Steamer Lane. Get Ready. Photo: O'Neill Cold Water Classic Santa Cruz/Prefontaine
Like last year with the Rip Curl Search event held in San Francisco, there’s been lots of hee-hawing this year about the return of an ASP WCT event to a beach north of Point Conception and south of the Alis volat propriis state. “They shouldn’t come here” has been the mantra of many a local parking lot conversation – last year at Bay Area beaches and this year everywhere from Big Sur to Eureka. However, this year’s event is in a much more high profile surf destination: they don’t call it Surf City USA for nothing. While the concerns of lifetime locals and hardcore surfers bring to the fore debates about the demographic effects of endless commercial pandering of surfing to the masses, there might be some unanticipated side effects to stop #9 on the 2012 WCT.
I offer the following four observations born of casual post-surf parking lot banter:
1. The world title race tightens. More the main event than a side effect, I hardly need to comment this one. But seeing as the top seven guys in the current ‘CT rankings have some of the most formidable forehand repertoires in the world and five of them can still mathematically win the title, the conspicuous right hand point where they’ll be competing is the most fitting North American venue I can think of to bring the drama down to the wire in Hawaii. Not to mention that said wave is equally befitting for standout performances by the goofy footers, unlike other right points like J-Bay or Snapper, all of which have historically favored frontside surfers (Occy and Bobby give strong evidence for omitting Bells from this list). Anyone who’s seen Nat Young surf at home knows what I’m talking about. That said, the terrain is predictable enough to favor the high seeds and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see three or four of the mathematical contenders in the quarters. That is, unless the judging criteria favors the airborne approach over the rail game.
Or, maybe all of the cards will fall into mathematical alignment? I only ask that if the surfing world names a champion on California soil in November for the second consecutive year, that they do it in shocking and controversial mathematical fashion.
2. Central California rippers and groms will become further inspired, motivated, and prepared to launch a new competitive era for the region. It’s been a few years since a Santa Cruz native has been on tour full time. In spite of local legends like wildcard Jason Collins and the hordes of SC guys who charge Mavericks and regularly produce insane webisodes, Santa Cruz hasn’t had a hometown hero on tour in around a decade. With Nat Young poised to qualify for the Dream Tour for the first time after earning another productive result in Lanzarote last week, Surf City is already witnessing another legacy in the making. The only difference is this time he’s a goofy footer. Nat’s stewardship of Santa Cruz already has hordes of young guns frothing, training, and traveling in his shadow. I’m sure that once they see the likes of the top 34 on rail and airborne at every wave in town, something clicks among the SC grom-nation that is already a fixture in North American competition. You have to see it to achieve it and what better place to see it than at home.
3. The crowds won’t get worse as a result of another major contest. Possibly counter-intuitive and certainly contrary to the logic of most California cold-water surfers, I’ll bet money that the WCT circus effect isn’t permanent in Santa Cruz. Or rather, any more permanent than the circus effect already is in Surf City. This is in stark contrast to other WCT contests introduced to historically uncontested places ranging from Peniche to San Francisco to Mainland Mexico. The CWC has long been a Santa Cruz fixture, bringing in the international hordes of WQS road warriors—and recently WCT guys arming requalification campaigns—for the better part of three decades. Surf schools further down the point and the city’s hunger for tourism have already pushed the crowds to critical levels. Not to mention the dodgy winds north of Año Nuevo that send the urban masses down whenever it isn’t pristine at home. Keep in mind that Santa Cruz has been an international fixture in surfing since before Bruce Brown started making movies. Bottom line: the crowds can’t possibly get much worse than they already are and no webcast is going to be responsible for additional lineup congestion when the Aleutians are doing their thing.
4. Out-of-towners down for a swell will likely endure even more vibes and abuse this year. In spite of the fact that crowds probably won’t get worse, local defensiveness and territorial pissings are bound to be as intense as ever. It’s the price non-locals pay—one they have always paid and always will pay—for having significant point and reef options within striking distance of a metro area of more than 7 million people. In spite of countless semi-famous rappers’ and washed-up mainstream athletes’ adherence to the saying “don’t hate the player, hate the game,” said adage will never apply anywhere with this much abundance of structure, swell, and easy beach access. And while this additional angst may be directed at the surf industry for putting the Lane front and center for record web audiences worldwide, you can bet that the stinkeyes and barking won’t be directed towards computer screens.
