JULY 2014 CONTEST WRAP UP “Knock Knock” --“who’s there” “shut your mouth” --“shut your mouth who” “YOU shut your mouth “IT’s THE SPIRIT OF MARMADUKE!!” I ask all the questions round here… now let me in! The spirit of Marmaduke was alive and well on Thursday The 17th of July, a day that saw Matthew Terry –(direct decendant of South West Pioneer ‘Marmaduke Terry’) call a last minute FRS surf contest at Brighton Scarborough. The decision was rewarded with conditions that had undoubtedly been blessed by ‘The Duke’ himself. For those of you scratching your heads, Marmaduke Terry was not only a true pioneer of The South West region and an ancient relative of one of our very own boardriders Matthew Terry but he is the landlord (from beyond the grave) of ‘Marmaduke house’ the humble mansion, nest and mothership for our downsouth pissup missions, im mean boardriders contests. Our local contests on the otherhand are far from Gracetown where Marmaduke House stands and usually lack the magic touch of the Duke however today was clearly a different day. I woke suddenly in the dead of night! to the shrill of my text ringtone “how deep is your love – by the Beegees” It was Bruce Degaris! FINALLY he’s booty calling me I gushed to myself, before realizing id slept through 2 alarms and it was in fact the morning. “Is it pumping?’ Bruce texted, “not sure mate im almost there now” I lied, still disappointed about the nonexistent booty call and running late for the comp. By the time I got to Brighton the smile had returned because the conditions were pretty damn good, offshore, sizey, sunny and quite a few waves. The only down side was a drift that would eventually turn our arms into shortlines. Big Dan Coote was the first to feel the wrath of the water movement getting stuck inside for about 10mins on his first paddle out. I remember seeing ‘that’ look in his eyes, that look we’ve all had before that says “im totally stuffed I can’t bloody do it!!”.. “but what will the boys think if they see me not make it out the back”. With that thought Big Dan turned his serious calendar rig around and kicked those hulk arms into gear busting through another 20 waves to ALMOST reach the others in the lineup before the whistle shreeeked sounding the start of the first heat, “thanks heaps judges” Dan must have thought to himself. While some of the boys on the beach were still trying to get their heads around the array of boxes on the new comp format (that even had the contest organiser himself perplexed at one point), others were totally ripping it up in the Water… and even if the new format did resemble the crazy grid from 1980’s kids TV show ‘Now you see it’ it certainly did increase participation, cut down on a few contest hours and proved ‘MOSTLY’ legitimate throughout the day, “line 8 position 1 Matt Terry”.. The surfing was pretty decent to be honest, there were big drops, big turns, big floaters, tubes and long rides. Bucky clocked up some yards on a few longer ones while Luke Walmsley displayed his usual power hacks with a confidence that would later turn to complacency and see him throw away a valuable wave and exit the comp. The Jones brothers ripped it up with passion and flare “Hey Dan, the format says you’re in the next heat too mate so stay in the water mkay…” line 2 position 2 Dan Jones . Special appearances from Calabrese and Jason Spiro were solid and great to see and a special spectators appearance from Perth Firey Dan Humble was appreciated too as he sported a young blonde beauty under his wing. Dan could have made the final with that effort even without his board or wetty. Corey ‘wave thief’ Brown stole from the rich AND poor ripping it up as per usual only to have his campaign ‘burgled’ later on with a series of rad events that saw him scratching his head in the dunes, all the while Bergs, Coote and Weiland were showing experience claiming scores in conditions that were shifting and not always easy to negotiate. Big Todd Vlads was site for sore eyes at our contest this time round, it’s always a pleasure to rub shoulders with this huge polite, calm, consistent surfer and gentleman (that could snap you in half but never would). Vlads powered through early heats only to breeze outta scarborough as quickly as he breezed in. Apparently family matters were the issue but I suspect he also contracted a bout of the chronic gayness that swept through the contest area sending 3 or 4 boys home early. The only thing faster than the’ V-Lads’ leaving us was Marmaduke decendant Matt Terry swooping in on the spare rashie!! Matt grabbed that thing quicker than you can say “what about the guys that bombed out of the semis that you never made it to?” and “wasnt it a five man heat out of necessity, we don’t really need a fifth guy right?” but sure enough, the format white board that now resembled the graphics of long running TV game show series ‘Jeopardy’ did not lie. “ill take Winner Matthew Terry for $2000 thanks”…………. Just kidding Duke :-) Karma instantly dealt a swift blow to Matt upon this mix up. Matt scrambled, splashed and bailed out with the grace and composure of Tickle me Elmo to post only 1 score-worthy wave in that heat. He was now undeniably knocked… although some of us still did wonder… with the new format could Matt still progress somehow? No… Dukeless, the final was now underway, with Matt all Terry Toweled up but not forgotten, donning fins and a GoPro the legendary contest organizer flippered his way into the rip to capture some of the action of the final…. It was not a youthful final! Together these lads shared a combined age of 2148 years and to other surfers near the contest area it must have looked like a bright, floating, midlife crisis … but there’s a certain authority that comes with a wearing contest rashy, an authority that usually forces locals to back off, USUALLY.. In all other cases you CAN still drop-in, however in my experience try to remember to apologize in advance while paddling for the wave, then once getting to your feet, then once again as you race down the face almost knocking them off their board.. and I feel one more apology at the end is a nice touch too…. Finalists Cooperous, Dalton, Hunt, Yours Truly and Julian “didn’t even know you surfed” Hunt dragged their sorry ass arms around the peak trying to get the type of wave that dreams are made of… That wave did come… mid heat.. with Dalton in position.. Looking sketchy from a deep take off location Dalton made a snap decision to go for it….. I personally didn’t see the wave from the front but heard from others later that not only did Dalts do a great job getting to his feet and down the steep face successfully but he also managed to scoot way out in front of the dangerous barrel towards a ‘claim’ he performed post ride that would have made Usain Bolt proud…. In the end all three judges had different winners on their score sheets but after a lengthy consultation process the decision was final. Winner Julian Hunt! Whom had surfed consistently all day. Jason ‘radical tan’ cuperous in 2nd place also consistent throught the day. Yours truly Andrew ‘contest villan’ Jones 3rd and of course 4th place going to Paul ‘claim it’ Dalton. What a day! A big big thanks to Matthew Terry who took a risk that paid off by calling the contest, your efforts with organization, equipment, correspondence and enthusiasm was clearly appreciated by all. It was great to see so many lads could make it too even though it was a last minute decision so thanks to everyone for making the effort. The spirit of Marmaduke and the WA FRS boardriders is clearly alive and well. Stay tuned for more local action and also some photos etc from this contest. DUUUUUUUUUKE!!!!!!! Yew Jonesy Jonesy winners on their score sheets but after a lengthy consultation process the decision was final. Winner Julian Hunt! Whom had surfed consistently all day. Jason ‘radical tan’ cuperous in 2nd place also consistent throught the day. Yours truly Andrew ‘contest villan’ Jones 3rd and of course 4th place going to Paul ‘claim it’ Dalton. What a day! A big big thanks to Matthew Terry who took a risk that paid off by calling the contest, your efforts with organization, equipment, correspondence and enthusiasm was clearly appreciated by all. It was great to see so many lads could make it too even though it was a last minute decision so thanks to everyone for making the effort. The spirit of Marmaduke and the WA FRS boardriders is clearly alive and well. Stay tuned for more local action and also some photos etc from this contest. DUUUUUUUUUKE!!!!!!! Yew Jonesy
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 07:40:39 +0000
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