Rip Curl GromSearch
Presented By Snickers

Cronulla Beach, NSW Australia
19 - 22 January 2008

Davey Cathels takes out 16 Boys at the Rip Curl GromSearch, Cronulla

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 22 January, 2008 : - - The increase in swell overnight saw the Rip Curl GromSearch move to sunny conditions and good waves at South Cronulla beach today.  The building and sometimes tricky 1.5m waves and allowed the best junior surfers in the country to show their skill on boy’s finals day and provide great viewing for the strong holiday crowd.

In the premier 16 and under division final Davey Cathels continued his impressive display and locked in the best wave of the heat (a 9.27 out of ten) with ten minutes remaining and never looked back from there. The win secures Cathels a spot in the highly sought after National Final, held during the Rip Curl Pro at Bells 2008. It’s an event he won last year and he now can be sure of the chance to defend the title.

“I’m stoked to win through to the National final at Bells. It’s an awesome experience down there and this was my only chance to get a shot at it.” Oscar Scanes (Old Bar) applied some pressure and moved to second with a 7.40 but couldn’t reel in the favourite as Cathels went on to post several waves in the excellent range.

Sam Patterson (Killarney Vale) was last year’s winner of this event but couldn’t find a good second wave and had to settle for 3rd in his final appearance in this series. The result also secures him 3rd position on the final ratings for the series and wraps up a great GromSearch career. Kurt Kiggins (Cronulla) used his local knowledge to surf into the final four and placed a career high 4th in front of his home crowd.

“The fact that I live here probably does help me in heats.  It was lucky that I sat wider than everyone because all the sets were breaking wider today.  But it was always going to be hard to beat Davey in his current form!” The 14 and under boys division also started with a large field of 50 competitors and making to the final four was an accomplishment in itself.

Jake Scott (Malabar) continued the trend for the day and lead from the outset to secure his first win in the series moving him from 4th to third place on the ratings. Saxon Lumsden (Chittaway Point) got a wave in the dying seconds to shoot from last to second ahead of Tylah Hutchinson (Warriewood) and Josh Hay (Copacabana) in respectively.

The surfing in the 12’s boys showed outstanding surfing all event in waves that were up to three times overhead for some competitors. Jordan Olsson (Copacabana) also lead from start to finish to claim his first win in the series after four attempts. Fellow Copacabana surfers Brendan Hay and Navarone Davis came in 2nd and 4th respectively and Will Morrison came from Coolangatta to post a 3rd placing.

The Snickers Expression Session is a popular activity that allows up to 20 surfers to paddle out together and let loose with their most radical surfing. At this year’s Cronulla event both a male and female will be chosen to win an all expenses paid trip to the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach. The entries deemed to have surfed to the best of there ability were Skye Burgess (Wollongong) and ………. 

Snickers Wave of the Day went to Jordan Olsson for the biggest wave in his 12 and under final.

Final Results

U/16’s Boys
1st place – Davey Cathels (North Narrabeen)                         
2nd place – Oscar Scaners (Old Bar)
3rd place – Sam Patterson (Killarney Vale)
4th place - Kurt Kiggins (Cronulla)

U14’s Boys
1st place – Jake Scott (Malabar)
2nd place – Saxon Lumsden (Chittaway Point)
3rd place – Tylah Hutchinson (Warriewood)
4th place – Josh Hay (Copacabana)

U12’s Boys
1st place – Jordan Olsson (Copacabana)
2nd place – Brendan Hay (Copacabana)
3rd place – Will Morrison (Coolangatta)
4th place – Navarone Davis (Copacabana)

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Steve Robertson

Groms - Surfersvillage