Round 1 of the 2023 Victorian Longboard Titles kicked off on a golden morning at Cat Bay, Phillip Island. Clean 1-2 foot A-frame peaks wrapped around the protected bay with slow-running waves allowing the competitors to get a variety of nose rides, technical footwork and critical rail surfing on their rides.
Bea Conroy (Point Lonsdale) combined all facets of the criteria in the Open Women Logger division as she executed a searing drop knee carve to a polished cross step into nose ride. This combination of maneuvers earned her an 8.00 point ride (out of a possible 10). It didn’t take her long to better this score as she took off on a long open wall to score an 8.50 ride and earn herself a 16.50 combined heat total (out of a possible 20 points).
Conroy then backed up her performance in the Open Women’s Longboard division cruising her way to another 8.33 point ride. With another minor backup ride she was able to secure a spot on finals day in both divisions.
“I like to start off strong and then work on it from there so I can build on my scores throughout the heat,” Bea Conroy stated.
“It was good early with plenty of lefts and rights coming through making it easy to share waves between everyone,” she continued.
Going into finals day, Bea Conroy will have to keep up her excellent performance as she goes against Angela King (Torquay). King carved her way to produce consistent 6-point rides in the other Open Women’s Longboard quarterfinal. This strong performance gave her a spot in the other semi-final tomorrow.
In both the Open Mens Logger and Open Mens Longboard division Ben Considine (Torquay) went from strength to strength by getting both feet over the nose and staying there for extended periods of time to perform the perfect nose ride.
Considine scored the three highest heat totals of the day, one of these being his Logger semi-final where he had a combined heat total of 19.17. He scored a 9.17 point ride half way through the heat and then on the very next wave he took it one step further scoring a perfect 10 point ride for a drawn out nose ride in the most critical section of the wave.
Another standout of the day was Matthew Shay (Torquay) who in his Open Men Logger semi-final undertook a unique technique of switching between regular and goofy foot in the middle of his cutback. The judges awarded this style of surfing quite well with Shay taking out his semi-final on a 12.73 combined heat total.
The call for day 2 will be 7.15 am for a 7.30 am start at Cape Woolamai on Sunday the 5th of March.
The live scores and schedule can be accessed via www.surfingvic.com/live
The 2023 Victorian Longboard Titles is supported by QUIT Victoria, VicRoads Community Safety Grants, Cancer Council Sunscreen and Surfing Victoria.
Round 1
Phillip Island
March 4 & 5
Round 2
Point Impossible
April 29 & 30
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