Well worth the wait for GBR Event 3!

Burton on top for GBR 2009 Grand Final

The Geraldton Board Riders held its third and final qualifying event on Saturday 1st August.

It was a beautiful day down at Flat Rocks.  Light offshore winds and smooth 3-4ft waves provided some of the best surfing conditions the club has had in recent years and the surfing on the day was equally good. Over 40 competitors took part and everyone had a great day and caught some nice waves.

The Open final was very close, with all surfers getting good rides. Brenten Burton ended up with the highest scoring two wave combination. Burton went right on his first wave - something he does more than most at Flat Rocks – and it paid off. He combined a big re-entry and roundhouse cutback out the back with a big tail-sliding vertical whack on the inside. He backed that up with a left on which he linked up a number of smooth but critical turns on the inside.  These two waves were enough to hold out Cayden Catto, Ross Fleming and Justin Hagan, who all got high scoring waves as well but couldn’t match Burton’s form on the day. Fittingly, these four surfers hold the top four positions in the Open division, with Burton going into the Grand Final day on top.

Catto, Fleming and Hagan also featured in the Masters division final. Again, all surfers locked in high scoring rides. In the end, Fleming prevailed. His characteristic big power turns received higher scores from the judges and were enough to withstand the expected challenge from Hagan, who wasn’t able to repeat the perfect 10 he received from the judges for one of his waves in the semi final. Hagan goes into Grand Final day with a small lead over Catto.

In the Junior division final, Jake Fawcett showed why he is currently one of the best surfers in the State. With the move of the day, Fawcett powered out of his first bottom turn on a big left hander, punched through the lip and whipped his board around in mid air before sliding down sideways over head high pounding white water and continuing down the line. With surfing like this, there was little doubt Fawcett was going to win the final. Jesse Carter and James Fleming, who also had impressive results this year in the Junior State Series, and Mitchell Baillee, also surfed well.  Fawcett leads Baillee and Fleming going into Grand Final day.

There were plenty of waves surfed in the Cadet final. After bowing out early in the Junior division, Damien Fleming showed his capabilities in the Cadet final. With the two highest scoring waves of the heat, he was a clear winner over Jesse Carter, his brother James and Sam Baker. The boys will not only be taking good form into the GBR Grand Final day but also the Regional Schools Surfing Titles, to be held in the week before. This is a great event for local schools to participate in.

Leon Norris was back to his best in the Grand Masters, winning his first event for the year. Brett Schofield also surfed well to secure second place. They’ll surf against other finalists Andrew Benzie and Kim Burton on Grand Final day to see who claims the GBR Grand Masters title for 2009.

In the Womens division Jaimee Wheatley and Dimitra Carter both surfed well. Wheatley won on the day, although Carter will be going into Grand Final day in first place.

The GBR would like to thank everyone who attended and Billabong, DaKine and the Corner surf Shop for sponsoring the event.

Attention now turns to the GBR Grand Final Day, scheduled for Saturday 15 August, when club champions for 2009 will be decided. For all the details on local surfing, check out the GBR's local surfing website at www.gerosurf.com.au. 

RESULTS:

Hot surfing action for GBR's second comp for 2009 

The Geraldton Board Riders held its second surfing competition for the 2009 season at Flat Rocks on Saturday. 

Organizers and competitors couldn’t have hoped for better conditions with sunshine, light to moderate winds mainly from the east and a small to moderate swell pushing great waves through Flat Rocks all day.  46 entrants competed for extra points and prizes and had a great day and some great waves in the process. 

The perfect conditions allowed for plenty of good surfing to be displayed throughout the day.  There were some very close heats and a number of heats went to count back.  Judges were constantly in the hot seat, having to rank consecutive or even simultaneous good scoring rides. 

The Open division final went down to the wire and was one of the best heats witnessed in recent years. Each surfer seemed to raise the bar with every wave caught. This culminated with Justin Hagan receiving a score of 9.5 out of a possible 10 for a left hander in the middle of the heat on which he executed about 6 big whipping re-entries including one amazing "fins out the back" vertical whack. But the other finalists weren't done with yet. With only seconds to go, Brenton Burton and Jai Macrides split a set wave that hit the Flat Rocks reef perfectly. Macrides on the left performed a series of smooth but critical maneuvers for which he received a score of 8.5. Burton on the right pulled off an unbelievable vertical re-entry that literally shocked the crowd. He followed this up with an airborne floater on the inside. Burton received a 9 and was only edged out by Hagan on count back. Burton, however, goes into the third qualifying event in first place after winning the first event. 

Hagan backed up his win in the Open division with first place in the hotly contested Masters division. Macrides and first event winner Cayden Catto pushed Hagan to produce his best in the final. 

