Matt Takle Takes Out The Open Mens 2023 Victorian SUP Title And Claims His Tenth Victorian SUP Titles Win

Matt Takle claimed his tenth Victorian Sup Title after taking out the Open Mens 2023 Victorian Sup Title and excited the home-crowd with his vertical back hand attack at Point Impossible. 

The 2023 Victorian SUP Titles were put on hold at the start of the day to wait for an incoming swell that was filtering its way down the coast. The competition got underway mid-morning with clean 1 – 2 ft right-handers running down the point. 

In the semi final round of the Open Men, both Matt Takle (Jan Juc) and Rick Pettifer (Torquay) took out their heats with impressive form. 

The Open Final started off with a large set rolling through the line up and Koyu Matsunaga (Rhyll) and Matt Takle (Jan Juc) navigated their way onto the first rides of the final. Takle got the better of the exchange scoring a 6.33 point ride (out of a possible 10), over Matsunaga’s 6.17 point ride. However, this didn’t stop Matsunaga as he picked up a smaller running wave on the inside to get an early back up ride and the lead.

Halfway through the final Rick Pettifer (Torquay) put himself in close contention for the win as he completed back to back strong forehand re-entries to earn himself a 7.17 point ride. Takle then took off out the back and shut the door on the rest of his competitors by putting together a series of amazing vertical back hand snaps to earn himself the highest score of the day, a 9.00 point ride. 

In the last set of the final both Matsunaga and Pettifer were able to catch a wave to challenge Takle for first place, however they were not able to close the gap. This left Matt Takle to claim the 2023 Victorian SUP Title and win his 10th Victorian SUP Title in a row.

“Throughout the day the swell built so it ended up being a really good day,” said Matt Takle.

“It feels great to take out my 10th Victorian SUP Title win,” he continued.

The Open Womens final started off slowly with all surfers holding onto a couple of low scores. Then Emma Web (Jan Juc) found her way onto a set wave, however was not able link multiple turns from start to finish. This still left the number one position wide open for the rest of the competitors as they saw a set out the back of the line up. Lucy Bell (Sandringham) flowed through two carves on the first wave of the set to score a 3.43 point ride and a brief lead over Web. 

On the last wave of the set, Web took off and started to lay into a huge forehand slash but she lost her footing leaving her needing a score for first place. Luckily for Web a rogue wave came through after the set, giving her another opportunity to get the score. This is where she connected a range of top turns to take the win with a 9.76 combined heat total (out of a possible 20). 

“It feels really great to win the 2023 Victorian SUP title,” Emma Webb said.

“It’s good to see some new girls competing and overall it was a great day,” she added.

Another highlight from the day came with Liam Mccafferty (McCrea) taking out the 10ft SUP division using a more traditional approach. Mccafferty was able to perch himself on the edge of his board to create a point of difference from his competitors and take the win on an 11.17 point combined heat total.

Other division winners from the day include Rick Pettifer (Torquay, Over 40 Men), Lucy Bell (Sandringham, Over 40 Women), Brendan Ryan (Port Campbell, Over 50 Men), John Lane (Torquay, Over 60 Men), Emma Webb (Jan Juc, Open Women 10ft), Leanne Jack (Mornington, Over 50 Women 10ft) and Warwick Lee (Cheltenham, Over 50 Men 10ft). 

Finals Results:

Open Men
1st – Matt Takle (Jan Juc), 15.33
2nd – Rick Pettifer (Torquay), 14.17
3rd – Koyu Matsunaga (Rhyll), 12.40
4th – Steve Toy (Kingsville), 9.67

Open Women
1st – Emma Webb (Jan Juc), 9.76
2nd – Lucy Bell (Sandringham), 7.10
3rd – Xanthe Rivett (Rosebud), 6.14
4th – Nadine Stirrup (Dromana), 5.13

Over 40 Men
1st – Rick Pettifer (Torquay), 12.00
2nd – Sam Hodder (Romana), 11.30
3rd – Allan McKellar (Camberwell), 10.90
4th – Steve Toy (Kingsville), 7.77

Over 40 Womens 
1st – Lucy Bell (Sandringham), 7.40
2nd – Xanthe Rivett (Rosebud), 7.40
3rd – Leanne Jack (Mornington), 5.97
4th – Nadine Stirrup (Dromana), 4.40

Over 50 Men
1st – Brendan Ryan (Port Campbell), 10.34
2nd – Sam Hodder (Dromana), 8.80
3rd – Allan McKellar (Camberwell), 8.57
4th – John Takle (Jan Juc), 7.34

Over 60 Men
1st – John Lane (Torquay), 12.30
2nd – Michael Smith (Benalla), 12.17
3rd – Michael Jenkins (Black Rock), 7.33
4th – John Takle (Jan Juc), 5.96

Open Women 10ft
1st – Emma Webb (Jan Juc), 12.73
2nd – Xanthe Rivett (Rosebud), 5.84
3rd – Lucy Bell (Sandringham), 5.53
4th – Leanne Jack (Mornington), 3.83

Open Men 10ft
1st – Liam Mccafferty (McCrea), 11.17
2nd – Matt Takle (Jan Juc), 10.73
3rd – Sam Hodder (Dromana), 7.30
4th – Russell Misson (Leongatha), 4.93

Over 50 Women 10ft
1st – Leanne Jack (Mornington), 8.50
2nd – Vanessa Mollard (Victoria), 6.23

Over 50 Men 10ft
1st – Michael Jenkins (Black Rock), 11.83
2nd – Liam McCafferty (McCrea), 10.70
3rd – Sam Hodder (Dromana) – 8.77
4th – Dave Warner (Moe)- 6.66
5th – Peter Jackson (Rosebud) – 443

Over 60 Men 10ft
1st – Warwick Lee (Cheltenham), 8.30
2nd – Michael Jenkins (Black Rock), 6.22

Full results and scores can be found 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.