Sam Vanderford getting a great right hander
Ric Chalmers got some great rides
Josh Constable big reo
Bryce Young lucked into a great long left
Barry McGuiggan went looking for lobsters at one time
All photos above credit Adam Albertini
Bob Monkman takes a popular win in the over 55's at the Australian Longboard Titles in WA
AUSTRALIAN LONGBOARD TITLES - FINALS DAY
Saturday, 21 October 2006
Surf; perfect 4-5 ft.
Perfect surf graced the finals day at Yallingup W.A with solid five foot
waves and a gentle offshore wind. It was time for some of Australia's best
longboard surfers to shine without the fear of a massive set breaking on
their heads.
Please note that results are held over till the presentation at 6pm so
please don't take my comments as an actual placing.
55s up first and Bob Monkman looked the goods (rumor has it he's surfed here
before) with Gordon Fuz close behind, but towards the end Mick Marlin lined
up a classic left to shake things up.
50s surfers waited a while for a decent lot of sets, but when they came Ric
Chalmers and Kiwi surfer Mike Pimm got some great rides. Hard to pick this
one - all good surfers.
60s and it was time for the gentlemen of the sport to stand up and get
crushed under a set or two. Barry McGuigan and David Ellis both went looking
for lobsters at one time or another and Barry also dropped in on Ross
Caslick but I'm not sure if he got pinged or not. Ross surfed well and
looked to be having fun, while Jack Triep had a funny wipe out on the
inside. Well, we were laughing. The trick with Yallingup is to get in sync
with the sets and pray not to get cleaned up. Someone worked out that the
over 60s surfers had some 206 years of surfing experience in total - not bad
hey? But I'd like to know the total of how many schooners they've drunk.
45s was a very close heat with plenty of waves and great long lefts. Paul
Milroy and Barrie McKinnon got more than their share to put a smile on both
their faces.
40s seemed to be a tussle between Glen Cunningham and Brett Marrifield but
some heats got good waves while others got great ones.
35s was shaping up to be a good clash between WA and NSW. David Barlow (WA)
charged everything he could get his hands on but came unstuck a few times,
while big and hairy Dean Cristallo (NSW South Coast) charged a big right and
had no option other than to pull in, only to puncture his lip with a tooth
during the pounding. Jason Jewrey started off well but then went quiet until
the very end of the heat.
35s Women had another good contest with Arlene Nagtzaam showing some lovely
rail to rail surfing and Samantha Vanderford getting a great right hander.
Junior Men started a bit slow then
Bryce Young lucked into a great long left. Bowie Pollard caught heaps but
looked a little uneasy, sort of stumbling, but getting some big moves in
anyway. Then Ben Fesseley smacked a big reo and eventually came out at the
bottom in the whitewater.
Junior Women were right up for it and they were lucky to be spared all the
bad surf earlier in the week. Rani Bartlett should take this one out with
three solid lefts, you go girl! All looked to be having fun in the lovely 4
foot waves.
Open women was again a tussle between Arlene Nagtzaam and Claire Finucane, I
thought Arlene got it but Arlene thought Claire won it. Well, at least
Arlene got two surfs for the day in perfect conditions.
Open Men and the big guns came out. This one had it all, nose rides and big
reo's. Josh Constable again charged like a bull at a gate and although he
did some big moves he also fell on those moves. He did surf well before each
fall but maybe that was enough for Jackson Close to methodically pull him
back. Jarryd Foster got a couple of screamers but still looked to be lacking
in the end while yesterday's hero Ray Lawrence got stuck out of place with
the leftovers. He still rode hard and did plenty of moves but the waves let
him down.
Lastly the teams went out for a clash but it's not the same when you're 200m
from the beach.
Much to my delight I'll say goodbye and I'll be walking straight to the
fridge for a cold sherbet or two before the presso's tonight. See you in the
funny papers, Adam Ant!
www.surfcds.com
The 21st
Annual Longboard National Titles - Yallingup delivers the goods on the final
day
The open womens final did not disappoint either with
Claire Finucane (Melville WA), Emma Wilson (Jan-Juc, VIC), Arlene Nagtzaam
(Yallingup, - WA), and Kirsty Webster (Banora Point, -NSW) not giving each
other any room for error. In an intense final that saw the girls jockeying
for position in the lineup and asserting dominance for right of way it was a
case of WA’s Claire Finucane who reaped the rewards. Finucane showed why she
is a past multiple National title holder, where in 2001 and 2003 she won the
event and has now taken the title for a third time in 2006. She went to town
on the long winding walls of Yallingup and basically wrote her name on the
wave faces as the winner in a power driven, precision performance. Posting a
6.90pt scoring ride and an 8.35pt ride for her two high scoring rides
Finucane never looked back and dominated the later part of the heat to win
another title. “It was pretty hard going at the beginning of the final
everyone was eager to get a wave early and anything that looked like one
created a frenzy. There were some good ones out there, but you had to wait
for them. I’m pretty happy with the win and having my mum there to watch me
is great, she was also stoked. It’s been a great event with always something
to do at night based around the event”, said Finucane.
