O’Neill Coldwater Classic, Santa Cruz – Day three

The remaining heats of round three and round four wrapped at the O’Neill Coldwater Classic, Santa Cruz today. Those who’ve already reserved their spots in the quarters include Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, Matt Wilkinson and Jeremy Flores. Kelly Slater continued his rocky run at The Lane, placing third in his round four heat behind Jeremy Flores and Michel Bourez.

With the title race as it is (neck and neck, to be decided at Pipe), Joel Parkinson needs all the luck he can get at the lane to make life easier coming into Hawaii. “That heat was really important,” he said. “I’m dropping a 9th and replacing it with a 5th or better now. Tomorrow’s a new day and there’s still a lot of work to do. It’s great to have the title come down to Pipe. It’s the best thing to be in it for Pipe and it’s good for surfing.”

While Taj isn’t vibing too hard on the wave itself, he’s still enjoying himself. “I’m having fun,” said the West-Australian. “The conditions aren’t great, they’re a little bit slow, but I actually connected quite a few good waves in that heat, so I was pretty lucky. Even on the good ones, they were pretty tricky to ride. I hit a few lumps. I got lots of good turns, but I fell twice on an air. Three man’s pretty tough, but I was happy that I got a couple.”

There’s a good chance the winner will hoist the trophy tomorrow, so don’t miss a click.

O’NEILL COLDWATER CLASSIC ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.47, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.13, Travis Logie (ZAF) 12.67
Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14.77, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 11.93, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 7.37
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.87, Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.50, Kelly Slater (USA) 13.00
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 16.60, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.20, Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.37

O’NEILL COLDWATER CLASSIC ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 9: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.50 def. Yadin Nicol (AUS) 8.66
Heat 10: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.83 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 14.00
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.26 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 12.56
Heat 12: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.97 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 15.23