By Christian Pritchett
THE Tonik Competition number two was graced with sunny skies, a nice two-to-four-foot swell and light offshore winds at Beacon.
Registration numbers were high early with another strong showing of juniors. Charlie Mahony got us off to a flier with the highest scoring heat of the round and it was Harry, Zeph and Ellie who also collected opening under-16 heat wins.
In the under-18s it was Henry Hutchins opening up on larger set waves with the main peak to himself, displaying power surfing beyond his years to dominate the opening heat with two excellent scoring rides which setting the tone as the place to get scores for the following heats. Kian and Ned also showed that the scores were to come on the sets out at the main peak with wins in their heats.
Early ratings leader Billy Harrison began heat one of Open A registering a combination of high scores with club president Banjo Harfield not far behind. Sim Collier opened heat two with a strong display of backhand surfing but once brother Ben got going it was he and Elliot Gray back from hiatus who advanced. Heat three saw a rampaging return to form from Sean ‘Mouse’ Todd edging out Josh Johnson-Baxter to set up a six-man final for the heat that would ultimately see the longest day of surfing in recent times.
As the tide filled in and the winds increased out of the east it was Moya who led the pack back to the higher frequency of Hutto’s hole and continue his form with an opening win of Open B. Until the tide was to turn the heats through the middle of the day were a lottery between joining the pack at Hutto’s or going it alone on the bigger, lullier main peak. It was Marcel who got the job done in heat two but Merritt then the ‘Lane Train’ that showed how having the main peak to themselves proved to be the formula to bigger scoring potential.
Meanwhile down the beach at Boings the SuperGroms had some nice high tide conditions to run their series of heats, which provided the following results:
Under 10: 1 Ted Conroy, 2 Jerry Kelly, 3 Fred Spencer, 4 Larz Forward. Under 12: 1 Isiah Norling, 2 Jack Bassett, 3 Banjo Partos-Slattery, 4 Monty. Under 14: 1 Ellie Harrison, 2 Zeph Lamperd, 3 Bea Conroy, 4 Sean Reilly. Junior Girls: 1 Minnie Vorath, 2 Hannah Lace.
With the sun still out but the winds now onshore the Open Women duked out a hard fought final won by Sapphire with one great score being the difference over Emma in second, Ellie in third and Jemima in fourth place.
Mouse continued his form on the day in the senior final to dominate with Sim edging out Christian in third and Saul in a return to competition in fourth. In the masters it was Shaneo who also made it two wins from two starts, Hutto close behind in second and Andy with a third.
The juniors wound things up at Boings in time to head back to Beacon to battle it out in their semis.
In the tougher conditions as the onshore wind began to intensify, Zach edged out Ellie and Bea was hot on the heels of Zeph in the under-16s seeing two girls into the final. Into the under-18 final went Kian, Ferg and Zeph with Henry continuing to post the biggest numbers.
In a split decision between first and third in the end it was Zach, Zeph then Ellie with Bea in fourth who claimed the points in the under-16 final. In the trying conditions Ferg found it tough to spot any good ones to finish in fourth, Kian lost a split decision to Zeph in second leaving Henry to pick off two mid-range scores doing enough to take out the under-18s.
Butch saved his best work until last backing up his Kelly Slater-esque trash talk that he would be the one to put an end to Moya’s winning ways. In convincing fashion it was indeed Butch who continued his late last season form and became the Moya Destroyer with an Open B win over the ratings leader in second, Janson over Cody on a countback for third and fourth, leaving Flynn then Marcel with the minor placings.
In the blue chip division it was a two sided affair against Mouse the current club champion and Billy the current season’s ratings leader, decided once again on a day of close heats on a split decision.
Billy opened the heat with the highest score and spent the rest of time trying to find a backup with little success. JJB, Ben, Banjo and Elliot battled hard to post anything mid ranged taking the minor placings respectively. Mouse was most consistent in finding average numbers but once Billy had found a half decent backup it was he that narrowly made it two wins.
Rip Curl comp three will be on 26 November, at 7am sharp.
The ratings are already beginning to take shape so keep your eyes out for them at 13thbeachboardriders.com
Look out for the 13th Beach Boardriders 2017 calendar available soon.
