Young ripper Jackson Giles took out event #5 of the 2013 Rip Curl GromSearch series at Coolum. Jackson cleaned up in the early rounds winning both round 1 & 2 heats. Competitors faced tough condition on finals day with a strong offshore wind making it hard to get into the peaky 3-5ft waves. But that didn’t hinder Jackson as he rode his way into the final. There he faced local boy and event favourite, Kai Hing, another local boy Jackson Baker and Angourie Shredder Chris Zaffas. Jackson kept himself busy during the final catching as many waves as possible throughout the heat. The strategy paid dividends for Giles, when in the last minute of the final, a steep left-hander presented itself in time for him to put together an 8.5 and combined wave total of 16.67 (out of a possible 20 points) and snatch the win from

2nd – Jackson Baker (Merewether, NSW – 13.60)
3rd – Chris Zaffis (Angourie, NSW – 12.67)
4th – Kai Hing (Wurtulla, QLD).

The win helped Jackson join other competitors is today’s National as a wildcard for finishing the highest ranked surfer in his division at series’ end. Joining Jackson is fellow Maroubra boy Monty Tait who paced equal 5th in the Column event. Good Luck boys and hopefully it is a Maroubra 1 – 2.