Peninsula Surfriders Club Dominates The Victorian Teams Titles And Wins For The First Time in 29 Years

Peninsula Surfriders Club claims victory at the 2023 Victorian Teams Titles for the first time in 29 years with strong and consistent surfing being put on display throughout the day.

With the main location of Cape Woolamai being hit by strong onshore winds competition was moved to the protected beach break of Smiths Beach. The small peaky conditions forced the teams to adapt to a fast paced style of team surfing. After the conclusion of the semi finals two teams stood out going into the finals, Phillip Island Boardriders Club and Peninsula Surfriders Club.

Last year’s winner and locals, Phillip Island BRC, came out of the gates firing in their semifinal with their power surfer, Saturday’s Victorian Open Round winner Harry de Roth (Phillip Island), demolishing two sections with power snaps to receive a 9.17 point ride (out of a possible 10) which then doubled into a massive 18.34 point ride with the double scoring ride.

In the other semifinal, Peninsula SRC was looking to be the in-form club so far with the whole team posting consistent high scores and their power surfer, Willem Watson (McCrae), performing three upside down snaps to collect the highest score of the day, a 9.50 point ride doubled to a 19 point score.

Meanwhile the Junior Tag Team went out with grom energy to burn and waves to smash halfway through the day. Both Peninsula SRC and Phillip Island Boardriders Club junior teams continued on their open team’s momentum early in the junior final with Peninsula’s power surfer scoring a solid 7.63 power wave and Phillip Island’s power surfing scoring a 7.10 point ride.

This momentum didn’t last long as 13th Beach Boardriders’ power surfer went from one strong turn to the next to receive a massive 9.17 point ride and give his team the lead. With the best score of the final under their belt 13th Beach continued to go from strength to strength to give themselves a clear win.

On the women’s side of the draw the tag team was a tight back and forth battle between Pt Lonsdale Boardriders Club and Peninsula SRC. Pt Lonsdale BRC got the upper hand early with Minnie Vorrath (Point Lonsdale) scoring a 4.17 point ride over Peninsula’s first surfer scoring a 2.83.

The lead then swung the other way when both teams’ power surfers hit the water. Lucy Naylor (Point Lonsdale) put together two strong maunevers on a wave to score a 6.00 point ride (doubled into a 12 point ride), however Peninsula’s Ava Holland was able to pull off the biggest turn of the final to score a 7.50 point ride and the lead for her team.

This run continued in Peninsula SRC favour as they just got the better of Pt Lonsdale BRC for the rest of the final with ​​Peninsula SRC ending up on a combined team total of 25.86 (out of a possible 40 points) to take out the win.

Pt Lonsdale BRC came in second with a combined team total of 22.01 points with Phillip Island BRC, Torquay BRC and 13th Beach BRC coming in third, fourth and fifth.

“We’ve spent the last three years building a team culture for these events and have a great group of members working hard behind the scenes to help us reach our goals,” the Peninsula SRC representative said.

“We are so happy for our team to come away with the win, we’re proud Victorians and we love going into battle against the other clubs in the state,” they added.

In the open tag team final the two in form teams of the event, Peninsula SRC and Phillip Island BRC, looked to be the ones to beat in the early stages. Peninsula SRC’s first surfer Pedro Lani put together a smooth carve into vertical hit to earn an 8.17 point ride with Phillip Island BRC’s Carl Wright combining multiple snaps to receive a 7.50 point ride positioning Phillip Island closely behind Peninsula.

On the second wave exchange Phillip Island’s Harry de Roth unfortunately dropped in on 13th Beach BRC’s Jack Basset who had the inside right of way on the left hand wave. With de Roth receiving an interference, Phillip Island BRC had five points taken off their total score.

Peninsula SRC power surfer, Willem Watson (McCrae) capitalised on this situation scoring a 7.10 point ride for a series of strong hits on a set wave. The rest of the Peninsula team followed on from Watson’s performance doing enough to fend off the rest of the competition and claim the win with a 39.56 combined team total (out of a possible 60 points).

“Today our athletes executed the plan perfectly and our coach made the right changes for the final which ultimately set us up for the win,” commented the Peninsula SRC representative.

“We have a great club culture and this win is for our members and the Mornington Peninsula surfing community who were watching the scores online,” they continued.

“To come out on top today is a big step in the right direction for PSC and we hope to build further on the result,” they added.

13th Beach BRC came in second place with Phillip Island BRC and Torquay BRC coming in third and fourth respectively.

Finals Results:

Open Tag Team
1st – Peninsula SRC, 39.36
2nd – 13th Beach BRC, 25.77
3rd – Phillip Island BRC, 25.64
4th – Torquay BRC, 25.00

Womens Tag Team
1st – Peninsula SRC, 25.86
2nd – Pt Lonsdale BRC, 22.01
3rd – Phillip Island BRC, 19.46
4th – Torquay BRC, 16.64

Junior Tag Team
1st – 13th Beach BRC, 35.01
2nd – Peninsula BRC, 30.04
3rd – Phillip Island BRC, 26.73
4th – Torquay BRC, 26.63
5th – Pt Lonsdale BRC, 20.76

Full results and scores can be found online at www.surfingvic.com/live

The Victorian Open Series and Victorian Teams Titles is supported by QUIT Victoria, VicRoads Community Safety Grants, Cancer Council Sunscreen and Surfing Victoria.