Winter Classic Raises 3K For Cancer Sufferer.

Winter Classic Raises 3K For Cancer Sufferer.

By Mark HumphreyLocal icon Greg Brown dominated the Over 50's category.

Point Impossible, Vic/Aus. 29^th July 2014. Surfcoast Longboarders annual Winter Classic Longboard Festival raised in excess of $3,000 from the event with the entire proceeds going to former local Torquay resident Kate Donaldson. Donaldson in her mid-20’s has had to move back to Melbourne with her family as a result of on-going treatment. The Winter Classic is Surfcoast Longboarders marquee annual event with proceeds from the event donated to a nominated worthy cause.

Heat and semi-finals were conducted on Saturday at the pristine surf spot known as “Spot” on the Fairhaven coastline. With semi-finals run and won the Sunday finals were conducted at the regular contest location of Point Impossible with 7 finals in total to be decided.

First up was the Loggers final and like the Over 50’s final the contest was virtually decided before the surfers hit the water. Junior surfer Ben Considine has been in fantastic touch throughout the year picking up wins in major senior competitions around the country and went into the final as the red hot favourite. Considine dominated the event to take out the final from Luke Lalor with Dave Edwards and Andy Roche filling the minor positions.Ben Considine's signature stance.

Considine continued on his way also winning the junior final which was next up.  A quick change of competitor tops on the shore line had Considine back out in the line up and ready to go in no time. Considine picked up the win from Luke Lalor with Kari Klewer  3^rd.

Over 60’s was next on the agenda with Nigel Kidd taking the win from Bob Smith, Al Spence and Pete Coffey.

Officials decided to bring forward the prestigious Open category to take advantage of the improving conditions. Unfortunately Michael Pinney after qualifying strongly through the heats was a no show on finals day leaving Liam Griggs-Kennelly, Luke Lalor and Emma Webb to fight out the final. G-K started off strongly dropping into a couple of neat little rollers. Webb had followed on from her heats with classic longboard surfing at pushed both G-K and Lalor throughout the 25 minute final. In the end it was Griggs-Kennelly who picked up the win in a closely fought contest with Emma Webb. Webb placed 2^nd ahead of Luke Lalor with Pinney judged 4^th. G-K picked up the coverted Open division.

After her fantastic performance in the Open final Emma Webb was going back to back with the Women’s final up next. Webb easily accounted for herself during the final to this time pick up the win from Morgan Griggs-Kennelly, Emily and Krystal.

Next up was the Over 50’s with former Aussie champ and region legend Greg Brown the overwhelming favourite. Brown got into the action early posting a high scoring wave from the outset and then elected to sit out the back and wait patiently for his next wave.

John Lane was busy racking up a number of good point scoring waves along with Brian Kuit and Bud White. The battle between club heavyweights Kuit and Lane was solid with both guys swapping good point scoring rides. With less than 5 minutes left on the clock Brown picked up another high scoring wave to comfortably take the lead and subsequently the win from John Lane with Brian Kuit hot on his heels in 3^rd followed by Bud White.Larry Hayes' gamble to take on the younger guys paid off winning the 40's category.

The final event on the days program was the Over 40’s final. In what turned out to be a smart move, regular Over 50’s competitor Larry Hayes decided to drop back a division to take on the younger Over 40 longboarders. This proved to be a master stoke as Hayes picked up the win in the 30 minute final. Although not having to compete against Greg Brown, the decision to initially drop back to the 40’s was a bit of a gamble with the final being a 5 surfer final. Paul Squirrel and SOUL front-man Brian Tucker were also looking for the win with Squirrel in particular very aggressive on the wave. Female long boarders Boo Lalor and Nicky Mathews were also keen to do well in the small but clean conditions. Following in Hayes in the final was Paul Squirrel with Brian Tucker 3^rd. The girls fought out the remaining places with Boo Lalor getting the nod over Nicky Mathews. Boo Lalor picked up 4th in the Over 40's

With the completion of the 40’s final the event come to a close with organisers hailing the “Classic” a success and looking forward to presenting Kate with a cheque in excess of 3k.

Well done to the Surfcoast Longboarders and the competitors who rolled up in numbers to support the event. Plans have already started for next years’ “Winter Classic” to once again run towards the end of July. Keep an eye on http://www.surfcoastlongboardclub.com/ for future updates.

Winter Classic "Finals Day" Images

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