O’Neill Cold Water Classic Santa Cruz Confirmed for 2012 ASP World Title Series
The Northern Pacific power of Steamer Lane will host the world’s best surfers next year as the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Santa Cruz joins the 2012 ASP World Title schedule.
SANTA CRUZ, California/USA (Thursday, December 22, 2011) – The O’Neill Cold Water Classic Santa Cruz has been confirmed as an elite ASP World Title event for 2012. The world’s best surfers will journey to Northern California next November for the 10th of 11 stops on next season’s ASP World Title Series.
“We’re very happy to confirm the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Santa Cruz as an ASP World Title event in 2012,” Renato Hickel, ASP World Tour Manager, said. “Santa Cruz offers a variety of world-class waves for our surfers to perform on and we’re hopeful that conditions will deliver for the world’s best to do battle in.”
The O’Neill Cold Water Classic has a long-standing history of competition, previously as an ASP World Title event (before the two-tier system) and then as an ASP Star and ASP Prime event. Next year’s status as a returning elite ASP World Title event coincides with the 60th anniversary of the O’Neill family’s contribution to surfing.
“We are excited to see a World Tour level event return to Santa Cruz as part of O’Neill’s 60 Year anniversary,” Pat O’Neill, President & CEO of O’Neill Wetsuits, said. “Santa Cruz, with its rich surf history and tradition, is the perfect venue for this pivotal event. Mainland surfing started in Santa Cruz, Jack O’Neill developed many pioneering surf inventions here and it’s been home to the O’Neill brand for over half a century. Santa Cruz has always been regarded as a true surf community and was named the number one surf town in the U.S. by Surfer magazine. With a World Tour event in 2012 and the possibility of the World Champion being crowned, we expect to see an exciting chapter in surfing history written right in our front yard.”
An ASP event for over three decades now, the O’Neill Coldwater Classic has been championed by California standouts such as Tom Curren and Bobby Martinez from Santa Barbara, Kieran Horn, Adam Replogle and Nat Young from Santa Cruz, Richie Collins from Newport Beach and San Clemente’s Nathan Yeomans.
Illustrating the global impact of the event, the winners’ dais has also hosted international standouts Martin Potter (GBR), Joel Parkinson (AUS), Toby Martin (AUS), Jordy Smith (ZAF), Matt Wilkinson (AUS) and most recently Miguel Pupo (BRA). When the ASP Top 34 hit Santa Cruz next November, you can expect another worthy name to be added to such a historic list.
“Joining the other great events on the ASP World Tour makes celebrating O’Neill’s 60th anniversary in 2012 even more exciting,” Toby Bost, CEO of O’Neill Clothing USA, said. “With such a prestigious event, coupled with the amazing group of past winners and new crop of incredible talent on the Tour, there will definitely be a lot of anticipation and energy heading into Santa Cruz next year.”
The world’s best surfers will contest the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Santa Cruz from November 2 – 12, 2012
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
Category: All ASP News, ASP Editorial News, ASP World Tour News
I agree with Matt,, it is a world tour. With @190 countries in the world, and without doing precise calculations about maybe 70 have surf- able coasts, and conservatively 35 are stable enough politically to have a contest…Costa R, G Land, Indo anywhere, Argentina?, hell…they did Survivor in Gabon..where’s the challenge, Canary Islands (I have seen epic surf)…now for those of you out there that say spots are picked based on some relative consistency, ok,…but can’t they just increase the waiting period…..All this said, I applaud the massive leap the WCT has made in promotion and online delivery of contest media…..Great Job.
the asp seem to be obsessed with holding events now at locations where they can get a big crowd,they need completely change the system it gotta be about the surf and the performance and use technology and creativity to change the old judging system and how events are presented and managed.
Id love to see the ASP do the following.
Have a Vote among the Elite (WCT Qualified Surfers)
Have a Vote among the Top 200 (One World Raked)
Have a Vote for the General Public
Take the top combined 12 locations and pull your permits.
Make this tour work for everyone.
1) santa cruz event this year was not up to WT stanadard
2) however, now that they have another ‘mainland’ event to pay the bills, possibly this will give them enough revenue to do G-land, or at least a padang/ulu event.
As a surfer, G-land is the perfect event, amazing wave, with sectiony barrels, not just perfection everytime. The mouth waters at the prospect of watching the tour surfers on that wave. would be similar to pipe
Also, max – portugal had the best waves this year. there are a number of events i would replace before a consisten barrelling wave like supertubes.
well said in relation to your points abot sc and g land . portugal should stay , but they need to get rid of brazil or find a better location in south america somewhere . the really bad waves they had for the comp this year just don’t cut it on the ct. if they had to have another us event to “pay the bills” blacks beach would have been maybe a more suitable site or mexico again . but this is not a US tour its a WORLD TOUR .
YEES!!!!!!
@jeff agree with that, the lane is super consistent and consistently giving waves that are up to a high standard. Its also a challenging playing field, Indo on the other hand while epic is somewhat 2-dimensional with waves coming in, in machine like precision. The lane will def. add another element. Stoked, the lane will surprise you!
were is Dane???? ahhahahhahahah
why always places like this, new york and santa cruz are “ok” waves but they ain’t world class wave for elite surfer…places like G land, desert point, or even waves in PERU or Costa Rica have way better and nicer and more exciting wave than those american waves…
no disrispect with the mainland surf spots, but i think “brasil” “portugal” should be OFF tour and replace it by G land and desert point…and finaly they put Tavarua back,…
besides that, the best contest all year always is “the search”…thanks ripcurl.
RIP Andy, and Go Kelly for #12
cheers
Boring
@ lbisurf – the lane was really good 3 years ago when Yeomans won.
both pipeline and sunset should be on the world tour too.
Money
still not sold on the idea of steamer lane , a pretty boring wave . We want G land and world class waves , the asp just don’t get it . What about porto escondido ? if this event was to replace brazil you could probably say “yeah i can live with that ” . but its not .
Greatttt…when has steamer lane produced great waves during the contest time? i cant remember in the past 5 years when. Everything thinks that the waves cant get like that again in NY, Thats BS i live here and for the past 5 years during that same waiting period we have gotten amazing waves. In 2010 during that waiting period we got better waves then we did for the contest this year. Hope they are just doing this bc O’neill is turning 60 and was willing to spend a lot on a great event and bring back NY next year.
It’s actually an utterly bizarre phenomenon that SL has had such terrible luck with waves/events. I grew up on Oahu, lived all up and down the CA coast and I can say without the least hesitation that SC is the most consistent surf region in the US, continental or otherwise. Maybe that dude with the protest car who always shows up at The Lane during events hexed the joint? Who knows. But it really is one of the best bets anywhere on the planet when considering potential.
jeff , it still doesn’t change the fact that it is a fat slow boring wave . and not upto what people would think of a world tour wave , but still better than the crap they have to surf in brazil every year.
waaay better then New York, a lightnig doesn´t fall at the same place twice.
hope there will be swell
Its about time… I mean if Long Island can make it… Steamer’s is the best break in the 48.