Team Le-Ba: Woody, Melling, Marcus, Owen and Stuey. Owen and Parko surfing (right).
Tensionswere ran high at Lennox Head today as the ‘best of the best’ boardriders watched their clubs battle it out, for the most prestigious club challenge title in the country.
With upsets forcing Kirra and Queenscliff out, in the lead up to the final of the Jim Beam Surftag National Series, the title of Australia’s best Boardriding club saw Snapper Rocks A team, Bronte, D’Bah and Le-Ba in the line up for the CUP.
Locking in a 21.9 and opening the final for Le-Ba was Adam Melling, answering back for Snapper Rocks A team was Shaun Gossman with 18.0, followed by team mate Joel Parkinson who stamped a 19.9.
Jack Freestone picked up the pace with a massive 9.1 Jim Beam Black Power wave, locking in 21.4 for his two scoring waves – the highest single wave in the final.
With high scores dropping all over the board and only minutes to go, the crowd were on tenterhooks anxiously awaiting the scores from the judges, after Le-Ba locked in their score of 91.5 grabbing the four bonus points was vital and they secured their first National win.
“We’ve ended up in a few finals over the years but never nailed it, we’ve put a lot of effort and a lot of time to get to this spot, we are all pretty proud to get here. All the boys are really happy to even make the final so everyones feeling great”.
“The conditions were quite good, we started off with Melling, Owen in second then I was third and we finished up with Stuey and James Wood, we were pretty confident we were going to come out in front at the end of the day”, said Marcus Aboody Le-Ba club team captain.
LeBa Boardriders won their first National final in the events eleven year history on their home break and the $15,000 cash prize is a much needed boost to the running of the club.
“The money will be a big help for the club we are quite small and without any sponsors, being in a rural zone, it’s going to help us out in a big way”, said Aboody.
In the FCS Manufacturers Cup final Emery opened up strong as Adam Melling set the standard with a 18.8 for his team, Stu Kennedy, James Wood and Al Emery. The lead jumped to JS and Rusty and the final moments saw Island and Emery in a close battle.
In the end Emery came out on top and won by less than a point (55.5) over Island (54.8) who placed second, JS in third (49.4) and Rusty (46.3) in fourth.
Caleb Reid scored the events highest individual score of 25.33 out of a possible 30, he joins Mick Fanning, Adrian Buchan, Matt Baldock, Perth Standlick and Carl Wrighton a trip to the Maldives thanks to the Perfect Wave Surf Experience .
1st place: Le Ba Boardriders (91.5) – $15,000
2nd place: Snapper Rocks (84.7) – $5,000
3rd place: D’Bah (82.1) – $3,000
4th place: Bronte (60.4) – $2,000
Held outside of Sydney for the first time since the series began in 2001, the move north was well received due to the high quality of beach breaks in the Ballina region. The National series is Australia’s largest team surfing competition featuring a combined prize pool of over $130,000 and gives club surfers an opportunity to compete with Australia’s best surfers. The Jim Beam Surftag Australian Series provides a national competition for over 80 boardriding clubs to determine Australia’s No.1 club.
