The forecast for April’s Dalmeny Boardrider’s competition meant we were sure to be gifted a “waves all day” kind of event. Autumn goodness graced our shores with light offshore winds, water as warm as a bath and a moderate 3 foot south east swell. With recent conditions at bar beach offering idyllic waves, it was the obvious location for Sunday’s event. There was a shifty A-frame with occasional 4 foot sets rolling through. A low tide in the middle of the day left a shallow sandbar on the inside and generated some hazardous backwash for viewing pleasure.
A glorious day unravelled, filled with paddle battles and backwash annihilations. Rain clouds loomed ominously on the horizon, but this was not the case on shore where the sun shone brightly and the sausages and lentil patties sizzled on the BBQ. Chief BBQ taster Glenn Mood gave a special commendation to the ‘egg and bacon deluxe roll with all condiments onboard’. Rumour has it the gooey chocolate brownies and spicy carrot cake were quite the hit this month too.
Sweet crunchy watermelon slices were handed around as the first round of judges put bums on seats to critique the Under 18 Boys. Three heats of young men battled it out to make it through to the finals. In heat 1 Lincoln Dell picked a couple of big right hand set waves scoring 6 points on each with an impressive array of artwork - carves, foam climbs and laybacks. Oscar Jackson showed us a few speedy carves scoring a 5.93. Archie Cowie found himself a big clean right to execute a nice carve off the top scoring 4.33 points.
The second heat had four humans and a surfing seal in the lineup. Jet Lange, light as a feather on his backside, climbed the foamball for a nice lipline floater. On a second wave, a right hander, Lange lined up a massive bottom turn only to be blasted out of the top of the wave into the air by the backwash. Ruben Smithers found a glassy face for a delightful down carve. Will Tiffen was snapping his way along a wave on track for an excellent score only to succumb to a backwash boosting too. Speed demon Finn Banks found a crumbling lip right at the end of the heat for a tidy snap.
In the third heat Hamish White’s patience was rewarded with a 6.67 point wave where he stayed tight in the pocket with a nice high snap scoring 6.67 points and landing a straight air on another wave scoring 5.57 points. Matt Driscoll raced down the line looking for a section but was also boosted by the backwash, he redeemed himself with his usual disappearing act in a huge closeout reentry - completing disappearing in the foamball only to reappear and collect 5.67 points.
In the semi-finals Lincoln Dell showed us perfectly timed clean turns, making no mistakes, finishing with two 7 point rides. Oscar Jackson reached his hand into the shallow sandbar with a stylish layback. This heat was dubbed by Simon Brown as ‘one of the best heats he has ever seen’ in the Dalmeny Boardriders. For the second semi-final the waves were shared with dolphins. Will Tiffen completed 4 turns on one wave. Hamish White answered back to this by nearly chopping off Will’s toes during a cutback. There were paddle battles between White and Tiffen and gasps of delight as Dell attempted an air reverse, but Matt Driscoll stole the show in the final throwing massive spray in perfect arcs finishing with a total of 13.77 points.
There were three heats in the Open Men division and big things were expected, however there were some long lulls between sets. New comer Hamish ‘Roundhouse’ Ramsey picked all the running set waves into shore, showcasing some stylish and well timed roundhouse cutbacks. Brandon Feledyk repeatedly struggled to land his second turn. Matt Driscoll dropped in on Luke Waters on a bomb of a left hander, both surfers committing to the drop and missing each other by less than a whisker.
There were two turns in particular that deserve a mention in this division. Mark Anderson loosened up with a huge carve on a clean 4 foot wave throwing heaps of spray for 5.5 points and Luke Waters had obviously eaten his Weetbix that morning as he went right and destroyed the lip with an insane backside snap. Those in the judging tent exclaiming they'd never seen Waters do a turn of that calibre before.
Liam Hanigan found his groove in the semifinal. As elegant as a gazelle, the returning DBR member scored an excellent 8.5 points from 2 massive turns, his spray rocketing skyward. In the final Matt Hoar managed to get upside down on a steeper wave, but it was Hanigan who got the chicken dinner.