Just like in the Open and the Masters divisions, the Junior and Cadets divisions on Saturday were both won by the same surfer - James Fleming. Fleming picked up some of the best waves on the day and was one of the stand out surfers for the event with a style that belies his age.  He was pushed all the way though by the likes of his brother Damien, and Max Marsden in the Juniors. These results will help the lads in their preparation for the next Junior State round at Triggs Point in a couple of weeks. 

The absence of some big names in the Womens division allowed other girls to shine. In an entertaining final that included some great rides by all the girls, it was Dimitra Carter who ended up prevailing with a couple of high scoring rides. 

While Ian "Sam" Salmond was able to outscore Kim "Wacka" Burton in the semi final of the Grand Masters division, Whacka got the higher scores in the final. This backs up Burton's win in the first event and makes him the clear leader in the Grand Masters division for 2009.

The GBR would like to thank all sponsors of the event and everyone who attended.  The next big event on the local surfing calendar is the 2nd Open State Round and Junior Pro to be held in Geraldton on 2 and 3 May.  This will bring the best surfers in the State to Geraldton and will allow local rippers to compete at the State level.  The third and final GBR club event for 2008 will be on Sunday 17 May.  If the first two events are anything to go by, the third event should not be missed.

 Results:

Geraldton Boardriders Club  2009 contest season  got off to a great start with the first event  attracting 60 competitors. Sunday’s venue was Flat Rocks and competitors were greeted with glassy conditions and small to medium waves. The wind kicked in offshore from the NE during the morning creating the opportunity for tube rides with Kim Burton picking up a 9 point barrel ride in his heat.

The young Cadets revelled in the small conditions providing plenty of action combined with high performance surfing  in their final. There was a tough tussle for first place between the Fleming brothers James and Damien for first place honours as only 1 point separated the two with James doing the better.

The Junior division had to contend with inconsistent waves but when they did arrive the action was hot. Max Marsden established a lead early with a good strong ride all the way to the key-hole then Jake Fawcett found a couple to his liking. Max responded to the call to nudge out Jake towards the end of the final grabbing 1^st place.

The Masters final was also starved for waves but that didn’t stop Justin Hagan posting a 7.8 ride and brother Deon following up with a tidy 7 but it was a welcome return to contest surfing for Cayden Catto who picked up two good waves with scores of 6.8 and 6.5 laving both the Hagans searching for a good back up ride as time ran out.

In the Grand Masters it was the Kim ‘Wack’ Burton show as he turned his magnet on full and picked up every good set waves to blow away the competition. Rossco Middleton fought back hard but was no match for Kim’s superior wave selection and radical surfing.

In the Women’s GBR welcomed back Jaimee Wheatley from her stint away in the women’s WQS  events. Jaimee showed why she is one of Australia’s top surfers with a dynamic display of high quality women’s surfing.

The final of the blue ribbon Open Division was missing a few favourites with the surprise eliminations of Justin Hagan, Jai McCrides and Jake Fawcett  leaving a field of finalists aged from 14 to 40. Kit Rayner was another welcome return to GBR  and his explosive surfing was certainly a crowd pleaser. He started with an excellent 8 point ride snapping off several beyond vertical backhand moves and looked to be impossible to beat. Brenten Burton had other plans though and after a mediocre start found his form and answered back with a superb 8 point ride of his own. The battle was on for a good back-up ride and Kit managed a 6 pointer which looked to be enough until Brenten picked up a beauty in the dying seconds to nudge out Kit on a count-back by the narrowest of margins.

GBR’s next event is scheduled for Saturday April 4^th and new members are most welcome to join. There is also an opportunity to become a fully accredited surfing coach with Surfing WA conducting a Level 1 coaching course April 25/26 in Geraldton Places are limited to 16 and details are on www.gerosurf.com.au

Contest Director

Leon Norris

(full results for each division below)

OPEN WOMENS:

1)      Jaimee Wheatley

2)      Lorena Perrin

3)      Dimitra Carter

MASTERS:

1)      Cayden Catto

2)      Justin Hagan

3)      Deon Hagan

4)      Leon Norris

GRAND MASTERS:

1)      Kim Burton

2)      Ross Middleton

3)      Bob Fawcett

4)      Leon Norris

JUNIORS:

1)      Max Marsden

2)      Jake Fawcett

3)      Damien Fleming

4)      Mitchell Bailee

Cadets:

1)      James Fleming

2)      Damien Fleming

3)      Sam Baker

4)      Harry Wellington

5)      Will Stanton

OPEN MENS:

1)      Brenten Burton

2)      Kit Rayner

3)      Max Marsden

4)      Ross Fleming