Headlanders Bodyboard Club

Headies arrived at Suffolk ready to go, it looked fun but soon proved difficult to score well. The comp was set up so a Grom, Cadet, Junior and Open were in each heat and their wave score averages were then separated into each division for an overall score.

We like to run some comps like this because it separates the competitors from their usual crew and especially helps the younger guys with their wave selection and positioning being actually out there with the Big Boys.

It also leads to some great upsets when Groms and Cadets knock off the Juniors and Opens in individual heats as was the case today !

RESULTS :

GROMS 1. Jarrah Hamlin 2. Connor Gibney 3. Jasper Hinchliffe 4. Dan Pearson

CADETS 1. Jake Sthapit 2. Liam Gibney 3. Theo Hinchliffe 4. Louie Sole

JUNIORS 1. Alex Regan 2. Sam Judd 3. Jake Turk 4. Tom Selway

OPENS 1. Casey Robinson 2. Liam Peters 3. Codie Coronakas 4. Koby Bradley

BEST SCORING : * Casey Robinson and Jarrah Hamlin fought it out for overall first place – they were equal after Round 1 then Casey proved age does matter at the end. * Also with the quirkyness of this comp style, in Heat 2 we saw a Grom come in first, over a Cadet 2nd, Junior 3rd and an Open in 4th. There were a couple of beaming faces alongside a couple of red ones !

UNLUCKIEST SCORING : * Tom Selway realised after the hooter that he had only scored 1 wave – should have taken that dive Tom no matter how bad it looked when the Yellow flag was up.

BEST MOVE OF THE DAY : * Casey Robinson basically knocking everything off the table when we had to wake him up for his heat – big night Casey ??

It was great to see the Groms and Cadets able to paddle out with the older guys andstill perform at their peak – it shows great control and puts them in place not to be hassled or overwhelmed in future bodyboarding events.

Thank you everyone for coming – and Andrew ( with his nice hoodie ) for judging especially under the difficult circumstances, ie Casey’s snoring and Connor’s constant asking how long till he could blow the hooter ?

DON’T FORGET QAB ROUND 2 ENTRIES – PLEASE SEND IN ASAP ?

Frank – The Mayan.

We love headies !!!

Although rain was predicted, a bright crisp day appeared for our May comp at Tallow Beach, Byron Bay. The Groms / Cadets particularly were excited with clean 3-4 ft waves on offer and no sign of a sweep at all.

RESULTS :

GROMS 1. Nat Russell 2. Jarrah Hamlin 3. Jasper Hinchliffe 4. Dan Pearson

CADETS 1. Jake Sthapit 2. Liam Gibney 3. Theo Hinchliffe 4. Conor Besson

JUNIORS/OPENS 1. Daniel Vernon 2. Alex Regan 3. Liam Peters

4. Jake Turk

BEST WAVES : * Jarrah Hamlin, our up and coming Grom, scored a 9 for a perfect setup, takeoff then launch into a 5-6 second clean barrel with just the tip of his board poking out the entire time, then finishing it off with a neat spin at the end. * Daniel Vernon scored consistent 6′s and 7′s all day and was untouchable in the Opens.

BEST EFFORTS : * Alex Regan seemed like he may upset Daniel in the final with a very neat ARS but Daniel responded with only better. Great work Alex – for a Junior amongst the Big Boys ( or so they like to think ! ), your style and consistency is constantly improving. * Connor Gibney took a prize home for being always present and keen to do his best. Well done Connor – I think you’re getting close to going out the back !!

UNFORTUNATE MOVES : * Koby was on his way up from Yamba ( and a big YEAH to the Yamba boys for always making the trek up ) and got booked by a not so pleasant highway patrol coming into Ballina. It was all Jake Turk’s fault because he kept asking “How long till Maccas ??” * Then there was Nat Russell – he gets the Best Faceplant in Ages award while coming out from a free surf. He won the Groms so the day wasn’t all bad !Any Hoo : Thanx everyone for turning up and also to Cliff for taking on Spotter role with his highly powered Binocs – I think he needs a shave, he looks like a scrubby from Blacktown. Only joking Cliff – thanx heaps, it made my job a lot easier.

