Micro Boys
The boys competed up in the bowl on a perfect little and the boys ripped. Tye and Chris caught some great little peelers and were neck and neck midway through the final. That was until the wave of the heat appeared and little Max McG turned dropped into it and rode the thing to shore. Chris and Tye came back towards the end but they fell just short handing Max the victory. Well done Max and to Chris and Tye. You guys continue to impress everyone every time we see you in a heat. Keep up the hard and continue to push your surfing lads.
1st Max McGuigan
2nd Chris Riley 3rd Tye Koolis
Cadets
Standouts in the early heats were Jackson Giles, Hank Hartley, Tom Kurz, Rory McGovern, Monty Tait and new boys Cruz Briggs. Hank H, Harry B, Dan C and Cruz went onto the final after storming through the semi's. In the final it was Dan Coote who leapt to the front after 2 great rides in the opening minutes. In his 1st comp with the club Cruz got a great little right to jump to the lead. As he paddled back out another little one peaked up and he went about ripping 2 nice cutties to extend his lead. Hank and Harry had been quiet till that stage but in the closing minutes they went for it. Each caught 2 great waves executing some nice turns which impressed the judges. After this exchange it was Harry who held a slight lead over the others. Unfortunately early leader Dan and the other boys couldn't find another one in the last few minutes and it was Harry Bartlett's day. He had fended off the boys to claim his 1st win of 2008 and his 1st at the club. Well done grommy.
Junior Boys
Early on the young boys were not keen to go surfing but after a few hundred sauso sambo and a few OJ's these kids were keen as. Mitch Kennedy, Sam Barron, Scott Barry and Jake Nurmi progressed to the final after 2 very close semis. As all other finals this one also went down to the wire with only 2 point separating 1 to 4. Scott and Mitch got off to a flyer with some nice turns impressing the crowd on the beach as well as the judges. Both scored a 5 and a Scott a 4.5 and Mitch a 4 and midway through the heat it looked like it was going to be one of these 2 who would win the event. Sam and Jake hit back with 4.5 each the with about 4 to go Sam took the lead with a sick wave scoring a 6 to storm to a narrow lead. Again the clock was winding down and right on the buzzer Jake took off on a nice right which hit the bank perfectly and ran all the way through to stormy. Pressure on fall and it's over stay on and your a chance at taking it out. Jake ripped out some big moves with a huge floater right on the shore to steal victory over his mates. Talk about cool under pressure. Congrats to Jake and the other boys. The surfing was terrific through the day and the final was unreal.
Open Womens
The Open Women’s final was contested by Darcie, Kaya, Jenni and Kelsey. Vanessa had signed on but was a mysterious no show come the final. After a slow start the final really took off when a great set poured through giving all the girls a chance to get some nice waves. Darcie and Jenni picked off some nice ones and were neck and neck midway through. Kelsey fought back with a the 1st wave of a nice set. Kaya got the 3rd wave in the set a nice walling left and went about whacking 2 nice re entries and a nice little floater on the inside. The judges liked it and gave her a 7 and she swept to the lead. Darcie had one last chance but came up agonisingly short missing out by 1/2 a point. Well done to Kaya. 1st win this year
Grand Masters
John McLoughlin, Brad Koolis, Tommy North and "The Competitor" Andrew Williams contested the GM final and it was the tightest final in of the day. The 1st major scoring waves were ridden by Koolis and Tom who picked off a nice wave each. Tom carved out some big turns as did Koolis and both scored a 5.5. The competitor also got a good scoring wave scoring 5 and midway through he held a narrow lead. Koolis nailed a 5.5 on a great wave with 5 to go and take the lead. The competitor looked to have the heat winner as it peaked on the outside bank but unfortunately it fizzed scoring a 5. Unfortunately for John Mc it wasn't to be. He couldn't jag a good one after a great semi. With a minute and a half to go it looked like Koolis had it won but Tom had other thought as he swung around on a sweet wave to rip 2 nice flowing cutties and a nice re to give him a chance. Was it enough?? Yep just enough a 6 enough to steal the win from Brad and Andrew. Congrats to Tom for his 2nd win this year.
1st Tom North
2nd Brad Koolis 3rd Andrew Williams 4th John McLoughlin
Opens
More dramas, tears and blow ups than a daytime soap is the best way to describe the Opens heats. Nevertheless the surfing was fantastic to watch. Heat 1 + 2 were held on the left which was no bigger than 1.5ft. Josh KU, Luke F knocked No4 ranked Boothy out in R1 and Con + Addsy knocked out Matt O then we moved the comp to North end for Heat 3+4 The boys revelled in perfect 3ft rights. Adam Semo, Platts, Shatz, and Karl advanced meanwhile Dustin Cooley and Blake G were unlucky not to go through after some sick surfing just missing the cut by the barest of margins.
