2007 Interclub Challenge

The interclub challenge is the one time in the bodyboarding competitive year where each club from Mandurah to Mindarie send their best and brightest riders from each division to battle it out for the title of WA’s best. This year saw the debut entry of Brighton Bodyboarders, who have established themselves as a serious threat to future events. Despite being less than a year old, Brighton had two riders make it to the final, with Ryan Donovan (BBB) eventually winning the junior division over Josh Hilton (CBBC) and Alex Halsey (MBA).

The day started out on a fairly negative tone, with Locals in Yanchep (MBA’s competition break) producing small, side shore conditions, but there was the odd bowl and reverse section to keep people interested. Roughly 30 minutes into the judging, a huge storm front came in and decided to take the judging tent with it. After 45 minutes of mucking around to see if we could re-erect it (this being said over the microphone to everyone’s laughter) the tent-less option seemed more appropriate. Luckily, the weather fined up and the competition went along smoothly.

The first heats in the water were the open Men’s, with Dave Tulloch (MBA) being eliminated surprisingly early in the piece. After some powerful surfing and big moves throughout the semi finals, Alex Halsey (MBA), Ryan Hands (MBC) Peter Rosser (MBA) and Adam Black (CBBC) progressed to the final held at 5:45pm. Despite being a strongly contested 15 minutes, Ryan Hands never looked in doubt with his mix of big inverts and carving reverses. Alex Halsey no doubt felt an unusual sensation coming second, but as we all know, second comes right after first! Peter Rosser (MBA) came out firing with a big invert, but it was only enough to earn thrid positio ahead of Black.


The cadets division is traditionally dominated by Alex Halsey (MBA), and this comp was no different, with Alex not dropping a heat for the entire contest. The final was easily the closest of his heats all day, however, with Harry Laut (MBA) giving him a run for his money by rolling out of a big barrel in the first minute of the heat. Alex Whitehead (CBBC) came home strongly to secure third position, while Dylan Brand (CBBC) had a disappointing final with the waves just not doing anything for him.

The upset of the day occurred in the drop knee division, with Chad Abbot the undeniable favorite. Chad has dominated this event since its inception, and has rarely dropped a heat, but was denied the top prize by WA bodyboarding legend Nathan Ducasse (MBA) who surfed insanely in the last five minutes of the final. Chad was in super form, with big carves and floaters, but Ducasse was taking things to the next level with the judges scoring him a 9.5 for a barrel to floater in the dying minutes. Poor old Chaddy came all the way up from Mandurah to lose by 1 point! 18 year old Drop knee-rider Simon Coleman (MBA) continued his fine form in 2007, making yet another final, but was outclassed by the more experienced riders. Phil Mayberry (CBBC) surfed powerfully all day, but the waves just didn’t come to him in the final, settling for 4^th position.
 

The grommets division was all MBC with Davis Blackwell (MBC) and Calvin Best (MBC) taking
first and second spot respectively. Lewy Finnegan (BBB) has a great name but that fact alone wasn’t going to get him past third position, despite being the favorite going into the event. 4^th
position went to Aiden Stampalia (MBA) who was surfing brilliantly all day but wasn’t able to land his maneuvers in the final, costing him vital points. The grommets surfed well beyond their years in the worst of the day’s conditions, but were still very impressive to watch and are clearly a threat for the future!

This year’s ‘Move of the Day’ was awarded to Aiden Stampalia (MBA) with a solid air reverse landed in the flats, scoring a perfect 10 from all 3 judges. Aiden picked himself up a brand new Funkshen  Bodyboard care of proud supporter Dave Tulloch!

The ‘Wave of the Day’ was awarded to Lewy Finnegan (BBB) who hacked a reverse spin and followed it up with an ars on the inside bowl, wining a new pair of fins thanks to Jacky from Transparent Bodyboard Shop.

The undeniable ‘Rider of the Day’ was Alex Halsey, making 3 finals in over 3 divisions, earning himself a sweet Hoody thanks to EBB clothing.

The biggest prize of the day wasn’t announced until nearly 6:30 pm, with the judges madly tabulating all of the scores to establish which club had earned the most points for the day. The last few years have been dominated by MBC, but this year the home-ground advantage proved to be the game-breaker, with MBA winning the interclub for the first time in its history. The committee was all smiles, after having come extremely close in recent years.

Thanks to all the riders and clubs for their patience throughout the day and to all the parents for driving their kids up to Yanchep. Also huge thanks to all the sponsors, especially Funkshen Bodyboards, EBB and Transparent Bodyboarding. And finally, the biggest thanks go out to all the judges throughout the day who sat in the cold wind and rain all day without complaint!

Until Interclub 2008!

Overall club points

1st MBA-73.6 average with 15 riders
2nd MBC- 62.5 average with 14 riders
3rd CBBC-48.46 average with 14 riders
4th BBB- 45.26 average with 19 riders

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