Also, great to see our Head Judge Andrew have fun surfing all day. He claims that after staying up most of the night organising the webcast etc for the IBA Chillean event that the surf was just too much fun – he even threatened to drop in on some of the competitors. It’s OK Andrew, Daniel and I managed – but nice wettie by the way !!

See you all next time – and don’t forget ” We’re here for a good time, not a long time “.

Frank – The Mayan.

We love headies !!!

Inverted Byron Bay’s HEADLANDERS
vs
Dallas Singer’s PORT STEPHENS

The inaugural Teams Challenge between the 2 clubs began with the anticipation of a Wallabies vs All Blacks match.
The All Blacks, I mean Port Stephens, began to arrive on Friday, with some of their team getting lost in cane paddocks on the way ( note : never use GPS’s when travelling to Headies territory ). The Wallabies, I mean Headies, were all eager – especially the ones who party all weekend and live on WA time.
DAY 1 = 14 rounds. Port Stephens’ younger team were up and keen to suit up and catch some waves – the only trouble was Mother Nature had forgotten to provide any ! So Tallow Beach and nearly all beaches on the Far North Coast looked like the Mediteranean – perhaps that hump back whale or oil tanker out to sea could provide enough wake that a spin/roll combo may be possible.
A few of the Port Stephens guys had started to dig a channel out of Taylors Lake to create a standing wave – the only trouble was no one believed them when they said it was working. We should have moved the contest down there when they said they had it at about 4 ft !
Meanwhile most of those Headies living on WA time were just starting to put their eyeballs back in their sockets. The heats started off great, with almost an even amount of wins per team – ie one for Headies, one for Port. In the conditions it was proving very difficult to do more than a spin plus, with any luck a roll.
In Heat 2, Dallas scored a 3.2 and left Tahnee the burden of scoring a 7.5 to catch up to the Headies – but with no whales or jet skis around at the moment Tahnee was unable to score a wave at all in his time left.
The Port Stehens Young Guns gave it their all and even though they were outweighed in age by the Headies they helped the end result of Day 1 be a total count of 7 rounds each. The Wallabies ( sorry, Headlanders ) were looking likely to get another thumping by The All Blacks ( sorry, Port Stephens ) when they were being expected to show up early the next day again.
Day 2 = 7 rounds. Mother Nature decided to throw some surf on with 3 – 5 ft waves. Tallow Beach was still not great because of the gutters so we moved the contest to Sharpes Beach @ Ballina. The rip towards the North was tearing down the beach but if you could manage to get out the back the opportunity was there to nail a big move for your one wave score.
The score board started off the same as Saturday with Headies nailing Heat 15 with scores of 6 + 7 and Port scoring 5 + 6. Heat 16 yet again saw Port’s Dallas and Tahnee scoring 5 + 6 and Headies getting4+5. GAME ON!
The local heavy weights were struggling against the light and mobile Port boys but at the end of Round 18 ” ALL EVEN ” was the call again from the judges.
Heat 19 saw Mitch Singer from Port up against Headies Ben “Danger” McDonald when their other 2 partners paddled in. Mitch tried and tried but to no avail – what was looking like a perfect barrel into a spin / roll closed out so Mitch paddled out again ! With only 100 seconds on the clock Mitch managed a neat 6.5 score. With only 45 seconds left Danger, in his typical style of leaving everything to the last minute on WA time took off for his only wave of the heat to hit the peak with enough momentum to score a 7 with a big air / roll. Headies hit the lead !
Heat 20 had Headlanders follow up with a 5 + 6 and the visitors with a 5 + 5.    Then Heat 21 – the best heat of the weekend – the groms from both teams against each other ! What made it even better was that they started surfing half way through Heat 20. The judges were confused, who was inside, who was outside, was that the groms or the other guys ? So we sent them out again. It
was one of the closest heats of the day with only half a point separating the 2 teams.
So end result was Headies first and Port Stephens second, and we would like to thank Port for letting them win ! The Port guys showed great determination and grit, thanx for coming up and making this the success it was !
If we’re still invited, Headies will travel to Port Stephens next year for the return match and by the way the Port boys left with a threatening glare, I think they’re planning on kicking ass on their home break.
Anyway. thanx, Frank, “The Mayan”
Note : No correspondence will be entered into and all Headies riders are fictional in their own minds !

