Well I guess the Santa Cruz west side posse can't continue to dub the Coldwater Classic in Santa Cruz the "Flat Water" Classic. This annual professional surfing contest is held in October, a traditionally good month for surf. However, over the years the lack of wave size has made sarcastic comments about the contest more and more prevalent on the lips of the onlookers.


This year things appeared to be on course for another "Flat Water" type of contest. The surf was so small the contest was forced to move north to Waddell Creek, a long way from Steamer's Lane in the heart of Santa Cruz. Even up there, the rumor was that tiny wind swell chop was the best that the ocean had to offer. The great Pacific must have been scoffing at the surf industry's mentality of planning contests on calendar dates rather than swells.


Oh, but this great living mass of liquid had something in store for all the patient fans as well as for the finalists of the contest who somehow created enough "points" to advance. On the charts was a gigantic northwest swell, the first real macker of the year, with buoys reaching 23 feet at 18 seconds in Half Moon Bay. For those without a sense of the energy contained in a swell corresponding to those numbers, trust me, it's big! The longer the period (measured in seconds) the more power, punch and space in between the waves.

Ironically, the finalists were forced to change their rhythm and tune from benign one and a half foot wind chop to wicked double overhead waves. It was a true measure of versatility in surfing. American Express-sponsored Laird Hamilton would have thrown a fit if he were forced to make a living by surfing on the professional tour. This contest would really have irked him. During the early rounds he would have been defeated by some young, lightweight, ultra-flexible skateboard phenomenon whose meek frame allowed him to rip the small surf. Then he would start yelling at the promoters: "Everyone on the entire coast of North America knows about this swell! I've could have been in Maui right now at Jaws getting barreled!"

ER Harris