The first round of the Bodyboarding Victoria’s 2024 State Titles series went down on the 17th of February at Gunnamatta Beach. The infamous Mornington Peninsula break dished up consistent 3 to 4ft rip bowl peaks throughout the day. With a hefty tide difference and moderate to fresh side to onshore winds competitors faced a fast changing playing field.
With a solid crew of competitors and spectators gathered on an overcast Saturday morning competition got underway with the Opens division. It was clear from the onset that positioning was going to be crucial in the fast moving water. This challenge was met with ease with big numbers being dropped with some solid pocket surfing. Among many of the round 1 highlights was the lone women’s competitor Lyndall Jucker progressing through her heat by showing a clean set of rails and moves off of the lip.
Mens, Masters and Grand Masters were next inline. The rapidly dropping tide saw a varied approach from riders, with some sticking with the inside right-hand rip bowl while others took to the outside peak. One of the pioneers of this outside peak was journeyman Shane Britten. The Mornington local was rewarded for his efforts by dropping into a solid left-hand peak, which drained down the bank that served up some extensive tube time, earning him an 8. Other highlights included current Australian Grand Masters Champion Nathan Clark progressing with some consistent combo surfing, and Adam “boggy” Morrison continuing his winning charge from his opens heat win.
The first final of the day went down next with the Dropknee guys taking to the water. The final proved to be a two horse race with Dane Pope and Josh Carson trading blows on the outside peak. In the end it was Popey who came out on top with a solid float on a heaving section which was enough to earn the points to take the win.
With the tide filling in the quarter-finals and semi-finals for remaining divisions plus the Juniors final faced arguably some of the trickiest conditions. Not fazed by this, the youngest two competitors did their best to navigate the changing conditions with some nice spin to roll combos. In the end it was River Gray taking the win over Lucas Byford in a hard fought match.
By the time the Masters final competitors hit the water Gunnamatta was doing its best impression of the Point Lonsdale Rip. Not deterred by this all four men showed a willingness to get to the lip and clock up some tube time where provided. In the end it was to be Boggy’s day with a solid 15.37 heat total seeing him finish on top. The Men’s final was next with some new and established faces trading blows. But it was Ned Johnstone showing why he has been National Championship finalist on several occasions walking away with the win. Grand Masters soon followed, with the statesmen of the boog community certainly not backing off the intensity. In the end it was the consistent surfing of Kyle Anderson that earned the victory.
The last heat of the day was the headlining act, the Opens final. With conditions now serving up right-hand cupped out barrels and steep sections you could be forgiven for mistaking Gunnamatta for the local bowlo. All four competitors took to the conditions with an utter distain for the lip and hunger to get on the foamball. As time ticked over it was Boggy and Ned who gapped the rest of the field. The two were swinging from the fences with an impressive display of stylish spins in some critical sections and solid lip manoeuvres. When the final hooter sounded it was Boggy who got the chocolates just edging out Ned, with heat totals of 15.47 and 14.16 respectively.
A big shout out and thank you to all the competitors and people who showed up and supported the day. A special mention and kudos also to the Judges and other crew that help things run smoothly.
You can check out all of the images from the day here - Huge thanks to Paul from Peninsula Sports Photography for capturing the action.
Looking forward to seeing everyone for the second round in Warrnambool on the 23rd and 24th of March.
