Contest Report: Gilmore's Wollongong Pro 2010 - Wayne Jennings

We usually wrap up the report with a thank you to the sponsors, but we want to acknowledge Gilmores Coniston Hotel, whom without their support we wouldnt have a pro comp to showcase our Illawarra, so a big thank you to Carl for his support for this event .Everyone i spoke to were full of praise for the  choice of venue and the quality of the facilities and the great food at the bistro.
Where do you start, with the great weekend that was to unfold before us...Colin Gow and Chris Homer were there to set up and run the event both days, and with the trial, for us Kneelos ,of the complete computer judging system, for the first competition of the year... and not one person was dissappointed with the system.
Saturday shaped up as a warm sunny day , and with the small easterly swell , lots of one turn maneouvres were the order of the day. And although there were a lot of small clean closeouts, the lucky ones were getting some long walls. But still there was some great surfing through the opens, with the main names into the Semis on Sunday. The main standouts on the Saturday were Tom and Matt Novakov, Matt Gallagher, Greg Budgen , Mark Jeffrey, Albert Munoz, Cheyne Simpson, Mark Mcleod, Kyle Bryant, Baden Smith, Greg Geddes , and that Waka hard man, Russell Smith.. whose smiles told the story after making the quarter finals.. well done Russ. Even though we had 2 late withdrawals of paid judges, the accredited club judges had no trouble adapting to the new system with the help of Col, and there was a unanimous thumbs up for its use for the next event on the circuit. Also, we had lots of good comments about the announcement of each leading surfer in each heat, and what was needed by each surfer to win the heat.

The Saturday night saw the AGM at The Coniston Hotel, with the reps from all clubs there and we got through lots more items than we usually do....report to follow in a few days.

Sunday saw the swell rise a few more feet, and take a slightly different angle, allowing the lefts to hold up and some long waves were to be had, one standout wave from Mark Mcleod had a 9.6 average from the judging panel !! This wave catupulted him into the final four of the contest. The scene was set as the best 6 surfers lined up in the semis, all determined to get into the prestige heat oif the weekend, the OPEN FINAL.Most of the days surfing were treated to clean waves, with only the last few heats of the day having the north easterly on it and the rising tide made it very difficult , but the surfing was of th e highest standard. Some of the biggest moves were in the heavy shore break, with Matt Gallagher and Albert Munoz getting their boards side ways, and vertical on many occassions. Kyle Bryant getting 2 coverups on the one wave.. and it didnt closeout !!
This comp seemed to be a very relaxed event, plenty of sunshine, plenty of waves, and plenty of spectators watching as well. And more importantly was the surfing. For me , one of the surfers who stood out all weekend was Mark Mcleod, he had the ability to pick the best waves and smash them as well, and he was rewarded with a spot in the final of the opens. Also in the womens ...Young Rachael Geddes catching heaps in the shorebreak...and Catherine Karney Jeffrey taking on the closeout with gusto. Also the Nov boys, Tom and Matt for winning their age divisions also stood out.

The computer system gave out averages of the 3 scores per wave, and made for some interesting and close heat results. The Open final saw the lead see sawing throughout, with the updated announcements letting competitors and spectators, know what scores the judges were giving, and to show how they were rewarding the moves that put the surfers in the most critical of positions on each wave. I am sure this resulted in the closeness of the scores...Results were..1st. Matt Gallagher by 0.73....2nd Kyle Bryant by 0.14...3rd. Mark Mcleod by1.0 and Albert Munoz 4th.

The weekend wouldnt be complete if we didnt thank all those mothers, of all the competitors, for giving up their special day, so their kids could pursue their dreams in this great sport of ours.

FULL AGE GROUP RESULTS WERE....
PRO CADET/ JUNIOR..1ST.TOM NOVAKOV..2ND. KURT MEUSBERGER..3RD SHANE WHITEHOUSE.
PRO WOMENS...1ST. CATHERINE KARNEY JEFFREY....2ND. KAZ EVERINGHAM...3RD RACHAEL GEDDES.
PRO SURFMASTERS...1ST MATT NOVAKOV..2ND. URI LANHAM...3RD CHAYNE SIMPSON...
PRO SENIORS...1ST ALBERT MUNOZ...2ND MARK MCLEOD...3RD LAITH PRITCHARD..
PRO MASTERS..( RESULTS SHEET WITH JOHN CLINGAN) sorry it was missing
PRO GRAND MASTERS..1ST. GREG GEDDES...2ND. MARK JEFFREY..3RD..GRANT CHRISTMAS..4TH.CARL HEIDKE..5TH SCOTT FEENEY.
PRO ROBS..1ST BADEN SMITH..2ND GREG BUDGEN...3RD. GLEN BITTON...4TH KEVIN ROSS
PRO VETERANS..1ST JOHN ONEILL..2ND NEIL OWEN..3RD. WAYNE JENNINGS..4TH. MARK ABEL
PRO LEGENDS..1ST. PAUL SATCHELL..2ND BOB DUNNETT..3RD. BRIAN MANAHAN..LEIGH CAMERON.
SURFERS SURFER AWARD... WENT TO GAZ MEUSBERGER FOR HIS NEVER ENDING HELP WITH SETTING UP OF THE CONTEST. HIS ATTITUDE TO KNEEBOARDING IS NEVER ENDING AND IS ALWAYS THE FIRST TO OFFER ANY HELP ANY TIME...

Once again, the contest would not have got off the ground without lots of help from Russell Smith, and Gaz Meusberger. Without the never ending devotion to our sport, of men like these, events like this would never exist...Great WAKA team members and just great devoted surfers too..

Smurf


Wollongong Kneeboard Club
Contact Wayne Jennings ( President) - donnawayne@aapt.net.au
Russell (Secretary) - russellglenys2@optusnet.com.au