(Surfing Australia)
A perfect spring day with near on perfect performances and a clean 1.5 to 2m
swell had competitors and spectators awestruck on what some described the
perfect playing field for an event.
The event has been memorable in more ways than one with huge conditions
during the early part of the week that saw a total of 24 surfboards broken
at the event. Out of these 14 were destroyed during competition and 10 in
free surfing around the contest. As boards were binned and some repaired,
one thing visiting competitors have learned, that you do not underestimate
the power of the Indian Ocean.
In the blue ribbon division, the open mens final, it was Jackson Close from
Queensland's Gold Coast who opened his account early with a score of 7.25
points out of a possible ten for his first wave. Close linked together a
series of manouvres that saw him hold the lead until the twelve minute mark
of the thirty minute final. With no one yet to challenge Close for the lead,
current World Champion Josh Constable (Sunshine Coast, QLD) decided to make
his move. Constable stroked into one of the bigger right hand waves of the
day to pull into a sensational looking barrel that opened right up to allow
him to find some shade from the scorching West Australian sun and to also
thrust him into the lead. Rewarded with a total score of 8.00 for his
efforts Constable was about to show why he is the current World Championship
title holder. While Jarryd Foster (Yallingup, WA), Ray Lawrence ( NSW) and
Close gave Constable a good nudge, Constable further cemented his position
for first with his second high scoring ride produced in the dying five
minutes of the final. Posting a 8.50 points, Constable just snuck in front
of Close by just 2.40 points leaving Close to post a 9.93 point ride to
knock him from the lead. It was not to be for Close and Constable was
crowned the open national title champion. “It’s just such a great vibe down
here and such a beautiful place. A spectacular lightning show last night and
rain had me wondering what the final day would bring and when I awoke this
morning to a perfect day it was just a bonus. Great waves for the final and
a great day, I’m stoked to win in this type of environment,” said Constable.
Perhaps the most outstanding performances came in the Funs Back Surf over 55
mens with West Australian Bob Monkman posting the highest score of the event
a 9.25 pts to win his third National title. Monkman received standing
applause upon reaching the beach signifying a well deserved win, even though
no one would know the outcome till the presentations at 8pm that evening, it
was more than obvious he had claimed another title.
In the other 60 final competitors surfed two finals and the overall total of
points accumulated produced the winner. Barry McGuigan (NSW) won the first
final while Dave Ellis (WA) won the second, but it was 77 year old McGuigan
who won the title with his overall point score.
Ben Fesseley (QLD) produced the goods to win the Sunsmart junior final with
Rani Bartlett (NSW) taking out the Pacific Finance junior womens.
In the Zentner shipping over 35s mens Adam Lane (WA) had a convincing win
along with Sharon Jackson (QLD) who won the over 35 womens division final.
Glenn Cuningham (QLD) took the title in the over 40 mens with Brian Thompson
(VIC) winning the over 45 mens and Ric Chalmers (NSW) taking home the trophy
for the over 50 mens.
Queensland won four National titles at the event New South Wales and Western
Australia three and Victoria one.
As well as the number of most individual titles Queensland also took the
holy grail of the event winning the teams challenge with Western Australia
second.
FINAL RESULTS
OPEN MENS
1. Josh Constable - QLD, 2. Jackson Close – QLD, 3. Jarryd Foster – WA, 4.
Ray Lawrence - NSW
OPEN WOMENS
1. Claire Finucane – WA, 2. Emma Wilson – VIC, 3. Arlene Nagtzaam - WA, 4.
Kirsty Webster –NSW
SUNSMART JUNIOR MENS
1. Ben Fesseley – QLD, 2. Bryce Young - NSW, 3. Bowie Pollard - QLD, 4.
Nicholas Farago - NSW
PACIFIC FINANCE JUNIOR WOMENS
1. Rani Bartlett – NSW, 2. Grace Clifford – WA, 3. Jade Foster – WA, 4.
Freya Hogarth – Tas, 5. Ella Bahen - WA
OVER 35 WOMENS
1. Sharon Jackson – QLD, 2. Arlene Nagtzaam – WA, 3. Samantha Vanderford –
WA, 4. Kirsty Webster -NSW
ZENTNER SHIPPING OVER 35 MENS
1. Adam Lane -WA, 2. David Barlow - WA, 3. Dean Cristallo - NSW, 4. Jason
Jewrey - NSW
OVER 40 MEN
1. Glen Cunningham - QLD, 2. Kevin Anderson - WA, 3. Richard Smith - NSW, 4.
Brett Merrifield - WA
OVER 45 MEN
1. Brian Thompson - VIC, 2. Ray Barker - WA, 3. Barrie McKinnon - WA, 4.
Paul Milroy - QLD
OVER 50 MEN
1. Ric Chalmers - NSW, 2. Chris Fullston - WA, 3. Phil Baggs - NSW, 4. Mike
Pimm - NSW
FUNS BACK SURF OVER 55 MEN
1. Bob Monkman,- WA, 2. Mick Marlin - WA, 3. Gordon Fuz - QLD, 4. Bruce
Channon, - NSW
OVER 60 MEN
1. Barry McGuigan - NSW, 2. Ross Caslick - NSW, 3. David Ellis - WA, 4. Jack
Triep, - Vic
