The 13th Beach Boardriders were once again treated to a spectacular day of waves for their second competition of the 2008 season. Not for the first time in 2008 the event was held on the illustrious Left Bank notorious for high quality waves through all tides. With a high tide set to dominate the majority of the day alongside a large swell, Left Bank appeared the appropriate location.

Gale force westerlies were forecast to rip through the Bellarine Peninsula some time after midday destroying all hope of contestable conditions. Keeping this in mind contest directors took no time in sending the U/16’s out to play in the first-class waves on offer. Possibly the only downfall was the lack of water due to the 9 am low tide resulting in the set waves providing nothing more than closeouts.

Amid the wash through sets, some extremely ripable waves reeled off providing the grommets with high scoring potential. Renn Glassford dominated the final, taking home the winners trophy in the U/16s.

Conditions slightly improved for the Junior’s heats but copping the odd closeout set on the head was inevitable. Jimmy Adam thrived on his forehand defeating an impressive list of finalists with an array of top notch manoeuvres.

The Open Women’s surfed arguably the best waves of the day charging at pumping Hutto’s. Steph Crawley-Clough overcame the first competition’s winner Molly Kenwood in the four women final.

By one o’clock the tide had filled in and the Masters and Senior Men’s had been run and completed. Mark Hutson was a run away winner in the Masters division dictating the improving Left Bank with ease. In the Senior Men’s event Andrew Grimaud was victorious kicking off his 2008 campaign in style.

In time for the Open A and Open B heats the north-westerly strengthened but remained well below the predicted 50 knot plus forecasted.

Already remarkable waves turned into some of the best waves ridden at Left Bank in recent times as conditions aligned in time for the clubs elite. The Open A and Open B men’s went head to head in the semi finals scoring some incredible waves. Pulling down barrels at ease and throwing bathtubs of water, the Open A’s put on a show and a half for the keen spectators. Groms watched in awe as the clubs best put their stamp on the celebrated Left Bank in its prime.

After an hour and a half of flawless Left Bank, the party abruptly came to a close. The projected gale force westerly hit around 3:10 in the afternoon reeking havoc across 13th bringing the contest to a standstill.

Wind gusts of over 85 kilometres were recorded as the strongest winds in months ended all hopes of crowning a winner in the Open A or B’s.

With only 40 minutes of surfing to be played out, the decision was made to postpone the Open finals until next months contest on the 31st of May. The two finals will kick off proceedings at the third event for the season so make sure your at the beach at 7 sharp if your in one of these finals!

As winter’s superior surf patterns kick into gear hopefully epic waves continue to coincide with the clubs four remaining events.

By James Jacobi (junior journo)