Bronte Boardriders State Their Claim

By Duncan Horscroft on February 23, 2012 in Sport

It’s official. Bronte is the best surfboard riding club in NSW.

Yesterday at Lennox Heads the Bronte boys beat their nearest rivals Bondi and left Merewether and North Shelley floundering in their spray during the NSW final of the Jim Beam Surftag series.

Last month Bronte proved they were the ones to beat after taking out the NSW South division of the series at North Narrabeen, while Merewether and North Shelley were the top two in the NSW North division at Dixon Park, near Newcastle.

The knee-high Lennox Head waves didn’t have much to offer, but top-scoring efforts from the likes of young gun Caleb Reid put Bronte right in the mix in the opening round of the day.

In the final it was Ryan Clarke who came to the fore with Bronte going neck to neck with arch rivals Bondi in a nail-biting finish.

Whippet had only three minutes left to do his bit after Aaron Graham, Caleb Reid, Tom Whitaker and Luke Hitchings boosted the team’s hopes.

“I was the last surfer standing and managed to catch two waves in three minutes and scored enough points to give us the win,” Whippet said.

“The conditions were so small and there were no waves bigger than knee high.

“But everyone did their bit and Hitcho put us in the lead near the end and it was just up to me to score and keep us in front.”

But the pressure is not off yet with the boys up against some hot competition today as they go into battle to determine the best club in Australia.

Bronte’s opening quarter final heat will be against the Bondi, Queenscliff and (Mornington) Peninsula clubs.

And some of the world’s big guns will be in action in quarter final three, which will feature Joel Parkinson and Josh Kerr surfing for Snapper Rocks, Owen Wright and Adam Melling will be on board for LeBa (Lennox Head and Ballina), while Adrian Buchan will be doing his best for his Avoca club.

Cheer the Bronte boys on and watch all the action live at www.globalsurftag.com.