| Josh Kerr rules Santa Cruz |
| Saturday, 29 October 2011 16:06 |
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Waddell Creek greeted surfers of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic California with two-to-four foot (1 metre) wedgy peaks, in Santa Cruz. The unfavorable tides on offer at the primary venue of Steamer Lane forced the third relocation of the event. It proved to be the perfect platform for a high-performance showdown. Josh Kerr was thrilled regarding the decision to relocate to Waddell Creek for Round 2 and reveled in the beachbreak ramps while putting on an aerial clinic to combo the field en route to his heat win. “It’s nice not to be hassling behind the rock at The Lane and to get a beach break and have your own peak,” Kerr said. “There are plenty of chances which suit my game. I’m excited to get back to The Lane again for the man-on-man heats and not have to deal with those four-man heats.” Miguel Pupo put together an impressive Round 2 heat including a 17.10 (out of 20) total score compliments of his patented forehand aerial game at Waddell Creek. “The heat was pretty good, I was happy to come down here because at The Lane it was pretty hard to surf,” Pupo said. “You could see in Jordy (Smith) and Bede’s (Durbidge) heat in Round 1, it was gnarly, but there wasn’t much surfing going on. I’m happy to come down here and I was lucky.” Julian Wilson, who has been building momentum on the ASP World Title Series, dominated the right-handers on offer at Waddell Creek with quick and powerful tail-drifting turns to advance to Round 3 and is hoping to use the O’Neill Cold Water Classic as the perfect opportunity to acclimatize to the conditions similar to the upcoming event in San Francisco. “This is a great opportunity to stay sharp for San Francisco,” Wilson said. “I’ve pretty much had the last six months in a row and I don’t really have anything I have to go home for. I’m really enjoying what I’m doing and it’s been so much fun going to all of the events. I’ve been learning a lot and I want to prepare myself as much as possible for San Francisco. I’m just getting acclimated to the weather because it’s a bit colder than if I were sitting at home.” Nathan Yeomans, 2009 O’Neill Cold Water Champion, was another goofy-footer who lit up the high-tide conditions on offer at Waddell Creek to take his Round 2 heat with committed airs and powerful turns. “Everyone was getting plenty of waves and there were plenty of opportunities, which was nice,” Yeomans said. “I came down right when they made the call and went for a little surf and switched boards. It’s just a fun beach break and there are more options and I think at Steamer Lane, when it’s small, it really comes down to that one wave or two. Out here everyone caught a bunch of waves and it was more about who was on and who was pushing themselves and I think that’s how the scores went down.” Raoni Monteiro got off to a slow start in his heat, but found a rhythm in the end of his Round 2 bout to launch from third to first, eliminating defending O’Neill Cold Water Classic Champion Matt Wilkinson. “In the beginning I was kind of lost out there, I didn’t know where to sit,” Monteiro said. “My first wave was a low score and then I found my better waves. I’m stoked I won that heat because Wilko (Matt Wilkinson) is a top World Tour surfer and I’m happy to beat him. He’s last year’s champion and I hope I win this year.” O’NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC ROUND OF 24 RESULTS: O’NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC ROUND OF 48 RESULTS: |
