The 2012
O'Neill Coldwater Classic saw a return of the top ranked professional surfers in the world (the first time in Santa Cruz since 1990) to take on Steamer Lane. The waves cooperated and the weather was perfect with several 80 degree days. I managed to check out a few days and even boated over from the harbor see see the action from a different angle. Here is a sampling of images from the contest.
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a clear sunrise outside the Santa Cruz Harbor
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| Kelly Slater |
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| Local wildcard "Ratboy" Collins nearly took out 11 time champ Kelly Slater in the 2nd round |
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| Kelly Slater finding a familiar place |
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Kelly Slater knows how to impress a crowd (and judges) with his explosive surfing
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| powerful surfing from Brazilian Jadson Andre |
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| Hawaii's John Florence went down early |
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| John John ripping |
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| Aussie Matt Wilkinson would go all the way to the final |
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| The Lane is a tricky wave. Many gems went unridden |
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| a gnarly Santa Cruz local keeps an eye on the contest scene |
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Former CWC winner and Westside legend, Anthony Ruffo
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John Florence
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| Adam Melling |
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| Damian Hobgood |
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| Travis Logie |
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| Kelly Slater had a hard time figuring out the quirks of Steamer Lane |
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| Michel Bourez power carve |
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| Jeremy Flores slicing |
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| and going on to win this heat |
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| leaving KS baffled |
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| post heat interviews |
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| the final day saw an increase in swell |
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| Slater |
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| Gabriel Medina |
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| Joel Parkinson |
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| otters |
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| the final saw an Aussie match up between goofy foot Matt Wilkinson |
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| and the regular foot from Western Oz, Taj Burrow (who won!) |
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| Middle Peak |