R1 is were the crying blow - ups all happened and we have 3 guys who will be in the running for the prestigious spit the dummy award.
* Firstly Con after knowing he advanced blows up at the judges for not scoring 2 drop ins telling the judges to read the rule books. Tommy North gave a quick response which sent the Yak packing "Beat it or I'll pump ya" (more colourful language was used but had to be omitted as it was enough to make a criminal blush)
* Next it was young Matt O and Addsy Lawrences turn. He had to surf his heat in the 1ft trash then watch the next few heats surf this perfect right. He was shattered and wanted his heat to be re run or a repercharge. This is where Addsy put his $5 dollars worth in and told him to beat it. Yep more beat its than a Michael Jackson Album were handed out in a half hour time span. Matt O blew up saying he would never surf in another Southend comp again. Adds said if we ran a repercharge it set a precedent and if he ever got knocked he would demand a repercharge. I put my 2 cent in and told em that this was a local boardriders comp and not the WCT Finally Epic Steph stepped in and told Matt O to stop carrying on. End of story.
Anyways back to the surfing and the semis were all time. The surfing was some of the best of seen since I last gave the quote. Semi 1 saw Adds, Con and Luke F battling it out. Josh K was a no show. Luke Fl and Addsy got things rolling with each busting out some nice big turns outside. LF was in position again to scoop on the bomb set and scored the wave of the heat a 7.0 and went on to destroy the wave with some powerful re's. Yak came back into it with 2 great waves which he tore to bits and when the buzzer went it was LF and Yak that just got the cash to advance to the final over an unlucky Addsy. Semi #2 saw old hands Shatz and Platts against young dogs Karl and Semo and it was Platts that scored a sick one to start the heat. Semo replied almost immediately with an equally impressive wave and a then back it up with the wave of the heat ripping apart another right which some nice snaps outside and then linked up on all the way through to stormy and finished it off with a huge floater on the inside. Current rating leader Karl was being frustrated and got into a paddle battle with Shatz. Each were jockeying for position and kept pushing each other deeper and deeper so every wave they caught just kept shutting down Was it a case of old school mates helping each other out or Shatz teaching a young buck a valuable lesson in competitive surfing?? Semo and Platts got through. Shatz came to the beach and had a cheeky grin meanwhile young Karl came in throwing his board frustrated as.
The final was all time. Semo Lukey Fletch, up against former Opens Champs Platts and Con. Semo got things rolling with a sick wave. 2 nice flying cutties a couple of big re and a huge air right on the inside Wave of the day to that point by far. Con got the 3rd wave of the set a started 2 massive re entries into a series of nice cutties to score a 7. Next wave in the set it was Luke who did 2 massive turns to kick off but the wave shut down. A solid score of 5. Whilst the other were paddling Platts picked off a pearler. Again the wave sat up and he hacked 2 huge cutties then some nice turns on the inside and finished up with a nice re entry on the inside. Con snivelled another identical to his 1st and midway through he had a nice lead sitting on 13.5 Platts 10.5 Semo 11 and Luke on 9.5.
With about 6 to go Luke found one that allowed him to pull 3 massive hacks which woulda put a tear into the eye of Kong Elkerton and Pottz and he was back in the game. Then with 3 to go young Semo stepped up and ripped the wave to bits and the a massive floater right on the shore to score an 8 and clinch the lead.
Con had one last chance but the wave fizzled and Semo took out his 2nd win of the year. Well done to Semo and all the boys. The surfing was epic and an inspiration to the groms.
1st Adam Semo
2nd Con Parris 3rd Luke Fletcher 4th Jason Platts
Congratulations to all competitors for putting on a great show for the crowd on the beach. Thank you to everyone that helped through the day. Whether it was judging, cleaning up, helping cook the BBQ or packing the gear you all helped make it a great day. Just a reminder that due the Baxter Shield the monthly competition will not run on the 26th July. Our next monthly competition will be 30th August. For younger members who don't qualify for the Baxter due to age keep an eye on the web as alternative activities are being planned.
As I post this write up a report in from my spy in the sky Ralph says that Matt O is still spitting the dummy over his 1st round exit. Matt you have got to be kidding!!!! You are even money favourite to take the spit the dummy this year joining an elite club with 7 x champ Addsy, Koolis, Todd Jacko and the Yak.
1st Kaya Strehler
2nd Darcie Bellanto 3rd Jenni Lee 4th Kelsey Fletcher
1st Jake Nurmi
2nd Sam Barron 3rd Scott Barry 4th Mitch Kennedy
1st Harry Bartlett
2nd Hank Hartley 3rd Cruz Briggs 4th Dan Coote