A nice bright sunny day greeted us at Ballina and we decided to set up shop at North Wall. The slight SE wind and thick 1 – 1.5m waves were going to make scoring points difficult again – but what else would we expect on comp day ??

Results

Photos from Headlanders Contest 28/03/2010 by Russmen

[Show as slideshow]

Best Scores

* Daniel Pearson scored the highest in the groms and then in the final narrowly beat Nat Russel on a countback for 1st place. * Sam Boulton, fresh back from Hawaii made some impressive moves during the day.

* Amos ( we need your last name Amos !) and Elliot Butler traded blow for blow with Elliot coming out 1st in Juniors and then Amos turning that around to win the Opens.

Worst Scores

As per usual, most of the Opens !  The Groms are always eager, the Juniors are usually serious, but the Opens at “We love headies!” just have brain freezes. Except for Elliot, all the Opens that were in the Semis / Final last time had been knocked in the first round. Please Guys, try and bring your brains with your bodyboard next time – or should that be bring your bodyboard with your brain strapped to it !

Ultimate Mentions

* Connor Gibney, although only 8 years old, is really starting to complete his mpves. We all noticed his obvious improvement and look forward to watching his progress.

* Daniel Vernon and Sam Boulton – where do I start ?? This was one of those aforementioned brain freezes ! Daniel was sitting next to Meercat who constantly kept chanting ( and I don’t know why ! ) “It’s DK next Frank, it’s DK next !”. Daniel just sat there thinking DK was next and his final happenned out in the water without him ! Then Sam on the other hand was puzzled that there were only 3 in his Final and whilst he was surfing quite well, was actually wearing Daniel’s colour – which means he was disqualified. Remember Sam, first is for winners and wearing the wrong rashie is obviously for losers !!

Updated Totals After March 28th Comp

Thanx again to our resident judges Tori and Andrew and also to Pam for attending to the BBQ. See you all next time – Sunday May 2nd – meet @ Ballina @ 7am.
Thanx – Frank ( The Mayan ) “We Love Headies”

HEADLANDER’s first round of the year was held at Lighthouse Beach Ballina last Sunday 31st of January. Conditions were absolute crap, with the easterly swell and the easterly wind. As I stated last year about this time it was The Washing Machine Effect. All the guys could do was paddle out, get rinsed, then go through the fast wash, try their best in the rinse cycle and then come out of the surf for the tumble dry.

Anyway, it was great to kick off the year with a few more members. The weather conditions kept some away and a few guys in Hawaii also didn’t help. Great to see more guys from Yamba and a very dedicated young crew turn up as new members, (who know’s – we may have scored the next Australian Champion in Bodyboarding in this new group).

Results

Open

1. Dave Gallagher
2. Luke Ashton
3. Elliot Butler
4. Ben McDonald

Juniors

1. Elliot Butler
2. Jake Tuke
3. Anthony Gilbert
4. Bodie Carr

Groms/Cadets

1. Liam Gibney
2. Nat Russel
3. Daniel Pearson
4. Nial Gibney
5. Conner Gubney

Best Scores:- Dave Gallagher nailed an impressive barrel in his Semi and then followed it up with consisted effort in the Final to claim first place. Jake Tuke ( the new kid from Yamba) surfed well all day and was unlucky not to grab the Juniors Final due to Mister Consistancy Elliot Butler just mixing it up and proving very competitive once again.