In a straight final for the longboarders Nina Lange kept in control and stepped along her board on a long right hander. Russell Banks got his plank up for a big floater but fell forward with a nice head dip, Banks earned redemption on a 5.4 point ride with a massive hack on a later wave. Simon Brown hung 5 piggies off the nose, then unfortunately got the wobbles and fell. Brown backed this up with a nice reentry to take the win.
By the time the Over 45m men hit the water the waves had slowed and there was just a mere foot of water covering the sandbar - this led to some seriously self-preserving dismounts. Justin Black put his whole body into a powerful snap for 5.83 points while Mark Anderson was smooth and in control as he carved down the line. Steven Beach struggled to get a wall. Dean Lange showed signs of a subtle fist pump as he sped along taking the high line and turned from top to bottom on a few bigger waves. Doughnuts were on the menu for Luke Waters as once again he dropped anchor to smell the roses. Andrew Johnson got to work with a few waves in quick succession to win the final.
In the Open Women Nina Lange had a few near decapitations as Lucy Baltis’s board went flying past her nose on two occasions. Therese Craner sat out the back looking for nothing but the bombs as they rolled on through. Georgia Dawson did a nice backside snap in her heat and Alice Mood found a speedy left. In the final Alice Mood scored 5 points for a backside cutback, she tried hard for a backup score on an inside shore break but the lip had other ideas and she settled for ‘Wipeout of the Day’ instead. It was Melissa Hoar who took out the final with two long well navigated set waves.
Spike Gunn, 6 years, traded the trampoline for his surfboard as the backwash bounced him from tummy to bum to back ending with a somersault on dismount. Spike was on fire catching each wave all the way into shore, with length of ride at the forefront of his mind as he reached the shoreline he remained standing and as the seconds ticked by he even started surfing backwards as the surge began to take him back out to sea.
Sandy Brown, 5 years, was Mr Independent, accepting help from no one he earned himself second place by paddling out by himself, catching the waves and standing up in control. Safety officer Belinda Weston was close by in case help was needed. Not sure how his fins weren't stuck in the sandbar as he glided through the ankle deep water. Mali Brown was up quick with a smile stretching from ear to ear as she battled it out with her younger brother for the points. Lilah Lawrence was at home in the breakers as she sailed past Simon Brown giving him a high 5 as she passed. Ayla Hoar had eyes on the bombs out the back, she made the connection on one and ended up halfway to Carter’s headland. Ayla caught some of her biggest waves to date, with style most of us adults would envy. Lucas Heinemann came first in the final with some big running right handers trimming in control from top to bottom
The Under 18 Girls and Under 14 Boys competed at the same time, who surfed which bank was quickly decided with a game of scissors, paper, rock! Ruby Davis and Georgia Dawson enjoyed some bigger A-frames closer to the breakwall, while the 5 under 14 boys had smaller A frames which offered steeper faces. Oscar Jackson was a clear winner in first place, scoring 7.75 points from a vertical end section re-entry where he free fell with the lip to ride out clean.
There were a whopping 25 heats scheduled over 8 1/2 hours for this competition, it sure was an action packed day with so many competitors. A big thank you to all the volunteers who came early to set up and stayed late after such a big day to pack away the gear. There are some welcome new faces on the committee this year, but we are always after more enthusiastic members to help grow the club!
Final results:
Under 8s - Spike Gunn
Under 13s - Lucas Heinemann
Under 14 boys - Oscar Jackson
Under 18 boys - Matt Driscoll
Over 45 men - Andrew Johnson
Open mens - Liam Hanigan
Under 18 girls - Ruby Davis
Open women - Melissa Hoar
Longboards - Simon Brown
Next competition: Sunday 7th May
Above: Liam Hanigan displacing a few gigaliters of spray
Above: Jet Lange, Hunter McDonald, Ruben Smithers looking sharp in their Dalmeny Boardriders hooded towels
