It's just like Christmas really, waiting for the swell is like waiting for the fat man in the red suit. You know they are coming but you don’t know what they will bring!
If any of you surfers check the web for surf forecasts (hello!) you will know what's coming….Swellnet says it's coming on Friday but the winds are a problem, coming from the East, South East and the swell from the same direction. Maybe, don’t get too excited.
Today’s surfers didn’t have much to worry about though - a cranky 1 foot of east swell smashing on shoredump. There are no real waves to speak of and I took todays pics in the Alley shorey where we have had some good waves-just not today!
It’s a different story around the world, where Connor O’Leary remains Cronulla’s highest world ranked surfer after winning his Round 2 heat at the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach last week. O'Leary posted an excellent 8.00 ride and advanced into Round 3 where he was defeated by current world ratings leader Gabriel Medina.
Elouera Boardriders competitor O’Leary finished the WQS season with a world ranking of 65 which sets up a high seeding for the 2015 tour.
Junior surfers from all over NSW will have a rare opportunity to represent their local Boardriding Club at this Saturday’s Aloha Manly Style Gromtag. Twenty-two teams will converge on South Curl Curl beach with each team comprising of three under 18’s and two under 14’s.
Teams will travel from Newcastle, Central Coast, Wollongong and the NSW South Coast to take on the Sydney based Clubs with Elouera Boardriders from the Cronulla strip the team to beat as they attempt to win their third straight Gromtag Title. Elouera’s depth will be tested, as they will be without the in-form Jared Hickel who is in Hawaii.
At the 2014 Surf Dive N Ski Australian Junior Surfing Titles in WA the Under-19 Girls All Stars saw one of the tightest battles of the event . For the first 19-minutes of the heat it looked like the NSW team of Paris Whittaker (Cronulla) and Holly Wawn (Newpor) would take away the win by a slender margin, however Queenslander Laura Poncini managed to perform some impeccable turns to snatch the win for herself and Jaleesa Vincent in the final ten seconds of the heat.
The results were reversed in the MR shield with NSW teams claiming the Under-16 Boys and Under-19 Girls. Paris Whittaker and Holly Wawn (NSW, Sydney Distance Ed) and Joel Wood and Luke Wrice (NSW, Bulli High) all put on impressive performances in their Under-16 Boys and Under-19 Girls finals to guarantee the Australian school titles flew back to the east coast.
In other results Cronulla boardriders Jay Brown finished a credible 5th in the under 14 boys helping NSW to a runner up finish in the overall ratings behind QLD and Stanwell Parks Kalani Ball took out the under 18,s.
The final stop of the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour, the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons, has been called ON today in double- to triple-overhead surf.
Competition will begin with the Men's Pipe Masters Invitational. The 32-man event is comprised of local specialists competing for a US$100,000 prize purse as well as two positions in the Billabong Pipe Masters.
The Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons will determine this year’s world surfing champion as well as those who qualify for the elite tour in 2015. As the third and final stop on the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Series, the event will also determine the winner of the revered three-event leg.
The ASP Heritage Series, which celebrates the rich culture and history of professional surfing, is poised to have its third and final competitive event of the season with a four-man heat between Gary Elkerton (AUS), Tom Carroll (AUS), Derek Ho (HAW) and Sunny Garcia (HAW)-I hope its 15ft!.
The world’s best female surfers will also compete at Pipeline this year in the Women’s Pipe Masters Invitational with reigning six-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), two-time ASP Women’s World Champion Carissa Moore (HAW), Australian powerhouse Tyler Wright (AUS) and international icon Bethany Hamilton (HAW) battling it out at the world-famous Pipeline-I hope its 20ft!.
Speaking of 20 ft- The ASP Big Wave World Tour is greenlighting the Punta Galea Challenge, Basque Country, Spain for a 9 a.m. start (local time) this Thursday, December 11, with the possibility of running into Friday, December 12. Watch the world’s best big wave surfers riding giant waves live at ASPWorldTour.com as a projected 30-to-40-foot swell descends upon the region.
“We are very excited to get the Northern Hemisphere season underway with the Punta Galea Challenge," said Peter Mel, ASP Big Wave Commissioner. “This event is fairly new to the schedule, but has been very consistent the past few years. It delivered some of the best rides on last year’s BWWT and saw reigning champion Grant “Twiggy” Baker win the event.”
In a rare Aussie victory, Chelsea Williams has defeated Kelia Moniz (HAW) to claim her maiden ASP Women’s World Longboard Title at the GoPro World Longboard Championships, China hosted by Wanning.Near perfect 3 to 4 foot surf provided the perfect canvas for the world’s best longboarders to fight for the sport’s ultimate prize, but it was Williams, the form surfer of the event who was the last one standing.
Remarkably Moniz and Williams have met in the final of the GoPro WLC four years in a row, proving that these two athletes really are on top of world at the moment. Their friendly rivalry sees them now at two wins a piece in the Final in China- Williams’ win today was a long time coming after finishing runner-up to the ASP World Longboard Title four times. Just like Cheyne Horan.
In another good thing, The International Surfing Association has awarded 75 Surfers aged 7 - 18 from 32 countries around the world the prestigious ISA Individual Scholarship. The scholarship recipients will receive funds to go towards further education, travel to Surfing competitions, competition fees and Surfing equipment.
The ISA Individual Scholarship Program aims to provide financial support to young Surfers, many of whom are from developing countries and demonstrate financial need, to allow them to pursue their Surfing career while encouraging them to continue in further education.
So get back to the computer and watch the carnage at Pipe! Go the “white lightning”!
