Peninsula Surfriders Club

The fourth instalment of the 2023 season was run and won at Gunnamatta's 2nd carpark in very contestable 2-4 ft rights. Clean conditions in the early part produced the best rides, with the onshore moving in later in the day.

Congratulations to Jake Pancic who took out the Open division over Lachy, Pedro and young Jett Harrison pushing the limits all the way to the finals.

In the womens Mia Holland put on a strong performance over Sophie Wilko and Sophie Thompson. In the Junior Men Jett H continued his strong form winning over Jarrah Cervi and Matty Meysto. Sophie Wilko got one back taking out the Junior Women over Mia and Rose Holland, and in the Cadets Noah Hanson claimed victory over Cooper Browne and Jack Willis.

Other division winners included Over 28: Pedro Lani / Over 35: Joel Reid / Over 45: Ben Pitts / Ove 55: Joe Cervi / Open B: Shan Creasey / Womens B: Elysha Browne.

Full Results available at LiveHeats.com/psc ›

Special thanks to Paul Stan Churcher of Peninsula Sports Photography who captured some of the moments throughout the day. View their albums at facebook.com/PeninsulaSportsPhotography ›

We are looking at November 11th or 18th for the 5th and final contest of the season with the Presentation night on December 9.

Special thanks to our sponsors & supporters St Andrew's Beach Brewery, Mornigton Mazda, Body Fit Training, Rip Curl, Dundas Street Milk Bar, Everist Timber, Shed Nine, and Welcome Board Store.

The club has again qualified for the Hyundai Australian Boardriders Battle Finals in March of next year in Queensland with a solid performance at the Regional Qualifier finishing 2nd in the Final behind Torquay, held at Woolamai in perfect 2-3 foot a-frames under bright blue skies and sunshine.

Firstly, massive congrats to all Boardriders clubs involved – competing alongside these Victorian clubs is a true honor. Secondly, props to Torquay Boardriders for bringing the heat and clinching the well-deserved victory.

To our Peninsula Boardriders crew, stoked to qualify for the national championships. We're confident we can go toe-to-toe with any club at the ABB Finals. Big thanks to our team surfers and extended crew for the relentless effort. Time to ride this momentum, a watch out for our surfers' grind in the lead-up to the ABB Finals, its on!

Fantastic effort by the team which included Ava, Caiden, Lachy, Pedro, Jake, Justin, Jett D, Hayden, Joel, Sophie, Jett H, with special shoutout to Will Watson's stellar performance throughout the contest, not to mention Bus Driver Rod, Coach Reidy, Captain Lach, Pres Sean, and all those who came down with us.

We're pumped to see the team at the finals at Burleigh Heads, March 2024!

LET'S GOH!"

Despite a tricky surf and weather forecast, Peninsula Surfriders Club committed to their mission of bringing Victoria's best surfers to the local area in the pursuit of cash and prizes. With $1,000 up for grabs to the winner of both our Open and Open Women's divisions, the call was made to run at Atlas in Shoreham.

Competitor feedback from other coasts aligned with our theory that calmer conditions and protection from the elements was a priority to ensure good atmosphere and spectating. Clean waist to head high waves greeted us, and remarkably hung in throughout the low tide.

The standard of surfing was strong, with the Women's quarters an early highlight... Sophie, Ava, Sara (TBC) and Carly (Jan Juc) all locked in strong totals with the Soph v Ava heat a back and forth battle that set the tone for the afternoon.

As we reached the finals the swell energy was less consistent and longer lulls made for some important tactical choices. Fortunately the Women's final again provided the best action with strong scores and lead changes to Sara, Lucy, Ava and Carly. A head high set in the final minutes saw Ava snatch the lead, before Carly overtook her on the last wave with a 9 point ride.

The ebb and flow of conditions meant a big lull was due and the Men's final started slow. Well done to Lucas Hickson from Rye (TBC) for grinding it out in the inconsistent conditions. Lachy, Cooper (Jan Juc) and Harry (PIBC) rounded out the final. Lucas' 9.4 in the semi-finals was the high score of the event and he was clearly the guy to beat.

We were stoked to have 5 different clubs represented in the two finals, and a total of 8 clubs represented in our event.

See you all next year!

RESULTS:

OPEN WOMEN
Carly Shannahan (Jan Juc) - $1,000
Ava Holland (Peninsula)
Lucy Naylor (Point Lonsdale)
Sara Hickson (Torquay)

OPEN MEN
Lucas Hickson (Torquay) - $1,000
Lachy McDonald (Peninsula)
Cooper Downes (Jan Juc)
Harry de Roth (Phillip Is)

Special thanks to our sponsors & supporters St Andrew's Beach Brewery, Mornigton Mazda, Body Fit Training, Rip Curl, Dundas Street Milk Bar, Everist Timber, Shed Nine, and Welcome Board Store.

The weather has steadily been showing signs of improvement and the daylight beginning to last that little bit longer as we speed towards the recommencement of our competition season. I'll start this Presidents report by returning to the 28th of May and our 3rd contest for the year.

Our contest directors Joel and Alex had been scouring the forecasts for weeks and finally pulled the trigger on one of the best Westernport days most of us had seen in a very long time. From start to finish every heat was stacked with great waves and great surfing. Despite the soggy weather and a BBQ that spontaneously combusted we succeed on completing an epic comp and a fantastic club day hanging out in the beautiful Pt Leo foreshore.

Thanks to Tony and the Pt Leo Foreshore Committee for hosting our Club and to David ‘Skip’ Easton for lending us his Webber.

While most of us shivered through winter some of our young guns made the trip to QLD for the 2023 Occy Grom Comp and Oz Grom Open. Rose Holland, Sophie Wilkinosn, Ava Holland and Will Watson all showed their stuff against Australia’s brightest young talent. At the Occy comp Ava was able to battle her way to the semi finals for an equal 3rd finish. Unfortunately for Rose, Sophie and Ava the waves and conditions resembled Mornington pier for most of the event.

At the Oz Grom Open the girls were greeted by Will Watson who was competing in the U18s boys division. Held at Lennox beach the event was mostly held in glassy 2 foot surf, again Ava was able to make the final with fellow peninsula surfer Sara Hickson. Unfortunately, Ava fell just shy of accomplishing back to back wins at this event.

Will and Rose were both able to make it to the semi finals at comp and showed tremendous heart in just falling short of the final. As its stands Will is currently 5th on the Australian U18 boy’s rankings, Sophie is ranked 20th in the U16 girls, Rose Holland sits 7th in the U14 girls and Ava Holland is the current leader of the U16 girls.

The Australian Junior title starts September 23rd at Phillip Island and I ask all members to get behind our young stars by either supporting on the beach or sharing kind thoughts and encouragement via social media. Let’s GO Team PSC!!!

Some key dates to look out for over the next few months.

• September 9th ‘The East Coast Cash Comp’ featuring our clubs brightest male and female talent up against Victoria’s best for a $1000 cash prize.

• September 24th Australian Board Riders Battle Vic qualification round.

• October and November PSC 2023 season comps 4 and 5.

• November 25th PSC end of year Presentation Night.

Myself and the committee look forward to seeing you all at the East Coast Cash Comp in a few weeks to help cheer on our surfers as they battle it out for the cash prize. Let’s all support each other over the next few months in what will be some very exciting times for our amazing club and Team PSC.

