By Alice Wilson Surf frothers both young and old gathered bright and early at Yabbarra beach on Sunday for the Dalmeny Boardrider’s March competition day. After days of howling north east wind the incoming 2-3 foot North swell was surprisingly clean, although not the idyllic pumping offshore conditions, it did exceed expectations. Most of the waves were caught out the back and for those surfers who were able to make the connection, we were gifted a shore break like no other. This draining, dumping display of mother nature’s oceanic power was certainly the older man’s trash and the fearless grommets’ treasure. These youngsters got busy in, on and under the lip of the powerful walls of water. There were some broken bodyboards but thankfully no broken bones. These tiny thrill seekers somehow avoided collision with each other as the unstoppable walls of water swallowed them up and spat them out through the day.
As the kids crumbed up nicely in the sandy foreshore, Ric Guseli opened the day with some commentary and some delightful tunes through the speakers. With burger flippers Jim and Helen away, Megan had some help on the BBQ with a couple of smiling faces new to the game, Sonya Heinemann and Nikki Simpson. As usual, the grommets were quick to gobble down their free sausage sandwich and pester mums and dads for a dollar or two to follow it up with a baked goodie.
Up first were the Under 18 boys. Matt Driscoll stole a win in the first heat with stunning turns and an enviable heat score of 14.33, backside snap floaters and connecting to the inside shore break worked in his favour. Jet Lange picked some longer waves and went for a nice lipline floater but unfortunately came unstuck in the foam. Finn Banks showed bucketloads of improvement and grabbed his rail in the shore break but got sucked over the falls and slammed onto the sand. The second heat saw some late takeoffs by Oscar Jackson who worked hard to commit to the end section, unfortunately getting swallowed by the closeouts. There were some nice cutbacks by Joey Banks but it was Mitchell Loudoun who earnt the heat win, not holding back and hitting critical sections with 100% commitment. We saw some impressive surfing in the final. Mitchell Loudoun went for a monstrous turn, showing us his fins before losing contact with his board. He redeemed himself from this mishap with some silky smooth snaps collecting a heat total of 13.84. Matt Driscoll had his eyes on the prize, consecutively attacking the lip and gouging away at the face for a massive heat total of 16 points.
Andrew Johnson opened his heat in the Over 45 Mens division with two big turns, wiggling along the dead section with S-turns to finish the wave right on the beach, narrowly missing the speed humps playing in the shore break. Luke Waters finished the second heat grinning with a couple of good snap floaters under his belt to get him through to the final. A 6 man final entered the briny with rashvests as colourful as their rivalry. Andrew Johnson was quick off the mark to attack the lip. Russell Banks opted for the short right handers and would have ended up up on the stones if it weren’t for his powerful cutbacks. Robert Heinemann completed a few whippy turns and went for a massive vertical snap but unfortunately came unstuck in the foam and was send to the sin bin, or “duck dive city” as he recalled it - the relentless onslaught of the foam ball was too much to contest with and Robert accepted defeat and paddled in early. Laidback Luke Waters tried his best with a layback hack but unfortunately his dreadlocks weighed him down and pulled him off his board. Justin Black almost completed a 360 and then paddled in halfway through the final having had enough, however after realising he was sitting in first place he quickly paddled back out to rack a few more points up to extend his winning margin. Justin thought he'd test out his reconstructed knee with some sort of lipline/snap/air drop which he landed faultlessly and collected a tidy 7.5 points for.
It was all about making the connection for the open women. Marley Eaton and Melissa Hoar picked off the bombs of the first heat. Lucy Baltis got a smoker of a right hander into shore but didn’t manage a back up to push her through to the finals. Nina made a connection to the inside on a long wave and Pearl Eaton made the big drops but couldn’t find a wall to attack. The final saw a new face on the podium, young Pearl Eaton. Coming close in second place was Melissa Hoar, who was pumped about her Big Niles voucher. Alice Mood, not impressed with her performance in the final, mowed over fellow shredder Marley Eaton at high speed on the way in, amazingly there was no damage to board or body.
As usual we were entertained during the longboard division. Brandon Feledyk opened the heat by wrapping himself up and sending himself over with the lip. Nina Lange tore along a bumpy left and held on the for the reform, as she approached the shorey which was standing up nicely she grabbed her rail and assumed barrel-riding stance, the judges sat on the edge of their chairs wondering if she would commit for death or glory, but her brains prevailed as she opted for self preservation and pulled off the back. Whistles and cheers emanated from the tent. Ray Lawrence made it look easy as he spun his 9’4 foot piece of foam around with some lipline floaters and drop knee turns which left spectators dazzled.
