THE 2011 STATE TITLES – A CURLY PERSPECTIVE
Three Curly surfers arrived in Port Macquarie on Saturday the 18th – Sean “The Big Fella Dry”, Mike Griggs and Phil Nicol settled into a magnificent three bedroom unit overlooking Town Beach. The unit was right next door to the Bowling and Recreation Club so we literally had to walk ten metres to great food and entertainment.
What a sight it was to see the Manning River empty out gigalitres of brown muddy water that was the legacy of huge rains that the week before inundated the entire North Coast of NSW. A dark brown inversion line spread kilometers out to sea as the dolphins and whales indifferently played and migrated as if nothing had happened. We hit the three foot waves to get a bit of practice in and was greeted by a brackish concoction of fresh and salt water that included pools that dropped ten degrees in temperature between the takeoff and kick out zones. We had a pleasant afternoon but came out frozen and cranked the air conditioning to 28 degrees. That night we went to the official welcome at the Blue Water Bar and Restaurant only to find out the Titles had been postponed on the Sunday to allow all the surfers from up North time to get through the flood waters.
The next day , which was now a free day was epic at Bonney Hills with consistent five foot sets coming through and a mild offshore really cleaning the conditions up. The main comp started at Bonney Hills on the Monday and Griggsy came up against some pretty hot competition to be pushed into the repecharge round. Phil was fortunate to land second in his heat to stay in the qualifying draw. The next day Sean outgunned all comers and took out both the over 35’s and 40’s with some great power surfing in waves that really suited his aggressive back of the board approach. The afternoon was a debacle surfwise as the swell dropped and Griggsy and Phil had to contend with a two foot shore break that had absolutely no form – Both went down in their respective heats and unfortunately for Griggsy that was the end of the road. Phil had one more chance in the rep 2.
The next round saw mixed fortune for Sean at a new venue that was chosen about 200 metres down the beach that gave up one to two foot beachies that were not great but at least rideable. Sean won both the qualifying round and qualifying semi to go straight through to the Final in the over 35’s and in the over 40’s had to fight back through the rep semi to make the Final – Two out of two finals was an excellent result. On the Thursday Phil snuck into second place in both the rep 2 and rep semi to squeak into the over 60’s Final. We had a lay day on the Friday and readied ourselves for the finals on the Saturday.
The Saturday was a carbon copy of the previous three days with one to two foot beachies and a slight offshore that made the surf quite contestable if not inspirational. Phil took to the water in the over 60’s and was doing quite well, holding down third place until penalized for an interference that pushed him to the fourth place. A bit disappointing but grateful to make a first State Title Final.
Sean had to contest back to back finals and had a huge battle on his hands in the over 40’s.He was leading at the 20 minute mark but for the last five minutes the scores were no longer read out for all to hear. We were sure that he had taken out the top spot but when the places were announced at the Presentation we learnt he had been just shaded into second. So close!
In the over 35’s Sean started favorite but by this stage the big fella was a bit tuckered out from the heat before and the wind had tuned onshore favoring the more trim and walk style of surfer – He put up a gallant fight to come in second again. Sean had a great Titles and will do well at the Nationals to be held in late August.
Many thanks to Mike Griggs , the organizational force behind the trip, for taking care of the accommodation and having enough foresight to bring the basics like coffee, tea, sugar, paper towels, soap and the like – the little things that make life livable. Sean was an inspiration not only from his own surfing perspective but also from the selfless help and coaching he gave Phil and Griggsy to help their on water performance. We were proud to represent our Region and Club and look forward to the next step at the Nationals.
Phil Nicol
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