Whalebone Classic

Surfing Western Australia
Iso's Reef, Cottesloe Western Australia
11 - 12 July 2009

Last minute wave allows Ben Proudfoot to win his first Whalebone

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 July, 2009 : - - Perfect longboarding conditions prevailed for day 2 of the12th annual Whalebone Longboard Classic at Cottesloe. A huge crowd was on hand to witness WA’s premier longboard event contested in warm sunny conditions with 2-3 feet waves (1 – 1.5m).

The blue ribbon Open Men’s division continued their devastating form with the best surfers progessing to day two. Quarter final one saw Jock Bahen (Cottesloe,WA) open his account with an excellent 8.5 ride then follow it up shortly afterwards with a long ride incorporating a 360 helicopter to earn a 9.25 to earn a total score of 17.25 out of a possible 20. WA State Longboard Champion Rahn Goddard (City Beach) was another local surfer to impress with a 16.20 total to finish in second and progress to the semi final rounds.

Competitors in the second quarter final suffered with a lack of quality waves as the high tide approached, making the going slow. Yesterday’s standout competitor Tim Fitzpatrick (Scarborough, WA) was unable to find his rhythm and had to settle for second place behind Dan Corbett (City Beach, WA). Heat 3 saw Ben Proudfoot continue his winning form with a win over Michael Corbett (City Beach, WA) to progress through to the semi finals.

Jock Bahen picked up from where he left off in the earlier quarter finals, scoring a 7.5 for his opening ride and then an 8.8 leaving Tim Fitzpatrick and Michael Corbett fighting it out for the second spot in the final. Fitzpatrick managed to score an 8.0 on his final ride to advance with Corbett bowing out. Semi two and the waves suddenly became hard to find. Rahn Goddard made the most of his local knowledge to pick the best of what waves were available scoring 14.65 to advance to the final along with Ben Proudfoot.

The final, saw the four best surfers competing for $3000.00 up for grabs, in what is now arguably WA’s biggest lonbgboard event. Ben Proudfoot opened his scoring account with a 7.90 to take the early lead after the opening set of waves in the final. Tim Fitzpatrick then picked off a couple of good waves in a row to seize the lead while Jock Bahen moved into second place.

Rahn Goddard and Ben Proudfoot stayed languishing on 1 wave each as the swell seemed to disappear completely. But this didn’t seem to rattle Proudfoot who simply had to wait patiently to capitalise on his 7.90 ride. With under 3 minutes remaining Goddard and Proudfoot both managed to catch a second wave each which saw Proudfoot then regain the lead from Fitzpatrick. 

Bahen picked up another scoring wave but it wasn’t enough or him to improve his position. The final hooter sounded seeing Proudfoot winning his first Whalebone title on a total of 13.7 from Fitzpatrick on 12.75 in second place, Bahen finished third on 11.5 point total, with Goddard rounding out the top four with a 9.5 total.

“Im totally stoked with the result, I cam over to WA five years ago from the Tweed Coast with Jock and I’ve never left. I love it over here and I cant believe I’ve finally won this event.” Said an elated Proudfoot.

www.whaleboneclassic.com.au

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Sean McKowan

Longboard - Surfersvillage

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