O'Neill Cold Water Classic CAN09 Day 5
O'Neill Cold Water Classic CAN09 Day 5
QUARTER FINALISTS DECIDED AS THE O’NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC CANADA BRAVES THE ELEMENTS FOR ANOTHER SPECTACULAR DAY OF SURFING
THE MOST NORTHERN, THE MOST SOUTHERN, THE WILDEST, THE COLDEST &
THE MOST CLASSIC SURF CONTEST ON THE PLANET
Vancouver Island, Canada, October 30, 2009
The quarter finalists of the inaugural Cold Water Classic Canada were decided today at Chesterman’s Bay, Tofino, in what can only be described as quintessentially Cold Water Classic Series conditions.
As the forecasted storm hadn’t quite materialized in the morning, the decision was made to get the round of 16 underway on what was still a blustery, wet and essentially wild Canadian day.
“It’s definitely wild out there,” said Nathan Hedge as he was sheltering from the winds and rain to put on his boots and gloves for the cold Pacifica waters ahead of his heat win against Jarrad Howse. ‘It’s not for the fainthearted,” he said.
But that did not seem to deter most of the surfers, with some incredible surfing from Cory Lopez and Hawaiian Dusty Payne, who now face each other in the quarterfinals, as well as from the Australian Irishman, Glenn Hall.
Glenn won his heat over the CWC South Africa winner Blake Thornton in spectacular style scoring a 9.5 and posting the highest heat score of the competition so far – an 18.10 out of 20.
“The conditions have definitely changed a lot since we got here,” said Glenn. “But I enjoyed the waves I had out there. Hopefully I can keep on going now,” he said.
Glenn will now face the local hero and Canadian wildcard, Peter Devries, who continues his incredible march through this competition into the quarterfinals.
Peter made it convincingly through his first ever man-on-man heat in the round of 16 against French surfer Joan Duru – currently sitting number 6 on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) rankings.
“I made a few priority mistakes,” said Peter. “I was excited and took some waves that I shouldn’t have but it was nice to be in the water with only one other guy out there,” he said.
In such remote locations that the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series explores, it’s rare to see massive crowds on the beach. Here in Tofino despite a small population of 1,700 people, there were huge numbers of people braving the elements along the beach to support their local hero.
The 26 year old local wildcard was surrounded by cameras and fans as he left the water after winning his heat against Joan Duru.
“It’s been such an incredible experience this week,” said Peter. “It would be crazy to live like this all the time though,” he said as he was chased across the beach by media and fans. “But everyone has been so supportive,” he said.
Ahead of the final day of competition – and with one more stop on the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series - the ratings on the series are getting tight. Currently with the lead of Blake Thornton, Jarrad Howse and Adam Melling unchanged, a win for Glenn Hall would move him into third place, Mark Mathews could move into fourth with a win, and victory for Nathan Hedge would see him take the ratings lead.
THE MOST NORTHERN, THE MOST SOUTHERN, THE WILDEST, THE COLDEST &
THE MOST CLASSIC SURF CONTEST ON THE PLANET
Vancouver Island, Canada, October 30, 2009
The quarter finalists of the inaugural Cold Water Classic Canada were decided today at Chesterman’s Bay, Tofino, in what can only be described as quintessentially Cold Water Classic Series conditions.
As the forecasted storm hadn’t quite materialized in the morning, the decision was made to get the round of 16 underway on what was still a blustery, wet and essentially wild Canadian day.
“It’s definitely wild out there,” said Nathan Hedge as he was sheltering from the winds and rain to put on his boots and gloves for the cold Pacifica waters ahead of his heat win against Jarrad Howse. ‘It’s not for the fainthearted,” he said.
But that did not seem to deter most of the surfers, with some incredible surfing from Cory Lopez and Hawaiian Dusty Payne, who now face each other in the quarterfinals, as well as from the Australian Irishman, Glenn Hall.
Glenn won his heat over the CWC South Africa winner Blake Thornton in spectacular style scoring a 9.5 and posting the highest heat score of the competition so far – an 18.10 out of 20.
“The conditions have definitely changed a lot since we got here,” said Glenn. “But I enjoyed the waves I had out there. Hopefully I can keep on going now,” he said.
Glenn will now face the local hero and Canadian wildcard, Peter Devries, who continues his incredible march through this competition into the quarterfinals.
Peter made it convincingly through his first ever man-on-man heat in the round of 16 against French surfer Joan Duru – currently sitting number 6 on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) rankings.
“I made a few priority mistakes,” said Peter. “I was excited and took some waves that I shouldn’t have but it was nice to be in the water with only one other guy out there,” he said.
In such remote locations that the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series explores, it’s rare to see massive crowds on the beach. Here in Tofino despite a small population of 1,700 people, there were huge numbers of people braving the elements along the beach to support their local hero.
The 26 year old local wildcard was surrounded by cameras and fans as he left the water after winning his heat against Joan Duru.
“It’s been such an incredible experience this week,” said Peter. “It would be crazy to live like this all the time though,” he said as he was chased across the beach by media and fans. “But everyone has been so supportive,” he said.
Ahead of the final day of competition – and with one more stop on the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series - the ratings on the series are getting tight. Currently with the lead of Blake Thornton, Jarrad Howse and Adam Melling unchanged, a win for Glenn Hall would move him into third place, Mark Mathews could move into fourth with a win, and victory for Nathan Hedge would see him take the ratings lead.
