DAY one of the nudie Australian Boardriders Battle got off to a flying start today as 24 boardriders clubs from all over Australia went toe-to-toe as they attempted to put themselves into the box-seat position going into tomorrow’s final day.
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Six-times World Champion Stephanie Gilmore got her 2017 campaign underway taking an impressive victory for Snapper Rocks in her opening Women’s heat.
Gilmore found a handful of long-running lefts and punchy right-handers to post a respectable 14.85 heat total (out of a possible 20 points) and as a result claimed a narrow win ahead of 2017 CT rookie Bronte Macaulay (Margaret River).
“I use this as the perfect practice for the upcoming year,” said Gilmore.
“The pressure you feel when you’re out there for your club is unlike any other feeling.
“It’s unreal to share these heats with surfers from states that may never get to see or compete in a World Tour event.”
With the dust finally beginning to settle after her maiden World Title, Tyler Wright returned to the competitive arena today, dominating her Womens heat for Culburra Boardriders.
Wright put on an impeccable performance notching up a 17.50 heat total, which consisted of two excellent scores in excess of 8.50.
“That was such a nice and fun environment,” said Wright.
“Surfing on tour, the only person you need to please is yourself as an individual, but when you’re there as a team, you don’t want to let anyone down.
“I think the coolest thing about this event is that you get to share it with young surfers like Carly [Shanahan – Coffs Harbour] and have the opportunity to a conversation with them.”
2017 World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) rookie Ethan Ewing showed the world the reasons behind his recent qualification, nailing the highest single wave score for the Skins division for his local Point Lookout boardriders.
Ewing executed a barrage of giant turns to post a near-perfect 9.60 wave score and send a warning shot to rival clubs that he would be one to watch going into the second round of competition tomorrow.
“I love representing North Stradbroke Island,” Ewing said.
“It’s a really cool format at this event and a good warm-up for the rest of the year.
“There is a lot of pressure to perform but it is good pressure, which I love, it really fires me up and gets me pumped to do the best I can for my club.
“I’m stoked to be here and was loving the little lefts that were rolling through, the conditions are really fun.”
WSL CT surfer Stuart Kennedy attributed Le-Ba’s narrow victory to the stellar efforts of his teammates after the club managed to squeak through their opening Teams heat.
After Kennedy only managed to muster up a meagre four-point ride, the club was left to rely on the efforts of club stalwarts James Wood and Adam Melling to get them into a progressing position.
“I had a shocker in that Teams heat, it was really lucky Woody and Melling put some decent points on the board,” said Kennedy.
““In this team environment, we always have little mistakes and have to rely on your team mates to smash it apart.
“The energy is definitely more focused on more than just yourself in these sorts of events.”
Perth Standlick donned the position as the nominated Skins surfer for his local Bondi club and wasted little time taking down some of his big-name rivals.
Over the duration of his three-heat streak, Standlick managed to muster up a comeback in the dying minutes to take the first Skin from former World Championship Tour surfer Shaun Cansdell (Coffs Harbour) by a 0.10 margin, before taking a storybook victory in his second heat against 2012 World Champion Joel Parkinson (Snapper Rocks) and former World Championship Tour surfer Ryan Callinan (Merewether).
Standlick then made it a hat-trick with a final victory over 2017 World Championship Tour rookie Connor O’Leary (Elouera).
“I actually gave Shaun his eight-point ride in the first heat I had and I left it right to the last minute to claw back,” said Standlick.
“I felt like I was the underdog in the next two heats, so to get the win over guys who have been, are or have just qualified for the CT is an awesome feeling.
“Hopefully we use the momentum to carry us into the Teams division.”
Media sensation Sabre Norris played a small, but critical part in getting Merewether through to the next round of the Teams division.
Norris executed a handful of impressive backside snaps to post a minor score that allowed Merewether to get a slight edge over an in form Culburra Boardriders team.
“Surfing with all the older guys is really cool,” Norris said.
“I was really nervous because I didn’t want to let the team down.
“It is such a different feeling surfing for a team, there is a lot more pressure.
“After Luke got that amazing wave before me it took a bit of the pressure off.
“This event is so cool because I could get the chance to surf a heat against Steph Gilmore or Tyler Wright, two of my favourite surfers.”
For all Day 1 results head to www.australianboardridersbattle.com