OP Newport Classic: Day 2 Wrap Up
 Photos | Video

By: Alex Wilson

More fog along the coast put the contest on delay again this morning, but patches in the gloom allowed the final heats of Round 2 to get underway around 9:30am. As the skies cleared a bit, competitors were greeted with smaller, but cleaner conditions, as nice head-high-to-slightly-overhead hollow lefts once again came reeling off the 56 th Street jetty.

Heat 15 got off to a slow start with all four competitors unable to pick off a good one early on. Hampered by a rip, which basically appeared as soon as the heat began, the first ten-minutes saw no solid rides, but finally, 10-mintes in, Corey Garcia stroked into a lined up left and put together a trio of big smacks that earned him a 6.5, a score he topped on his next wave. Taking off deep, Garcia pulled into a bombing lefthander that he drove through on his backhand, closing the ride with a vicious slam for an 8.5. Corey would own the heat, but advancing in 2 nd was Newport fixture David Giddings.

Heat 16, another slow starter, saw a flurry of activity towards the buzzer. With a meager point total under the belts of all competitors, Huntington 's Brandon Tipton took off needing a low 2 to make the turn. Finding the barrel off the drop, Tipton earned a 6.5 on the ride, going from 3 rd to 1 st and bumping former heat leader Ryan Peterson into 2 nd . Tipton then solidified his lead with another nice ride just 30-seconds before the buzzer.

The opening heat of the 3 rd Round saw David Reardon-Smith continue his dominating form from yesterday, establishing himself as the heat leader with a pair of racy barrel rides. The first, a nice cover up straight off the drop earned him a 6.5, while the second, a tube he set up by throwing a huge backside hook, earned him a 7.75.

With the fog beginning to thicken once more, Heat 2 got underway and in the opening moments Dusty Payne nabbed a long, clean, pig-dog barrel ride, emerging on the inside for a big hack on the corner. His 7.75 was then backed up with another tube he nabbed for a 6.5, a pair of scores that anchored him solidly in 1st. Jeremy Sherwin advanced from the heat in 2 nd on a pair of midrange rides that were enough to earn him a birth in the 4 th Round.

Heat 3 was run despite increasing fog, and was won handily by a fit looking Magnum Martinez, who looked not the least bit winded as he jogged up the beach between waves.

At the close of Heat 3 the comp was again put on hold due to the pea soup factor, and for most of the day stayed that way. The break in the action was so monotonous, competitors, team managers and announcers alike were seen breaking out the horseshoes for a few games to pass the time. As of about 3:15 the contest was still on fog delay with call times every half hour to reassess the conditions. Round 4, which was scheduled to run this afternoon, has been postponed, but the staff was still on the beach late this afternoon hoping to sneak in as many heats from the 3 rd Round as they could before sundown.

With waves still in the forecast tomorrow, everyone has their fingers crossed that the fog factor will be a non-issue Friday morning for the 7:30am start.