Wednesday 13th
Heat # 9 Round of 48 Oct/13/2010
Black Benn Murphy CAN
Heat #12 Round of 48 Oct/13/2010
Red Sepp Bruhwiler CAN - advances to Round of 24
Canadians competing in Round of 24
Heat # 1 Round of 24 Oct/13/2010
White 1st place 14.83 Peter Devries CAN - advances to Round of 16
Heat # 7 Round of 24 Oct/13/2010
Black 3 11.47 Sepp Bruhwiler CAN
Final 16 decided as the O’Neill CWC Canada bathes in the Tofino sunshine, light winds and pulsing swell October 13, 2010.
The final 16 surfers at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Canada were today decided in a display of highly competitive and impressive surfing in near-perfect conditions on Vancouver Island.
"It doesn’t get much better than today,” said contest director Matt Wilson. "Sunshine, offshore winds and pulsing swell… it’s just about as good as it gets here with everything combining.”
The fourth day of competition at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Canada was indeed quite unlike anything the CWC Series has seen so far - warm temperatures, blue sky – even a group of seals came to bathe in the conditions just out past the line-up.
On the other side of the line-up North Chestermans beach was once again packed with local support as two Tofino surfers took to the water.
Sepp Bruhwiler stormed through his heat in the round of 48 amidst massive cheers. However not even the shouts of support could quite push him past Shaun Cansdell and Nathaniel Curran in his round of 24 heat.
Peter Devries meanwhile is putting on a performance that is evoking memories for all of his victory last year. "It’s starting to feel a bit familiar, that’s for sure,” he said of the energy and support.
"I was getting so psyched for Sepp,” he said. "To hear the cheers when he landed his huge air in the first heat – people were so pumped up. It’s pretty amazing. It’s so nice to have the support but it’s good for me not to think about it too much,” he said. "To get rid of the nerves I keep my hood on and focus on what I have to do.”
While Peter may not be looking at the people on the beach, they are looking closely at him – and among them is the impressive talent of Julian Wilson - another through to the Round of 16.
"I’ve been trying not to watch the surf too much,” said Julian. "I end up coming down about two heats before mine – it’s usually Pete Devries’ heat. I like to watch the last five minutes or so of that. I kinda have a look where he’s sitting coz I know he’s sitting in the right spot. Then I go have a freesurf and then go with my gut feeling."
Julian, along with all who have made the long voyage out to this corner of the world for this 6-Star ASP event, has been reveling in the surrounds of Vancouver Island. "We went to a fish hatchery and ended up seeing these bears," he said. "I was expecting to see a grizzly bear but it was a smaller black bear, but those things will still take you down. It was amazing to see them catching the salmon right in front of you, and watching these huge salmon trying to jump upstream – the whole thing is impressive."
Meanwhile in a more evenly fought battle, the race for the $50,000 prize money awarded to the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series winner continues. Stuart Kennedy – currently leading the rankings – was on the beach watching closely as Shaun Cansdell progressed to the round of 16. With Stuart out of the CWC Canada, and Royden Bryson having failed to show, Shaun Cansdell could take the lead here if he makes it at least to the semi finals.
So will there be a bit of a fight going into Santa Cruz for the $50,000? "For sure," said Shaun. "It’s $50,000. I know everyone will be surfing at their best for that. I am just stoked to keep going in this event. Hopefully I can pull a result here and make it a bit harder for the other guys."
The next call will be tomorrow October 14th at 7.30am for Heat 1 in the Round of 16
