Master: Elouera's Joey Sear in winning form in taking out the 2012 Northies Alley Masters. Picture: John Veage
JOEY Sear became only the second Elouera Boardriders surfer to win the annual Northies Alley Masters on the weekend.
Surfed in clean, one-metre waves at The Alley, Sear just overcame Cronulla young guns Rory Jenkins and Dylan Haylar to claim the coveted trophy.
Sear may have been only the second Elouera surfer, but he joins an impressive list of "goofyfooted" surfers to have won the event, now in its 23rd year, after world tour surfers Mark Occhiluppo, Richard Marsh and Kirk Flintoff.
Ben Dewhurst won the under-16 division, Jay Brown took the highly contested under 13s and the masters title was won by club stalwart Mark Henderson.
Placegetters were: U13s: 1 Jay Brown, 2 Fin Padman, 3 Wil Lawerence, 4 Harry Sheldon, 5 Oliver Taylor, 6 Bryson Rowley. U16s: 1 Ben Dewhurst, 2 Kip Caddy, 3 Sorrel Hayes, 4 Lochie Solomons, 5 Roan O'Sullivan, 6 Mitch Baker. Grand masters: 1 Mark Henderson, 2 Lance Woofo, 3 Wayne Tyte, 4 Glen Robertson, 5 Greg Nash. Opens: 1 Joey Sear, 2 Rory Jenkins, 3 Dylan Hayllar, 4 Glen Pringle, 5 Ben Dewhurst, 6 Jordan Windenstrom.
¦ SHIRE surfers put in strong performances at the Oz Grom Comp this week at Lennox Head. Harrison Martin progressed to round five of the elite under-16 boys, with Jared Hickel and Luke Thompson recording good results.
Nathan Martin and Paris Whittaker surfed strongly in the early rounds of their respective divisions with both reaching the quarter finals.
The prestigous event draws the best junior surfers from around the country and internationally and is a great preparation for the NSW Junior Titles in Coffs Harbour later this month.
¦ RHYS Moffat turned on an immaculate display of dogged surfing to clinch the Sandshoes July pointscore and deny Open Championship frontrunner Jesse Horner a fourth straight finals victory — on his 18th birthday!
Horner turned on the fireworks throughout the event, including a mesmerising perfect 10 for a 360-degree turn in his semi-final, but ex-junior champ Moffat was more consistent.
The swell pumped throughout, allowing for dynamic performances in all three divisions — Moffat and Andrew Petoumenos excelled in taking the junior final and Travis Heaps in nailing the Super Groms showdown. Horner, second, still holds a commanding advantage on the leader board. Will Elmms was third followed by Grege Ferrow and Jesse's dad, Greg Horner, was fifth.
Petoumenos took apart the clean swells with powerful turns and cutback combinations to get the better of Logan Weir and Ben Boylan.
The Super Groms was no less fierce, with Travis winning by a mere point from Xavier Izzard, followed by defending champ Dion Earle, Eathan Jackson, Lachlan Hickey and Hans Boerman.
¦ CLEAN, neat surf marked round 4 of Cronulla Girls Boardriders, and every division was jam-packed with eager partcipants.
Sammy Dewhurst, Melanie Brandwood and Ashlee Whitford were winners.