Sean McDevitt
Peninsula Surfriders Club President.

Check out the great photos of Contest 3 at 'The Point' by @Peninsula Sports Photography – Part 1 –  Part 2 – 

With some fun offshore mid-sized lefts and rights and a heap of competitors, the team ran simultaneous heats over the two banks at Gunnamatta first car park.

Taking out the Open division was Pedro Lani who continued his recent form over Angus Forrest and Adam Morris.

In the Womens, Ava Holland claimed victory in dominating form and high scores. In the U/18 Girls Luka Woods put together a stella heat defeating Ava, Rose H, Sophie Wilko, Mia H and Sophie T, with Jasmine Link winning the newly formed Womens B Grade division.

Young Tarvi Woods took the win convincingly in the Junior Boys over Jett H and Arieh P, as well as winning the Cadets, watch out boys!

Angus was on fire throughout the day claiming the O/28 over Pedro and Alex. Joel Reid won the O/35 over Lachy and Hydey. Pittsy took out the O/45 over Camo and Dutchy, and Joe Cervi continued his form winning the O/55's.

The B Grade Mens was stacked with 4 rounds of surfing which saw some of the younger surfers working all the way through to the finals with Max Wilko taking it out for the second time this year over Zeph C and Arieh P.

Photos are online, thanks again to Peninsula Sports Photography

Plus a big shout out to our 2023 sposors ~ St Andrew's Beach Brewery, Mornigton Mazda, Body Fit Training, Dundas Street Milk Bar, Everist Timber, Shed Nine, Welcome Board Store and Rip Curl ~

The 2023 season kicked off under a mixed bag of conditions last Saturday. Some of the greatest surf minds on the Peninsula threw their heads together to optimise the banks on offer to set up a successful day to kick off 2023.

Jake 'The Apprentice' Pancic put on a clinic throughout the early rounds of the morning under classic offshore conditions. If the Pres doesn’t get Jake back in the roof, he could be a serious force this aggregate season.

Contest directors Reidy and Vrana put in a monumental effort across split banks to put our club’s surfers in the best conditions on offer. The wind kicked up on schedule around midday and so did the action in the water. The surfing lineage in the Holland household was on full display with Ava making her first of many to come Open finals. It took some work though with reports that sister Rose put her under the pump with a heated exchange in the lineup. Rumour has it there was a contentious leggy tug between the pair.

The finals went down in tricky conditions for the competitors. Jake Pancic took out his first Open win on the back beaches. On top of her Open finals berth, Ava Holland took out the Open and Junior Womens divisions. Tarvi Woods was putting on a clinic all day to dominate Cadets. Max Wilko blazed to victory in the Open B with Zeph taking down his old man to claim the battle of the Creasey's. Other winners included Jarrah in Juniors, Hayden Forrest O/28, Reidy O/35, Pittsy O/45, Joe Cervi 0/55

Rod Barber, Jase Owen and Thommo put in a monumental effort on the BBQ all day slinging snags and bacon and egg rolls. Huge shout out to Cam Newman and Cam Stynes for setting an example of how to do more than your fair share. Huge thanks to all those crew who got in the judges tent and were there all day for set up and pack up. See you all in the water and at Comp 2.

Matty B

We had an excellent club day at second car park Gunamatta for the 4th PSC aggregate round, a day filled with spring sunshine and a light easterly breeze greeted contestants with a 3-4 foot right rip bowl, it’d been 5 years since we’d run a contest at second car park, it was sick to be back in the old stomping ground!

Firstly, a huge thank you to all the competitors and members that came down to help run the day, the contests are running seamlessly these days.

The Open was stacked and not an easy heat was evident with big scores being posted by our surfers from the get go. Heat 2 was an early highlight with Ava Holland and Sophie Wilkinson taking on the likes of Jett Dickinson, great to see the future of the club mixing it up in the open, they’ll be taking down some big names in the comps to come. Lachy Mac, Adam Morris, Jett Dickinson and Joel Wookey were all class early, posting super strong scores across the board.

Each division had some great opportunities as the swell filled in across the day, conditions were testing early but the true cream rose to the top as the day went on.

The Cadets had a cracking final, with a super consistent swell filling in the competitors went to work. A special mention to Ben Choury who was competing in his first contest ever, looking forward to seeing Ben in the future. There was some super competitive surfing from all other competitors, a special mention to Matty Myesta and Tarvi Woods who were cracking in all day, however they were unable to keep up with the surfing of Zeph Creasey, Zeph was absolutely flaring, showing a dominant display that’ll put to the competitors in the Junior division on warning, well surfed Zeph.

The Junior Men saw Flynn Cooper put on a super dominant display, Flynn was on absolute fire across 2 x divisions, he’s rail game was looking super on point all day, congratulations Flynn! Jurrah Cervi, Spencer and Hopper all fought out for the other positions, looking forward to seeing the Juniors at the next round of competition.

The Junior Women were on absolute fire, we had a stacked draw featuring some of Victoria’s brightest female talent, the early rounds were dominated by Sophie Wilkinson, Sophie Thompson, Rose, Mia and Ava Holland. With the swell filling in across the final, we saw some excellent surfing from Luka Woods but she was taken down by a dominant display of backhand surfing from Ava Holland, a huge congratulations to Ava and her fellow competitors.

In the age divisions we kick off with the Over 55, this was closely fought battle between Andrew Dell, Rod Barber and Jamie Reichelt, all going wave for wave until Jamie Reichelt impressed with a fins out re-entry on a solid section, well done to Jamie and the rest of the competitors.

Over 45 saw a stacked heat with 7 x competitors making up a straight final, it was an absolute honour to see Dave Thomas return to the PSC for a day catching up with mates, the competitors put on a epic final with Shan Creasey, Graham Holland and Ben Pitts all duelling it out for the top 3 x positions, a huge congrats to Shan for taking out the final.

Over 35 had some epic conditions, a consistent final with all competitors getting some opportunities to light up the rip bowl right, Lachy Mcdonald took a risk surfing some lefts out the back, separating himself from his fellow competitors to great reward, lighting up a 7 point ride to take a narrow victory over rivals Joel Reid, Cam Stynes, Rob Hanley, Andrew Hyde and Luke Beerling. Well done to Lachy on a ripping performance.

Over 28 saw one of the finals of the day, with all competitors having a red hot crack! It was great to see Josh Carratello back at the club and ripping, Sean (President) Mcdevitt, Justin Grey and Adam Morris had a super close final, with 0.30 separating 3rd - 1st. The boys went head to head exchanging some epic scores, but there could only be one winner with Adam Morris taking it out with some beautifully smooth combo’s, well done to Adam.

The Open Womens final was a beauty, with Victorias top female talent on show, the women didn’t hold back, Ricci Hawkin, Tilly Smart, Rose Holland and Luka Woods were ripping, a special mention to Rose Holland on making the open final, Rose did extremely well in the super tough conditions, however it was a real dual between Sophie and Ava, both surfers opened with super strong waves and it became the game of who had the better back up, and on that day it went to Ava, a huge congratulations to Ava, looking forward to seeing this dual continue for years to come.

