Top names hit the wild Southern Ocean at O'Neill CWC

By: wetsanduser1 | March 25th, 2009 at 9:37am

Jordy Smith : photo Steve Robertson/ASP Australia click to enlarge

O'Neill Cold Water Classic Tasmania

ASP 6 Star Mens WQS event
Tasmania, Australia
23 - 29 March 2009

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SURFING'S TOP NAMES TAKE TO THE WILD SOUTHERN OCEAN IN THE O'NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC, TASMANIA

THE MOST NORTHERN, THE MOST SOUTHERN, THE WILDEST, THE COLDEST
& THE MOST CLASSIC SURF CONTEST ON THE PLANET

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 25 March, 2009 : - -
Marrawah, Tasmania - The third day of competition at the Association of
Surfing Professionals (ASP) O'Neill Cold Water Classic and the event
found itself at its third new location where surfing's big names took
to the water.

With conditions easing ever so slightly, contest director Matt
Wilson chose Marrawah's exposed Lighthouse Beach as the spot to finish
off the round of 96. In this isolated northwest corner of Tasmania,
the likes of Jordy Smith, Cory Lopez, Ben Dunn, aerial master Josh
Kerr, and Damien Hobgood made the most of the powerful beach break.

There are high expectations for the 21-year-old South African
surfing phenomenon, Jordy Smith - winner of this ASP World Qualifying
Series (WQS) tour two years ago. And he didn't fail to disappoint,
waiting until the second half of his heat to pull out his high scoring
waves. "It's interesting being back on the WQS," he said, "because you
can go through with 5's... I can't get away with that on The World Tour,"
he said.

Day 3 action : photo courtesy O'Neill

This is the first time for Jordy on Australia's island state,
but he is fitting right into the Tasmanian waters, "I met a few of the
locals yesterday evening out in the water. I was asking them how to get
back because it was getting pretty dark and we were pretty far from
anything," he said. "They were like, no worries catch a ride with us.
It was crazy driving through the night with all the Tasmanian Devils
about and stuff. We almost hit something the other day - I would have
felt bad. We didn't though, we stopped and let it cross the road."

The heat of the day today was a battle of spectacular young
talent, with 19-year-old up and coming Australian star, Owen Wright
taking it out ahead of Dusty Payne, Lincoln Taylor and Wiggoly
Dantas.

It was a pretty close heat," said Owen who has been
appreciating the good conditions made possible by the mobile format of
the event. "The first day was incredible - the Bluff is an awesome
wave," he said. "But it's great it's mobile. It keeps all the options
open and you can get the best waves every day." "I've been over to
Tasmania before," he said. "But never to this corner. It's a nice
untouched place - it's an awesome place to have an event."

Mobile to Lighthouse Beach : courtesy O'Neill

As Rob Bain, O'Neill's Asia/Pacific Marketing Manager said;
"It's not just about the surfing here. We've had amazing waves and most
of the surfers are discovering them for the first time ever. But this
is also more like a road trip - it's about the different experiences."

"Yesterday we had the most amazing sunset here - it went crazy
purple, and later that evening we saw the most incredible bright stars
in the sky I have ever seen. And the first day we were sitting in
someone's house watching this perfect reef break," he said. "It's all
those things that make this event."

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