The Green Room

There’s a fifty percent chance that another big wave title will be brought back to Santa Cruz when the 2007 Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic goes down in Lincoln, Oregon this winter.

On September 18th contest organizers announced the lineup for this year’s contest. More than half of this year’s competitors hail from the Santa Cruz area, including Zach and Jake Wormhoudt who won the inaugural Nelscott contest in 2005 and return as partners this year, after a broken foot separated them the during practice for the 2006 event. Two other brother tow teams will be competing this year: Santa Cruz’s Russell and Tyler Smith and San Clemente’s Rusty and Greg Long.

Also returning are last year’s champs Garrett McNamara and Kealii Mamala–both from Hawaii–who will look to defend their title against the most talented field yet for a Nelscott contest. Other world-class competitors will include such teams as Brad Gerlach and Mike Parsons, Adam Replogle and Alistair Craft, Raph Bruhwiler and Keith Malloy, Greg and Rusty Long, as well former Eddie Aikau winner Ross Clarke-Jones, defending Mav’s champ Twiggy Baker, and Jeff Clark and Peter Mel. Check out the video of last year’s contest:

The competition will take place in Lincoln City, Oregon, sometime between October 1 and December 31. The Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic is the only tow in contest on the North American continent and represents theonly professional surf event held in the state of Oregon. As per normal protocol for big wave contests, the exact date of the event will depend upon wave conditions, which will be continually monitored during the holding period. Once maximum wave conditions are observed, competitors will have 48 hours notice to get their equipment ready and make it to the Central Oregon Coast. Last winter the Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic was one of the only big wave contests that was able to run–along with the North Shore Tow In Surfing Championships– as both Maverick’s and the Eddie Aikau Invitational at Waimea Bay got shut out in what was a sub-par winter for big swells. And hey, even if the contest doesn’t score massive waves to get the reef rumbling, the boys can still tow the burly beachbreak. Check it out:

“We have some of the greatest tow surfers from around the world on board for this years event,” said John Forse, event organizer, in a press release.  “The competition will be fierce with a line up as stacked
as we have for 2007.”

Now in its third year, the Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic has expanded the breadth of its competitor field to go beyond the usual big wave suspects from California and Hawaii. This year international tow teams from Australia, South Africa, Morocco, and Brazil will be represented as well. Here is the full list of invitees and alternates:

2007 Tow Team Invitees:

Shane Desmond (N.Cal) Tyler Fox (N.Cal)

Adam Replogle (N.Cal) Alistair Craft (N.Cal)

Garrett McNamara (HAW) Kealii Mamala (HAW)

Raph Bruhwiler (CAN) Keith Malloy (S.Cal)

Zach Wormhoudt (N.Cal) Jake Wormhoudt (N.Cal)

Ross Clarke-Jones (AUS) TBD

Brad Gerlach (S.Cal) Mike Parsons (S.Cal)

Jeff Clark (N.Cal) Chris Bertish (S. Africa)

Peter Mel (N.Cal) Ryan Augustine (N.Cal)

Greg Long (S.Cal) Rusty Long (S.Cal)

Twiggy Baker (S. Africa) TBD

Russel Smith (N.Cal) Tyler Smith (N.Cal)

Steve Nichols (N.Cal) Ali Ben Hammou (Morocco)

Dave Mcgill (Oregon) Joel Smith (Oregon)

Danilo Cuoto (Brazil) Rodrigo Resende (Brazil)

Skiz Doudt (Oregon/HAW) Chava Greenlee (HAW)

Pablo Schulte (S.Cal) Davey Smith (S.Cal)

Vince Broglio (N.Cal) Richard Schmidt (N.Cal)

Osh Bartlett (N.Cal) Anthony Ruffo (N.Cal)

Josh Mulcoy (N.Cal) Stan Meurer (N.Cal)

2007 Tow Team Alternates:

Carlos Burle (Brazil) Eraldo Gueros (Brazil)

Dan Moore (HAW) John Anderson (HAW)

Mike Brummett (N.Cal) Chris Brown (S.Cal)

Makua Rothman (HAW) Ikaika Kalama (HAW)

Brent Hudson (N.Cal.) Jeff Kafka (N.Cal)

Homer Henard (N.Cal) Matt Rockhold (N.Cal)

Matt Ambrose (N.Cal) Shawn Rhodes (N.Cal)

Ramon Navarro (Chile) Danny Fry (Chile)

John Gangini (HAW) Yuri Soledad (HAW)