Billabong Queensland Championship Circuit (QCC)

Surfing Queensland
Event #1 - Billabong Alley Classic
21 - 22 January 2006

Dave Reardon-Smith claims victory at the Billabong Alley Classic

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 24 January, 2006 : - - Dave Reardon-Smith (Yaroomba) opened his 2006 campaign with an emphatic victory at the 10th annual, Billabong Alley Classic today. Menacing rain squalls that have battered the Gold Coast over the last few days were no where to be seen as Reardon-Smith dominated the clean 3- 4 ft (feet) peeling waves on offer at the world-renowned point break of Currumbin Alley.

So impressive was the radical surfing by competitors, many were claiming it as some of the best surfing seen on Billabong Queensland Championship Circuit (QCC) to date.  Surfing with a great sense of flow and style, Reardon-Smith totally smashed his opponents Clancy Dawson (Coolangatta), Corey Ziems (Currumbin) and Samba Mann (Tugun) by linking a series of massive forehand gouges and tail slides and in the process bagging himself $2,000, a “Vodafone Live” handset and kudos as the ’06 Billabong Alley Classic Champion.

Reardon –Smith jumped out of the gates early in the 20-minute final, opening the heat with a scintillating 9.25-point ride. Holding off a late challenge by Dawson, Reardon-Smith sealed the victory with an impressive 7.15-point ride late in the final, leaving Dawson (2nd), Ziems (3rd) and Mann (4th) to the minor placings.

When asked about what tactics he employed, Reardon-Smith said “ I sat a little wider then the other guys. I’ ve had so many heats out there before with Ziems and Richo. I just tried to use their local knowledge to get the better of them.”  Placing third in the ’05 QCC ratings, Reardon-Smith is looking forward to competitng in both the Billabong QCC and World Qualifying Series (WQS) events in 2006.

“The standard of the QCC is getting better every year. It’s great to be able to compete against world-class competitors in a Queensland based event - It feels even better to win one!” added a jubilant Reardon-Smith. Today’s finals saw intensity levels go through the roof as talented surfers jostled for the upper hand, raising the already high performance bar, in what is the richest domestic surfing circuit in the world

2005 Queensland Champion Damon Harvey (Coolangatta) who shot into the lead after winning the Alley Classic last year was unable to replicate the form that saw him dominate the winding walls of the epic Currumbin Alley in 2005, falling short of the score needed to progress through his round 64 heat.

The upset of the day came from Clancy Dawson (Coolangatta) and John Davies (Margaret River) who narrowly defeated Luke Munro, Currumbin local and Queensland’s highest ranked World Qualifying Series (WQS) surfer in 2005. Despite coming fourth in the final, a flawless display of surfing by Samba Mann (Tugun) saw him secure the Toohey’s Extra Dry “Wave of the Weekend” winner’s prize of 4 cartons of the clean crisp taste of Tooheys Extra Dry for the weekend’s highest wave score, a “perfect 10-point ride".

Mann was in devastating form, executing a series of powerful backhand snaps in his round of 64 heat to come away with the booty. For now, Dave Reardon-Smith is champion and leads the 06’ QCC ratings (1000-points) going into event 2, the Billabong Creek to Creek Classic.

Results:

1st - Dave Reardon-Smith (1000 pts)
2nd - Clancy Dawson (860 pts)
3rd - Corey Ziems (730 pts)
4th - Samb Mann (680 pts)

Former winners include: Luke Munro (2002), Mark Richardson (2003) Adriano De Souza (2004) and most recently Damon Harvey (2005).

The winner and runner up of the ’06 Billabong QCC series wins a wildcard into the Gold Coast World Championship Tour Trials Event. What’s more, the winner of the Billabong QCC wins a wildcard into the Billabong Pro Tahiti Trials Event, plus return Airfares. The ’06 Billabong QCC, with $AU30, 000 on offer over six events is the richest domestic surfing circuits in not only Australia, but also the world.

The Billabong QCC is proudly presented by Vodafone.

Luke Dorrington : photo courtesy Surfing Australia

Day 1 : Currumbin Alley Turns It On For Billabong Alley Classic -

Mother nature serves up unexpected erratic weather patterns, coupled with a fresh to gusty S-SE winds and a pulsing 3-4 ft (feet) swell have tested a stacked field of word-class competitors on day 1 of the Billabong Alley Classic, held at the famous Currumbin Alley point-break, Gold Coast.

A star-studded field of 96 of Queensland’s and Australia’s finest open aged surfers, including World Qualifying Series (WQS) regulars, Pro junior young-guns and hopeful grommets intrepidly battled the elements that had even the most experienced campaigners going for broke, in what is the richest domestic surfing circuit in the world.

In its 10th year, the annual Billabong Alley Classic is the first event of the 2006 Billabong Queensland Championship Circuit (QCC), a six event, $30,000 series that continues to set the benchmark for surfers aspiring towards a professional surfing career.

A hefty downpour of rain over the last few days, joined with a strong rip pulling surfers away from the take-off zone caused havoc for competitors today, however not totally dampening surfer’s spirits and imminent performance levels as contenders demolished the chocolate-brown reeling walls of Currumbin Alley.

Damon Nicholls (Palm Beach) was one such surfer to tame the conditions, executing a series of controlled, yet explosive backhand maneouvers on his way to a superb round 1 (Round 96) win.  Nicholls, an experienced World Qualifying Series (WQS) stalwart is at present concentrating on a “free surfing”career and appears to be more relaxed then ever.

Surfing in sync with the Currumbin’s peeling 1-metre waves, Nicholls smashed his competitors, performing 3 powerful backhand re-entries on his first wave and in the process scoring an impressive 7.75-point ride from the judges. Nicholls held off a late charge by Burleigh Head’s Paul Fisher, posting a scintillating 8.75-point ride in the final few minutes of the heat to easily progress into round 2 of competition.

Employing different tactics for his heat, Nichols said “ I sat inside of the other guys in my heat, trying to sneak a wider set wave.” They seemed to hold up a lot more and offered better scoring potential.” “I felt really good out there - I guess it was just my heat!” added a cheerful Nicholls.

QCC elder statesman and two-times Alley Classic Champion, Mark Richardson (Currumbin Alley), blitzed his fellow competitiors in his opening heat and will be one to beat come the business end of the event. Optimistic about tomorrow's forecast, Richardson said "We've totally scored for the event. Hopefully, the swell will hold in for tomorrow's final. I can't wait to get out there and beat some younger guys."

Wave-selection proved critical today, with surfers hassling valiantly for prime position and key set waves. Seeded surfers will enter the water late this afternoon in round 2 (Round 64).  Today’s other standouts included – Brad Lancaster (Coolangatta), Gert Du Preez (Wurtulla), Michael O’Rafferty (Cabarita), Romain Cloitre (Reunion Island) and Scott Wildin (Main beach).

Showers are expected to clear and southerly winds predicted to remain on Sunday, as conditions should further clean up and a more settled ocean with “pumping” waves on offer for final's day.  Tomorrow's format will see the last 4 heats of round 2 (Round 64) commence final's day at 8am sharp.

An impressive display of surfing by Michael O’Rafferty has seamlessly seen him take a stranglehold over the Toohey’s Extra Dry “Wave of the Weekend” winner’s prize of 4 cartons of the clean crisp taste of Tooheys Extra Dry for the weekend’s highest wave score of 9-points.

O'Rafferty will have to be keep his hand on the pulse to lay claim to the booty come final’s day. 

www.billabong.com / www.surfingqueensland.com.au

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Jake White
jake@surfingqueensland.com

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