The swell
forecast was encouraging, but regrettably for the fourth consecutive year Huey
failed to provide contestable waves at Golfy for the 2009 Mollymook Longboarders
Charity Classic that was held over the weekend of 8/9 August.
However,
considering the lake-like conditions on Friday, the fact that there were reasonable
quality waves at Dolphin Point on Saturday morning was welcome to the 75 contestants
who had come from as far as the NSW central coast, and a relief to the organisers.
The move South inevitably meant a late start,
and the day finished at about 4:30PM in fading light after 26 heats.
Unfortunately
the Dolphin Point venue means separating the contest area from the socialising
and food tent area, which detracts a little from the ambience that exists at Golfy.
Nevertheless, the usual friendly atmosphere
at the contest was in evidence and the club crew in the food tent ensured that
there was a continuing supply of E&B rolls and later in the day superb steak sangers.
The day started at the Point with the 8
footers enjoying reasonable-size punchy waves on which Ray Lawrence Shane Dobing
and local Phil Jirsa ripped.
The Over 35s
followed, with Mitch English showing that he was intent on repeating his win of
2008, but Jason Skinner and State Title holder Sean Chivers also showed that they
would also be contenders.
Local Paul Hoyer
with an eye-catching performance on his 11 footer showed that length was no disadvantage
in the conditions (the weight to match probably helped a bit).
With
an increasing wind the contest was moved into the better conditions in Gay Bay
after six heats where the remaining heats were completed in a fading swell.
In
the Over 45s, Ross Murphy who had recently decided not have a hip replaced seemed
to be unaffected by the problem and progressed direct to the semis together with
Phil Jirsa in impressive displays.
John
Skinner in his last year in the 45s was also a standout performer in the heats.
In the Open 9 foot division, Christian Pimm
and Ray Lawrence both gave master-class displays of power surfing, and showed
that they would again be the ones to beat in this division that they seem to have
had a mortgage on in the past few years.
Nevertheless,
Dan Rowlands and Keiran Plim both showed that their form couldn't be ignored.
In the repechage round in this division
late in the day, both Matt Maris and Rhys Williams surfed on Old Mals and showed
that in the right conditions the old boards may still have some advantages over
modern longboards and both progressed to the 3rd round with laid-back fluid riding
including some Old Mal tricks.
There were
only three surfers under 60 in the Over 55 division with Bob Munro from Club Malnutrition
being the oldest at 68 and still cruisin'.
Dave
Wilson styled into the semis on his 13 footer.
In
the Junior division, 2008 runner-up Jackson Wright showed that he was the front
runner by clearly winning his heat, but first time entrant Blake Hackett was also
impressive in winning his heat.
Unfortunately
there were only 6 woman surfers this year including 13 year old local Maggie Purvis
in her first year of surfing and in her first ever contest and in the most testing
conditions she had experienced.
State Title
surfers the Murphy twins, Bernie and Lara, and Sam White showed that they would
battle out the final.
The Old Mal heats
were the last of the day and worth waiting around for, with juniors Blake Hackett
and Jake Bevan scoring clear wins in their heats over more experienced riders
Matt Maris and Alex Kiss with impressive nose work and a few tricks thrown in.
Quite a few of the surfers enjoyed Saturday
night in the Commercial Hotel in Milton where Greg McCarthy had a slide show of
photos taken during the day, and some surfing DVDs were also shown.
Strangely,
some surfers seemed to have more interest in the 3rd Ashes Test.
There
was some pessimism in the swell forecast for Sunday, but fortunately the forecasters
got it wrong, and whilst there was an increase in the swell size from Saturday,
Golfy was still unsuitable for a contest, and the decision was made to shift the
contest to the Mollymook Beach reef where there were very contestable 3 -4 foot
waves, but with frequent close-out sets; more than usual, wave selection would
be the key to success.
The rising tide promised
some improvement in conditions which turned out to be the case.
The
last three repechage heats were the first heats of the day and gave the clues
as to where to sit in the line-up.
They
also showed the danger of getting caught inside, and throughout the day several
surfers had time-sapping delays trying to get out through the white water.
There
were a few surprise results, with Dean Cristallo failing to reach the final of
either the Over 35s or the Open 8 foot, and locals Phil Schoer and Phil Jirsa
failing to reach the finals of the Over 45s.
