Hallidays 2002 Event Report
NSW Wavesailing Association
2002 Series
Heat 4: Blackhead, Hallidays Point
2-3 November 2002
Wavesailing is back with a vengeance!! How good is it right now??
We must have all been very good boys in a previous life because we keep turning up to these comps and it blows and blows!
First time at Hallidays, may have seemed like a gamble to try somewhere
relatively unknown to most people, but as risky as it may have been it was still a step in the right direction to keep the NSW series fresh and challenging. So all we needed now was for it to blow and for there to be at least some surf.
I don't know what everyone else was thinking but when I first turned up, it didn't look that good, very light wind, not enough to sail and no surf whatsoever. Everyone had heard different forecasts throughout the week; none seemed to guarantee anything spectacular.
But as far as I'm concerned, a NSWWA weekend away is never a dull
weekend...wind or no wind.
The "powers that be" pushed on with registration and the draw to be ready for if/when the wind came in. It was discovered that there was a bit of surf on the other side of the rocky outcrop, which is where we'd be sailing in a Nor-Easter anyway, so several juniors decided to be
adventurous and sail downwind to give it a go. Wasn't long before several more of the crew became too curious to just sit on the beach and made the downwind slog for themselves (albeit the lighter Juniors were ripping around their elders like it was 20 knots – respect lads, give respect!).
Pretty soon everyone was down there and having fun on the small waves and light wind. Still not quite enough for the comp to run, but a relaxing warm-up for what would hopefully be a contest the following day.
The forecast was pretty promising for Sunday and the wind seemed to blow all night so hopes were up as we all convened in the Blackhead Bowling Club for an evening of dining, drinking and playing FREE pool.
The other pub, although closer, was not the ideal choice as it was
compulsory to get into a fight with at least 3 people in the bar....and the men would want to fight you as well!
Sunday morning...WINDY!!
That Nor-Easter just never went away. In fact, it was stronger than the day before and was still increasing.
No time was wasted, the call was made. 10:30am start.
The wind was a solid 20 knots and the swell was bringing in some decent 3-4 ft waves, which at times were a bit of an effort to bottom turn and hit the lip, but finding who can make it look good is what its all about.
First out on the water was Dan Berry, Andrew Morris and Carl Doran. Dan fresh from his Taranaki Wave Classic victory showed no signs of jetlag and progressed straight through to the final, despite being pushed all the way by those other two legends. :o)
The following heats were a mixture of 2 - 3 man heats due to some people sleeping in, and some slotting into later heats. But in any case, they each produced some great action. Stand out performances from Brien Cummings, Adrian Kendall, Rob Paipa, Adrian Levy, among many others that consistently ripped.
The final is always an attention grabber and this one was no different.
Dean Hendrie, Dan Berry, Rohan Cudmore and Andrew Thornton burst out of the blocks and unleashed one hell of an aerial display.
Deano seemed to steal the "wave magnet" title from Rohan for this heat as he continually racked up wave after wave in a heat where the waves seemed quite inconsistent at times. Every lip was smacked and each wave seemed to go for ages. He was still bottom turning through dry sand! Such was his fury (and thanks to a huge cheese roll) his board didn't survive the heat but it held on long enough for Dean to take the victory.
Close as the placings always are, Dan grabbed second, Andrew third and Rohan fourth.
In the Masters it was "the Wazza show" again. Racking up another victory, this guy is a machine!
Jason Juretic pushed him all the way though with another strong finals
appearance.
The Juniors hit the water and held nothing back. Very little separates
these guys and all four guys were ripping it up. A major battle between Alex Lewis-Hughes and Luke Johnson saw the two give everything they had to grab victory. Wave after wave was carved up by these young guns and after the closest heat yet, it was Alex that edged out the victory. Breathing down their necks were Ben Fawkes and Angus McMillan, who also bagged some great waves and got huge air in their jumps. The standard of sailing has just risen again. With these guys ripping hard at such a young age, the old boys had better watch out!
A huge thanks must go to the parents for driving them to the contests. You guys are legends! Keep bringing them!
After the vast majority voted not to run a second elimination, but rather go freesailing, the first round positions were final.
Blackhead definitely got the thumbs up. A great location and a great place to stay for the weekend. Had it been a southerly, the north side of the rocks would have produced just as good, if not better conditions. I think this location will slot into the calendar nicely for at least the next few years, and we should always be on the lookout for similar locations. It’s a massive coastline, lets explore!
One comp to go. Gerroa will fire!!
This is going to be the comp to end all comps. The race at the top of the rankings is by no means over. The leaders can still be toppled so everyone get down there and fire up!
November 16-17. See you there!
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