In the long run this may be a war, but today the aerialists won the battle in Santa Cruz.

Due to a lagging South Swell, delays and lulls attempted to sour an otherwise great day of competition at the O'neill Cold Water Classic. Heats 1-12 of the first round were run at the fabled point at Steamer Lane.

The list of heat winners reads more like the Modern Collective cast plus the entire ...Lost/Mayhem team than a typical WQS heat sheet. Mason Ho, Ratboy, Cory Lopez, Kolohe Andino, Nate Yeomans, Davo, Luke Davis, Dusty Payne, Evan Geiselman, Julian WIlson, Wilko, Miguel Pupo. All moving on to Round Two after solid performances in head high rights at the Lane. Innovative surfing: rewarded.

A peaking South Swell should see competition resume tomorrow morning. Watch it here.

O'NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Mason Ho (HAW) 12.53, Jason Collins (USA) 12.10, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.87, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 10.03
Heat 2: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.37, Cory Lopez (USA) 9.20, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 7.24, Brent Dorrington (AUS) 4.83
Heat 3: Kolohe Andino (USA) 16.63, Richard Christie (NZL) 13.90, Michael Dunphy (USA) 9.93, Rudy Palmboom (ZAF) 9.06
Heat 4: Nathan Yeomans (USA) 14.90, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.23, Adam Robertson (AUS) 12.07, Sunny Garcia (AUS) 11.87
Heat 5: Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 13.10, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 11.77, Gavin Gillette (HAW) 10.86, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 9.37
Heat 6: Chris Davidson (AUS) 13.94, Hizunome Bettero (BRA) 12.50, Austin Ware (USA) 11.33, Tim Reyes (USA) 10.90
Heat 7: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.34, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 9.80, Brian Toth (PRI) 7.17, Roy Powers (HAW) 7.16
Heat 8: Luke Davis (USA) 15.37, Joel Centeio (HAW) 10.60, Alain Riou (PYF) 8.03, Nicholas Squires (AUS) 7.40
Heat 9: Nat Young (USA) 15.27, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 13.30, Heath Joske (AUS) 12.24, Kevin Sullivan (HAW) 7.17
Heat 10: Dusty Payne (HAW) 15.67, Dion Atkinson (AUS) 13.84, Joan Duru (FRA) 11.73, Dale Staples (ZAF) 8.47
Heat 11: Evan Geiselman (USA) 11.50, Thiago Camarao (BRA) 11.07, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 10.77, Jeronimo Vargas (BRA) 6.66
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.47, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 13.10, Mitch Crews (AUS) 12.86, Matt Myers (USA) 9.90

The Billabong Pro Tahiti started with a bang today, as flawless 6-8 foot tubes funneled down the reef at Teahupoo with light winds, making for epic conditions.Round 1 hit the water early with 12 heats to run. Every single competitor got barreled today. The sun was out. The water was warm. Not a bad day to be a professional surfer eh boys?

Cory Lopez made the most of his spot in the event via Dane Reynolds' absence, beating Ace Buchan and Chris Davo in heat 1 to advance into round 3. Cory is regarded as one of the best out at Teahupoo, especially when there is swell in the water, and today was no different.

Bobby Martinez was the other notable absence in Tahiti and his replacement Travis Logie took advantage of his spot as well, taking heat 3 over Jadson Andre and Jeremy Flores.

CJ Hobgood gets heat of the day honors, posting 19.38 points to best world number 1 Joel Parkinson in heat 8, including a 9.87 for a gaping lefthander.

Kelly Slater nabbed a west bowl in the dying minutes to post a comeback victory over Dan Ross and wildcard Heiarii Williams in heat 6.

The forecast is looking great through the next 3 days, with a potential monster swell heading to Tahiti for the 25th. Round 2 will look to hit the water tomorrow morning at 7am. This is going to get interesting.

live here.

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Cory Lopez (USA) 12.83, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.47, Chris Davidson (AUS) 4.67
Heat 2: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 15.83, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.73, Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.27
Heat 3: Travis Logie (ZAF) 16.07, Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.40, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 11.73
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.23, Gabe Kling (USA) 13.97, Tiago Pires (PRT) 7.97
Heat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.36, Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) 14.47, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 8.47
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.96, Daniel Ross (AUS) 13.07, Heiarii Williams (PYF) 10.47
Heat 7: Kai Otton (AUS) 11.47, Heitor Alves (BRA) 10.53, Owen Wright (AUS) 10.33
Heat 8: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 19.38, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.60, Adam Melling (AUS) 10.33
Heat 9: Taylor Knox (USA) 12.90, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.53, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.10
Heat 10: Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.73, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.10, Brett Simpson (USA) 8.83
Heat 11: Dusty Payne (HAW) 16.76, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 15.63, Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.17
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS) 16.50, Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.84, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10.27

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Heiarii Williams (PYF)
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Ricardo dos Santos (BRA)
Heat 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Gabe Kling (USA)
Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 5: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 6: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Josh Kerr (AUS)
Heat 7: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)
Heat 8: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 9: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 10: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 11: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 12: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Chris Davidson (AUS)

Over here on the West coast, surfers have the luxury of sitting on our couches and waiting for the good old Pacific ocean to sculpt us some waves to ride. On the East coast, however, surfers are forced to chase storms and dodge any associated hazards in order to get good waves. (And in communist Russia, wave rides you!) Left coasters Cory Lopez and Alek Parker have been hunting hurricane swells up and down the Eastern Seaboard since grommethood and now O'neill has sent along a filmer to document their excursions. Never a dull moment when they are charging directly into a category 2 hurricane that has sent the rest of the population running for the hills. Sometimes the hunters become the hunted....