Paul
Hoyer, again riding an 11 footer progressed to the Over 35 final over some perhaps
more fancied surfers with an eye-catching display of power surfing.
The
finals kicked off with the Old Mals.
Blake
Hackett showed that he could master the more the difficult conditions and with
impressive surfing had a close win over Matt Maris.
Justin
Bevan in coming third just held off son Jake to ensure a quiet trip back to Sydney.
Sam White after a slow start managed some
late scores to edge out Lara Murphy in the Women's division.
Blake
Hackett made it a double with a close win over Douglas Toby in the Juniors.
The
Junior final included two 12 year olds in Caellum Purvis and Tom Kurz who were
not far off the standard shown by their older rivals.
In
the Over 55 final wave magnet "Lucky" Dave Pimm managed to attract the best waves
and had a clear win over Chris McGuckin who caught his full quota but who didn't
get the quality waves of Dave.
The 8 foot
final was an incredible display of power surfing and had the spectators on the
beach hooting.
Winner Ray Lawrence pulled
off some spectacular turns off the lip and reos and was a clear winner from Kieran
Pilm who nevertheless surfed outstandingly.
Limping
Ross Murphy edged out Alex Kiss in the Over 35 final with high scoring manoeuvres
at both ends of the board.
In the Over 35s,
Mitch English made it two years in a row in a close win over Sean Chivers and
Jason Skinner.
The Open 9 foot division
final was the last event of the day and was another master class display by Ray
Lawrence, which was an absolute pleasure to watch.
Unfortunately
his great rival Christian Pimm had to withdraw from the final and one can only
speculate about the exhibition had he been present.
Ray's
scores included a 9.5 and several high 8 scores.
One
of his rides included two almost vertical turns that had the crowd hooting and
clapping.
The photos of this wave that will
no doubt make it into longboard mags will not do justice to the reality of the
conditions.
Dan Rowlands was second with
Kieran Plim third.
The venue for the finals
was more in keeping with the Golfy ambience, and spectators and surfers were able
to watch proceedings together from the grass verge in the (eventually) warm conditions.
The food tent again provided great tucker.
Natalie Schoer and Sue Maris deserve considerable
thanks and praise for the excellent food and always friendly service and conversation.
They were supported by the rest of the Maris
clan, Phil Schoer , Helen Murphy, Ken Peek, and Paul Hoyer.
The
range of home-made cakes and biscuits was a talking point and thanks are due to
the club members and supporters who provided them.
Laurie
Andrew's cruisy music was also appreciated, and added to the longboard surfing
atmosphere.
For the third year the contest
Head Judge was Graham Sorensen assisted by "Mutley" Beaumont who provided a consistent
reference standard for comparison with competitor-judges scores and passed on
scoring advice.
Steve Pinnington again was
the contest Tallyer.
This crew certainly
added to the status of the contest, and received kudos from many of the competitors
Sponsors of the 2009 Charity Classic were:
Southern Man Surf Shop which arranged the donation of contest prizes from surf
gear manufacturers; IGA Mollymook which donated much of the food; Keith Purvis
Podiatry which donated footwear and provided a cash donation; NAJO Contemporary
Jewellery which donated the Woman's division first place prize; AKWA Surf Shop
Milton, which organized the donation of a Global Surf Industries surfboard that
was auctioned at the contest, and competitor prizes from Ocean and Earth; Ocean
Art which donated the second prize in the raffle; Mollymook Fine Wines which donated
wines for the third prize in the raffle; Boost Mobile which provided the first
prize in the Junior division; Deering Street Printers which donated the raffle
tickets; Thompson's Commercial Hotel Milton; Rob Gillies Auto Electrical; Balin,
West Wetsuits, Peak Wetsuits, Billabong, Rip Curl, Palmers, Arnette Sunglasses,
Creatures of Leisure, Dragon, O'Neil, Von Zipper, Liive Sunglasses, Sticky Bumps,
Honolua, and Far King, which all provided competitor prizes.
The
Crest longboard 1st prize in the raffle was shaped and glassed by Ken Peek (and
was won by "Lucky" Dave Pimm).
Proceeds
from the contest are donated to local charities and community groups.
