Sol shines and Sid steals the show

Junior Cowaramup Bay Boardriders surfers scored epic conditions and a rare peeling left-hand beach break when they held their round-three surf contest at the back of Cowaramup Bay last Sunday.

After a relatively quiet past 18 months, Sol Pogue-Englert came out with all guns blazing to score 9.5 on his first wave for the U18s.

He quickly backed this up with a 7.5 and then an 8, leaving most competitors chasing their tails.

This year’s State champion Jed Gradisen answered with two vertical backside snaps to score an 8.17.

But the last half of the heat provided fewer high-scoring opportunities and while Gradisen looked threatening, he was unable to match Pogue-Englert’s top wave.

The senior girls saw an epic battle between the two State School Surfing Titles champions, Zali Hewson and Willow Hardy.

A determined Hewson used her powerful style to match Hardy, and scored two solid waves to take out the win by 0.66 points.

Macklin Flynn was a joy to watch in the U16s as he annihilated the waves and played around with some progressive for a total score of 15.67. Josh Willcox won a solid battle, with Tom Scott for second.

Sid Englert scored the highest heat total of the day with 18.16 in the U14s, despite a strong challenge from Cruz Sheridan.

Englert’s final wave blew minds and earned a near-perfect 9.83, cementing him as King of the Day.

Despite head-high waves and a few heavy close-outs, the junior girls voted to surf in the big kids’ break to show what they could do.

The more experienced Olive Hardy and Kaleisha Launders went wave for wave. Hardy’s consistent snaps and solid wave selection just edged out her rival.

Ace Flynn continued his recent form to win by smacking the lip across several sections. Not far behind and also scoring double figures was a fast-improving Jahli Clarke, a super snappy Kai Launders, and late charger Lenox Hayward.

Sebb Luttrell impressed in the Novice division with some great take offs, stylish trimming and turns. Also pushing their level were Ethan Anderson and Zenn Hammond.

The club has one more round to finish the season, while the non-competitive Salty Sistas girls’ events will run in mid-November.