Finals day of Round 1 of the Victorian Longboard Titles commenced at Cape Woolamai with light winds and solid waves shifting the competitors’ focus to performing their maneuvers in the most critical section of the wave.
Throughout the day the incentive for the Victorian Men’s and Women’s Longboard division to be awarded a wildcard into the upcoming WSL Bells Beach Longboard Classic World Tour Event was on everyone’s mind with performances clearly raised.
It was an exciting start to the day with Liam McCafferty (McCrae) doing a nose ride into close out barrel to start the Logger Over 40 Men’s final. This boosted McCafferty’s confidence going into the rest of the final as he scored dual high 6 point rides. McCafferty took out the final on a combined heat total of 13.60.
Ben Considine (Torquay) took control of both the Logger Open Men and Open Men Longboard finals as he continued his momentum from yesterday. In the Logger Open Men’s final Considine took nose riding to the next level as he lent over the nose of his board two times on the one wave.
With an early 8.17 in his scoreline he was freed up to experiment with drop knee carve to nose ride combos. An 8.73 was awarded for another one of his incredible nose rides that was then backed up by a tenacious carve.
“I’ve been putting in a bit of work into the lead up to this comp so I was happy I was lucky enough to come away with the win,” Ben Considine said.
“The wildcard is definitely on my mind and it is also a big goal of mine to get into the event,” he continued.
Considine didn’t slow down in the Open Men’s Longboard final as he produced some technical footwork and displayed insane balance on his way to a combined heat total of 17 points. This won him his second division of the day and put him one step closer to scoring an event wildcard into the WSL Bells Beach Longboard Classic World Tour Event.
In the Open Women’s Longboard final Angela King (Torquay) came out of the gates strongly by performing a series of backhand carves to get a 6 point ride and the early lead.
However this lead was not held for long as Molly Powell (Angelsea) took off on one of the biggest waves of the day and carved off the lip with commitment to obtain a 7 point ride and the pole position in the final. Powell was then quick to acquire a 5.70 point ride as a backup in an attempt to hold onto the lead.
Bea Conroy (Point Lonsdale) wasn’t going to let the heat go by without doing any damage as she went for a last minute wave allowing her to complete multiple carves into a quick nose ride on the inside. After much deliberation from the judges Conroy was given a 7.17 point ride that only placed her short of first position by 0.03 points which gave Molly Powell the win.
The Over 50 Men’s Longboard division saw Greg Brown (Torquay) take out the final in classic form by utilizing both rail surfing and nose riding in his surfing. Brown started the final with a 7.50 point ride by crushing the lip out the back and then burying his rail in a smooth carve. He then utilized the traditional side of the criteria as he parked himself up at the nose of the board to pull off a lengthy nose ride and score the second highest score of the day, a 9 point ride.
Finals Results:
Open Men
1st – Ben Considine (Torquay), 17.00
2nd – Andrew Burgan (Cowes), 14.40
3rd – Sam Dunton (Mornington Peninsula), 14.23
4th – John Stephen (Aireys inlet), 6.43
Open Women
1st – Molly Powell (Anglesea), 12.70
2nd – Bea Conroy (Point Lonsdale), 12.67
3rd – Angela King (Torquay), 10.57
4th – Natalie Van Der Heyden (Cape Woolamai), 8.50
Over 40 Men
1st – Mark Miccoli (Patterson Lakes), 14.13
2nd – Liam McCafferty (McCrae), 10.93
3rd – Peregrine MacLeish (Dromana), 10.23
4th – Chris Mcsween (Mornington Peninsula), 5.66
Over 40 Women
1st – Emma Wilson (Jan Juc), 16.67
2nd – Natalie Van Der Heyden (Cape Woolamai), 6.00
3rd – Melanie Renton (Ocean Grove), 5.84
4th – Jess MacLeish (Dromana), 5.33
Over 50 Men
1st – Greg Brown (Torquay), 16.50
2nd – Tom Bellisai (Mornington), 13.00
3rd – Brett Lalor (Apollo Bay), 11.97
4th – Brian Kuit (Torquay), 10.86
Over 60 Men
1st – Greg Brown (Torquay), 15.00
2nd – Brian Kuit (Torquay), 12.67
3rd – Graeme Burgan (Cowes), 10.70
4th – Brian Thompson (Mornington Peninsula), 1.00
Over 70 Men
1st – Robert Smith (Jan Juc), 13.16
2nd – Wayne Yates (Armadale), 9.97
Over 50/60 Women
1st – Carolyn Lalor (Apollo Bay), 8.66
2nd – Kate Sullivan (Aireys Inlet), 8.50
3rd – Penelope Andrews (Barwon Heads), 6.46
Logger Open Men
1st – Ben Considine (Torquay), 16.93
2nd – Matthew Shay (Torquay), 14.43
3rd – Liam McCafferty (McCrae), 11.00
4th – Nathan Rivalland (Jan Juc), 9.63
Logger Open Women
1st – Bea Conroy (Point Lonsdale), 13.76
2nd – Molly Powell (Anglesea), 10.00
3rd – Rita Lahtinen (Torquay), 9.60
4th – Angela King (Torquay), 9.17
Logger Over 40 Men
1st – Liam McCafferty (McCrae), 13.60
2nd – Tom Bellisai (Mornington), 13.34
3rd – Chris Mcsween (Ocean Grove), 9.10
Logger Over 40 Women
1st – Melanie Renton (Ocean Grove), 11.20
2nd – Kate Sullivan (Aireys Inlet), 6.90
3rd – Penelope Andrews (Barwon Heads), 6.87
Full scores and reuslts 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 (Complete)
Phillip Island
March 4 & 5
Round 2
Point Impossible
April 29 & 30
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