Worst Scores:- Pretty much the rest of the Opens from 2nd place down, as they complained about the weather, the conditions, and spent the whole time speaking about last night and what they were doing next week party style.

Special Mention:- All the new Grom/Cadets who were eager and really had a big dig for their first event in such bad conditions. The big boys noted it and we hope with better conditions next time you young guys can watch the older ones and learn all about Bodyboarding contest style.

The Ultimate Mention:- Goes to Connor Gibney who is only 8 years old and turned up and had a go with the Groms/Cadets. Great stuff Connor and with an attitude like yours you’re only going to improve and have a good time like the rest of the Headlander’s do. Also thankyou to Andrew Bleakley for paddling out with the Groms and making sure they were O.K in the conditions!

Thank you Tori for judging all day again and also Andrew,Ben,Daniel and Codie for filling in as well. Thanx Inverted Byron Bay for sponsering HEADIES again.

The only small hick up with the judging was the Cadets/Groms Final when young Connor had to go early??????? Connor was set to wear orange but unfortunately could not be there. To Frank’s amazement he placed 4 out of 5 with not even stepping into the water. Tori and Codie obviously had had enough by then and Pink looked like Orange and Red looked like White and Green looked like something else ?? Anyway it was obvious who had won and the got the rest of the placings. Thanx guys/Girls – if no one judges we don’t have a comp.

See You All Next Time Next Comp – Sunday February 28th – meet @ Ballina @ 7am.

Thanx – Frank ( The Mayan ) “We Love Headies”

Yet again, a small but obviously keen crew turned up for the second last
Headies of the year.  We held it half way down Lighthouse Beach and the surf
was ABSOLUTE CRAP !

Changing things around to make it a bit different, each competitor in Juniors
and Opens got 2 surfs with 2 of their best waves being added from the 2 judges
giving a total wave score average ( sounds hard but was really easy considering
the conditions ).

WINNERS :

Juniors  -  ELLIOTT BUTLER – with an average wave score of 3.75
Opens – LUKE ASHTON – with an average wave score of 2.625
Each won a $50 voucher from Inverted Byron Bay.

BEST SCORES / WORST SCORES  :

The best score in these bad conditions was Ellliot with a 5.5.  The worst score was
all those 1′s and 1.5′s when the waves were even more crappy – ie that’s all you Opens
who let the Juniors whoop your arses !

UNLUCKIEST RIDER  :

Sam Boulton was winning the Opens but decided to drop in on Dan McDonnell. This
caused an interference and Sam relegated himself into a tie with Luke. Luke won on
the countback – remember my motto Sam – first is for winners and 2nd is for losers.

Thanx to our two judges : Andrew, our astute web designer ( and IBA Web geek as
well ) and Tori – our new Girl Judge.  Mind you, if this was a Pro Comp, the way they
Set the benchmark so low even the big boys, ie the Dallas Singers / Joe Clarkes of the
world would have been pushed to get +5′s.  They judged well and it only let you guys
Know that if you managed a 10 from them you f***ing well earnt it !!

Next and last round of Headies is 13th December, location still to be decided – followed by the Club Prezo.

Who will win this year and then who will score the 2 free hand made boards made to
their own specs from UNKNOWN BODYBOARDS ?  Thanx again Glen, we really
appreciate your support.

Thanx,
Frank ( The Mayan ).

The last comp for the year was held @ North Wall Ballina on December 14th in very small and trying conditions.  For something completely different, I decided to hold a SYNCHRONISED BODYBOARDING event – and now we think it should be included in the Olympics.

Each competitor was partnered to a different rider for each heat.  Points were awarded to the pair for how close they could perform each spin / roll / ARS on the same wave at the  same time. Each individual accummulated their  points for an overall score at the end of the day.

