PHILLIP ISLAND KNEEBOARD PRO 2018
THE LONG WAIT IS OVER !
Ryekneeboarder, Pete Fairweather has taken out the 34th Annual Phillip Island Kneeboard Pro in testing conditions at Woolamai Beach.
Pete becomes the first Victorian to win the prestigious event, and becomes one of only 10 surfers to have taken out the annual event. It was a great event for the Fairweathers, as he was joined by his son Owen, who took out the Cadets.
Competition started on Saturday in great conditions at Woolamai beach. All of the top kneelo’s from Australia were in attendance, along with a team from Spain who travelled all the way over specifically for the event.
Round 1 went as expected, with all the top seeds progressing through to round 3. Second and third progressed to round 2 and fourth went to B Grade.
Standout surfers in round 1 were Albert Munoz, Chayne Simpson, Gavin Colman, Dean Bould, and Pete Fairweather.
Round 2 was where the field would be culled and each heat would be very close.
Woolamai was churning out some great waves, and also some fierce beatings, catching out some of the visitors with the amount of paddling required.
The field thinned out , with third and fourth sent to A Grade while one and two would be coming up against the first round winners.
First to get through round 3 were 2 time World Champion Albert Munoz, along with Jethro Cooney. Next to progress were Englishman Karl Ward and Paul O’Neill from Fish Creek. Liam Taurins Sydney, and Pete Fairweather got the better of Alberto Gonzalez Spain, and South African, Marc Crawford. Chayne Simpson Wollongong and Tim Kadwell Rye were next to go through followed by another 2 time World Champion , Gavin Colman, and Phillip Island’s Dean Bould. The final pair to qualify was Cronulla’s Peter McLure and 11 time winner of the Island Kneeboard Pro , Baden Smith.
The quarter finals would see a number of great surfers pitted against each other in 4 , 3man heats, with third dropping out. First to go was Albert, beaten by Jethro and Paul. Next up saw Pete and Karl progress at the expense of Liam. The third heat was taken out by Chayne, with Tim knocking out Gavin. The final quarter final was won by Dean, with Baden second, and Pete McLure third.
Some great surfers got eliminated but it was an even better field left for the 2 semi’s.
That was the end of day 1. Sunday arrived with what was expected. Howling cross shore wind , and then rain storms. Conditions were extreme , but the top surfers still managed to make the conditions look easy.
Semi 1. Pete Fairweather dominated with power and flow, while Karl Ward continued his great form. They both went to the final at the expense of Jethro, and Paul O’Neill.
Semi 2. Tim Kadwell and Dean Bould used their local knowledge to get the better of Baden and Chayne to get through giving us 3 Victorians in the final and a chance to break a 33 year hoodoo.
The Final. Pete got a great wave early with a couple of solid manoeuvres to take an early lead. Karl and Dean both got good wave but were still just behind Pete. Tim paddled up and down Woolamai to finally score a good one. A lot of average scores were being accumulated, but then Pete backed up his best wave with another fine ride to secure the title.
Final Placings.
1st PeteFairweather, Rye
2nd Dean Bould , Phillip Island
3rd Karl Ward, England
4th Tim Kadwell, Rye.
The Womens Division was taken out by Marina Garcia from Spain, from Laura Brown Phillip Island.
Juior Division winner was Noah Bateup Torquay
Cadets winner was Owen Fairweather Rye.
A grade and B Grade divisions were ran up to the semi final stage, but had to be abandoned due to a severe storm front the hit during the morning.
Contest Director, Jim Brown, was very pleased with the event which again has brought in surfers from around Australia and overseas. All of the visitors enjoyed their time in the island and vowed to return.
RAFFLE Winners
ISLAND SURF Kneeboard : JEFF PHILLIPS
ISLAND SURF Kneeboard : TOM NOVAKOV
SPAIN WORLD TITLES COFFEE TABLE BOOKS : AL DEADMAN, CRAIG TINSLEY, JORGE De CELIS
PETER SIMMONS WOOD BURN, PETER BERKELEY
AUSSIE GOLF RANCH, GOLF FOR 2. AL DEADMAN, LEE SLAVEN
Many thanks to Rosey for his tireless work, along with Adrian Sorati and his judging crew for continuing on in some appalling conditions. And also to all our competitors, some of whom travelled enormous distances just to compete.
Also , many thanks to our supporters, ATOLL TRAVEL, ISLAND SURFBOARDS, NORTH PIER HOTEL, MAGICLANDS RUBBISH REMOVAL, TREE CARE NOW, MUVIRI PILATES, BARZ OPTICS, STRAPPER SURF, NEIL LUKE KNEEBOARDS, PARKES KNEEBOARDS, KNEEON, FLASHPOINT and PHILLIP ISLAND NATURE PARK.
See you all next year at the 35th annual Phillip Island Kneeboard Pro.