Ray Lawrence nicely slotted
Tony Abood
Bruce Channon
Brett Mayfield
Rani Bryant
All photos above credit Adam Albertini
Nth Beaches surfers Bruce Channon put on an awesome display to advance to the over 55's semi finals in WA!
Photo Please Credit : Marz Vassallo
2006 AUSTRALIAN LONGBOARD TITLES-DAY FOUR
Friday, 20 October 2006
Offshore wind - quick get
down for a surf! The waves remained in the eight foot range with an offshore
breeze, the over 45 surfers went first but didn't really get into it. The
peak was a bit shifty and there were still the big clean-up sets. Tony Abood
got a screamer while Paul O'Grady showed his class in the big conditions and
he'll be just warming up for the finals.
Finally the call went out to change the venue due to an increase in size and
predicted strong winds (what's the difference from the last few days?).
Injidup Car park was the only spot able to take us (short right hander on
the beach), as Grace Town and it's surf spot South Point is out of bounds to
comps since the fatal rock slide some years ago. Pity as it's a classic
place.
The over 60s looked very relieved as they paddled out to a glassy three foot
hollow right, and with the Junior women on next it was really on for young
and old.
Rani Bartlett and the girls looked great in the waves but when the Over 55
men hit it things slowed down till Bruce Channon barged his way into a few
pits and looked happy not to have to surf Yallingup.
Tube of the day went to over 40s surfer Brett Mayfield from WA as the sets
started to increase in size. Six foot waves came in together with a strong
cross-wid but that wasn't going to bother Phil Baggs in the over 50's as he
carved across the big sets.
P-Break, a hollow right hander down the beach, was doing a good impression
of Backdoor Pipe with most of the young guns trying to snap a board or two.
With the swell increasing and who-knows-what with the wind we are all hoping
that we will be back at Injidup Car park tomorrow but probably not.
By Adam Albertini
www.surfcds.com
T
he 21st Annual LongboardNational Titles
Yallingup Beach
16th – 21st October 16, 2006
Western Australia
(Surfing Australia)
Change of venue due to big conditions for 21st Annual Longboard National Titles at Yallingup Beach sees competitors push the barriers.
(Yallingup, South West Australia 19th October 2006) A 3 to 3.5 metre swell and a forecast of onshore winds by mid morning saw organisers forced to move the event to more suitable locations at Injidup Beach, where competitors were greeted with near on perfect conditions and a clean 1 to 1.8 metre swell.
Seventy seven year old Barry Mc Guigan (NSW) surfed like a twenty year old grommet. The seasoned veteran produced some stylish manouvres to win his heat from fellow team mate Ross Caslick.
The Pacific Finance junior womens semi final saw Rani Bartlett (NSW) dominate the heat from start to finish. Bartlett was unstoppable and surfed like a well oiled machine with precision, timing and superior wave selection. Her surfing did the talking and the petite natural footer easily reigned victorious in her heat winning from Grace Clifford, - WA, Jade Foster, – WA, Freya Hogarth, - Tas and Ella Bahen, – WA. The girls will all again meet in the final with a second chance draw. “That was just so much better out there than Yallingup. It was fun and you could relax a little and not worry about getting cleaned up by huge monster set. I’m really happy to advance”, said Bartlett.
Queenslander Glen Cunningham thrived on the conditions on offer. Cunningham was consistent enough to pull a win in the over 40 quarter final with Kevin Anderson WA, Grant Price VIC and Richard Smith NSW also winning their quarter final heats.
Daughter of surfing legend Nat Young won her quarter final heat in the womens open division. Young was stylish to watch and was reminiscent of her fathers surfing in the late 60’s. Judy Dann from WA who was struck on her head by her surfboard late yesterday afternoon also won her quarter final heat along with fellow team mate Samantha Vanderford.
In the over 45 division West Australians Barrie Mc Kinnon and Ray Barker had easy wins in the quarter finals. Before the decision was announced to move the event all four quarters of the division were held in the large Yallingup walls where both felt comfortable. Brian Thompson (VIC) and Paul Milroy (QLD) also won their heats unscathed and progressed through to the semis with Ross Murphy (NSW), Paul O'Grady (NSW), Mal McColluch (VIC) and Tony Abood (NSW). Perhaps the best performance of the day came from Bruce Channon from NSW. Channon a renowned surfing photographer from the late 70’s and now chief editor of Australian Longboard magazine put in some moves that had the crowd cheering to win his quarter final and advance through to the semi finals of the over 55 mens.Now down to the business end of the event Friday is promising to produce some of the best and cleanest waves of the event and is set to relocate back to Yallingup. The weather will be warm to hot by the weekend and the surfing is guaranteed to be even hotter.