Watch the first 2 episodes of this year's hurricane season below. more to come....
O'NEILL.COM

"...LOST isn't good for people. You send us all around the world, with this image of Wardo and Corey, guys that really rip. And we don't do anything but lose first f--king heat. It's just like Strider said, 'We don't want no contest sections.'"

That was a hammered John Robertson right before his section in ...LOST's 7th (I think, it's all a blur) video The Decline. It's probably not word for word, I still only have that one on VHS, and I don't own a VCR anymore. Anyway, that pretty much sums up a ...LOST movie. The talent's there, but ...LOST is also going to show What's Really Going On and What's Really Going Wrong, which is the titles of their second and third videos, their first being the cult classic Dysfunctional.

It started that way, and even though ...LOST has since blown up as a company, is still that way. They stick to a formula; they show you best surfers in the world, they show you the not-so-best surfers in the world, they show you the best waves in the world, they show Huntington Pier. Then they turn around and show what comes with surfing besides the waves and sand: the parties, the debauchery, the girls, the burn outs, the drugs, the heads on fire, the crackheads, the drunken stair surfing, the fights, the puking, etc. You name it, it's been in one of these videos. ...LOST paints a picture for its video audience of how the other half lives. No golf playing, acoustic jamming millionaires here. Just guys who are barley getting by, but surfing everyday.

That's not to say the big time pros aren't in their videos. I'm pretty sure Slater and Curren have been in almost all of the them. It's just the way these videos are presented is like nothing else those two will be in. Plus, the ...LOST team has has some pretty damn good surfers. At one point, one of the original team riders Chris Ward, was considered California's next hope for a World Title. His surfing as a 15-year-old in those first few videos blew minds. He has always been one of the best free-surfers in the world, but you never know what your going to get with the guy, which isn't a good contest characteristic. Good for the audience though, it's funny watching a hungover, bed-headed mess running down the beach on his way to a heat he's 15 minutes late to, after already outright missing his previous heat, claiming he got confused. ...LOST has even talked of making a Wardo signature alarm clock, complete with the infamous pic of his dazed stare, and fresh out of a stooper hair, on his way to surf in surfing's version of the NFL, NBA or MLB. He survived on that tour for 4 years on pure natural talent.

This whole ...LOST phemonom started in Orange County's most southern town, San Clemente, which is only fitting. In that, the surf industry's most rebellious brand spawned from the town that birthed some of the world's most rebellious surfers: Archy, the Fletchers, the Beschens, Wardo, Joe Crimo, Geoff Brack (who bit some guy's finger off in a bar fight, I had to add that, because that's pretty heavy), etc. It's something in the water down there that makes you question everything, and do what you want. Which is what ...LOST Really Does.

Over the years there have been some impostors, but everyone knows ...LOST was the original. They have always shown WHAT REALLY GOES ON, which brings me to the point of all this. To celebrate the fifteen or so years of all this, ...LOST has released What Really Went On, a greatest hits like DVD that takes you from the first video to the last, with some never-before-seen extras in between.

Here's three teasers:

While the US Open of Surfing is technically a minor league event, it will be attracting serious major league talent this year now that Hurley has decided to make things a lot more interesting. Money has a funny way of doing that. Yesterday Hurley, as primary sponsor, announced that the winner of this year's Men's 6-Star WQS event will pocket $100,000, making it the largest first place prize in pro surfing history.



Apparently, former US Open Champion Rob Machado, a Hurley team rider, came up with the idea of offering real money to lure the likes of the world's best back to the Huntington Beach stage, which is where pro surfing in the Unites States was born. That kind of money will be luring even the best major league stars, including reigning world champion Kelly Slater, the semi-retired-former-world-champ Andy Irons, giving U.S. surfing fans something juicy to sink their teeth into.

This isn't the first time Hurley has raised the bar on the prize money front. Last year, at the Boost Mobile Pro held at Trestles, Bob Hurley fluffed Kelly Slater's wallet by an extra $45 grand by handing him an IOU on the final day of competition. Assuming Hurley made good on that piece of paper, Slater pocketed $75,000, which is to date, the biggest cash prize in pro surfing history. And Hurley was merely the presenting sponsor at Trestles. This year, however, Hurley has stepped into the primary backing role in the two biggest events on the U.S.Mainland, starting with the US Open of Surfing this month, and following up in September with the Hurley Pro at Trestles, which is the sixth stop on the ASP World Tour.

The record prize for this year's U.S. Open of Surfing will illuminate the rich 50 year history of surfing tournaments held at the Huntington Beach Pier. The event will feature a "True Performance" Walk of Champions, which will showcase the men's and women's champions of the original West Coast Surfing Championships that begain in 1959, through to the early 80s Op Pro Surfing Championships and the U.S. Open of Surfing. The Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing runs from July 18-26. You best get your parking spot now.