2012 Rip Curl Pro Tofino

1y ago
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Now in it's sixth year, the "Rip Curl Stew" surf contest became the "Rip Curl Pro Tofino" this past weekend. Monster Energy was proud to continue its role as title sponsor of the event and excited to see our surfers hit the water in search of the top spot on the Podium. Defending champion and Monster Energy athlete Noah Cohen knew he had a big task ahead of him if he was to repeat. "Every time Pete (Devries) has been in it, he's won it, and he's back in it this year," he said just before hitting the water in his qualifying heat. And truly that is the story of the weekend; Peter Devries was back after missing the event to an injury last year, and he was definitely the man to beat. The Vancouver Island weather wasn't going to make it easy though. Saturday brought decent waves and sunny skies, but 30 knot onshore winds made for some frothing sets and challenging conditions, and if Peter wanted the title back, he wasn't just going to have to battle conditions, a couple of guys named Bruhwiler had something to say about it as well. In a well-known tradition, Monster Chefs Shane and Matty served the crowd of hundreds a delicious homemade stew to beat back the wind on Saturday, and the cold showers that started the day on Sunday. Luckily by the afternoon the rain subsided and the stage was set for the finals. Peter and Raph Bruhwiler met in every heat of the contest, trading heat victories on the way to the final, while Noah and Sepp Bruhwiler met in the Semi finals, both making the grade and moving on to a meeting of some of Canada's best in the Four man final heat. The heat started off with some decent waves and Pete went to work consistently picking the best wave in the set and then making the most of it. The Bruhwilers showed the depth of their local knowledge as well, picking good waves and destroying them. Raph's powerful slashes threw the spray while Sepp charged down the line and into the air with effortless style. Noah didn't find the waves at the start of the heat and when the swell suddenly dropped he found himself with a dilemma; try to catch as many small waves as possible or wait for a bigger set and make a high scoring wave. Unfortunately in the last half of the heat nature made the choice for Noah delivering meager sets, and as the seconds ticked away it became clear that time had run out on his chance of a repeat. Meanwhile Peter, having already stacked decent scores early in the heat, had the luxury of taking off on anything he wanted to, and whether it's luck, skill or a little of both, he still managed to make the best of the ocean 's dwindling offerings. In Women's Pro, Leah Oke returned to the Rip Curl Pro to defend her title. She held off a hard charging Hannah Scott, who got a lot of waves, but couldn't beat Leah's legendary snap. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who came out, helped, and enjoyed the Rip Curl Pro Tofino. Full results are available at http://ripcurlprotofino.com/results/