2% Book Two Spots In Lemoore, 16-Year-Old Ladybird Makes North Narra Finals

There was a strong inverse correlation between the tide and surf quality at North Narra this morning. It was uninspiring at its 9:45am peak, but improved significantly once the water drained a little. Mostly rights with the odd left. A stiff offshore kept most surfing below the lip today. Bless winter’s trade westerlies. 

Tours and Events Commissioner Will Hayden-Smith nailed the call today. Gave the finals the greenlight before a howling southerly front rendered it unsurfable for the mens semi and they were forced to pull the pin. The four remaining heats will probs wrap tomorrow. 

TLDR

Finals Day

• Finals postponed by howling southerly after women’s semi finals
• Seth Moniz pulls out of forthcoming Surf Ranch CT citing back injury
• 2% book two spots in Lemoore – Cole, Jett, Kade, Crosby in contention
• 16+ point club: Jacob Willcox, Sally Fitzgibbons, Issy Nichols

‘Jacko Baker pulled three beautiful pies out of the oven,’ said Ronnie on the Novacastrian’s opening 8.83 against CT vet Freddie Morais. His three powerful hacks elicited a guttural ‘oohss’ from the commentary team on the replay.

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Jacko will meet up with Cole Houshmand in the first semi-final, the latter of whom could book himself a spot in Lemoore if he can jump Crosby Colapinto’s point tally after this event.

Stace Galbraith’s fire-stoking interview with Morgan Cibilic and Jacob Willcox on exercise bikes was peak entertainment. ‘These guys hate each other!’ he gassed before asking for their gameplan to beat one another. Jacob explained they’ve been driving down to the contest site together.  ‘Sounds like it’s going to be a weird ride home’, he concluded. 

Ladybirds continued their charge on the CS today, though the wind wasn’t conducive to their air game. Erin Brooks and Bella Kenworthy will walk away with a ninth and a third respectively. Erin lost to India Robinson in the QF’s, Bella to Sally Fitz in the semis. Bella beat Macy Callaghan on her way to collecting 6000 points and her best result in a CS event yet. Big scalp for the 16-year-old.

Come-ups

• Peak performance: Sally Fitzgibbons QF1, Issy Nichols QF3, Jacob Willcox R16/H7, Jacko Baker
• Hit replay: Mens: R16/H7, QF1. Womens: QF 1, 2, 3
• Monster maneuver: Morgan Cibilic (9.03) R/16
• One-liner: “It’s so windy it’s not even good for flying kites” – Ronnie Blakey

The Linblads are gnarly. Hadn’t heard much of the San Clemente siblings before the Australian leg of the Challenger Series. Sawyer clinched second at Snapper with silky backhand surfing, Taj a ninth at North Narrabeen for aggressive, well-punctuated heat surfing. The last minute event wildcard broke Jacob Willcox’s combination in the mens’ Rd/16 and looked poised to win before Jacob got a clutch 8.83 with less than five minutes remaining.

Jacob will lead the CS after this event. Not a bad start to the SEOTY frontrunners year.

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San Clemente’s 2% crew have crushed the Australian leg of the CS. Jett Schilling, Crosby Colapinto, Cole Houshmand and Kade Matson will all be sitting near the top of the rankings heading into Ballito. While Kolohe Andino hasn’t had any good results himself, he seems to have galvanized a camaraderie and hope in American surfing that we haven’t seen in a long time. 

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Let-downs

• Caught behind: Eithan Osborne 3.06 points
• Blind mice: A little high on the scales today I thought. Some fairly pedestrian surfing going into the excellent range

Eithan Osborne got a total of 3.06 in the second heat of the morning. Was pretty gutless on the high. Tried a front-shuv and didn’t stick it. Kade Matson got the w with 14.36 points. 

Midway through the day the Woz broke news that Seth Moniz had pulled out of Lemoore after sustaining a back injury. More to come on his injury. This opened up an additional spot in Lemoore which will go to Crosby Colapinto or Cole Houshmand depending on who finishes as the second highest ranked surfer from the America region after this event. 

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Miscellanea

This little red dog was a great addition to the broadcast today.

Results

GWM Sydney Surf Pro Men’s Round of 16 Results(Heats 5-8): 
HEAT 5: Marco Mignot (FRA) 14.00 DEF. Justin Becret (FRA) 9.27
HEAT 6: Kade Matson (USA) 14.33 DEF. Eithan Osborne (USA) 3.06
HEAT 7: Jacob Willcox (AUS) 16.16 DEF. Taj Lindblad (USA) 15.17
HEAT 8: Morgan Cibilic (AUS) 15.96 DEF. Joan Duru (FRA) 12.30

GWM Sydney Surf Pro Women’s Quarterfinal Results: 
HEAT 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.50 DEF. Alyssa Spencer (USA) 14.66
HEAT 2: Bella Kenworthy (USA) 15.43 DEF. Macy Callaghan (AUS) 9.40
HEAT 3: Isabella Nichols (AUS) 16.20 DEF. Teresa Bonvalot (POR) 8.83
HEAT 4: India Robinson (AUS) 12.66 DEF. Erin Brooks (CAN) 8.23

GWM Sydney Surf Pro Men’s Quarterfinal Results: 
HEAT 1: Jackson Baker (AUS) 14.83 DEF. Frederico Morais (POR) 9.04
HEAT 2: Cole Houshmand (USA) 12.77 DEF. Marc Lacomare (FRA) 11.20
HEAT 3: Marco Mignot (FRA) 13.16 DEF. Kade Matson (USA) 8.47
HEAT 4: Jacob Willcox (AUS) 11.94 DEF. Morgan Cibilic (AUS) 9.54

GWM Sydney Surf Pro Women’s Semifinal Results: 
HEAT 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 10.83 DEF. Bella Kenworthy (USA) 8.86
HEAT 2: Isabella Nichols (AUS) 13.33 DEF. India Robinson (AUS) 4.37

GWM Sydney Surf Pro Men’s Semifinal Matchups: 
HEAT 1: Jackson Baker (AUS) vs. Cole Houshmand (USA)
HEAT 2: Marco Mignot (FRA) vs. Jacob Willcox (AUS)

GWM Sydney Surf Pro Women’s Final Matchup: 
HEAT 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) vs. Isabella Nichols (AUS)