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NATE YEOMANS WINS O'NEILL COLDWATER CLASSIC
SoCal WQS stalwart wins his biggest event ever; Nat Young takes Oakley Pro Jr in pumping surf at the Lane
By:
Marcus Sanders
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November 8, 2009
24062 visits
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Nate Yeomans is hopping from one foot to the other and rubbing his hands together
and it's not because of the cold. It's stoke. The kind of unadulterated happiness that comes from trying really, really hard to win big WQS events for years and years and finally taking a 6-star Prime in serious surf and rocketing up the rankings from 27th to the top 15 and a shot at qualifying for the Big Leagues.
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"He wears his emotions on his sleeve," someone says as he walks to the podium, and it's true. The San Clementian has all kinds of support cliffside, too. Nate's dad is wearing a hoodie that says "Yeomans" on the back, his girl is here, his coach Ian Cairns has been taking notes; the win couldn't have happened at a better time for the perennial near-qualifier. "I've been grinding on the 'QS for so long, this is insane," Yeomans beams. "This just gets me so pumped to try and get another result in Hawaii." Speaking of Hawaii, yesterday and today see the biggest NW swell of the year march into Santa Cruz's beloved Steamer Lane. At one point in the late afternoon, a ten-wave, triple-overhead set steamrolls through Middle Peak. (Not to take anything away from his big win or anything, but Yeomans is actually in position for one bomb and pulls back, much to the dismay of the cliffside peanut gallery who are screaming themselves hoarse. But that's a slight digression in an otherwise serious charge.) "I've been two-star Newport guy for too long!"
--Nate Yeomans on his first six star win
Speaking of charging, the one main thing to realize today is that Steamer Lane, contrary to popular opinion, is not always a right pointbreak. When it's big like this, the left off Middle Peak is perhaps its most dramatic wave. It shifts around and draws up out of deep water and thunders shoreward like something out of a Melville novel. It's where the original SC Mav's chargers got their heavywater practice in before paddling off Pillar Point. And while the morning heats saw competitors hanging off the Slot and catching slightly overhead waves, the Oakley Pro Junior semi #1 changed all that. Seconds after former winner Kieran Horn lost to Luke Munro in a low-scoring affair, the juniors went out and put on the event's best show. On paper, Tonino Benson won the heat, as well he should've, 'cause he surfed with more style and power than many WQSers, but little Conner Coffin won the crowd's hearts. The Santa Barbara regularfoot chucked his 6'5" CI Proton rounded-pin over the ledge on all kinds of double-overhead-plus Middle Peak bombs -- and scrambled up the rocks to a narrow loss, but standing ovation. And these Lane hecklers are no easy crowd. "I love that board," he said simply afterwards. (Keep in mind: a 6'5" for a grom is like a seven-footer for you and me.) Coffin wasn't alone standing out on the big lefts. Nat Young, Santa Cruz's Great White Hope, won the Coldwater last year and the Oakley Pro Jr. the year before that and has been surfing the Lane for "longer than he can remember." He knew exactly where to sit and exactly how to surf the meaty, slopey-faced peaks today, and handily won the Oakley Pro Junior final by combo-ing the hell out of everyone else. "I'm so psyched," Young said. "I wanted to win; I wanted to do well in this contest. I had a shocker in the WQS and it got me fired up and made me want to win." RESULTS O'Neill Cold Water Classic California Final: 1 - Nathan Yeomans (USA) 15.33 2 - Heath Joske (AUS) 8.60 O'Neill Cold Water Classic California Semifinals Results: Heat 1: Nathan Yeomans (USA) 12.50 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 8.00 Heat 2: Heath Joske (AUS) 11.43 def. Luke Munro (AUS) 8.86 O'Neill Cold Water Classic California Quarterfinals Results: Heat 1: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.50 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 8.00 Heat 2: Nathan Yeomans (USA) 15.00 def. Cory Lopez (USA) 12.53 Heat 3: Heath Joske (AUS) 13.17 def. Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF) 9.10 Heat 4: Luke Munro (AUS) 9.67 def. Kieran Horn (USA) 8.46 Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships Final Results: 1 - Nat Young (USA) 15.07 2 - Tonino Benson (HAW) 7.76 3 - Cody Thompson (USA) 7.73 4 - Dylan Goodale (HAW) 7.10 Oakley Pro Junior ASP North America Championships Semifinals Results: Heat 1: Tonino Benson (HAW) 16.26, Cody Thompson (USA) 16.00, Conner Coffin (USA) 15.84, Luke Davis (USA) 14.40 Heat 2: Nat Young (USA) 14.00, Dylan Goodale (HAW) 10.67, Dillon Perillo (USA) 10.26, Michale Dunphy (USA) 7.83 O'Neill Cold Water Classic Series Champion: Blake Thornton: 6,688 points Jarred Howse: 6,625 points Adam Melling: 6,125 points Corralejo Tequila Highest Wave Score: Sebastian Zietz (for the only perfect 10 of the event) +++ *Special thanks to the great folks over at the Dream Inn for having the coolest hotel near Steamer Lane -- and being the official hotel of the Coldwater Classic. MORE SURF NEWS SURFLINE HOME PAGE |