What a great day. The sun was shining, 2 - 3ft waves were rolling through, very consistantly, with a puff of off-shore wind.
The call was made to hold the comp at Bluey's, as there was a nice bank with good rights and lefts.
This is how the day rolled out:
Cadets.
Heat 1 saw Jackson Giles and Hank Hartley both come out with strong early performances. Soon after, all surfers were well in contention, but it was Hank who consistantly pulled the big moves and won the heat. Heat 2 was all Rory McGovern's from the start, with Daniel Coote nipping at his heals with a couple of nice waves.
The Cadet final was contested by Hank Hartley, Jackson Giles, Tom Kurz, Rory McGovern, Daniel Coote, and Craig Briggs. Daniel Coote came out screaming and looked like he was going to take the heat at the 10 minute mark, with the two best waves of the heat so far. Hank had other ideas, and went on to score a 17 out of 20 with some of the best top to bottom reos I have seen from a cadet in a long time.
6th Rory McGovern
5th Jackson Giles
4th Craig Briggs
3rd Tom Kurz
2nd Daniel Coote
1st Hank Hartley
Juniors
Heat 3 was a real nail biter with Jake Nurmi getting off to a great start to the heat with reos and floaters all over the shop. Pat Thompson got a pearler but struggled to get a second. The surprise ending involved Sam Barron getting two waves in the last couple of minutes to draw with Jake and force a countback ... both went through. Heat 4 was owned by Mitch Kennedy who scored the two highest waves of the heat in the first 5 minutes. The junior final was contested by Mitch Kennedy, Sam Barron, Jake Nurmi, Judd Atkin, and Jordan Perez. The lead was swapped all throughout the heat with the winning waves coming through for Jake in the last seconds, but it was still a countback and all surfers could have won at any point.
5th Judd Atkin
4th Jordan Perez
3rd Sam Barron
2nd Mitch Kennedy
1st Jake Nurmi
Women
This was a straight out final contested by Leanne Bonello, Jeni Lee, Lisa Brodie, and Mia Wearne. Lisa Brodie exploded off the blocks with the highest scoring wave of the heat, ripping a couple of massive hacks. Mia, who is actually in the under 14s division, stepped up to be counted with the big girls. She didn't get a great start, but unphased made a great comeback in the second half of the heat with some hard bottom turns and under the lip snaps.
4th Leanne Bonello
3rd Mia Wearne
2nd Jeni Lee
1st Lisa Brodie
Opens
A dozen of South Maroubra's finest Whacked, smashed, floated and mutilated the prime conditions of Bluey's. Heat 5 saw old school Boothy defeat new school Semo in a no holds barred battle to the last moment, knocking out Conjuado and last year's Boomerang comp winner and Newcastle inbred Ronny. Heat 6 saw the young guns Karl Richards and Matty 'soon to be told to quit surfing' O'Reilly knock out the old guys Schatz and Weston. Heat 7 saw an upset when Luke Fletcher was left flat in last place. Addsy 'competitor junior' Lawrence defeated Dustin and token redhead Richard Cass competing in his first comp for this millenium. The final included such greats as Shane Booth, Adam Semo, Karl Richards, Matt O'Reilly, Adam 'Williams' Lawrence, and Dustin Cooley. It was in this heat that judge Todd jackson exclaimed "What is the competitor (aka Andrew Williams) doing out there" after seeing Addsy get a wave. It was a tightly fought heat with only one point separating first and fourth.
6th Dustin Cooley
5th Shane Booth
4th Adam Lawrence
3rd Matt O'Reilly
2nd Karl Richards
1st Adam Semo
Senior Men (se'men)
Not only did the Senior Men final come down to the wire, the surfing went to new heights as experience and flare were brought to the amazed eyes of all thoughs who were lucky enough to bask in their glory. Wayne Kurz, Dave Lowlett, Stephen Attwood, Todd Jackson, Ian McGloughlin, and Theron Coote were all present, but all too prepared. Theron, when hearing stories of Tood's new 360 repertoir, ran to the carpark to hide in his boot until after the heat. Dave got the ball rolling with a nice snap and gouging cutty, but Todd was not far behind with 2 solid whacks. Wayne and Ian were swapping turn after turn as the heat rolled on. Epic was wallowing in self pity when the yellow flag went up. As always this division is never won or lost till the hooter sounds. Todd took off on an absolute pearler, getting a nice barrel and carving a couple of hacks. Dave followed with some nice flowing reos and a good cutback. With moments to go it all turned when Epic paddled onto a nice set, proceding to whack the lip and get his fins out. Knowing this was his last chance he then eyed the closeout section and took it on with a 360 tail drop floater, which he claimed was the best ever by anyone - Also worth noting is that Todd Jackson inspired the very manouvre that got him beat.
5th Ian McGloughlin
4th Wayne Kurz
3rd Dave Lowlett
2nd Todd Jackson
1st Stephen Attwood
Grand Masters
This is where the magic really happens and all the experience shows. The range and high quality of surfing is surpassed by none, and the competitiors in this division will have no issue telling you so. Heat 10 was a ball tearer, with first and second coming down to a countback between Brad Koolis and Don Giles, but they both went through anyway. Brad ripping some of his trademark cutbacks and flowing bottom turns taking the heat. Heat 11 was where all the emotion was with Tom North only getting two waves and watching his season hopes slip away. Andrew Williams was all over it, paddling left right and centre to make sure Tom was out hassled at all times. Andrew slightly took out Tom, who snuck in to second and proceded to the final. The final was awe inspiring, with some big names in the water. Never a fiercer battle has been seen, and never a closer finish is recalled. The Competitor got off to a ripping start with some soulful turns and stylish trimming, but it all fell apart for a while after that. Brad pounced on the opportunity to showcase his ranged and classy repertior for the judges, scoring a couple of nice waves.Don and Tom seemed to be biding their time and their time came, both getting good waves with solid whacks throwing up some nice spray. And the game was on. All surfers scored well in the last five minutes making tallying the heat an exciting nightmare.
4th Brad Koolis
3rd Tom North
2nd Don Giles
1st Andrew Williams
Congratulations to all. Surfing, as always, was the winner on the day.
Thanks everyone who helped judge, setup and packup equipment, cook BBQs, clean up, and carry stuff to and from cars.
Hope to see you all at the presso, and give me something to report on.
The Reporter.