Bronte Wins Jim Beam Surftag

By Duncan Horscroft on January 22, 2012 in Sport

Photo: Wes Lonergan

The beers (and Beams) were flowing faster than the North Narrabeen waves after the Bronte Boardriders won the NSW South division of the prestigious Jim Beam Surftag series yesterday.

Led by Tom Whitaker and Aaron Graham, and featuring the skills of young gun Caleb Reid, former professional Luke Hitchings and man for all seasons Ryan ‘Whippet’ Clarke, Bronte were too good for their neighbouring rivals Bondi, who tried to stack the decks with current world number 20 Matt Wilkinson.

But it was Whitaker who pulled out all stops with a one-wave score of 9.17 on his second wave, which was doubled thanks to the Surftag’s ‘Power Wave’ rule, leaving Wilkinson wallowing in the blustery conditions.

Whitaker’s total three-wave score of 26.46 plus Azza’s effort of 23.24 was enough to send the Bondi boys back to Scum Valley with their tails between their legs.

Bondi will get another shot when the two teams meet again, with the top eight NSW teams from yesterday’s 31-team event progressing to the series final in Ballina on February 22 and 23 to determine the best board riding club in Australia.

But for now it’s Bronte who can rest on their laurels as the best board riding club in NSW.