WSL Bells Beach Longboard Classic Wild Card Spots Decided With Champions Crowned At The 2023 Victorian Longboard Titles

Sam Dunton (Mornington Peninsula) and Molly Powell (Anglesea) crowned open Men and Women 2023 Victorian Longboard Titles champions and claim the WSL Bells Beach Longboard Classic wildcard Spots after a full day of action at Point Impossible.

Day 2 of Round 2 of the 2023 Victorian Longboard Titles resumed at Point Impossible with clean 2-foot, long-running right hand waves. With the perfect stage set for the longboard competitors, the finalists were in for a big day of action.

Will Cousins (Torquay) and Bailey German (Tootgarook) got the ball rolling early with a couple of mid-range scores in the Open Men Longboard final with Sam Dunton (Mornington Peninsula) and Tasman Dunton (Mornington Peninsula) patiently waiting for the right wave to come through. This paid off for Sam Dunton as he jumped straight to the lead with a 7.33 point ride (out of a possible 10 points) for a combination of huge carves.

Tasman Dunton used the motivation to beat his brother on his third wave, earning the highest score of the final, an 8.83 point ride for a variety of massive hacks and snaps all the way to the beach. However, Sam Dunton wasn’t going to let the win slip away from him and scored a 7-point ride and jumped back into the lead, leaving his brother needing a 5.50-point ride.

Inside the final minute of the final Sam Dunton stood up and pulled off a stylish hang-five before going into two enormous forehand re-entries. This major combination of maneuvers earned Sam an 8.43-point ride and increased the score requirement for Tasman to a 6.93-point ride.

The whole beach was on its toes as the final came down to a nail-biting finish and a set approached the lineup with only 10 seconds left on the clock. With seconds to spare Tasman Dunton stood up on a mid-sized wave and layed everything he could into it.

Catching the wave all the way to the beach Tasman finished up in front of his brother who was nervously waiting for the score to drop. After much deliberation, the judges delivered the score which saw Tasman Dunton fall short of the score requirement by 0.13 of a point. This left Sam Dunton as the winner of Round 2 and also the champion of the 2023 Victorian Longboard Titles, giving him a spot in the WSL Bells Beach Longboard Classic.

Will Cousins placed in third position on a 13.24 combined heat total and Bailey German finished fourth on a 10.87 combined heat total.

“It’s a dream weekend with the weather and the swell, the stoke among everyone was high,” said Sam Dunton.

“Tas and I are pretty competitive so this event was a great tune up for next week going into the ISA World Longboard titles” he continued.

“It’s really the icing on the cake to get the chance to surf against the world’s best at the WSL Bells Beach Longboard Classic.”

On the women’s side of the competition, Emma Webb (Jan Juc) was able to fend off Round 1 champion Molly Powell to take the victory in Round 2 of the series. Webb placed herself onto the best waves of the Open Women Longboard final and capitalised on the steep outside sections. She sealed the final shut on her last wave by pulling off an extensive nose ride and a strong forehand carve to receive an 8.33-point ride.

Powell scored the second-highest score of the final, a 6.60-point ride due to a series of carves and nose rides, however she wasn’t able to get onto another ride before the time ran out. Nonetheless, with the points gathered in Round 1 Powell was able to claim first place overall in the 2023 Victorian Longboard Titles and took the women’s wildcard to the WSL Bells Beach Longboard Classic.

“It was pretty much a dream to have these conditions and have a fun surf with the other girls out there,” Molly Powell stated.

“I came into the comp with no expectations really but I thought I’d have a crack and didn’t set my expectations too high so I’m a little bit shocked” said Powell delightedly.

Another stand out performer from the day was Tom Bellisai (Mornington) who knew exactly what waves he was looking for and what maneuvers to execute on them. While his competitors frantically caught multiple waves Bellisai waited for the two best waves to come through in the Over 40 Men’s final. On his first scoring wave, a 7.77 ride, he went straight to the nose of his board. Hanging himself over the edge before quickly shifting his weight back, Bellisai then pulled off an extended forehand snap.

He went one better on his next wave by sitting on the nose of his board for more than 10 seconds to earn an 8.50-point ride and the win. Placing second was Michael Pinney (Point Lonsdale) on a 13.80 combined total with Liam McCafferty (McCrae) and Matty Wright (Ocean Grove) coming in third and fourth respectively.

