2008 HARRINGTON INVITATIONAL

• Day One
  • Location: 100 metres or so down the Beach from the Crowdy Head Surf Club
  • High tide in the early morning as the 4WDs skirt the edges of the flora growing close to the high tide mark along Crowdy Head beach, doing a scan for a suitable starting point for the 2008 Harrington Over-40's Invitational
  • This was about the 10th year this has been running, and this writers first visit
  • I was told by some of the regulars to this comp that this year was unfortunately the worst as far as conditions go
  • But still looked pretty-damned surfable to me
  • By 7am, the decision had been made, and with a pod of Dolphins playing in the background, Tent City started to take shape
  • The various modes of surfer transport were lined up along the Point, from Matchbox Toys (Daihatsu Charades), right up to Mercedes Campers
  • There was even a Toyota Corolla that had two 9'6" longboards stuffed inside it - don't know whether the driver could see much though
  • Heats got under way at around 7.30am in very smooth, but not too well-shaped 2-3 foot waves
  • I say waves here rather than walls, because they were pretty-much breaking as one, not walling-up to give surfers those now famous long rides
  • As the tide went out and the wind came up, things got a little messy, and by finishing time on the first day, the ocean was wind-blown, and the waves were virtually nonexistent
  • But as this particular spot was not in the direct swell path, people were confident that there would be good waves (somewhere else) tomorrow
• Day Two
  • After arriving at the Crowdy Head Surf Club at around 6.45am, finding no swell at all, and finding no-one around, I guessed that the contest was on the move. But to where?
  • Drove to the Lighthouse to see if I could see a group of cars parked anywhere along the coast - nothing
  • Came back down to the Surf Club and waited
  • Recognised a vehicle from the day before driving past, so I jumped on his tail, and after a short detour down a bumpy dirt track, came to a familiar site - surf vehicles - and surf
  • Again the 4WDs did a cruise up the beach (someone said it was called Back Beach) looking for a suitable peak
  • Finally settled on a Left - Right Peak close to the car park
  • Waves were again in the 2-3 foot range, with a fairly fast left wall, and a slower, but not quite as neat right wall
  • The Dolphins were out again, checking who all these intruders were in THEIR ocean
  • The Semi-Finals were "finalised" before the Finals hit the water around 10.30am
  • Six Finals in all - results here below
  • I guess there were around 60 competitors over the weekend, and everyone seemed to share the Aloha spirit
  • The Preso took place up at the pub, where a few tall tales of the ones that got away, and went unridden, were swapped
  • Interesting comp, and well-worth a visit if you get the opportunity

   

FINALS RESULTS

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