Evening post

Hello Friends,

A brief Monday evening update for you. Went out and about this afternoon with the intention of getting in the water. But the swell was still settling in and nothing really took my fancy. I’m sure you know the drill – you drive around looking, but you just can’t get enthused, or you run out of time or both.

Dee Why point was one of the better options in my view, but the folks I saw in the water at Curly and Manly as well may have begged to disagree. The wind was lightly onshore, so it kind of gave everything that slightly lumpy, unkempt look. Swell angle is SSE at the moment. It’s a touch over two metres at 11 seconds apart.

This afternoon, the period was mostly shorter than that, so it was farily setty. PB and I went down to Manly to see if the wind was a little less onshore. Wasn’t really much less affected than Dee Why. Went out to the Bower and watched a little group of bodyboarders playing around at Winki. Nothing much was getting around into the Bower, but every now and then someone would jag a waist high thing.

Another crunchy one courtesy of Huey.

Not exactly all time winki, but there were a few moments for the bodyboarders on it.

After tiring of watching and shooting at the Bower, we went back to Dee Why point. As I was walking down the steps for a better angle, I saw RealSurf forum identity Coops take off on a pretty reasonable one.

Fin man flying through another fin test.

Solid looking set wave gets ready to do the slab thing.

Fun cutty at the point.

Mona Vale

I had a breif look at MV this morning, and it was pretty big and messy, nothing special. Palmy was a little better though, a bit protected and cleaner!

Lay Day for Billabong Pro Tahiti, Improved Conditions Forecast

Marlon Lipke (DEU), 25, 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie, was a standout in yesterday’s Round 1 action. The young goofy-footer will take on stalwart ASP World Tour veteran Taj Burrow (AUS), 30, in Round 2 of the Billabong Pro Tahiti when competition commences. Photo: ASP/ CI/ ROBERTSON via GETTY IMAGES

TEAHUPOO, Tahiti (Sunday, May 10, 2009, Monday in Australia) – The Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui has been called off for the day, with lumpy four-foot (1.5 metre) swell and onshore winds replacing the near-perfection of yesterday.

Stop No. 3 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Tahiti saw the opening 14 heats of the man-on-man elimination Round 1 completed yesterday, and with the forecast calling for improved conditions in the coming days, event organizers opted to hold competition off for the day.

“We obviously don’t have the idyllic conditions that graced us yesterday with the swell a bit lump and the wind onshore,” Luke Egan, Billabong Pro Contest Director, said. “We’ve called competition off for the day, but are monitoring swell and winds for the coming days and it looks like we may be running again soon. We’ll be back tomorrow morning to make another decision.”

Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 6:30am to assess conditions for a possible 7am start.

When competition resumes, first up will be Heitor Alves (BRA), 27, against 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie Michel Bourez (PYF), 23, in Heat 15 of Round 1.

Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for the current fetch of Southeasterly swell to pulse through the day with variable winds before being replaced by a more favorable WSW swell on Tuesday and Wednesday with improved winds.

Highlights from yesterday’s Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui are available at www.billabongpro.com

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 15: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)

Heat 16: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)

Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)

Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. TBA

Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Marlon Lipke (DEU)

Heat 5: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Josh Kerr (AUS)

Heat 6: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. TBA

Heat 7: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)

Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Heiarii Williams (PYF)

Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)

Heat 10: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. TBA

Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)

Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBA

Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)

Heat 14: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA

Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)

Heat 16: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)

Mason Mania for Finals of Lizzy Surf Slam

Tugun young gun Sarah Mason blasts a big backhand turn en route to winning the open women’s division of the Lizzy Surf Slam on the Gold Coast today. Image: Jake White / Surfing Queensland

Sunday 10th May, 2009: IT was the Mason show once more on the Gold Coast today, as surfing young gun Sarah Mason (Tugun) dominated the Lizzy Surf Slam.

The 14-year-old whiz kid picked up from where she left off yesterday, beating defending champion Dimity Stoyle (Buderim) to win the open women’s final.

The win guaranteeing her a shot at the world’s top surfers in the trials of next year’s Roxy Pro on the Gold Coast.

“I can’t wait to surf against three other surfers in perfect Snapper again,” said Mason, who fell short of qualifying for the main event of this year’s Roxy Pro after finishing third in the trials in February.