The Open final wrapped up the day in a strange slow heat, the lads were super fired up to put a show on for the crowd but unfortunately mother nature decided to put her foot on the break for the final. However the waves that came through were taken apart and there were some ripping performances from the open competitors, Macoy and Jett were flaring on their back hands and if the waves had given them a little more opportunity then I’m sure they would have challenged. for the win, old mate Reidy had a good crack and lit up his best wave 1 mins after the final heat finished, well surfed old boy! Adam Morris was stylish yet again and surfed his way to lovely 3rd place, Wookey was surfing with excellent speed through out the entire day, putting together a couple of cracking waves in the final but there could only be one winner, Lachy Mcdonald continued his dominant performance through out the entire day, absolutely lighting up the waves that came his way to win yet another open final, a huge congratulations to Lachy, looking forward to seeing the lads dual it out in the final contest of the year.

The day was presented by our new club supporter Welcome Board Store Frankston, Chris is offering club members a discount on their newly stocked surfboards and gear. Plus our amazing sponsors at St Andrews Beach Brewery, Mornington Mazda, and Chips & Gravy Milk Bar in Rye. Special thanks to Al and Paul from Peninsula Sports Photography, who again spent the time and took some fantastic photos of the day, available on their facebook page.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the last aggregate contest of the year.

Reidy, Contest Director

What a great day we had for contest 3 at Rye carpark on Saturday the 14th of May. Firstly, a huge thank you to all the members who came down to help and surf and also to our Sponsors SAB, Mornington Mazda, Ripcurl Aus, RVCA and the Chips & Gravy Milkbar for the continuing support.

Contest 3 capped off a great few weeks for our club, the previous weekend had seen an epic club night up at Urbnsurf where 20 or so members were treated to 2 hours of tubes and turns in our own private PSC super session. Gonga was tuning back the clock and showing all of his Indo experience when the beast mode was cranked up. Two past club champions, Jack Winter and Adam Morris were absolutely tearing it up along with all the other members young and old. A huge shout out goes to Ricci Hawkins and Rod Barber for driving the bus and for the great vibes in the surf. Also, a big thanks to Skip Easton for coming along to film some footage of the epic surfing going down.

The next day saw the surfing Victoria junior title go down at Jan Juc. Our PSC groms have had a very successful year at the state level and comp 3 was no exception. Ava Holland took the comp out for one of her biggest wins to date and Sophie Wilkinson capped off a great season to finish 2nd overall in the under 16 girls state title.

Ruby Armstrong capped off her first year competing in the under 18 women’s by taking out 3rd place in the state titles and we can’t wait to see what she has planned for next year.

Finally, Will Watson finished 2nd in the last comp of the year to take victory in the under 18 state titles and lift the trophy. Wills surfing has gone next level in 2022 and as club we are all extremely proud of what he has accomplished in being the first under 18 junior champion since Andrew Ford 30 years earlier. Jett Harrison also had his best result finishing 5th in the comp.

As President I would just like to say how incredible it is to watch our current crop of junior surfers doing so well at club and state level. The success of certain individuals is clearly helping to lift the standard of everyone one else and a snowball effect of junior rippers is slowly starting to gather pace at our club. A changing of the guard is on the horizon at PSC and hopefully and golden era of competitive success at state and national levels.

Well back to this weekends contest 3 and what a day we had, perfect 3-to-5-foot waves on offer all day long and two very decent banks to run heats for our members. A big thanks to the committee and our comp directors Joel and Alex for one of the smoothest run comps I’ve ever witnessed.

The Open was stacked and not an easy heat was evident with big scores being posted by our surfers from the get go. Heat 2 was an early highlight with Joel Wookey, Adam Morris and Jett Dickinson all bagging scores in the excellent range early on. Jett’s huge backside turn on a thick double up was quite possibly the turn of the day.

Each division had great opportunities to showcase their skills, one particular heat that springs to mind was heat 1 in the women’s division. Ava Holland, Ricci Hawkins and Sophie Wilkinson put on an absolute clinic ripping into the perfect rights on offer on the main bank causing one particular beach announcer to almost have a complete boil over of froth.

The competitive Cadets division was entertaining as George Everist joined PSC for his first comp on a family visit from Japan. Making dad Tom extremely proud, George went on to take out the division with some great surfing. Clancy, Zeph, Fletcher and Matty were also ripping in the final and continued their great performances from comp 1 and 2. Tom and George are looking forward to being at PSC full time in 2023, see you next year guys!

The junior men saw Will Watson put on another dominant performance with surfing that would trouble the best of our Open surfers, he was dominant in the final with the other surfers Flynn, Spencer, Jett, Olly and Tristen in a tight battle for the other placings.

The junior women’s final was another huge heat held over on the left that was seeing consistent lefts with a nice bowl section on offer. Ruby, Sophie, Ava and Jas had an entertaining final as all of the girls managed to make the most of the fun waves. Ava, Ruby and Sophie all traded waves in a tight tussle that saw plenty of highlights and Ava taking the win over Ruby, Sophie and Jas. Watching Jas make the finals was great to see and another example of the inspirational improvement of all of the PSC junior surfers.

In the older divisions the Over 28s final was a stacked affair and, in the end, it was an absolute meat cleaver of a finishing turn by Justin Grey that saw him take his first over 28s win. Pedro Lani, Mitch Heys and Mike Antonie gave him stiff competition for respective places in what was high performance final with some great turns and combinations worthy of an open final.

The over 35s saw Lachy take a very commanding win over his competitors. By the end his two rides saw stiff rival for the O35s crown Joel Reid in a very unfamiliar combo situation. Fighting hard for the other placings was an interesting 3-way duel that saw Andrew Hyde claiming second closely followed by a rampaging Luke Beerling and Cam Stynes who found a clutch wave at the end of the final.

The Over 45s final was another massive heat that saw Benny Pitts going absolutely hammmm on his twinny. Pittsy used big frontside turns to put on a show for the beach and judges, staunching the tower multiple times. The two Goofy footers Shan Creasey and Graham Holland put on a great duel right behind Pittsy for second and third respectively. Burto finished 4th, Ricci Hawkins 5th and Lukas 6th.

In the over 55s Joe Bonato took the win with some great surfing on the rights at his local. Joe threw down some spicy carves and looked confident and lively to take the win over Tim Wilkinson, Andy Dell and Jamie Reichelt.

The Open B final was won by Joe walker who used big backhand turns to take down the other surfers for his first Open B final win. Joe was pushed all the way by another goofy in Graham Holland. Dutchy fell ever so close to Joe in what was a scintillating battle for the very competitive Open B title in 2022.

The Open final did not disappoint and neither did the weather and waves, the sun finally popped out and we were spoilt with epic surfing under a golden Rye back beach vista. Justin Grey took an early lead in the 25-minute final with another 4-turn combo ending in a huge vertical lip hit. All of the surfers remained busy with Hayden, Lachy and Mike locking in decent first rides along with Jett who looked aggressive and confident but lacked a quality opportunity early.

Adam locked in a good ride and found himself way down the bank near the elusive end section double up. With a stroke of luck that he seems to have so often in free surfs a, beautiful little bowl appeared and Morri proceeded to link three smooth vertical turns that ultimately proved the difference.

Back at the main peak and in the final minutes of the heat, Justin Grey powerfully surfed another good wave and found himself in the lead before Adam and Jett both got good waves in the same set. The entertaining scene from the beach saw Jett score his highest ride for the final and Adam improving his back up score with a big backhand finishing turn to take the lead from Justin and take his first open title in over 4 years after a string of serious knee injuries.

