Steamer Lane is a world-class wave. It’s one of the best places there is to watch a surf contest. Some of the top surfers from across the globe competed in this year’s O’Neill Coldwater Classic. But none of that matters if the swell doesn’t deliver.
A week of giant tide swings and less-than-desirable surf forced event organizers to move from the Lane to the backup venue at Waddell Creek and back again throughout the contest. On Sunday the Lane was flat, so the final few heats ran at Waddell in small, mushy beach break. It was not the sort of thing we’ve come to expect from the Coldwater Classic over the last few years, but it was entertaining all the same. And evidently Brazilian Miguel Pupo found it to his liking.
Pupo took down Tiago Pires of Portugal in the final with an 18.93 heat total out of a possible 20 points. Pupo is an aerialist and Pires is not, and the crumbling lefts with a slight side-shore wind were perfect for airs. The final was, essentially, over before it began.
“I’ve been surfing a beach break my whole life so I know how to surf these waves,” said Pupo. “It was perfect for me it moved to here. The story could be different if they moved to the Lane.”
Pupo won the event (good for $40,000) and the Coldwater Classic Series Title (another $50,000) to take home $90,000. Not a bad payday for the 19-year-old from Camburi Beach, just outside of São Paulo. Pupo was a longshot for the CWC series win. He finished 5th at the first event in New Zealand, didn’t compete in the second event in Scotland and had to win the Santa Cruz event to take the extra $50 grand, which he did.
As for the locals, Randy Bonds and Matt Myers won the 10-surfer local trials to make it to the main event. Both, however, subsequently lost in their first round heats. Jonny Craft and Jason Collins made their first heats, but fell in the second round. That left 2008 Coldwater Classic champion Nat Young as the last local standing, but even he finally ceded to the stampeding Pupo in the quarterfinals.