“It meant a lot to me to get as far as I did this year, but I’m really keen to go better in next year’s trials.”

Mason, the younger sister of professional surfer Airini Mason, came out firing in the 20-minute decider, netting a 5.83 and 7.00 for a 12.83 two-wave total to upstage Stoyle, who managed a 9.64 total, with Cabarita’s Brittani Nicholl (7.17) in third and Tugun’s Wini Paul (6.70) in fourth.

Mason then backed it up in the U/16’s, trumping fellow Gold Coasters Amiya and Brodie Doyle (Coolangatta), and Eden Putland (Currumbin), in another entertaining finale.

The Kiwi import has come to the attention of the broader surfing community in recent times and is well on the way to following in the footsteps of her older sister.

Stoyle, who competed in this year’s Roxy Pro trials alongside Mason, received some consolation by claiming the U/21 division title.

The second annual event was an outstanding success, helped by an improved standard of competition, good waves and a friendly vibe.

A slight pulse in swell throughout the morning allowed contest organisers to wrap up the day’s finals in highly-contestable conditions, with competitors making the most of blustery metre-plus waves at Nobbys Beach.

But it was Alexandra Headland’s Sharon Jackson, plus border crossers Codie Klein (Kingscliff) and Alyssa Lock (Tweed Heads), who laid claim to top honours across the remaining four age divisions.

The event featured U/21, U/18, U/16, U/14, seniors (O/28), masters (O/35) and open women divisions. 

The Lizzy Surf Slam is a fully mobile event on the Gold Coast and was designed to be a great, fun weekend with a real social atmosphere.

For all event updates please check out www.surfingqueensland.com.au or call the Surfing Queensland Event Hotline on (07) 3030 6388.

Established in 1991, Lizzy is a global surfwear brand that produces and distributes quality surfwear, accessories and footwear in 27 countries.

www.lizzardsurf.net

Results:

U/14s:

1st Alyssa Lock

2nd Laura Poncini

3rd Olivia Wheeler

4th Jamie McNeven

U/16s:

1st Sarah Mason

2nd Amiya Doyle

3rd Eden Putland

4th Brodie Doyle

Senior Women:

1st Sharon Jackson

2nd Kathryn Schipper

3rd Lisa Blackmore

Masters Women:

1st Sharon Jackson

2nd Pauline Pullman

U/18s:

1st Codie Klein

2nd Naomi Stevic

3rd Spohie Callister

4th Lyla Wright

Open women:

1st Sarah Mason

2nd Dimity Stoyle

3rd Brittani Nichol

4th Wini Paul

U/21s:

1st Dimity Stoyle

2nd Brittani Nichol

3rd Tiana McNeven

4th Courtney Bell

Sth Narrabeen Rpt

Yep – predicted swell has started to appear…

Huey Powers up

Much smoother this morning and picking up.

Hello Friends,

Looks as though it’s coming together this morning. We have a solid 2 metre plus SSE swell at about 11 seconds apart on average. Wind is currently out of the WSW at about 8 kts. Our next tide is a high at 0935.

Sets at Dee Why point are in the overhead range. Given that there is some 13 second component in the mix, you can expect the bomb sets at exposed places to potentially be into the double overhead range. From the look of the buoy data south of us, the swell should push along at about the current size for the rest of the day.

On current projections, this is peak day for the swell, but the decline toward smallness around Thursday could be a gradual one. And the very long range forecast currently shows another south pulse arriving late Saturday.

Here’s the Bureau’s call:

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Monday until midnight: Wind: SW/SE 10/15 knots. Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres.Swell: S/SE 2.5 to 3.5 metres, breaking dangerously, close inshore.
Tuesday: Wind: SW/SE 10/20 knots. Sea: 1 to 2 metres. Swell: S/SE 2 to 3 metres.
Wednesday: Wind: W/SW 10/20 knots.

Go well with your day!

C C

Overcast, dry and mild on the Central Coast this Monday morning.  The swell is big and smooth with a lot of water movement at 4 – 5 feet + from the southeast.  There is a light west southwest breeze forecast to go southeast later.  High tide 0935 and low tide around 1500.  Local barometer 1019hpa, 87% humidity, 13 degrees C.  Have a good week.

The way it was May 10th Byron Bay 2009