Damon Harvet wins Billabong Alley Classic in record field

Damon Harvey : photo Karen Wilson/Tostee.com

Billabong Alley Classic

2005 Billabong Queensland Championship Circuit
Currumbin Alley, Qld
29 - 30 January 2005

DAMON HARVEY TAKES FINAL OF BILLABONG ALLEY CLASSIC FINISHING ON TOP OF A RECORD FIELD

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 29 January 2005: - - Coolangatta surfer Damon Harvey walked away with $2,000.00 first prize after winning the Billabong Alley Classic, first event in the $30,000.00 Billabong QCC.

In a weekend of incredible waves and even more than incredible surfing, a field of over 100 surfers from all over Australia and overseas were reveling and excelling in the 2 metre long winding walls of Currumbin Alley, high performance surfing pushed to a level not seen before at an Australian domestic surfing event. Excellent scores were the norm for most heats surfed in the event.

The 25 minute final came down to four surfers; Damon Harvey (Coolangatta, Q), Christian McCall (Tweed Heads, formerly Catherine Hill Bay, NSW), Rhys Bombaci (Kiama, NSW), and South African junior champion Jordy Smith.

The final started slowly, all surfers knowing that wave quality not wave quantity was the key to winning the event. It was not until the 5 minute mark of the 25 minute final that Jordy Smith caught the first wave of the final, the South African junior champion grabbing a smaller wave and scoring a 6.00 from the judges, as at last the set waves started to pour through the line-up.

Christian McCall was first to grab a wave followed by Rhys Bombaci, then Damon Harvey in turn. Bombaci tore the wave to pieces, as did Harvey on his wave. Bombaci scored 8.77, Harvey 8.5, and McCall a 6.83. All three surfers were 200-300m from the take-off point and faced a daunting paddle out, Harvey the furthest nearly 350m down the line, taking almost 8 minutes to paddle back out to the take-off point. Smith was first into the line-up catching a smaller wave with some blazing and futuristic maneuvers, scoring a 5.00 then a 6.37, putting Smith into the lead, but only temporarily as both Harvey and Bombaci were ready to pounce only needing relatively small scores to take the title.

Then as the heat went down to the five minutes remaining mark, McCall scored a 6.77 to temporarily take the lead. Then with 3 minutes remaining, Damon Harvey picked a good sized set which he decimated to almost Palm Beach with series of beyond vertical backhand re-entries and carves to score a 9.07 from the judges and to seal the final.

A last minute flurry of waves from Smith and Bombaci saw them almost reel back Harvey, but it was just not enough, and Harvey claimed his first ever Billabong QCC win.

“Stoked!” said a quietly smiling Harvey, “stoked to have a contest in such good waves, and so happy to win it”. Harvey walked away with $2,000.00, a Vodaphone mobile phone and red sim, and the lead of the Billabong QCC ratings.

Winner of the Tooheys Extra Dry “Wave of the Weekend” was Palm Beach surfer Ben Hannah who walked away with 4 cartons of Tooheys Extra dry for his perfect 10 point wave which he scored on Saturday, Hannah a happy man even though he was eliminated in the ¼ finals.

The next event will be the Billabong Creek to Creek Classic held in May this year, hosted by the Palm Beach Boardriders.

The Billabong QCC is proudly presented by Vodafone and supported by Surfing Queensland.

RESULTS BILLABONG ALLEY CLASSIC
1ST DAMON HARVEY 17.57 PTS (COOLANGATTA, Q) AUD $2,000.00
2ND RHYS BOMBACI 16.74 PTS (KIAMA, NSW) AUD $1,000.00
3RD JORDY SMITH 14.20 PTS (SOUTH AFRICA) AUD $600.00
4TH CHRISTIAN MCCALL 13.60 (TWEED HEADS) AUD $500.00

Previous reports:
# 1 : International field to contest the Billabong Alley Classic
# 2 : Pumping waves and high scores at Billabong Alley Classic

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