I
t’s the best contest in Australia - well ask
anyone on the point at the end of the
Sunday and they’ll tell you that, even the
losers who bombed in round one. It doesn’t
really matter what you might call it, it’s one
hell of a weekend framed by the best setting,
hosting the best people and showcasing
some of the purest surfing. This was the
18th year and again it would come down to
the wire with the fierce competitiveness only
surpassed by the even fiercer mateship and
sportsmanship.
As if on cue, again, the Pacific threw up a
pumping 3 to 4 feet of swell, light winds
and a few sand bank sections that would
see everything from blisteringly good kegs,
carve and cut backs envelope us all for the
duration.
Parking was at a premium, and arrival prior
to 4am was the only way to secure a spot,
but once on the point, that’s where you were
staying. Day one turned on the ultra violet
and poured down sunshine in what would
see a stellar field of legends and upstarts
fire their single-fin weaponry on each other.
Rasta journeyed to make his first surf back
in three months after injury, and looked
more keen to just put on a style display
and forget the competition side of things.
Biggest smile in history for someone who
failed to progress.
Bursting out of the gates was North
End’s Damien Healy, hacking the place
to bits, there was Anthony Pols finding
impossible tube sections, Dru Adler was
taking the odd punt, Ibis was tearing,
Bottle was dominating, Fabs was killing
it, the Hylands, Nick Callister, even local
longboarding legend Clint Guest was on
fire taking his first heat. It was clear in no
time that we were set for an epic weekend
of showdowns and throwdowns.