Congratulations to Adam and Justin on the entertaining final heat along with Jett, Mike, Lachy and Hayden, each of whom displayed dominant performances at various stages throughout the day.

The level of surfing at Comp 3 was entertaining to watch from start to finish and it has been very noticeable how much the standard of surfing has lifted in every division in 2022. It’s a credit to all of our members and its very exciting time to be around at PSC. We will head into the Winter break before resuming the season in late September and tentatively hold the 2022 presentation night on the last Saturday in November.

The last 2 contests of 2022 should be absolute classics and decide our champions in what looks to be some of the most competitive races we have seen in years. Go PSC!

Club President, Sean McDevitt

Photos above by @ samharrison_surfmp

PSC Members URBNSURF Sessions : Friday 6th May

Our PSC private session is back! $220 for a customised private session at URBNSURF for 30 members. 18+ bus trip there and back, for Junior members we will organise a car pool.

Bus leaves clubhouse at 5pm on the dot for 8 and 9 sessions.

DM us at instagram.com/peninsulasc to secure your spot!

With 2021 in the rear-view mirror the Peninsula Surfriders Club kicked off in true style for the 2022 season with the annual Single fin contest. The comp was run in fun 2-to-3-foot surf on a beautifully sunny Australia day at First Carpark.

We had a great turn out for the event and lots of epic surfing that was captured by our friends at Peninsula Sports Photography. What was evident on the day was a great family atmosphere and the smiles on everyone's face at the end of the afternoon. Angus Forest, Ava Holland and Ben Pitts were crowned champions taking home some great prizes courtesy of SAB and RVCA who continue the amazing support of our club.

There was plenty of highlights in all divisions with names like Liam McCafferty, Mark Miccoli, Rhys Collins, Graham Holland and Ricci Hawkins turning back the clock in the over 45s division. The Junior girls put on a clinic and took the crowd by surprise with their instant mastery of the old single fin boards. Along with the champ Ava, Sophie Wilkinson, Ruby Armstrong, Mia Holland, Rose Holland, Jaz Link and Zali Hawkins all styled out on the first carpark lefts.

In the open division Mick Doh looked sharp and fast all day long, Rip Everitt was styling and radical to eventually finish 2nd. Hayden Forest and Alex Vrana were constantly atop the leader board and Max Burton and Joe Draffen also ripped all day long.

Capping off an epic week in January was the 2021 Season Presentation Night at the St Andrews Beach Brewery. We would like to thank SAB for their continued support of the club and the epic opportunity to hold our awards ceremony at such and incredible location. A really great night was had by all that came to enjoy the annual get together to celebrate the performances of our members from the previous year. After the formalities we made our way back to the club to enjoy some live music performed by Nash Carne and the Domesticated Animals. What an awesome sight it was to see members young and old enjoying themselves on the club's lawn again. A big thanks to the committee for making it all happen and to the talented Kerry Coombs for making the incredible trophies. We would also like to give a big thanks to RVCA Australia and Ripcurl Australia for helping us with the prizes that brought smiles to everyone's faces. We can't wait for this year's presentation night and hope to see even more members enjoying themselves back at the clubhouse.

Contest 1 was a huge success for the club and a great way to kick off 2022. We managed to get through a record number of competitors and provide every division with quality surf to compete in. With such big numbers we really need to stress to our members the importance of everyone chipping in to judge a heat after surfing one of their own. I'd also like to mention how much of a difference it makes having our many members hanging out till the very end of the day, not only does this give the finals a crowd to perform in front of, it also helps pack up the contest site quicker and increases the number of legends to have a beer or soft drink with back at the clubhouse.

Some of the performance highlights from comp 1 included Cam Newman dominating the early rounds of B grade, along with Tim Antonie who combed his competitors in his semi final before being taken down by Tristen Hyde who won his first B grade final.

Will Watson continued his dominance of the junior men's division with a clinical performance in the U18s final. Zeph Creasey took out the Cadets division in what should be a stacked and highly competitive division in 2022. It was great to see so many Cadets down the beach at comp 1 as the new influx of surfer's graduate from Supergroms to the senior club.

Ruby Armstrong was too strong in the Junior women's final holding off the Holland sisters to take the first win of 2022. In the women's division Ava Holland took out the final from Ricci Hawkins with some big power surfing and commanding positioning out in the water.

In the over 28s Adam Morris was on fire in the finals surfing with speed and intensity as he looked completely in groove with the lefts on offer. It was fantastic to see Adam have a win and surf so well after 2 years battling a constant string of knee injuries. Adam took the win from Matty Barrett who was in good form throwing some big backside turns and surfing a very smart heat. The over 35s was a tightly surfed final, Luke Beerling got the nod over Joel Reid and Cam Stynes, Beerlza true to form never gave up and slammed the end bowl on his final wave to secure the top spot. The over 45s was a one way affair with Shan Creasey finding the definition of flow state and absolutely shredding left bowl after left bowl for the win and what would've been a very enjoyable heat.

The men's open final was held over the two banks and had the judges busy locking in scores as the six surfers made the most of the extra opportunities. In the end 2021 club champion Lachy McDonald took the win from Junior star Will Watson in what was a very close and entertaining way to finish off a huge day for the club. Adam Morris and Hayden Forest both chose the lefts, ripping into the bowls but not finding the opportunities they had in the over 28s final. Joel Wookey and Ross McDonald surfed the rights along with Lachy and Will but couldn't find the waves to break their way into top spot.

With Autumn now upon us we look forward to some quality conditions to run contest 2 and 3 in before we have our winter break. Potential dates will be posted on our website and social media channels to give our members an idea of when we are likely to run.

We also have a junior development day to look forward too, this will be running in the first week of the school holidays at Urbnsurf and feature the video analysis and coaching expertise of James Easton. Details will be posted on the website and socials.

Thanks to everyone who has managed to make it to one of the first 3 events for 2022. The club is in a great place right now and we can't wait to get back to the beach to kick it off again for contest 2.

See you at the beach!
Sean McDevitt (Pres)

*A special thanks to Paul and Alan from Peninsula Sports Photography who took hundreds of photos, check them out their Facebook gallery and purchase a few to support these guys who devote a lot of time down the beach for us.

Full Results online at liveheats.com/psc ›

The Australian Boardriders Battle Victorian qualifier held at URBNsurf on Sunday was a glimpse in to what could be a common location for Surfing Vic events in years to come. PSC was well represented at the event with a confident team and big group of members cheering on from the lagoons turfed shorelines.

Our day started with a club warm up session on the right hander, the amount of hooting and cheering going on for the first 30 minutes was incredible to hear. Our members were tearing and for the groms who made the trip it was an awesome experience to share an intimate session with some of our club’s brightest talent. Caiden fowler, Hayden Forrest, Pedro Lani, Will Watson were standouts of the session absolutely tearing into the waves in front of the crowd waiting in line. When "Beast Mode" kicked in half way through the session it was Joel Wookey and Sophie Wilkinson who claimed the deepest tube rides.

The set up back on the lawns was elite to say the least. Each club was able to set up a tent and enjoy the couches and umbrellas provided whilst enjoying the action. In our first round we watched our team on the left from up on the wall. The view was epic and the ability to cheer on, rev up and talk to the team was unique feature of the event.

