Santa Cruz has not seen a local surfer on the World Tour since Adam Replogle qualified back in 1997. That may be about to change: 21-year-old Nat Young sits just two heats away from qualifying for the 2013 Association of Surf Professionals' World Tour.
"There's three more events left; Canary Islands, Haleiwa, and the Sunset Six Star. If Nat makes two heats in any one event, he'll be on tour," said Young's manager, Nick Greeninger of Crush Sports.
Young announced his ambition to the surf world early. A decisive win at the 2008 O'Neill Coldwater Classic 4-Star event thrust the then 17-year-old surfer into the limelight and rocketed him straight to local hero status.
