Wednesday, 18 October 2006

Overcast conditions with onshore winds again greeted competitors on day two of the 21st Annual Longboard National Titles at Yallingup Beach.

As pods of Humpback and Southern right whales breached and frolicked out at sea, throughout the day winds became more favorable and combined with clean long walls and a solid swell increase of between the 2 to 2.5 metre mark a day of reckoning unfolded.

Solid walls of water with enough power to generate electricity for a small town were unleashed on competitors which saw a total of eight boards snapped in two, including one which was damaged beyond repair into three pieces.

As knees were knocking together on the beach, the Sunsmart junior boys division saw intestinal fortitude being called upon wave after wave with no holding back after committing to the elevator like drops on the point of take off.

Queenslander Ben Fesseley had a strong win in his debut of the event to progress through to round two while Bryce Young (Angourie NSW) son of legendary surfer Nat Young showed no fear as he scrambled into one of the biggest sets of the day only to have it close out in front him turning into a large wall of white water.

Young managed to progress through his heat after snapping his board clean in two as the white water engulfed him and his board sending him to the bottom of Yallinup's reef.

“That was pretty hairy out there with so much water moving around and just these big solid grey walls steaming through the lineup. It was hard to work out where to sit out there and after I got drilled by that large one only to come up and find my board snapped in two, I just sat there bemused. I was so stoked to get through,” said Young.

Round one of the over 40 mens was also run in the large conditions with Glen Cunningham (Qld), David Haines (NSW), Kevin Anderson (WA), Mitch Baker (WA), Grant Price (Vic), Floyd Irvine (WA), Brett Merrifield (WA), Andrew Farago (NSW) all cementing a place in the next round.

West Australian Peter Collison from Mandurah reveled in the conditions to post a solid win in the over 45 mens along with fellow team mate Ray Baker from Margaret River who seemed to have intimate knowledge of the break and Barrie Mc Kinnon. The WA contingent won 3 of the four heats surfed today with Paul Milroy (QLD). Second place getters to advance into the next round included Ross Murphy (NSW), Paul O’Grady (NSW), Brian Thompson (VIC) and Tony Abood (NSW).

The going did not get any easier in the over 50 mens division. As the tide moved out at an alarming rate and the right hander at Yallingup starting to close out, just paddling out to the lineup was deemed a mission.

First to suffer the fate of the draining reef was West Australian favorite in the division, Peter Dunn, who lost two fins as the reef sucked dry. Dunn had to return to the beach and obtain another board and again had to negotiate the treacherous reef to get out to the lineup. The carnage continued with another two boards snapped in two in the division and a few scrapes and bruises to remind visitors of their encounter with Yallingups reef.

With a further increase in swell forecast for Wednesday and then a further rise in swell into the 4 metre range by Thursday one can only imagine what Yallingup will serve up to it’s visitors. One thing for sure is that with clean offshore winds and a large swell on Thursday Yallingup will be displaying her true form.

Surfing Australia