The first heat was a fairly cruisy affair. Hayden Forrest started us off and after a few early falls completed a clean ride and locked in our first decent score. Caiden and Will also looked very comfortable, Caiden tore into a few lefts and locked a big score with some big forehand gaffs in the offshore conditions. Will Watson showed that he will be an absolute force in the next few years, his style and competitive poise were on show from his very first wave, He was one of the standouts of the events clearly showing his experience in the waves at URBNsurf.

The other highlight of our first-round win was Ava Hollands debut performance for the PSC team. Ava’s first wave was so exciting to watch from up on the wall and she had us all blown away. Her aggressive 3 turn combo scored a 5.8 and if she had of completed her last turn it would’ve gone even further north. It was epic to see how steely she was in what would’ve been a very nervous moment. Lachy McDonald was clinical as our O35 and locked in another good score before Caiden let loose as the power surfer completing a comfortable win and spot in the final.

The crew were stoked and after what seemed like an eternity for our groms on shore we were able to session the left as the contest continued for two rounds. In the hot sun the PSC crew had another electric session. Perdo Lani’s surfing during this session was insane, clocking 4 turn combos and throwing tail high 360 whips to finish. However, this session belongs to our groms. Will Watson, Ava Holland, Jett Harrison, Ruby Armstrong, Flynn Cooper, Sophie Wilkinson and Spencer Davis all surfed with unstoppable froth and energy, their performances getting better with every wave. After 45 mins most of the crew had returned to shore however Rod Barber and the groms remained. On shore we watched the groms push their performances, Ava Hollands fin blast and Ruby's air were particularly impressive.

Needless to say, our members got their moneys worth and made sure no wave went to waste, even the little weeny wave was being gobbled up by the really froffy members amongst the crew. Later that night back at the club Jett Dickinson summed it up perfectly saying you "looked around and all you could see were smiles from ear to ear".

The final was held over on the rights and from what we had seen in the morning warm up the team looked and felt confident for a big performance. Hayden Forrest started us off and after pearling on his first wave Dos lit up on his second ride to the roar of our supporters and came straight to the beach. Caiden followed and on his backhand was aggressive from the first wave, after a few failed attempts Caiden ruthlessly tore a left and locked in a good score for us, sending Will back into the water. Wills performance on the next two waves was exciting to witness, His forehand fin ditch and snaps into the lip are styled out and perfectly timed, watching the replay this week has had me even more impressed. We were keeping our noses in the hunt. Hannah Trigger and Lachy McDonald locked in two more good scores for us. Hannah’s competitive nerves of steel were on full display as she smoothly ripped her first wave and followed up with another completed ride. Caiden went back out for the last few waves to try and find us the score to move into second. He ripped into multiple waves, scoring a high 7 and helping us reach third in an experienced and inspirational effort for the team.

Unfortunately we were unable to guarantee a spot in the national final but rest assure we will be doing everything possible to secure a wildcard and return to Newcastle to improve on this years good results. Id like to thank all of our members involved in the event, it was a great club day and highlighted the strong culture PSC has. Congratulations to our friends at PIBC and TBC along with all the other clubs who competed on what was an epic and unique day for Victorian boardriders clubs.

A big Thanks to Lachy McDonald and Rod Barber for their contributions to such a great day and last but not least coach Craig Watson. Watto has been an incredible contributor to team PSC over the last few years, helping our team reach the national final earlier this year. He has fostered a team culture that we will build upon for the years ahead to hopefully achieve state and national success.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of our members and friends. See you in 2022 Cheers, Sean McD.

Check out a heap of photos of the day by Gonga here ›

Saturday 11th december again saw the groms competing for the second weekend running in at Atlas, Shoreham Beach.

We've been lucky to cram in a couple of contests to finish off the 2021 season, and look forward to the 2022 year.

Special thanks to Skip, Claire and their helpers on the day, as well as Thanks to Paul Churcher for capturing the event, photos on the Peninsula Sports Photography gallery page.

Our 4th and final Contest for Season 2021 was held in a very tidy 3-5ft swell at Rye Ocean Beach on 6th November.

It was another classic day down the back beaches with all members revelling in the warmer waters and classic conditions for most of the day.

Stand out for the day was Lachy McDonald taking out both Open and Senior Mens with his pinpoint turns and spot on tube navigation. Also making the Open A final was the return-to-competition Adam Morris who carved all day long, as well as Joel Wookey, Max Burton and Mike Antonie.

Other division winners included Ruby Armstrong (Women), Sophie Wilkinson (Girls), Willem Watson (Cadets), Charlie Grant (Juniors), Jett Harrison (Open B), Shan Creasey (O/45), and Rod Barber (O/55).

I’d like to acknowledge all of our members patience and understanding over the past two years. It has been an un precedented time for everyone globally and our club can’t wait to get back to doing what it does best. We look forward to seeing everyone’s faces again at comp 4 and look forward to seeing the progression of our female and male junior members who have been making the most of the extra time in the surf.

A big thanks again to Paul and Dillon from Peninsula Surf Photography who both put in a big day behind the lense to give us all a glimpse of how good the waves actually were on the day. There are multiple galleries from Contest 4 on their page so check them out here ›

Also we need to thank the committee who every contest put in from dawn till dusk including Sean, Ben, Joel, Rod, Skip, Ron, Claire, Graham and those that help out thoughout the day!

We'll have a break over Christmas and resume on Australia Day 26th Jan with the Single Fin Event and then the Presentation Night on the Saturday 29th Jan at SAB and the Clubhouse, stay tuned and Merry Christmas!

In anticipation of the lockdown ending in Victoria our clubs committee has made some big decisions to try and navigate the upcoming months leading into Christmas and the new year.

The main decision was to commit to completing the 2021 season and crown champions across all of our divisions. We will run a fourth and final contest in a window between mid-November and mid-December so fingers crossed for a great run of waves.

We expect Surfing Victoria to announce a date for the Victorian ABB qualifiers in the next few weeks but at this point I am expecting the date for the event to be on December fourth with the location to be announced.

One of the other big decisions made by the committee was to push back the date for our end of season presentation night. We have done this to accommodate the fact that everyone will be extremely busy leading up to Christmas and to also allow a buffer for the Victorian government decision on how many people can gather at social events. The new date has been set for the Saturday of the Australia Day long weekend and will run in conjunction with the annual single fin contest and AGM. Call it a super Saturday if you will, and yes, we will need all hands-on deck to ensure a smooth and successfully run day.

Finally, we have also decided to move the PSC urbnsurf session to February / March. This will mean warmer water at the pool and more comfortable experience for everyone who gets involved.

I’d like to acknowledge all of our members patience and understanding over the past two years. It has been an un precedented time for everyone globally and our club can’t wait to get back to doing what it does best. We look forward to seeing everyone’s faces again at comp 4 and look forward to seeing the progression of our female and male junior members who have been making the most of the extra time in the surf.

A big thank you to Dillon Milenkovic for taking the time to record the club’s history on his podcast ‘salt of the peninsula’. It was an honour to sit down with Skip, Ron and Redeye to learn the rich history and humble beginnings of our great club, make sure to tune in on Spotify.

Stay tuned on Facebook, Instagram and psc.org.au for more details on comp 4

Sean McDevitt

Photo: Contest Director Ben in an eye-watering bowl. By Peninsula Surf Shots.

The 2021 Australian Boardriders Battle National Finals held at Newcastle’s city beach was a glowing example of the strength of boardriders club in Australia. Our team consisting of Caiden Fowler, Hayden Forest, Joel Reid, Joel Wookey, Pedro Lani, Hannah Trigger, Will Watson and Jake Pancic flew up to the steel city to represent our club.

