O’Neill Coldwater Classic Day 2
Tofino awoke to two and a half metre surf and strong onshore winds but stormy seas were never going to stop the O’Neill Coldwater Classic Canada from getting the best out of the conditions.
Using the mobile format that the series has adopted at each event, a 9.30am start in the more protected waters of Chesterman’s Bay saw the final six heats of the round of 144 surfers completed in the cold sunshine.
“Cox Bay was pretty much unsurfable in this swell so we moved the contest to Chesterman’s where we have a meter and a half swell,” explained contest director Matt Wilson. “There are still some great waves to be had here. There were some excellent rides and high scores out there today."
Despite the challenging conditions, it was Australian aerial specialist Wade Goodall who stood out in the chilly surf with some impressive power surfing and the highest wave score of the competition so far – a 9.6.
“It was much better out there in the surf than it looks,” said Wade. “But it’s cold so the first few duck dives give you a real ice cream headache.”
Winning points for his powerful impressive moves over his signature airs, Wade said: “The thing is with all this rubber on I have so much more weight on me so it feels like I can get a lot more power behind my turns – the only problem now is that I can’t get in the air! I am too fat!”
As any local will tell you, whilst offering plenty of world-class surf, there is much more to this western coastline of Vancouver Island.
“Surfing isn’t the biggest thing here,” says Noah Cohen, local surfer and event ambassador. “I used to get made fun of for surfing when I was at school. Although it’s known as a surf town a lot of the kids don’t do it. It takes a lot when you are younger to get into a 5mm wetsuit and get into the cold water.”
The O'Neill Coldwater Classic Canada runs until October 31. Keep checking huckmagazine.com for updates.
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O’Neill Coldwater Classic Day 2 (text) by Ed Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK License.
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