O’Neill Cold Water Classic is on
Whilst weather on the first day of the O’Neill Coldwater Classic Canada may have been bleak and grey, the surf conditions were anything but.
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In a part of the world more famous for its snow than its surf, the waves came good with a solid two metre swell and offshore winds at Cox Bay, Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island for the O'Neill Cold Water Classic Canada.
It was local surfer Peter Devries who took centre stage with a spectacular aerial display on his local beach break.
“I haven’t done a contest in ages,” said Peter. “It’s like I was just freesurfing out there.” With the highest score of the day (a 9.5 from an air reverse) it was quite some impressive freesurfing from Peter. “I guess the judges like airs,” he added.
Sep Bruhwiler (the first local Canadian surfer to get in the water at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Canada) also made it through to the round of 96 with some intense surfing in the dying seconds of his heat.
"In the last ten minutes I was struggling to get a wave and started panicking a bit,” he said. “I have been feeling good about my surfing so it was frustrating to think I wasn’t going to make it. In the end I got a smaller one on the inside. It wasn’t a great wave, but I surfed it well enough to get through so I was stoked."
Although the cold conditions may be familiar to the local surfers, there was little advantage in having local knowledge to play on at the beach break at Cox Bay. “It’s a shifty break. It changes so much,” said Sep. “You can’t really have local knowledge here because it’s changing all the time. There is no perfect spot.”
Having grown up on Chesterman beach here in Tofino, Sep is all too familiar with the wilds of the landscape, but it is the food that he says is the best thing about the area. “The seafood here is incredible. It’s so fresh. You can get crab or whatever and cook it up fresh. I grew up with that. It’s the most special thing to me about this place. And I guess the scenery and wildlife is all part of that experience.”
The O'Neill Coldwater Classic Canada runs until October 31. Keep checking huckmagazine.com for updates.
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