Rip Curl GromSearch
Presented by Snickers

Surfing Australia
Jan Juc, Victoria Australia
23 - 26 September 2008

Rip Curl GromSearch Series presented by SNICKERS Series scores excellence at Torquay Point

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 24 September, 2008 : - - Torquay Point is one of Australia’s truly iconic surf breaks and today Australia’s top young surfers who are in town for the Rip Curl GromSearch presented by SNICKERS were blessed to be able to sample the perfect long peeling point waves on a perfect spring offshore day on Victoria’s Surfcoast.

Torquay Point these days is severely overshadowed by the nearby famous breaks at Bells and Winky Pop but today proved that the famous point, which played a very significant role in ushering in modern day surfing way back in 1956, still delivers magnificent surf.

Wade Carmichael (Central Coast NSW) highlighted the waves quality by catching just 2 waves in his heat, both delivering over a 400 meter ride as he notched up the days top scoring heat win with an 8.83 and a 7.7 score line.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever surfed Torquay even though I’ve been coming here for 5 years and I really enjoyed it! Such a long and perfect ride I planned my strategy before the heat to be patient, wait for the better bigger waves and it worked out just perfectly” said Carmichael who left the water with three minutes to spare after his second super long ride today.

The day opened with round two requalifying divisions for surfers across 14 Girls, Boys and 16 Boys with solid performances from locals George Allan (Bells Beach), Chase Galbraith (Jan Juc) ,Jamie Powell (Bells Beach) and Meg Sweeney (Jan Juc) who all advanced through to round three while interstate standouts today were Max Weston, Josh Redford and Ryan Callinan.

Other Victorian surfers to excel today included Mitch Baker (Phillip Island) and Mornington Peninsula’s Sam Chalmers who both took solid heat wins along with Leewan Allison (Mallacoota) who advanced in second place behind local standout Shyama Buttonshaw in the 16 Boys division and as the event heads toward the serious end the local Victorian surfers are signaling that they’ll play a big part in the finals.

While the point provided great waves the abundance of young surfers here for this event were also treated to great free surf sessions just up the beach. Taking advantage of the free surf breaks was Newcastle 11 year old charger Jackson Baker. Baker is the standout of the event so far after a sizzling  opening round heat of the 12 Boys division late yesterday where he scored a perfect 10 point ride!

“I’m having heaps of fun even though the water is freezing” said Baker as he took time out between free surfs to watch fellow Newcastle surfer Ryan Callinan  post another great heat win today.

Connor O'leary : photo Steve Robertson

Of  his ten point ride Baker said – “It was just one of those waves that walled up and allowed me to perform heaps of big turns. I went as hard as I could and by the end of the wave I knew it would be a very good score but I never would have guessed it as a 10 – It’s a great feeling and now I’ve scored one perfect ride I want to score more.”

Baker, along with Ryan Callinan and Jake Sylvester have presented a young Newcastle dominance so far and all three are confident they’ll play a serious role in the finals on Friday.

The waves at Torquay maintained all day today but were slowly dropping in size late in the day and with offshore winds and slightly smaller swells forecast for tomorrow and Friday’s finals we can expect a return to Jan Juc beach and plenty of clean perfect beachbreaks for these remaining two days.

Today’s SNICKERS wave of the day went to Wade Carmichael for his excellent 8.83 long ride. One round of the SNICKERS expression session was also run today with surfers going big with high risk aerial moves and a second round of the expression session is set for tomorrow.

Each day there’ll be a SNICKERS wave of the day awarded to one surfer who performs outstandingly on a single wave and the SNICKERS expression sessions will again feature, encouraging super progressive moves from Australia’s hottest young talents.

Winners of the 16’s division of the Rip Curl GromSearch ratings will receive a guaranteed place in the National Finals at Bells Beach, Victoria during the prestigious World Tour event, the Rip Curl Pro. The Rip Curl GromSearch National Series is held during this event at Easter next year, in front of the thousands of people it attracts – quite a prize for a young surfer who aspires to this.

The 2008/09 Rip Curl GromSearch series is proudly presented by SNICKERS in association with Waves Magazine, Fuel TV, and Surfing Australia. Further information on the GromSearch series can be accessed at ripcurl.com. Surfing Australia can provide competition entry forms as well as updated information on each of the events proceedings and surfers ratings which is accessed at surfingaustralia.com

The Rip Curl GromSearch series travels to seven different spots around Australia, giving young hopefuls a chance to surf in their own backyards in an effort to make their way to the National Finals at Bells Beach.

2008/2009 RIP CURL GROMSEARCH DATES
Vic Jan Juc Sept 23-26, 2008
NSW Coffs Harbour Oct 3-6, 2008
WA Mandurah Oct 11-12, 2008
Tas Clifton Oct 25-26, 2008
SA Middleton Nov 22-23, 2008
Qld Gold Coast Dec 15-19, 2008
Sydney Cronulla Jan 17-20, 2009

National Final Bells April 6, 2009
International Final Bells April 9-14, 2009

Previous reports:
# 1 : Rip Curl GromSearch Series off and running at Jan Juc
# 2 : Coming soon
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

www.ripcurl.com

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Steve Robertson

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