The 3pm Friday and the surf check didn’t surprise us at all. Microscopic conditions and we all thought there was very little chance of running on Saturday. Every surf forecaster said the same. Saturday dead flat. but come Saturday morning and much to our surprise there were small little 2ft waves peaking out at Middle. Not enough to get the older guys going but enough to get the frothing youngster in the water. So the call was made Cadets & Micros on. The rest just sleep in and enjoy a free Saturday.
With only 1 division running until 11 the Cadet boys enjoyed 20 min heats for Round 1. Early standouts were comp 1 Cadet winner Jason O’Rouke, Zac Michael, Kye Black. Young Tye Koolis had a great Round 1 heat and scoring the highest heat score of the day 14/20. In between the Round 1 and the Quarter Finals wean expression session was held and the young boys let rip. Club newbie Jordan Fitzgerald won the best move with his massive cutback. Zac Michael won the best new school award with some innovative manoeuvres with Ethan Ford winning the last award for some crazy moves on the shorey on his mal. All boys won vouchers from our comp day sponsor Dripping Wet surf shop Bondi.
With a rising tide wave selection became more and more important in the quarter finals. Zac, Tye and young Stevie Ray easily moved through into the final after comfortable wins in the Quarters. They were to be joined by Jason O’Rouke and Jordan Fitz who had to go surfed really well in the semis to make it through. The final was the last heat of the day and by that stage the wind and tide had really impacted the waves. Despite that it was a really good final to watch. Jason took the early lead but Tye and Zac were not too far away. Unfortunately luck deserted Stevie and Jordan and they couldn’t buy a wave in the final after impressive surfs in earlier rounds. Tye and Zac worked hard but couldn’t find the wave to propel them into the lead. With 3 minutes remaining Jason caught a nice set and smacked 2 nice turns on it. That left the others needing either combo of scores or needing a high 7 to win. The buzzer sounded and it was Jason in 1st. His 2nd comp win for the year. Congrats Jason
21 Micro boys turned up for the comp and I am sure that the young kids were thrilled to be surfing in front of the main comp area. Conditions for these young guys were over head and the boys ripped. There is so much talent there and very little separates 1st from 4th in most heats. What you notice most is that all these boys are out there having fun and enjoying the ocean. In between heats they go body bashing or they line up to cheer on their mates. It’s great to see and the future looks bright. After 2 rounds and plenty of great rides by all the kids the final 6 left standing were Koda, Jet, Louis, Jackson Delilse, Jake Feher and Angus Jones. In the 1st few minutes Jake Feher caught a great wave and reeled off 3 great turns on the open face and rode it all the way to shore. The crowd on the beach went nuts over that wave and the judges gave it an 8. Jackson and the other boys tried hard but they just couldn’t match that 1st wave of Jake’s. So when the final siren sounded it was Jake’s day. His first event win of his career and at only 8 years old I am sure it will be the first of many.
There was some excellent surfing in both the Cadets girls final and the Micro girls final. Both finals were very tight with only 1 point seperating1st from 2nd in both finals. In the Cadets Charlotte Wilson returned after missing comp 1 through injury to edge out her best friend Kirra and in the Micro girls Kyrah Lawson caught some great waves to take the win over Sara Buick.
Congrats to all winners, thank you all the competitors who surfed and thank you to all the parents and families who turned up on one of the coldest days ever. Also thank you to everyone who helped out during the day. Judges, Karo and Richard Czamara for cooking the BBQ and keeping all the kids and parents fed. And finally thank you to Dripping Wet Bondi for the comp prizes. If you are in need of any surfing accessory just pop on over and see John and the crew. Tell them you are from Southend and they will look after you.
Our next comp is on the Saturday 31st May. Fingers crossed we can run every division. Keep surfing and catch you then.