The team was greeted with some great surf at the contest site and later at Dixon Park to the south for some enjoyable warm up sessions. For those who don’t know, the ABB is a teams competition format that gathers Australia’s best clubs to compete in a team vs team event to crown a national champion and take home a huge $20,000 prize. Saturday saw the competition kick off in perfect 3 to 4 foot conditions for the seeding rounds. Caiden, Joel Reid, Hannah Trigger and Will Watson took to the water for PSC to attempt a top 8 seeding and skip round 1 for Sundays team’s event.

Caiden got off to a great start with two crisp backside hooks on a right and held the lead right until the final minutes of his heat. The inconsistent swell didn’t allow him to improve his first ride and he finished 3rd. In the women’s division Hannah got busy and tried to avoid waiting to long for her opportunity to strike. Hannah couldn’t find a wave to let her show best on but kept searching as the heat clock wound down and was finally given her chance. Her two-turn combo was enough to push her into another 3rd position netting us crucial points for the following day.

Joel Reid was next in the over 35s division; he was pumped to get out there and play his role for the team. Reidy stuck to his plan and found the wave he had been hoping for within the first five minutes, netting a solid score. This strategy played dividends as the ocean went quiet and the other competitors hassled themselves out of the heat. Reidy finished 2nd improving our standings in the rolling leader board.

Our final surfer in Saturday’s heats was Will Watson. Will looked a likely winner in his heat from early on, staying active and finding plenty of opportunity. He locked away a mid-range score and had us hoping the ocean would go flat towards the backend of the heat. Will looked likely to land a big score but couldn’t find the wave to let him unleash a clean combination and stamp some authority on the other surfers in his heat. Will ended up 2nd and capped off what was a very solid first day of competition for PSC.

Down the beach early on Sunday morning and it was instantly clear that things had changed drastically. A strong southerly change overnight resulted in large and wild surf for the final day, something our team saw as a leveller to the stacked field. Surfing in the last heat of round 1 we were fortunate to be able to assess the situation and makes some final selection tweaks to the team. Pedro Lani was selected to join Caiden, Reidy, Hannah and Will.

Caiden found a big left early in the heat and surfed a series of rapid forehand turns looking strong and confident to set the team up perfectly. Watching from the sidelines it was evident that Caiden’s first wave instantly focused the team as they sprinted into the water to surf their wave. Reidy found a good right in quick time and backed up our first wave in what felt like an instant. Pedro went in next and found a good right that allowed him to complete a combination of turns finishing with a big drop wallet. In the chaotic conditions the strategy for Will and Hannah was to focus on a rip bowl close to shore, with ample time on the clock both Hannah and Will surfed to the strategy and we locked in another two-scores allowing Caiden nearly ten minutes to find a power wave. Caiden managed to find a big right and sent it huge on a big backside close out section only to come unstuck at the last moment.

With all surfers on the beach, we had surfed to heats time constraints perfectly and found ourselves in the lead with the final minutes of the heat fading away. The feeling on the beach was epic to say the least, there was huge smiles, hugs and high fives everywhere as we proudly won the heat and moved on into the next round.

The team and support crew seemed calm and ready for the task ahead as Caiden started us off again however a lack of waves early in the heat put a spanner in the works and precious minutes passed. The following heat was nearly the exact opposite to our first heat and as badly as it hurt and frustrated us, we were all able to smile at the end. Nearly everything that could go wrong in that heat went wrong but we held our heads high knowing that we had done our club and friends at home proud of. We can hopefully head back to Newcastle in 2022 with a taste of the big stage and the confidence that if we work hard our team can achieve big results against Australia’s best.

The ABB provides the team surfing experience that is so desperately lacking in the surfing world. The feeling of being at the event supporting your club and friends on the biggest stage is one of immense pride. I’d encourage every member to get involved in the coming years and help our team strive for the ultimate success at the teams titles. With the state qualifying round this November 6th the Coaches will be holding training sessions again starting in September so we can ready our surfers for another big performance.

Thank you to everyone that has been involved in our teams’ journey in 2021, our training sessions early this year helped our team prepare and also gave our juniors a great opportunity to shred with our clubs’ best surfers on a weekly basis. Thank you also to the support crew of PSC members that came up to Newcastle to cheer us on and enjoy the incredible experience that is a teams titles final.

Let’s go team PSC in 2022!

Sean McDevitt

Comp 3 2021 was the day we have been waiting for this year. Victoria has seen its share of random weather patterns this year which has made it very difficult to find that perfect day to run contests in. We were greeted by clean 3 to 4 feet of swell, perfect N/NE winds and some pretty decent sand at first carpark Gunnamatta.

The early heats of Round 1 Open Men’s and Open B had to deal with the peak of the mornings low tide so opportunities were limited. Caiden Fowler on a trip home form up north showed us that nothing has changed with a commanding performance in his first heat.

As the tide filled in through the mid-morning heats so did the scores, all of our competitors were able to show their best in the perfect conditions, some of the highlights included Flynn Cooper and Will Watson's battle in the Cadets final, with Will just getting the nod over a much-improved Flynn.

The Junior women’s heats and final was also packed with great surfing and tight competition. The waves provided the girls a great canvas to compete in straight out in front of the tents. Being front and centre didn’t bother the girls as each competitor surfed a solid heat. At the end though it was Mia Holland who took the win, looking comfortable in the water as the A frame bank the girls were surfing got more and more critical as the tide brought it closer to a nasty shore break.

The over 28's final was split over two banks with some surfers choosing the shore break and others choosing the far bank. The crowd in the lookout was treated to a show as the guys sniffed around trying to find the shore break tubes the groms had been surfing for hours during the day. In the end Pedro Lani took the cake with a technically brilliant backside air reverse onto dry sand for a perfect 10. From the water all we could hear and see was a screaming crowd and pedros big smile as he ran up the beach for the claim. Brilliant stuff!

The Open final was a tightly contested heat between all four surfers. Caiden Fowler and Lachy McDonald both had solid scores but in the slow high tided conditions never really got the opportunity to back up. On the other hand, Cal Nicolson and Joel Wookey stayed busy from start to finish with Joel stumbling at the very end and Cal with icy focus taking the day with his last wave to end an amazing day of surfing for our Club.

I’d like to personally thank everyone for coming down and staying the distance. It makes a huge difference to see so many members enjoying the day and providing a crowd for our surfers to entertain. The committee was incredible in setting up 17 hours of heats and packing it all into one day smoothly. The efforts of Lachy McDonald and Ross Moresigh as stand in contest directors were invaluable to the day’s success.

We will be on hiatus for the winter months with our competitive season to start again in October. Don’t forget the Australian Boardriders Battle finals next week in Newcastle where our team will be competing for the national title. Caiden Fowler, Hayden Forrest, Pedro Lani, Joel Wookey, Hannah Trigger, Joel Reid, Will Watson and Jake Pancic will be heading up to proudly represent our club. You can watch live online or on Fox Sports so make sure to send plenty of messages of support.

Thanks to all of our Supporters – St Andrews Brewery, Mornington Mazda, Bass surfboards, Ripcurl Australia, RVCA, Inferno Creative, Peninsula Sports Photography and Mark at Chips N Gravy Milkbar Dundas street. Also a big thanks to our members and friends for a great start to the 2021 season.

