Waves Dead, Chivalry Alive at the Cold Water Classic

Everything but the waves. -- Photo: Campbell

Men's Event May Be Cancelled to Make Room for the Ladies

Santa Cruz, Calif. (Oct. 23, 2004) -- Male competitors are preparing for their final day of the Cold Water Classic unsure whether or not they'll even get to surf. The girls will definitely be in the water, but they're not exactly sure where. That's the situation we're looking at after organizers had to postpone today's heats due to lack of surf, effectively making it impossible to finish both men's and women's divisions at Steamer Lane on the final day. Another last-minute change of venue would have been impossible thanks to weekend crowds and the lack of a permit; the contest couldn't be extended another day because the next WQS starts in Brazil on Tuesday. These were the facts a determined group of decision makers faced as they crowded together in the tower on a gloomy, flat, morning in Santa Cruz.

As announcer Mike Morgan entertained the crowd with jokes and trivia, a serious meeting of the minds was in progress that included opinions from all sides, some serious debate, and even a few calls to ASP International Headquarters in Australia. The options were weighed and a final decision was finally handed down. Just one day after making history by going mobile for the first time, the Cold Water Classic would record another first by not finishing the men's event. The women would return early on Sunday morning to finish their contest.

Why do the ladies take priority?

"Both are important, but we had to choose," said Contest Director Darren Brillhart. "We made a call to ASP International and they said if we had to choose one, they'd rather we finish the girls." While the men still have three WQS events left (two in Hawaii and one in Brazil), the Cold Water Classic is the final women's WQS contest of the season and critical to the overall standings.

But the men weren't so crazy about that idea, so the plan changed a little later in the day. By afternoon, permits were acquired and the necessary paperwork filed to use Waddell Creek all day Sunday. The call went out for more judges and organizers geared up to run both the Men's and Women's events at separate locations at the same time tomorrow. "Conditions are supposed to be pretty bad over at Waddell in the afternoon and it's pretty hard to run 15-minute heats at this level, but all 64 surfers agreed they'd rather continue the event than just cancel all together," said Brillhart.

More important than the prize money to most surfers are the valuable WQS points at stake with only three more events left in the season. Some surfers, like O'Neill's Tim Reyes and Roy Powers, are sitting right on the bubble of qualifying for next year's WCT (15th and 16th respectively). But points are critical to all surfers, even those at the bottom of the standings, as everyone tries to qualify for next season's WQS Superseries.

HERE IS THE OFFICIAL PLAN FOR SUNDAY, OCT. 24

6:45 am call for all competitors.

If there are waves at Steamer Lane…

The Women take over The Lane and run their contest all day (round of 32 through the final).

Men's event moves to Waddell Creek. Heats will be shortened to 15 minutes so everything from the entire round of 64 through the final can be completed.

If there are no waves at Steamer Lane…

Women's event will run through completion at Waddell Creek.

Men's event ends with the round of 64. Darren Brillhart gives an official explanation of what will happen to the men's scores and prize money. "Since we finished the round of 96 yesterday, everybody who advanced to the round of 64 will get $600 and an equal amount of points (an equal 49th place). -- Rob Campbell