging a solid eight-point score in the opening minutes of his heat and held the lead throughout the 25-minute match to claim the win.
“I got lucky I got that one eight-point ride at the beginning and was able to stay in the lead throughout the heat, but it’s hard luck for Nat (Young). He rips this place harder than anyone, he won the event last year when I got third, so I’m pretty stoked to have made that heat.”
Although the young Maui standout may spend most of his time in the warm waters of Hawai‘i, Larsen’s father is from Santa Cruz and the pair travel to the famed surf destination each year in time for the O’Neill Cold Water Classic California.
“This is my favorite QS to do of the year,” Larsen said. “My dad grew up here and I love coming over here with him. It’s great to hang out with him here and it’s a lot of fun, plus the waves also are pretty good here.”
American Tim Reyes, who suffered a horrific knee injury which nearly ended his career at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic in 2007, donned a singlet at Steamer Lane for the first time since the accident and absolutely dominated his heat, clinching the event’s highest heat total, a 17.83 out of 20, to lead the event’s top seeds into the Round of 48.
“This was my first heat back at Steamer Lane since the injury, so it’s nice to have a good heat back,” Reyes said. “I’ve been surfing here ever since the injury, I just hadn’t had time to compete here because I was going to Hawai‘i earlier. I got a couple of nice waves in that heat, they were glassy and easy to surf. Most of the time, the lane is a really challenging wave, but today was easy.”
Reyes is fresh off of a fifth place result at the ASP World Tour event in Portugal, which marked the best result of his season, and was able to sneak up to Santa Cruz to compete at the Premier event before heading to Hawai‘i to wrap up the season.
“With Portugal being the last event in Europe, I figured I might as well come and do this contest,” Reyes said. “It’s good to support my sponsors and it’s a really cool spot here and I’m stoked to be in the event again.”
After spending six weeks in contest mode between France and Portugal, Reyes’ competitive skills looked sharp as he dominated the Steamer Lane lineup today.
“I surfed a lot through Europe for six weeks and been around the events the whole time and it makes it easy to be in tune. I feel a little bit more in rhythm with being here at another spot close to home.”
Brazil’s Marcio Farney, 28, annihilated a clean Steamer Lane right breaking off of the cliff and relied on amazing rail-to-rail power surfing to claim the day’s highest single wave score of a near-perfect 9.77 out of 10 en route to his heat victory.
“I was looking this morning at Steamer Lane and the ones that were breaking closest to the cliff looked the best,” Farney said. “I was able to put a lot of power into those first two turns and was able to get that score. That was the first wave I’ve ever caught out at Steamer Lane, so it’s funny that it was such a good one.”
The battle for the additional prize purse for the O’Neill Cold Water Classic series is now between Australians Adam Melling, 24, and Jarrad Howse, 29, and both surfers will begin their campaigns when the Round of 96 resumes.
Running in conjunction with the O’Neill Cold Water Classic will be the Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships, which could begin competition today.
Event organizers will reconvene at 7:30 a.m. local time at Steamer Lane for a possible 8 a.m. start, but may opt for the backup site of Waddell Creek depending on conditions.
