Straddie Assault

Where do i start with Straddie Assault? A great weekend is a understatement.

After 2009(we finished last place-16th) i knew we had to be ready for this year.

Not saying no one gave there all last year is that we had to have our best available team pumped and ready to go.

I held a couple of training sessions leading up to the comp which we had a decent turn out to each one. But i found out pretty quick that getting everyone there was hard. With the grom’s going to school and everyone else having to work 5 days a week or attend uni.The team i picked was probably one of our better teams and everyone was physching to go.

We left on Friday morning and got to Cleveland for the 10.30am barge. It’s great being on barge getting that feeling you get once a year. Also seeing your mates from the other clubs talking about what the waves are doing who’s got a good team.The barge takes about 45mins to Dunwich and from there it’s 20-30mins drive to point lookout.

We heard the waves were fun so Noah and myself went straight to Main Beach for a surf. The waves were fun, 3ft lefts running down the beach. There were about 30 guys sitting in the corner on one peak. So we ran down the beach about 200m and ended up having a really fun surf with a few nice barrels. The thing about free surfing when the comps on over there at Straddie is that the 30 guys who are out there all rip so its usually best to drift down the beach and get a couple on you’re own.

After the surf we headed back to the pad with a stop at foodworks for some supplies which the grom’s enjoyed stocking up on chocolate and candy.

We were going to have a training session in the afternoon but it started to rain pretty heavy and the boys just wanted to relax back at the pad.Most of the clubs stay up by Point lookout but we stayed down by the Bowls club again which is good being away from all the noise up that way and also good for the groms to have there own place and beds and keep them out of trouble!

We picked up the heat draw for Saturday at the pub and Contest director Bob Minty gave us a run down about the comp. We followed that up with a few beers at the pub with the boys from the other clubs. Noah had first heat so he was off early and made sure all the groms were in bed and especially Gene’o! I gave it a fair nudge at the pub which i felt the next morning waking up at 5.30am getting all the boys raring to go.

First heat was up at 7am and we had to have our judge Jed(junior berty newton) Denison there at 6.30am.

Noah Lane was up first and showed the boys how to surf a perfect heat in average conditions. Getting 3 scoring waves before the 3 others had even caught a wave, taking out his good mate Ibis. So 1st heat win, done and dusted.

Craig and the boys set the tent up down the beach next to the judges tent, hopefully giving them a bit of an influence on their scores with some loud cheering.

So with everyone down there for our next heat the wind continued to blow all morning a 30 knot SW which blew the swell straight out to see and with the tide ripping out the waves got really hard to surf and a lot of guys were struggling to catch 2 average waves.

Gene Thompson was up next and took his heat pretty convincingly surfing smart.The only thing i told the boys was keep busy and catch a lot of waves with no real sets breaking and Gene done just that. So with 2 heats wins down it was looking good.

Craig Sims the Saffa was up next with a wave starved heat giving his all but ended up getting fourth to three very experienced Straddie Assault surfers.

Josh (Mini) Hyland was now up. He doesn’t go left to often which is something i was worried about but he ended up catching lots of waves and took out first.

Talina surfed well but ended up getting a fourth for her troubles.

James (Don’t call it a comeback) Lewis surfed well as the tide was coming in. He landed an air reverse(Chop hop) that we were claiming making sure the judges knew it was big and then linked some turns together to finish with another win.

The tide had come in which made the conditions a little better well if you could call it better.  At least it wasn’t closing out as quick as the earlier heats.

Hamish(I’ve got to go update my status) Whillans was next to surf. He found a little right quick and did a nice reverse. Then had a couple of average lefts but found a right to do 3 neat snaps in the last couple of minutes. So first for Hamish in that one.

So 5 firsts and 2 fourths with one surfer left. Good job all round.

Tim Hyland was the 3rd last heat of the day and he did the team proud. He even got hassled out of the best wave from Tim McDonald(Point Lookout) which he was frustrated with but he did well anyways. Coming in 2nd or 3rd.

5pm and it was time to pack up the tent and call it a long day down the beach. We headed back to the pad and sipped on a few tasty beverages then went to Straddie Hotel and partied till they kicked us out. But we did win Open Beer at the pub! Showing a few of the other clubs we still know how to have a good time. There was some good stories from the night but i’d get in trouble for telling them on here.

The teams comp was early Sunday morning. Noah and Hamish almost missed their heat. Big thanks to Craig for getting them down to the beach for that one, i was out like a light.

The teams competition is on Open and Junior pairing against another Club. So theirs 4 guys out at one time. We drew Byron Bay first heat which they got the better of us in really bad 2ft-low tide conditions. The boys  did their best but they were feeling a bit rusty from the night before. All good though we got on a early barge and headed home to wash off the weekend that was.

Great weekend, good times and theres always next year and we’ll be back bigger and better!!!

The boys did well our best result ever! Equal 3rd place with Byron Bay but 4th on a countback. yew!!

Thanks to everyone who gave up their time to make it happen.

Eddie Lindores, Craig Whillans and Jye Brazenas thanks heaps.

Jesse Outram