Some really nice waves rolling through for the comp today with little wind and good temps both in and out of the water.

Phil Prestige was meditating in the break about halfway through his heat when Gareth called out that the wave of the day was on the way to him. Phil so zoned out he missed it and it broke on his head thus completing his pilgrimage to enlightenment!

Thanks again to Erich and his offsider Wayne for the BBQ, they had it running like a Swiss watch this morning!
Thanks to all that scored, you all did a pretty good again, keep up the good work!

Just a few quick notes on scoring as it’s important that we stick to a system that is not only fair for the surfers but also helps the head score keeper (Ken) make sense of the scores to award positions for heats:

– All surfers should volunteer to score 2 heats before they surf. That is, score a heat then get ready for your heat during the next heat. This way everyone helps out with some sort of organisation 🙂

– No score should be the same on any heat or for any surfer as no wave is ever the same so make use of the decimal point part of your score to differentiate them.

– Make sure you all talk together frequently to make sure you all agree on the score and the range (i.e. was that wave better than his last do you think? (if not why?)). Judging (at this level anyway) is more about giving the right scores as a team than what you think individually. Discussion is good!

– Score to the conditions: Rarely do we have a day where there are waves for surfers to execute maneuvers to their full potential so on days like these just make sure the scoring is a bit higher than you would allow for an excellent day. While it is true that it may not matter as long as the right surfer wins, you can easily box yourself into tight scoring over all the surfers making it a lot harder to differentiate one surfer from another in the final scores (that is, the heat seemed a lot closer than it actually was).

– John is normally there as head judge to oversee and help the scorers so feel free to ask for advice and please take note if he points out particular scoring points you may not have noticed or were aware of (he is an experienced and qualified top level judge!). In particular he can help you with initial scores for a heat to help you set a gauge for the next waves.

– There are notes at the bottom of each score sheet as a guide to help with scoring, please read them while waiting for the heat to start as a reminder each time you score, it will only take a minute – I promise 😉

Anyway, sorry for the long winded wash-up 🙂 – to the scores:

Heat 1 – SUP

Heat 2 MAL

1. Jacqui Shearing
2. Mick Duprez
3. Erich Fenske
4. Brett Duprez

Heat 3 SUP

1. Wayne Clapham
2. Colin Bright
3. Steve Clark
4. Steve McCarthy
5. Don Spencer
6. Jodi Budd

Heat 4 MAL

1. Gareth McAuslin
2. Ken McIntyre
3. Paul Dreghorn
4. Wayne Clapham
5. Phil Pratt
6. Phil Prestige (should have got that heat winner left!)

P.S.
You may notice we had large heats of up to 6 surfers in a heat, this is due to those arriving late or to those who were there and were late to sign on. Please try and arrive on time and see Ken as soon as you can to get your name down. This helps Ken organise heats based on a rough seeding based on previous point scores to make the heats are a bit more even for all surfers.
Overall though it was a great day and thanks for coming!
— Mick and Ken.