2007 Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic

NELSCOTT REEF TOW IN CLASSIC GOES OFF

Adam Replogle and Alistair Craft pull off the win in 40 foot perfection 

LINCOLN CITY, Oregon, January 14, 2007 –

The third annual Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic was held this weekend in perfect conditions off the Oregon Coast.  Waves as high as 40 feet slammed the Oregon coast under sunny skies and windless conditions.

Behemoth LLC, the contest organizers made the call last week to run the contest on Friday January 11, based on favorable forecasts from Friday and again on Sunday.  John Forse, quickly becoming known for his ability to call the contest on the perfect day, made the right call.

“When we woke up on Friday, the ocean was small and very windy, basically a worse case scenario”, said Forse.  “Everyone was antsy, and we told them to hang tough it is going to get good.”

And he was right on.  By 1PM, the wind had died and the ocean had come up.  By the time the event started at 1:45, the waves were well over 35 feet and still getting larger.

“One set came through that was easily 50 to 60 feet on the faces”, said Shawn Alladio, the head of the K-38 safety crew.

There was only enough time in the afternoon to hold the first round of heats, with the rest of the event on hold until Sunday morning.  Right on cue, the ocean came alive at first light on Sunday, along with the rarely seen Oregon winter sun.  For the second day, the contest was blessed with solid 40-foot waves and no wind.  Also adding to the excitement of the second day was the sighting of an unwelcome spectator, a great white shark, in the lineup.  Luckily, he was just watching.

Making it to the finals this year were 2 Brazilian teams, Yuri Soledade/Rodrigo Resende, and Eraldo Gueiros/ Everaldo Pato.  Also in the finals were the teams of Adam Replogle/Alistair Craft, Osh Bartlett/Tyler Fox, and Homer Henard/Matt Rockhold.  It was a close finals, especially after Yuri Soledade’s crazy barrel on a monster scored a 9.5.  But it wasn’t enough to hold off the years of experience Adam Replogle and Alistair Craft have at Nelscott.  The results are as follows:

First Place (44.75) $7500.00

Adam Replogle and Alistair Craft

Second Place (44.58) $5000.00

Yuri Soledade and Rodrigo Resende

Third Place (41.45) $2500.00

Eraldo Gueiros and Everaldo Pato

Fourth Place (39.77) $1500.00

Osh Bartlett and Tyler Fox

Fifth Place (38.63) $1000.00

Homer Henard and Matt Rockhold

It was a busy weekend for big wave events.  Nelscott was called for Friday, Mavericks was called for Saturday, and The Eddie Aikau was on hold for Sunday, all forecasted with large swell.  In the end, Forse called it right, with Oregon receiving the perfect combination of wind, weather, and the largest waves of the weekend.

Organizers would like to thank the Chinook Winds Casino, Fringe Clothing, Liquid Militia, Banquet, The Westshore Motel, The Anchor Inn, Tao Productions, Nelscott Reef Surf Shop, Roots Brewery, K38 Rescue, Oregon Sports Authority, Tanger Outlet Mall, Legacy Films, and all the others that helped out with the event.

Photos of the event will be posted shortly on the web page at www.nelscottreef.org.

The Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic is the only tow in contest on the North American continent and Oregon’s only professional surf event.  It is also the only tow in contest to be certified carbon free by Carbonfund.org.

Lincoln City, OR, Oct. 21, 2007 – Behemoth, LLC announces that it has offset its carbon emissions for the Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic via the CarbonFree Surfing program, a partnership between Carbonfund.org, the country’s leading carbon solutions organization, and Greensurf.org, a leading advocate for sustainable surfing lifestyle choices. The Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic is the first surfing event of it’s kind, to use the CarbonFree Surfing program to cancel out its impact on the earth’s climate. Behemoth has offset all carbon emissions related to the contest including travel for all competitors to and from Lincoln City, OR, as well as Waverunner and other motorized vehicles used during the event. This commitment places Behemoth, LLC as an environmental leader in the surfing community and demonstrates proactive steps being taken in the fight against global climate change.
Behemoth partners, John Forse, Adam Wagner, and Jim Kusz, are very concerned about global warming. Considering the implications of climate change, carbon offsets through Carbonfund.org are a natural extension of the concern for the natural resources Oregon has to offer.
The waves at Nelscott Reef can reach 50 feet high and are simply too big and travel too fast to paddle into. Competitors rely on personal water crafts (Waverunners) to be towed into these monster waves. Contest organizers have decided to take a proactive step to protect our environment and minimize the impact that their contest has.
“We are extremely sensitive to the environmental impacts PWC’s can have in the ocean,” said Adam Wagner. “We wanted to make a statement that we are committed to preserving our resources and minimizing any impact we have on the ocean and our environment. In addition to other green actions we’ve taken including the use of less polluting watercraft using 4-stroke engines and a non-paper web based notification system for athletes, we felt it was a critical for an event of this magnitude to also offset all carbon emissions that couldn’t otherwise be avoided.”
Geared specifically for use by the surfing community, the newly launched program already counts 8 time world surf champ-Kelly Slater and Surfing Magazine as early supporters.
“The whole surfing community relies on the health of our oceans and stable climate patterns to produce great surfing conditions”, said Michael Stewart, Partnerships Manager at Carbonfund.org. “We are proud to be partnering with contest organizers Behemoth, to have The Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic be the first surfing contest to take action against climate change through our CarbonFree Surfing program”, said Stewart. “As the only big wave, tow in surfing contest in North America, this event has such broad appeal and reach that it’s a great platform for Behemoth to showcase the surfing world’s commitment towards sustainability - out to a world audience.”
Carbonfund.org is a non-profit organization whose goal is to make carbon offsets and climate protection easy, affordable and a normal way of life for every individual and business. Carbon offsets from renewable energy, energy efficiency, and reforestation projects enable individuals and businesses to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to offset the emissions they are responsible for in their normal activities, like home, office, driving or air travel emissions. For example, using the CarbonFree Surfing program, which also claims 8X world surf champ-Kelly Slater and Surfing Magazine as early supporters, the NelScott Reef Tow In Classic will be supporting a reforestation project in southern Nicaragua, developed by Carbonfund.org’s nonprofit partner Paso Pacifico, and located around the surfing hotspot of San Juan Del Sur. In addition to absorbing enough CO2 to cancel out the contest related emissions, this native tree planting project benefits the local community and boosts wildlife biodiversity across the entire region. Find more details about this reforestation project and how to join the CarbonFree Surfing program by visiting Carbonfund’s partner, Greensurf.org.

The holding period for the 2007 Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic opened October 1st. The holding period begins October 1 and extends through December 31st 2007. Contest organizers, Behemoth LLC, will be monitoring swell and weather conditions and will offer a 48 hour notice when conditions look optimal. The Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic requires a large swell with little or no wind in order to hold the contest.