| WERRI BEACH BOARDRIDERS CLUB |
| WERRI SLASH 2003 |
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| Werri Beach May 26th & April 4th, 2003. Werri Beach Boardriders made it 1 & 2 in the Open Mens division of the 16th Werri Autumn Slash with Werri's Ryan Bailey and Matt Jones finishing 1st & 2nd respectively in the Open Mens. Ryan held off a very strong final field to defeat WQS surfer Matt Jones with Kiama's Rhys Bombaci 3rd and Port Kembla's Luke Doering 4th to take the $600.00 first prize. In the junior division, Rhys Bombaci backed up again to take the title ahead of Ulladulla's Tim Wrench with Luke Cheadle from Culburra 3rd and Coledale's Aaron Cahill 4th. Tim Wrench backed up to take the cadet title ahead of Werri's Lloyd Bowen with Nick McMullen from Austinmer 4th. Figtree's Yvonne Byron showed her class by taking out the Womens Division ahead of Carly Wrench from Ulladulla with Werri's Jessie Wilson 3rd and 15 yr old Ayla Whitney from Thirroul 4th. In the over 30 Seniors Division, Chris Homer of Shellharbour showed good form to place 1st ahead of Werri's Doug McCallum. Jeremy Smith from Austinmer came 3rd with an injured Matt Chemello of Culburra 4th. The contest was run over 2 weekends. The swell on the opening Saturday was 1-1.5 mtrs and provided surfers the opportunity to give the large crowd high performance surfing. The cadets were first in the water and from the outset Tim Wrench showed his pedigree with Lloyd Bowen, Parrish Byrne, Ashley King and Nick McMullen hot on the heels of Wrench. In the Junior division Rhys Bombaci showed no ill effects from his midnight flight from W.A to give the junior division notice that he was the one to beat. Tim Wrench, Luke Cheadle and Aaron Cahill also showed that they were finals material with solid showings throughout the day. The seniors was filled with the likes of Chris Homer, Matt Chemello, Doug McCallum and last years Open finalist Jeremy Smith all showing they were would be there when the final hit the water. When the last semi final of the Cadets hit the water, a small shower of rain descended upon the event but did not give an indication of what was to greet contest organisers the next morning... The next morning the surf had deteriorated due to an overnight onshore. The event was shifted from the north end to halfway down Werri Beach. As the contest site was being established the rain set in for the 1st heat of the day. Then the wind came in and the conditions deteriorated even further. It was decided to postpone the event after the 3rd heat of the day to the following Sunday. The following Sunday brought some wild winter weather but luckily the rain stayed away. Cold winds brought in a large south swell and the vent was set up in the south corner of Werri Beach. The Open Mens got under way in an ever increasing swell. Rhys Bombaci, Luke Doering and Ryan Bailey put in some big moves on the big faces to set the pattern of surfing for the day. In the men's quarter finals Matt Jones, Rhys Bombaci, Ryan Bailey and last years champ Tully Robinson showed their class to move into the semis along with Luke Doering, Christian De Clouett Luke Cheadle and Josh Morgan. The Womens was moved to the less treacherous waves of Werri Point where Yvonne Byron showed her class to move into the final. Carly Wrench, Jessie Wilson and young Ayla Whitney scored some long right handers to move into the final with Yvonne. When the Open Men hit the water for their semi finals the waves were still pumping through. A good crowd braved the cold weather to watch some of the south coast's finest surfers display their skills. Some big waves were hitting the contest bank with Ryan and Rhys winning their respective semis to set up a final showdown with Luke Doering and Matt Jones. The Womens final was again moved to the point where Yvonne showed her experience as former pro surfer to convincingly take the title. Carly Wrench showed she wasn't far behind with some solid surfing to place 2nd ahead of Jessie Wilson. 15 yr old Ayla Whitney has a bright future after turning in a solid overall performance to place 4th. The Cadets showed that the surfing talent on the south coast runs deep with exceptional performances in the large waves. Tim Wrench maintained his winning form to take home 1st place. In the Juniors Rhys Bombaci was never headed, winning all his heats to take home another Werri Slash title. Chris Homer returned to the winners circle some 12 years after winning the Open Mens title. Chris used his big wave cred to add a fourth title to his collection ahead of Doug McCallum and Jeremy Smith. Matt Chemello was injured in the final and had to leave the water early thereby leaving him with 4th place. The Atomic Homes $200.00 best manouvre award was not claimed and Ken Rudd of Atomic Homes has doubled the prize for next year's event. Thanks Ken! Special mention must be made of Rhys Bombaci and Tim Wrench. These 2 outstanding surfers each made the final of 2 divisions. Werri Boardriders would like to thank the following sponsors, for without their support, the Slash would not be the event that it is. Thanks to Surf Dive 'n' Ski, Sydney Water, Atomic Homes, Legend Eyewear, Ocean and Earth, JR Surfboards, The Realm, Lost Clothing, Jack's Grill and Advanced Concrete Cutting. Support those companies that support local and regional surfing. Also thanks to Mel Bailey, Karen Wilson, Ken Arthur, Wayne Pack, Jeff, Ben and Michael McCarthy, Mick O'Leary, Jye Lock, Andrew Reid, Ken Wrench, and all the Werri Boardrider members who contributed to the success of the Werri Autumn Slash. A final big thankyou to Geoff Bailey, for without his drive and determination, the club and The Slash would not be what they are today. Opens Results; Junior Results; Cadets Results; Seniors Results; Womens Results |
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