2004 ECB Wind Surf n Snow – FOK Wave Classic
The 2004 ECB Wind Surf n Snow – FOK Wave Classic finished in fine style and with sore bodies.
Saturday did not provide the conditions required to call it on so everyone enjoyed the many sights of the Caves Beach area and took advantage of the great surfing conditions on offer while the wind had not had a chance to chop up the waves.
As the sun began to set on the very relaxed crew, enjoying complimentary contest beverages, talk of ever-improving forecasts for the next day had everyone buzzing about the action on offer as the swell continued to roll in.
After a relaxing day, a fine meal was promptly devoured at the Caves Beach Tavern, followed by “desert on tap” (or in a can). George was secretly hoping that he could sail better than he plays pool. Perhaps he did not understand the rules of the game.
While some retired early to indulge in some guitar duets, the rest kicked on until we were finally asked to leave. And with that dreaded loss of 1 hour’s sleep that night due to daylight saving, no one wasted much time in hitting the pillow.
Sunday morning, bright sunny day, light breeze already kicked in, forecast of 25 knots; bring on the contest!
Late morning the call was made to move the contest to Nobby’s Beach in Newcastle. Known for its great conditions in a NE breeze, and with the excellent swell we had, Nobby’s was the place to guarantee the best action.
No time was wasted upon arrival. Everyone was rigged, ready and out there.
A disappointing turnout by many of the non-NSWWA locals up there, despite still being present at the beach meant that our own NSWWA crew from up that way flew the flag for the area.
From the very first sailor to hit the water, the bar was set high for what would be required of sailors if they wanted to win this contest.
The tide was still high early on so the reef did not play too much havoc on the crew. Locals like Andrew Morris and Luke Johnson knew exactly where to sail to avoid any disasters (although Luke still ended up completing a 30 minute swim after wiping out), and the rest did their best to follow.
Ben Fawkes showed he meant business from the word go with a massive pushloop out the back off the rolling 6ft sets. Not to be outdone, Mick Westra boosted pushloops on pretty much every run out the back.
The “synchronised sailing” award must go to Brenden Peterson, Andrew Morris and Jason Juretic. All 3 sailing out at speed, hitting the ramp within seconds of each other to launch into very high and very clean loops.
With many wipeouts happening all day long, the one that stood out had to be John Paget sailing in the main break over the reef. After a cutback on a nice size wave, the wave sucked up under him and his nose went straight under with his entire rig (and body) attached. (John, we got it on tape so it was well worth it).
Morry displayed very consistent wave riding, and probably scored the longest rides out of everyone as he launched from well upwind behind the northern rocks.
Luke Johnson combined his usual radical wave routine with some freestyle close to shore for the spectators, clocking up valuable brownie points with the judges.
Steve Jones, a newcomer from the UK, looked very comfortable out there amongst the ever-present rocks despite having never been to Newcastle before, and with only a small number of sessions in Aussie waters under his belt.
Ben, Evan and Logan made sure that whoever was going to take top honours would have to work for it. Evan, on one of Ben’s identical sails, made it even harder for the judges by sailing just as hard.
Logan clocked up as much airtime as anyone and left nothing in the tank by the time he came in.
These guys took on the challenge of the reef and passed with flying colours.
In the Masters, we had a 4-way battle between Jason Juretic, Brad Anderson, Pat Johnson, and local Dave Roche.
After a good start Pat Johnson suffered broken gear early in the contest, giving himself a hard task of catching the others. And a hard task it was as Jason unleashed a flurry of great jumps and wave rides, as did Dave Roche (who also briefed several “out of towners” prior to the contest on where to sail to avoid the rocks. Thanks Dave!).
Brad Anderson, again after a good start, had an encounter with the reef and had a long swim in.
Jason McGlashon suffered yet another torn sail. Even the local boys can still come to grief on the reef!
At 4pm the exhausted fleet came in for the presentation. After much discussion amongst the judges, the winners of the Opens, Juniors and Masters were Mick Westra, Ben Fawkes and Jason Juretic. All thoroughly deserved as they put on such a good show.
2nd place went to Luke Johnson, Logan Haggerston and Dave Roche.
3rd place went to Andrew Morris, Evan Winter and Brad Anderson.
For 1st place, both George and Ben each received brand new Rip Curl wetsuits thanks to ECB Wind Surf n’ Snow.
For his superb pushloop display, George also scored a brand new Sailworks boom, thanks to Board Crazy, for the Biggest Move award.
All place getters received medals, thanks to Lake Macquarie Council, and the rest of the crew all received well-deserved prizes, including FOK clothing and accessories, and Kuta Lines clothing.
Many thanks go to the primary sponsors, ECB Wind Surf n’ Snow and FOK Australia.
As well as our other generous sponsors: Kuta Lines, Board Crazy, Lake Macquarie City Council and Breakers Holiday Park.
And of course, many thanks to all who entered and pushed the limit in what was by far the best contest so far this year.
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