Have a great winter and happy surfing! Sean McDevitt ( President)

How quick has the start to 2021 felt this year? It’s been a very busy competitive surfing calendar of late, all starting with our huge result qualifying 2nd for the Australian Boardriders Battle National Finals way back in Jan.

One thing that has been noticeable in 2021 is the lack of decent surfing days on the beaches and what was one of the worst summers for waves in recent memory. For this reason Comp 1 wasn’t held until the 20th of February and to all of our members credit the day was a blast despite the average conditions.

Read our full contest 1 and 2 reports, teams news and more in our latest Newsletter ›

The club put another one down for 2021 on a sunny Sunday at Rye Ocean Beach, Mornington Peninsula.

A strong turnout again, particularly in the B-Grade, where 30 surfers showing up vying for a couple of spots place in the coveted Open Division next season.

The Open division final again saw a relatively young field with Macoy Noseda taking out his first Open win over Lachy McD, Joel Wookey and Jake Pancic.

Sophie Thompson carved to victory in the Womens and newcomer Reece Fischer took out the Junior Girls. Saul Taylor was victorious in the Junior Mens, Flynn Cooper won the Cadets and Spencer Davis took out the ever-growing B-Grade class.

Full results at LiveHeats.com/psc and two photo albums at Peninsula Sports Photography ›

PSC kicked off the 2021 Season in very contestable 3-4ft SW conditions at Rye Ocean Beach.

We saw great turnout including 27 surfers in Open, 17 in B-Grade and a strong showing in the womens/girls divisions.

The Open division final saw some different faces with Pedro Lani taking out his first Open win, Will Watson in his first final, Alex Vrana with a return to competition, and regular finalist Lachy McD.

In other divisions Ruby Armstong put on a dominating performance taking out both the Girls and Womens. Cassidy Short took out out the Juniors just over Saul Taylor, and Ned Shannon put on a great performance win the B-Grade.

Full results at LiveHeats.com/psc and two full photo albums thanks to Al Dillon at Peninsula Sports Photography ›

Peninsula Surfriders have claimed a berth at the Australian Boardriders Battle Nationals later this year with a stellar performance at Phillip Island with a 2nd in the final.

Held at Woolamai Beach in wind swept 4-6 ft swell, conditions were a challenge for all competitors.

The final saw traditional rivals Torquay, Phillip Island and Peninsula Surfriders and new club Jan Juc. Phillip Island took out the event with a solid performance and team total of 32.97 points.

Finishing 2nd and also claiming a National Final was Peninsula on 30.53 points, just ahead third place team Torquay on 30.3 points.

"We're over the moon!" said Captian Sean McDevitt to Surfing Victoria. "Any time we can get a win over Torquay is a massive deal for us as we think they set the standard for the state."

"We are just going to buckle down now and train really hard for the National final and see how we go!"

Our gun team included ex-pat Caiden Fowler, Hannah Trigger, Joel Reid, Hayden Forrest and Will Watson.

The National Final is scheduled to take place in Newcastle, NSW on May 15 and 16 and will be broadcast via australianboardridersbattle.com

Special thanks to Paul Stan Churcher and Al Dillion from Peninsula Sports Photography for coming down and capturing the action. Click on their link to view all their fantastic photos of the day.

Full results can be found online via liveheats.com/surfingvictoria ›

The 2021 Retro Classic was an absolute blast for everyone involved. We'd like to say a big thank you to all of you who made it down the beach yesterday. Congratulations to our Champions Hayden Forrest, Angus Forrest and Ava Holland for taking out the 2021 Retro titles.

It was a great effort by all and it was awesome to see so many crew hanging out back at the Club for a well earned beer. Our new Committee has been decided and will be announced later in the week.

Thanks also to Peninsula Sports Photography for capturing so many great photos for our members to enjoy. Please help support these guys for the great work they do down at the beach, view their gallery ›

Our team will be battling it out at Phillip Island next Saturday for the Australian Boardriders Battle. Head down to help cheer our squad onto to victory.

Keep an eye on our social for latest & updated news & events › PSC Instagram & Facebook ›

A fantastic day down at Atlas (Shoreham) with clean 2-3ft waves, a huge turn out, and some very stoked groms.

This was our only Supergroms event this year due to COVID but they'll certainly be more action in 2021.

A huge thanks to Skip Easton for running the show again and all those that helped. Also thank you to Al and Paul from Peninsula Sports Photography for the fantastic photos of the day! Check out their Facebook page for tonnes of great pics › Gallery 1 | Gallery 2

Keep an eye on our social for 2021 events likely starting late Jan/Feb.

Email supergroms@live.com to join their mail list.

We look forward to seeing you all soon!

Saturday's Covid Classic was a perfect example of the Peninsula Surfriders in all its glory. As Jackson Trotman put it during the afternoon, “its just good honest fun”

We were greeted early at Rye carpark with a dropping swell and still conditions. As the early rounds of Open got underway the wind decided to swing stiff offshore and begin grooming the swell for us. The ensuing rounds of competition were held in pumping conditions all of which was captured by Paul and Al from Peninsula Sports Photography. Id like to give a big thanks to these guys for sharing their work with our members.

One of the most exciting features of the Covid Classic was the presence and performance of the Cary crew. The junior divisions provided highlights throughout the day. Saul Taylor and Taj Farrell duked it out in the junior final while at the same time muscling through one of the biggest B grade divisions we’ve seen in recent times to finish first and second.

It was clear to the club’s older members that the young crew of rippers from Rye have benefited hugely from the lockdown period and all that extra time in the water at home. It’s going to be super exciting to watch all of you push your surfing together over the coming years.

In the cadet’s division Will Watson was silky and clinical on his way to taking the title for the day. He was faced with hot competition from Miller Cutler, Flynn Cooper, Jett Harrison in an entertaining final. The cadet’s division was looking mighty healthy as both Jarrah Cervi and Spencer Davis missed out on finals berths by the slimmest of margins, highlighting the tight competition amongst the boys.

Another highlight was seeing Ruby Armstrong, Sophie Thompson and Ava and Ruby Holland competing hard in the Groms and Junior Women divisions. By this stage of the day the weather had taken a serious turn for the worst and we were left with fairly blown out conditions. The girls were admirable in showing their determination and put on two great heats. Ava Hollands 7 and 8 point rides were big highlights as she took out both the Junior and groms division. What’s more incredible was that it was the girls first surf at Rye and that they were able to get out there and take it on!

Many of our club’s usual suspects were also putting on a clinic in the senior divisions. Mickdoh, Jack Winter, Adam Morris and Angus Forrest took out their respective heats with healthy two wave heat totals in round one of the Open. Luke Beerling also dusted of the cobwebs and won his first heat back in a while, continuing a comeback to form out in the water of late.

In the B grade the Rye crew were dominant, Craig Burton, Spencer Davis, Flynn cooper, Taj Farrell, Sonny Farrell, Saul Taylor and Jett Harrison all put in solid heats. Perennial B grade threat, Jackson Trotman also gave us plenty of highlights on his way to a 3rd place behind Saul and Taj.

The open men’s final was an absolute corker and the perfect finish to the Covid Classic. It was the kind of heat that showcased the beauty of competitive surfing. Four great mates all incredibly hungry to out do each other for the win. Lachy, Cal and Adam all club champions rose to another level throughout the day, Huge turns on close out sections, linking reforms all the way for clinical finishes and explosive combos, the boys had it all.