Russell Banks also toyed with danger, he trimmed stylishly right into shore. He had innocent grommets scattering frantically for their lives as he narrowly missed collisions with his own offspring in order to finish the wave. Russell wasn’t phased and just fobbed it off as “collateral damage”. Simon Brown, king of the re-form, threw some spray and graced us with his endless repertoire of entertaining dismounts. Mitchell Loudoun grabbed rail on a left and disappeared into a crumbly cover-up never to return, but then found the hints of some shade under the lip on a right hander.
In the longboard final Ray Lawrence was fired up for the win muttering “I see red” as he slipped into his usual red rashvest, Jet Lange certainly gave the big fella a run for his money coming second by only 0.30 of a point!
Pearl Eaton once again stepped it up and held first place for most of the Under18 Girls final. But it was Marley Eaton who couldn’t be beaten, she once again got the required points in her last wave of the final to overtake her younger sister.
The under 14 Boys had a straight final. Oscar Jackson and Sam Harris surely got their wave count up. Joey Banks scored a nice 4.5 point ride. The win was awarded to Oscar Jackson who’s air drops and quick successive snaps were a standout.
These were some of the most difficult conditions one could conjure for the Assisted Groms. The heavy shore break had boards flying. Barely 5 minutes into the heat there were several leashes chucked and many defeated little humans dragging their boards back up the beach with furrowed brows. Lucas Heinemann and father stepped up to the challenge and surfed the entire heat, rewarded with a win. In the final, Lucas gathered some serious speed and went to bail off the back of the wave, but the lip had other ideas and slammed him back onto his board in the shore dump. Ouch. They say red goes faster, this was definitely true for Flinder Black as he zoomed along the closing out drainers to win his heat and then the final. Spike Gunn made his debut in the Under 8s, he was up and riding the foam board with a grin the size of the Cheshire cat.
Last but not least we had the Open Mens straight final. With a dead low tide Luke Waters and Ric Guseli did the strut of shame back up the beach as they didn’t make it out the back first attempt. During attempt number two, Ric was sucked into the sand and foamball vortex halfway to Duesbury beach, where he came in like a drowned rat after duck diving head first into the sand bar. Lucky Luke made it out the back on his second attempt but chose to enjoy the spectacle over a cup of salty sea tea, unable to score a wave. Brandon Feledyk got busy and vertical to end in second place, managing to make it out the back again quickly after each wave, avoiding the dreaded vortex. Matt Driscoll had a podium finish once again, with some seriously powerful turns, disappearing completely into the whitewater only to reappear and ride out clean.
The Pied Piper Kristen Guseli took to the sand with hoards of fun seekers in tow. The game of tug of war ended with both teams of youngsters collapsing simultaneously in exhausted piles on the sand. As the wind flapped relentlessly at the side of the judging tent many new faces popped their heads in to hone their judging skills. Most kids were encouraged to come and have a go at judging a heat or two. Any nerves were put at ease with head judge, Andrew Johnson, leading these newbies all the way to judging confidence by sharing his pearls of wisdom gained over his years of experience.
Final results:
Under 8s - Spike Gunn
Under 13s - Flinder Black
Under 14 boys - Oscar Jackson
Under 18 boys - Matt Driscoll
Over 45 men - Justin Black
Open mens - Matt Driscoll
Under 18 girls - Marley Eaton
Open women - Pearl Eaton
Longboards - Ray Lawrence
A special mention must be given to Therese Craner. You might see her dressed (tangled up) in her electrical cords, pressing buttons, pushing buzzers, organising heats and even surfing heats. Not much would happen if this lady wasn’t on site - if you see her hard at it, make sure to bring her a sausage, a cold beer, give her a massage or just a high five, she deserves it.
Next competition: Sunday April 2nd
Above: Under 14 boys Oscar Jackson, Sam Harriss, Joey Banks, Finn Banks
Above: Over 45 men. Beaten by a whisker. Runner up Andrew Johnson and winner Justin Black
Above: Under 18 grinners Georgia Gawson, Ruby Davis, Marley Eaton, Pearl Eaton
Above: Spike Gunn with mother Heidi ready to take on the world
Above: In, on and under the heaving shore break
Above: Open men. Brandon Feledyk and Matt Driscoll
Above: Under 13s Lucas Heinnemann and Lilah Lawrence navigating the shorebreak
