Surf Sail Ezzy Green Head Wave Classic 200625 November 2006

Excellent conditions were forecast for Green Head on the Saturday and we had 22 competitors in four divisions. Many sailors were already out sailing at noon on 5m sails. There was a good swell and every heat had the opportunity of some 2/3 mast high waves. A boat was used for the judging. The youth division went out first and 16 year old Jaeger Stone was dominant but his brother Hendrix and Neils van Toor put in some good waves and jumps and are also destined to be stars of the future. Jaeger won with Hendrix 2nd and Neils 3rd.

The amateur division sailed next and there were an even 8 competitors in the division. In the first round Stuart Slocum, John Koch, Stefan Ouzounis and James Hooper got through against Hendrix Stone, Marco van Toor, Rick Krystallis and Neils van Toor. In the second round Stuart and James won against John and Stefan. This left Stuart and James to sail off for 1st and 2nd and John and Stefan to sail for 3rd and 4th. Stuart pulled of some huge forwards and landed a back loop, while James was nailing his trade-mark barrel rolls. Stuart caught the bigger waves and triumphed for 1st place while John couldn’t find any big waves in his heat and was probably getting tired by then (time for a nanna nap JK!). Stefan was doing perfect forwards and had some big wave rides to take 3rd place.

For the Elite division the sailors decided they wanted an all in expression session rather than the usual man on man heats. This gives the sailors much more time on the water (45 minutes) and less pressure. It was pretty frantic to judge with 7 top class sailors all going for it in perfect conditions.

Some of the highlights from the hastily scrawled judges notes were;
Eric Terrien - 1.5 forward, one hand back loop, one foot back loop, 2 goitas
Glenn Alexander - aerial off lip big wave, weaving with Ben, ponch, goita, big backie perfect landing.
Blair Gavin – Huge perfect forward, huge wave (massive wipeout).
Ben Severne - big pushie, no hands wave ride, push loop, weaving with Glenn.
Jaeger Stone - big pushie, big forward, 1.75 forward, huge waveride.
Luke Walmsley - big air off big wave, huge aerial off big wave.

Jaeger Stone was outstanding doing huge loops and fearless waveriding on the largest waves he could find. He is only 16 he is a contender in the elite division against Australian and WA wavesailing champions, Ben Severne, Glenn Alexander and Luke Walmsley.

Glenn was considered all round the most impressive performer in the air and on the waves in his home break and was awarded first place. Jaeger was a close second with massive jumps and loops and Luke 3rd after landing the two biggest aerials of the day on two huge waves. Ben and Eric tied for 4th with the judges still trying to find a name for one of Ben’s jumps.

The masters also decided on an all in expression session but they chose 30 minutes instead of 45 so they would be able to have a rest and a cup of tea if they got tired! John K seemed to have used the ams rounds as a warm up and luckily chose a large sail (5m), while the others were a bit underpowered on their 4.2-4.7’s as the wind dropped. John Grulich had some smooth wave rides on some of the big sets and a big back loop. Geoff Golder went for two back loops and also slashed some big sets. Marco had a small sail and didn’t get the jumps but got some smooth rides. JK impressed the judges the most with some massive over-rotated forwards and a big ghostie. He also lucked onto a couple of the biggest waves and took 1st place.

The presentations were held at JK’s house at Green Head with complimentary beer from WWA. Blair Gavin (Cockburn Joinery) as one of the sponsors provided cash prizes and more liquid refreshments. Geoff Golder (Impact Wrought Iron) also sponsored cash prizes. Trophies and prizes were also generously supplied by Surf Sail Ezzy. The perpetual trophy for the elite winner is now in the deserving hands of Glenn Alexander. Thanks to all the sponsors of the event, and also everyone who volunteered for judging on the boat. Thankyou to Geoff Golder and John Grulich who organized and ran the event, and especially to all the sailors who turned up and competed.

The full results are below.
Elite
1 Glenn Alexander
2 Jaeger Stone
3 Luke Walmsley
4 Ben Severne
4 Eric Terrien
6 Blair Gavin
6 Rick Krystallis

Amateur
1 Stuart Slocum
2 James Hooper
3 Stefan Ouzounis
4 John Koch
5 Rick Krystallis
5 Hendrix Stone
5 Marco van Toor
5 Neils van Toor

Youth
1 Jaeger Stone
2 Hendrix Stone
3 Neils van Toor

Masters
1 John Koch
2 Geoff Golder
3 John Grulich
4 Marco van Toor