However, one man. A man forged in the dunes and sandbars of the greater Rye carpark area was to be the champion. Joel Wookey in his first Open final found the wave and unloaded a series of radical snaps and carves. His post wave claims to the judging tent sent the whole crew wild in what was a crowd pleasing win for everyone. Congratulations Joel!

Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone that came down to the beach on Saturday. This year has been difficult to say the least. To see our members, get involved and enjoy themselves was the biggest highlight of all. I'd also like to thank my fellow committee members for their huge efforts in making the Covid Classic such a great success.

As well as huge thanks to our Sponsors and Supporters – Mornington Mazda, St Andrews Brewery, Bass surfboards, Mark @ Chips and Gravy Milkbar, Oke Surfboards, Ripcurl Australia, Oakley Australia and RVCA Australia.

Full gallery @ PeninsulaSportsPhotography ›

Well what a 2020 it has been, a truly unique year like no other and one that has unfortunately affected everybody. Our beloved boardriders club is no exception and with the second round of lockdowns came and even longer hibernation period for the club and the 2020 season.

We sincerely wish all of our member, sponsors and friends plenty of waves, lots of sales and all the very best as we move towards 2021.

With things getting better by the day here in Victoria the committee had a chance to meet last week and make some important decisions regarding the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The first of these decisions was to forfeit the 2020 competitive season. Our club like so many community sporting organisations won't be crowning any champions this year.

There is hope that we will be able to hold a one off ‘Covid Cup’ event to see the year off in style. We have permit dates throughout November so we will to wait and see what the state government will allow the public to do after the November 8th announcements. If we receive the news we are all waiting for the club will announce the contest via Facebook and Instagram and registration will be available via Liveheats once a contest date has been confirmed.

SuperGroms will also be recommencing if reduced lockdown measures allow. Skip is looking forward to hosting an event on Sunday December 6th. We’ve had a lot of enquiries regarding the SuperGroms so hopefully we can announce the conformation of a contest in a week’s time.

Other pressing subjects discussed by the committee were the overdue need for a working bee at the clubrooms. Adam and Jane have done a wonderful job as caretakers however every member owes the clubhouse an hour or two of elbow grease to keep our amazing property shining well into the future. Again this is subject to lockdown laws but we have set aside Saturday December the 5th to all get together and do our bit.

Finally the committee has made the decision to discount the 2021 memberships. We understand that everybody has been affected throughout 2020 and we want to see all of our current, past and future PSC members at the beach loud and proud in 2021.

Lets hope for more positive news from the state government so we can all get together and celebrate the things we love.

Sean McDevitt
President

Contest one kicked off our 2020 season under blue skies and with great surf at our spiritual home, First Carpark Gunnamatta.

Again the Gunnawatu left was there to provide us with good waves for the entirety of the day, allowing all of our competitors to showcase their talents.

Two time club Champion Cal Nico took the first win of the year in both the coveted Open division and hotly contested over 28s. Hayden Forrest, Lachy and last years club champion Jett rounded out the Open division final in what could become a very similar scenario at the pointy end of the open division this season.

We were psyched to see a well stacked B grade division at comp 1 and in the end big Noodz took it out over Joe Draffin and Tommy Shannon. A special mention should also go out to Cassidy short for making the final and punching well above his weight and years. Here’s hoping too big year for this division as the guys fight it out for the title.

Our Women’s division was dominated by the Fischer sister, in what will be another big year for the both of them. It was Ella who took the bragging rights over sister Brooke and Sophie Thompson. All three of these girls are set for another big year of improvement and we cant wait to watch their progression as the season un folds.

In the juniors and cadets Jake Pancic and Will Watson dominated however both divisions were tightly contested and the level from all the boys has stepped up again. The Groms division was taken out by Alfie Clarke over Clancy Watson, Fletcher Williams and Ruby Armstrong. With a great turnout of Junior’s, cadets and groms at comp 1 we will hopefully see one of the most competitive seasons for our juniors in quite a few years.

Finally in what are sometimes the days most competitive heats we saw Sammy Whittle take out the over 35s for a big win. Heavy hitter Darren Jessop narrowly took down Burto in the over 45s. Whilst the mercurial Kim Shannon took the win over Joe Cervi and Howie in the over 55s grudge match division.

A big Thanks must go out to the committee for running an amazing event in my absence and providing our members with the chance to rip and have a great day at the beach. Contest two is set for March 14th so lets hope for sunny weather and crisp offshores.

In other news we are proud to announce the raising of $700 for the Mallacoota Boardriders club in their bush fire rebuilding effort. This couldn’t have been achieved without the generous support and donations of St Andrews Brewery and in particular Louie Purchase. Thank you guys for your support!

And finally a big shout out to Will Watson for taking 3rd place in the Surfing Victoria round 2 event at Shoreham this past weekend.

Thank you to all the members for getting behind our liveheats system and registering for memberships online. If you need to sign up for our 2020 season, head to Liveheats.com/psc and hit the membership link to join now.

2020 Retro / Single Fin Contest Report

Our 2020 Single Fin and season opener had some new flavour this year with the addition of twin fins to the contest. As a result the overall level of shralping was increased and made for a very entertaining open division for the entirety of the day. Our Masters and Legends divisions were a purist affair with only singe fins being ridden.

The day started in a controversial fashion with large sets still booming out the back of first carpark, Our experienced wave commissioner Ben Hallam used an iron fist to bring calm to the look out and put the blinkers on as he calmly took his seat behind the contest desk and kicked off the first heat of open. It turned out to be a great call, with the waves on the Gunnawatu bank turning on as the tide rolled its way into a midday high.

Mickdoh, Cal and Maccoy were on a tear in their round one encounter and traded left after left with a strong goofy foot performance that set the flavor for the day, other highlights included LMC back in form on the single fin and Rory Thomas going on an absolute nooner bender on a somewhat controversial new age high performance twin.

The quarterfinals saw the waves turn up another gear and with it the performances. The commissioner came out from behind the mic and lit up his heat on a borrowed 5’2 that would see him through to the finals. Nath Barrett bucking the twin trend sent some huge turns into big sections on a classic single fin and slipping through the back door like an old street cat, Shan Creasey lit up the lefts all the way to the final.

In the seniors, Lance was drawing hard off the bottom on his backhand to take a close win over retro specialist Mark Miccoli in second and club favorite Kerry “F*#k ya love ya” Coombs in third.

In the juniors, Nash Carne took the win on a self made school project twin fin. Whilst Ronnie took out the grand masters over Burnsy in a heat that might have caught the judges napping. Cough cough…..

The Final was a solid battle with some fresh faces to the big heat of the day. Mickdoh, Shan and the commissioner all battled hard but couldn’t keep their earlier momentum against an ever clinical Cal Nico, who took out the event in fine form and on a borrowed board.

A huge shout out to the committee for getting the event started and to all of our new members who came to hang out a meet the crew. A big thanks also to Louie Purchase from St Andrews brewery for the keg set up at the clubhouse afterwards for all to enjoy.

To everyone who made it down I’d like to say a big thank you for what was a great day at the beach with our community

Looking forward to seeing you all at Comp 1.

Thanks, Sean ( Pres )

Visit Liveheats.com/psc for full Results and to purchase your 2020 Membership.