The annual Baxter festivities kicked off on Friday night before the comp with the dart showdown between the 4 captains. This event determines the make-up of the sides for the event. The darts contest ensued was nothing short of a comedy. A 10 minute exercise took an hour with many darts flying all over the place and nowhere near the board. We got there in the end and everyone took off home to psyche up.
It was a nervous wait for everyone. Forecasts were calling 10-12 foot waves. The swell was dead South so were hopeful Southend would still be rideable. Arriving just before dawn the cold southwesterly was blowing but we could see it wasn’t a washing machine. Happy days it was 4ft with the odd bigger ones so we set up in front of the Southend Surf Club on a fun left hander.
Heat 1 hit the water and there were some great waves ridden, great wipeouts. Rich Cass and Rich Fairbairn attacked early with some nice rides but then ended up getting stuck trying to get a 3rd wave. Head, Craig Lawrence and Paul Reid got flogged on what were some of the worst wipeouts of the day. They would have been hating life but the people on the beach were just loving it. Heat 1 belonged to Sheps with a massive 3 wave total of 34.13. He showed total commitment and some serious style and the crowd and judges loved it.