Other division winners included Thomas Fahey (Balnarring, Junior Boys), Rori Reyntjes (Jan Juc, Junior Girls), Penelope Andrews (Barwon Heads, Over 50 Women), Greg Brown (Torquay, Over 50 and 60 Men), Kate Sullivan (Aireys Inlet, Over 60 Women), Robert Smith (Jan Juc, Over 70 Men), Ben Considine (Torquay, Logger Open Men), Bea Conroy (Point Lonsdale, Logger Open Women), Ted Conroy (Point Lonsdale, Logger Under 18 Boys) and Melanie Renton (Ocean Grove, Logger Over 40 Women).

Finals Results:

Open Men
1st – Sam Dunton (Mornington Peninsula), 15.76
2nd – Tasman Dunton (Mornington Peninsula), 15.63
3rd – Will Cousins (Torquay), 13.24
4th – Bailey German (Tootgarook), 10.87

Open Women
1st – Emma Webb (Jan Juc), 14.50
2nd – Molly Powell (Anglesea), 11.70
3rd – Angela King (Torquay), 11.40
4th – Asha Reeves (Carlton North), 11.14

Junior Boys
1st – Thomas Fahey (Balnarring), 14.47
2nd – Ted Conroy (Point Lonsdale), 13.10
3rd – Tate Russell (Cape Woolamai), 12.30

Junior Girls
1st – Rori Reyntjes (Jan Juc), 9.14

Over 40 Women
1st – Emma Webb (Jan Juc), 15.83
2nd – Melanie Renton (Ocean Grove), 10.53
3rd – Natalie Van Der Heyden (Cape Woolamai), 9.84
4th – Jess MacLeish (Dromana), 6.40

Over 40 Men
1st – Tom Bellisai (Mornington), 16.27
2nd – Michael Pinney (Point Lonsdale), 13.80
3rd – Liam McCafferty (McCrae), 11.40
4th – Matty Wright (Ocean Grove), 10.00

Over 50 Women
1st – Penelope Andrews (Barwon Heads), 13.43
2nd – Kate Sullivan (Aireys Inlet), 11.26
3rd – Carolyn Lalor (Apollo Bay), 9.37

Over 50 Men
1st – Greg Brown (Torquay), 16.50
2nd – Tom Bellisai (Mornington), 12.46
3rd – Brian Kuit (Torquay), 10.23
4th – Brett Lalor (Apollo Bay), 9.23

Over 60 Women
1st – Kate Sullivan (Aireys Inlet), 13.83
2nd – Jenene Nelson (Victoria), 8.20

Over 60 Men
1st – Greg Brown (Torquay), 16.64
2nd – John Lane (Torquay), 13.70
3rd – Brian Kuit (Torquay), 12.46
4th – Clint Wall (Brighton), 12.10

Over 70 Men
1st – Robert Smith (Jan Juc), 13.17
2nd – Wayne Yates (Armadale), 11.50
3rd – Colin Macgowan (Anglesea), 2.50

Logger Open Men
1st – Ben Considine (Torquay), 16.67
2nd – Nathan Rivalland (Jan Juc), 12.47
3rd – Bailey German (Tootgarook), 10.44
4th – Matthew Shay (Torquay), 7.67

Logger Open Women
1st – Bea Conroy (Point Lonsdale), 15.53
2nd – Asha Reeves (Carlton North), 12.94
3rd – Angela King (Torquay), 11.23
4th – Molly Powell (Anglesea), 9.00

Logger Under 18 Boys
1st – Ted Conroy (Point Lonsdale), 14.94
2nd – Tate Russell (Cape Woolamai), 6.50

Logger Over 40 Men
1st – Tom Bellisai (Mornington), 14.27
2nd – Liam McCafferty (McCrae), 11.97
3rd – Chris Mcsween (Ocean Grove), 8.97
4th – Matty Wright (Ocean Grove), 7.83

Logger Over 40 Women
1st – Melanie Renton (Ocean Grove), 11.44
2nd – Penelope Andrews (Barwon Heads), 9.67
3rd – Kate Sullivan (Aireys Inlet), 8.26

2023 Overall Open Men Longboard
1st – Sam Dunton (Mornington Peninsula)
2nd – Ben Considine (Torquay)

2023 Overall Open Women Longboard
1st – Molly Powell (Anglesea)
2nd – Emma Webb (Jan Juc)

Full results and scores from the event can be found at 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 (Complete)
Point Impossible
April 29 & 30