Hi Guys,
Well the 6 star Drug Aware Pro has come and gone and what a week it was! The event started with the trials on Sunday. The car park was full of crew cheering for the local boys to get into the event and of the 4 West riders competing, 3 earned their place in the event. Notably Mitch Taylor became the youngest competitor to get a place in the event through the trials, not an easy feat for the 17 year old who had to surf against the likes of Jake Paterson and Jay Davies.
Tom Innes and Kerby Brown also earned their place in the main event through the trials and they certainly gave the crowd a show! Kerby surfed through to the round of 96 and finished his week off with a secret mission with photographer Russel Ord to a new big wave spot where rumour has it he surfed a wave that looked like "Cyclops on steroids". Can't wait to see those photos!
Tom Innes and Luke Munro found themselves in the same heat in the round of 48. Tom combo'd the heat leaving the others vying for 2nd place. Luke Munro convincingly won his first heat but bowed out in the round of 48 against Tom, placing overall 37th. Luke spent the week surfing with his travel partner and event winner Tom Whitaker and enjoyed relaxing with the odd wine after a hard days surfing.
Tom Innes surfed through the trials to the round of 16 where he bowed out in a suspense filled heat against event winner Tom Whitaker. After 12 and a half minutes no waves had been ridden so the heat had to be re-started. He put up a great fight but just couldn't match Whit's whose competition experience put him over the line. Placing overall 9th, Tom Innes certainly did West proud. Congratulations!
James 'Taipan' Wood and Glen 'Micro' Hall certainly made themselves known. Despite getting knocked early in the event they stuck around and made themselves known as West Team Riders. Woody surfed with Mitch Taylor and Dan Moore, charging Northies and getting some awesome shots at Boodji with Ordy. Micro could be found paddling out at Margies at the crack of dawn most days to test his new boards and soon became caddy for half the competitors. Dan 'D-Moore' Moore came for his first WA surf trip and couldn't get over how many waves there were and what was considered 'bad surf'. He got himself noticed charging Gas, North Point, South Point, Box and Margies. Not bad for a first timer.
The West house, dubbed the "West Lounge" by Joel Reading and Jarrad Howse, became Base Camp for the West riders. There were a lot of comings and goings and the lounge became the most famous of all team houses. It hosted the inaugural West Poker Night and provided a comfortable setting for the odd sunset beer with the kangaroos. It can’t go unsaid that talk in the event car park was about the ‘new look’ West Team, with comments like “How sick is the West Team?!” and “When did West get such a good team?”. Our riders were certainly doing their job well. Cheers boys!
A highlight of the week was the 8th Cricket match between the Dunsborough A Team and the “Blow Ins" made up entirely of surfers, headed by Jake Paterson. Wednesday afternoon saw a trials match run by Jarrad Howse, used as selection for the real team. Micro, Woody and I all played and tried for selection. Despite bowling out Julian Wilson, I didn't quite make the cut and Woody's fumbling skills didn't get him anywhere. Balls were hit into backyards for sixes and I’ll never forget seeing Clint Kimmins run as fast as he could and leap over a fence to get away from a dog who found the cricket ball. In the end Micro got the call up from Jake and joined Luke Munro on the team. The Blow Ins won by one point.
Overall a great week was had by all. Thanks to all staff for their help leading up to and during the week and Russel Ord for his fine photography skills and kindly lending his poker set. West congratulates all its team riders and wishes them luck for their future comps. Keep an eye out for Luke competing at the Billabong Pro Teahupoo Tahiti, Micro competing in the Quiksilver Pro, Durban South Africa and The O'Neil Highland Open in Thurso Scotland, Woody in 6.0 Lowers Pro in Trestles and the West Pro Junior Team in the Brothers’ Neilsen Pro Junior on the Goldy.
Cheers,
Brodie Cotter
TEAM MANAGER