After all the discussion around why bother with comps and the politics, etc recently, I thought it would be good to pen a bit of a write up on the titles. One of the reasons most of us go to these things is the social aspect – think the Mambo but with heats and a fraction less beer (for some).

Me and my young bloke drove up late Sat to get to our apartment we were sharing with Casso and Dan. Drove through pouring rain most of the way and woke to find much the same. Went to check Town beach where the comp was supposed to run and caught up with Casso, Dogman, Tully and Sharpie standing in the drizzle surveying the 30 knot onshore heaving slop. Got to talk sh!t for a while til a downpour forced us to do a convoy to a few other spots that all looked equally horrible.

We all met back at 10am with the call most likely to be the reform on the inside at Town beach. The banks out the back were copping most of the swell but impossible to get to. The current was crazy so I thought I would have a quick free surf to check it out – one wave later and I nearly got smashed on the groyne and had to paddle for my life to the middle of the river mouth. Got sucked up the river with 3 shortboarders and had to scramble out up the rocks 500 meters up river – too funny. Would have been carnage if they went ahead which fortunately they didn't. The call was made for a Crescent mission!

About 6 carloads of us made the dash to the punt across the river so we could hit the dirt road to Crescent, following Casso through the potholes at a 100kmph thinking we were suddenly in a rally. Crescent looked a bit out of control but a few of the boys paddled out for a dig. Turned out to be a fun sess, surfing with Casso, Dan,Leon, Lummers the Dogman and Keahi all ripping into it and showing the Shorties that SUPs can handle a bit of size.

The next day was much the same with another layday so a few of us hit up this weird little wave that breaks about a km up the river right in front of the main street of Port – weird. Mel and Jason were handing out some fun Hobbies for cruising the little peelers and we had a ball - dropins galore. Most of us met up that night for a few ales and more sh!t talking, amping for the comp which we were told would run in one go the next day.

Day of the comp at last and we finally had some offshores – along with crazy currents, rocks in the middle of the take off zone and chop as big as some of the sets. The comp director was calling for the take off spot to be out the back (500 meters away) with what looked like a death paddle out next to these big gnarly rocks. Most of us thought it sounded crazy but whatever, time to get on with it. Most guys in the first round opted for the inside chop fest with a few crew 'manning up' and hitting the outside for the first wave. This proved to best a good option as scores were much higher on the solid 5-6 footers outside vs the 2 foot slop fest closer to shore. The comp jet ski was on hand to pull crew off the groyne or out of the river mouth if needed.

By the second round everyone was hitting the outside which was offering up some solid walls, big lips and a 200 meter run around allowing for 3 waves max. Guys like Jackson and Keahi were getting 4 or 5 hits each wave with the grommet even doing an air on one. These guys are on another level, just picking up pearlers with ease and smashing the hell out of em. Justin Holland was getting some strong scores as well and the Dogman was doing his usual stuff and looking good for a final berth. By the semis it was obvious the draw was a pretty lopsided with the 2nd semi looking like a final. Beau and Dogman got the brush to Jackson and Keahi while Justin and Mike Davis brushed me and Casso in the other. Hats off to Mike for flying not only the NSW flag but also scoring one for us 'normal' blokes – you know the ones with mortgages, kids ,sagging skin and rooted knees .

I couldn't watch the final as my young bloke was frothing to hit the river waves again after sitting there watching the comp all day. From watching the vid footage it looked like Justin got the waves, Jackson didn't have his best heat and Keahi popped 2 airs on one wave but didn't land the second and got a 4! Go figure. This kid and young dudes like Beau, Jake Jensen and Geoff Breen are gonna take the sport to some pretty spectacular places – with airs and massive hits becoming part of the normal repertoire. Hurry up and give us an over 40s division please!!

Some of the ladies did well in the gnarly conditions with Shakira out scoring most of the blokes waves after smashing a huge set wave in her ladies semi.

That night we caught up with Viccos: Sparx, Leon, Kristi, Phil and clubmate Jezza for a few ales as most of the crew had to bail home. We then finally tracked the Dogman down with Leon and Sparx's bottle of scotch and watched the heats all over again thanks to Deem's video footage. Next morning we hooked up again with the Viccos for a surf safari down the coast and ended up getting some fun, solid Seal Rocks in blazing sunshine after 4 days of grey. My young bloke was so amped from watching all the heats, the vids and the sh!t talking that he started doing some proper reos for the first time and nearly got a barrel, give him 3 years and look out I reckon!

It was a brilliant trip, met some new crew, caught up with others, surfed fun waves, heckled, talked sh!t, did surf safaris, watched freaks ripping SUPs, doesn't get much better than that.

First Air


2nd Air - same wave


The Dogman


Justin


Old enough to know better