It was a total laugh at the start.  Some pairs had one guy going left as the other went right and some couldn’t even get their act together to catch the same wave. Snaking with 8 people in the water took on a whole new meaning because you had to have your partner there with you !

It was soon realised that one rider had to take charge and make the calls and once everyone got the hang of it, we saw some perfect forward spins then reverse spins with even a few rolls thrown in -  in 99-100% unison.

The overall winner was Dave Gallagher with 36.75 points, followed closely by Ben McDonald on 36.5, then Casey Robinson in third with 32.

It was interesting to watch how the different pairings worked together – some combinations working extremely well and others not even coming close.  And it just goes to show that up until now Bodybarding was a really individual sport as some of the Big Guns had some trouble synchron-ising at times – you know which ones you are !!

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Kristian Gerathy and Casey Robinson scored a perfect 10 with a sensational combo.  They quickly realised that Casey spins faster than Kristian so they used a delay factor on the calls and both came out of each movement in perfect unison.

2.  Meercat and Ben McDonald scored 9.5 by completing their last heat dropknee style and made it look like fluid in motion against the prone guys.  Looked fantastic !

LOWLIGHTS

1.  You’d think the Battersby boys being twins would have some kind of special connection going on but they couldn’t surf with each other – or come to think of it – with anybody else.  Oh well, perhaps it’s something they can work on !!

2. Sam Boulton and Josh Pollard turned up eager and prepared for a big day, but alas, usually being able to pull the moves on your own doesn’t work if you don’t get it together in this event. Sorry Guys !!

SOME COMMENTS FROM THE BOYS

1.  ” Great, lets do it again, it really makes you think !”

2.  ” I yelled ‘ FORWARD SPIN NOW ‘ and he yelled ‘ WHAAAAT ? ‘

3.  ” I couldn’t see Jackshit ‘cos of his spray ”

Anyway, Headlanders had a great year because we all had fun and didn’t take the competitiveness way over the top……  See ya in 2009 !

Cheers, Frank ………..

We kicked off the year with a comp straight under the Lookout at Ballina.  The waves looked  clean but solid and for once, slowly improved through to the finals instead of dropping off like they usually do !

The guys in Hawaii and a couple of others with work commitments were sorely missed.  

Hopefully everone will be back on deck for next time. 

RESULTS WERE

JUNIORS  : OPENS  : DROPKNEE  :

1.  Daniel Vernon 1.  Ben McDonald 1.  Andreas Ebker-White

2.  Jimmy Martineau 2.  Daniel Vernon 2.  Ben McDonald

3.  Casey Robinson 3.  Axcel Frankland 3.  Travis Peters

4.  Sean Battersby 4.  Jack Cerne 4.  Joey McMahon

BEST SCORES 

1.  Daniel Vernon – the new man from Yamba – made a big first impression scoring a perfect 10 in his Juniors Semi.  His smooth but aggressive style gave the old members a bit of a scare so Welcome Daniel !!

2.  Ben McDonald and ” that Yamba Man ” Daniel Vernon had a great trade off in the Opens Final with a Perfect Barrel Contest.  Daniel threw in a big barrel 8.5, then Ben was on the wave behind, took off deeper and disappeared for what seemed a very long time, then shot out to complete it with a great reverse spin for a 9. They both settled for a while, then threw in the same moves again for a 9 each on the yellow flag.  Great contest and great to watch !!

WORST SCORES 

We don’t usually comment on bad scores but Travis and Joey in the DK final deserved a mention. We actually thought at one stage that they were fishing out there but the Judges gave them both 1′s for bobbing so well and keeping the bait fish and dolphins company.

Thanx Wally for supplying the culinary skills on the barby again and for the Dads who helped lug all the equipment on an off the beach. With some of our regulars back on deck and Daniel bringing up some Yamba boys we hope to have a good show for our next comp on Februsry 29th.

Cheers – and don’t forget our new motto  :  ” We love Headies ! ”

Frank ……