Surfing Victoria State SUP Titles Results

The State SUP titles were held in Torquay on Saturday 25th February, presented by Surfing Victoria, and supported by SUP VIC and BASS SUP.

The first event of the day was the 20km Marathon. A field of 14 gathered at Raff’s Beach in Ocean Grove before sunrise, with a warm northerly blowing about 15 knots. As the race got underway, Cam Hosking shot out to an early lead and was never really challenged. Despite choppy seas, a couple of raging bombora surf breaks in direct line of the course, and wind and currents pushing in opposite directions, Cam somehow managed to navigate the path to Zeally Bay, Torquay in a shade over 2 hours to become the first state champion of the day. Following Cam home was Heath Meldrum, making this his 4th race out of 4 where he came in second. Third place went to Luke French, a great effort as he flew in from QLD the day before and paddled a 12’6″ Fanatic in contrast to most of the field on 14′ boards. Chris Sal, Jonathan Cowcher and newcomer Zeb Walsh rounded out the top 6 in a closely fought race to the line. The sole female competitor, Jean Ringrose Coyne took it up to the men, finishing in around 2 hr 34 mins and assuring herself of the state title.

The Surf event got underway off Point Danger with moderate offshore winds and good swell producing clean 3′ waves. SUP VIC was well represented in early rounds although the surf coast crew proved to be very tough competition. Nevertheless, both Ross McClure and Michael Jenkins fought their way through to the second round of the Over 40s, with MJ reaching the final. Despite putting up a valiant performance in the mid afternoon heat, Mike was bested by eventual champion John Takle, with Graeme Briggs coming second and Courtney Dalton taking third. In the Open Men’s, Brendan Nachtigal flew the flag for SUP VIC, winning his first heat, but was desperately unlucky to miss the final when he nobly relinquished the last wave of the second round to his nearest rival. In the end, Matt Takle made it a family double act, in taking out the title ahead of pre-event favourite Matthew Lumley, followed by Graeme Briggs and Will Cousins. In the Women’s Open, Kristi Page secured her first state title with a strong performance, overcoming Lucy Bell.

 Women’s Open winner Kristi Page – Photo by Phill Page

The final event of the day was the Technical Race. The course was designed to test paddling skills through a dumping beach break, difficult side wind, a downwind section, and then surf-able waves back into the beach. By the time the race got started, the temperature gauge had topped 37 degrees. Many of the competitors were backing up from the morning’s Marathon, while others figured prominently in the Surfing finals. Luke French tapped into his Gold Coast training to take an early lead, followed closely by Chris Sal and Zeb Walsh, whose local knowledge seemed to serve him well. Meanwhile Heath Meldrum languished midfield after experiencing technical problems – a legrope wrapped around his fin acting like an anchor. But after sorting that out, Heath put his head down on the second lap and took a wider line up to the Point Danger turning point. He then caught the wave of the day to sweep past the leaders and secure his maiden SUP victory and the state title. Following him across the line, Luke, then Zeb and then Chris were all separated by just 6 seconds, with David Nixon and then Rupert Lancashire completing the top 6. Mike Jenkins followed up his efforts in the Surfing to be the first home in the Over 40s and winning the state title in that category. Jean Ringrose came in seconds later to secure her second title of the day – a terrific effort.

One consistent theme I heard over and again on Saturday from people who travelled to Torquay to support the event – all agreed that they could have entered, they wanted to enter, but felt somehow unqualified to participate in a state titles competition. However after watching the racing and surfing, each one of them felt confident that they would not be out of place, that the event was inclusive and in no way intimidating. With that in mind, I highly recommend that everyone should give serious thought to entering next year.

As for the winners, the Surfing Australia national titles event beckons in Port Macquarie in August. Max Wells from Surfing Victoria has confirmed that the state champion in each category will be invited to represent Surfing Victoria as a member of the state team. As you may be aware, Surfing Victoria has been allocated a number of additional places in each event. In order to select the other members of the team, Surfing Victoria will consult with a SUP Advisory Committee (to be established shortly), and in collaboration, they will take account of the placings at state titles, but will also consider major race and surf results over the past year. The aim will be to send the best possible Victorian team to nationals to fly the flag, with the ultimate ambition of securing a Victorian selection in the Australian team to go to the ISA World Championships. No doubt you’ve heard the Aussies just won the world title in Peru over the weekend, and will look to go back to back next year.

  Technical Race Competitors – Photo by Tim Patterson

Well that’s about it for the state titles, a great weekend, some brilliant surfing and racing, a terrific vibe, and a chance to spend time with some really cool people. Put it in your calendar for next year.

Paul Harrington

President – SUP VIC