Spiritual Guardians To Smoke Hells Bells

Spiritual Guardians To Smoke Hells Bells

Powerhouse West Coast boardriders club kick off inagural event at Bells Beach.

By Mark Humphrey

Bells Beach, Vic/Aus. 15th Aug 2014.Torquay Boardriders Club unique "all in" club event will fire up tomorrow morning at the famous west coast break of Bells Beach and promises to provide a spectacular competition format with teams made up of a mixture of junior, senior, male and female surfers.

The combination event gives junior surfers the opportunity to team up with and surf along side the likes of Cahill Bell-Warren, Troy Brooks, Todd Rosewall and a stack of other highly credentialled club surfers. Supported by local businesses and the traditional owners of Bells Beach in the Wathaurong people, the event showcases the immense surfing talents of the club and further enhances the partnership between the boardriders club, the spiritual owners and the spectacular landscape that is Bells Beach.

Penned by the TBC, the following depicts the journey of the handcrafted trophy that is on offer for the victor of Hells Bells.

Raff Buttonshaw has spent the last few weeks sculpting what is an amazing trophy with an amazing story. Bunjil the eagle is the Wathaurong spiritual guardian for the Surfcoast, Raff has carved Bunjil grasping a bell for the champion. Only fitting as we are the Bells Angels! The wood has spent over 100 years underwater as a pylon for a pier in Port Phillip Bay and now forms the trophy. 

Courtesy TBC

The Wathaurong people are doing a traditional smoking ceremony around 9am to bless the event and the trophy with the welcoming mat out for all .

Heat surfing begins at 7.30am at Bells Beach with the final expected to be run mid - late afternoon.

Full results and pics from the event will be posted in sportingscribe.com early next week.

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