2006 Ezzy Angulo Margaret Wavesailing Classic
Ezzy Sails/Angulo Boards Margaret River Wavesailing Classic 10th – 12th February 2006
The 2006 Margaret River Wave sailing competition was a great success for WindsurfingWA, the competitors, spectators and of course the sponsors: Healthway promoting the SunSmart message, Ezzy Sails, Angulo Boards and [org]. Here`s a run down on the final event of the Windsurfing WA 2005/6 wavesailing circuit.
Day 1 Friday 10 February
A great turnout at on the first day saw a total of 29 competitors registered in five divisions: Elite, Open, Masters, Novice and Youth. After a bit of a wait for the breeze to pick up a few more knots and for the surfers to move off the break, the event got underway mid afternoon with _ to mast high sets coming through. 4.7m sails were the go in the south easterly cross offshore breeze.
Two Margaret River locals fought out the semi-final of the single elimination of the Elite division. Scott McKercher went for the biggest waves of the sets but bungled his first wave and had a swim. Simon Peters, who`s been sailing really well lately deserved the win. Scarborough wave sailor Matt Holder took out Ash Nicol in the other semi-final. Even with Ash`s high scoring wave rides with multiple big airs and slashing turns, Matt was firing and nothing would stand in his way. It was Matt and Simon head to head in the final. Both sailors scored some great rides with Matt, sailing super smooth and hitting it in the right places, coming out on top. The battle for third and fourth saw Scott prevail over Ash Nicol with Scott getting a heap of fun waves. Ash was also punting some good ones. It was sweet to have the Point with only a few crew on it.
Meanwhile the Open, Masters and Youth heats were also taking place. Head Judge Fiona Court had the heat system running to perfection with minimum delays between heats and competitors needed to keep on the ball to ensure they didn`t miss a heat. At the end of the first day a total of 22 heats had been run, seeing the complete single elimination of the Elite plus several rounds of the other divisions. The judging platform location and proximity to beach and grassed rigging area helped keep things moving efficiently and made things easy for competitors.
In the other single elimination heats Jamie (who`s your daddy) Cobill, Niels (mini grom) van Toor, Marcel Waalkens and Vegard Knudsen went through in the Open Division and Geoff Golder, John Grulich, Paul Jackman and Mike Galvin went through in the Masters. What a start to a weekend of wave sailing with strong winds forecast and the swell predicted to hold, it looked likely that we`d get right through with a double elimination over the weekend.
Day 2 Saturday 11 February 
The stronger southerly breeze could be seen hanging off the coast for several hours before the eventual start, tempting Scott McKercher and John Koch to take advantage of the south easterly and the Bombie for a few big glassy wave faces in the light cross offshore conditions With the briefing out of the way and sailors in the first heats on standby for when the breeze hit, a quick start was possible. The heats got underway earlier than Friday, meaning there was a good chance of completing a full double elimination of all the divisions. A flurry of re-rigging suddenly took place when sailors realised how strong the breeze was. 4.5m and smaller sails were the common choice. The more southerly breeze brought choppy conditions out the back and a few frustrating times when the breeze dropped back, but this was short lived and the conditions were mostly pretty fine. Swell was consistently _ mast high with sets to mast high. Mini grom, 14 yo Niels van Toor was dwarfed by the waves (nearly double mast high for Niels` tiny rig). Safety Bay locals Niels and his dad Marco had never sailed Margaret`s before but after a few weeks in Geraldton in January they were fired up to give Margaret`s a go. They were determined to give it their all with Niels competing in the Youth, Novice and Open Divisions, and Marco in the Masters and Open, meaning there wasn`t much of a chance for a rest between heats. Even after copping 3 or 4 waves on the head and having a big swim, Niels got straight back up and headed out again into waves that he was obviously not used to – what a great attitude.
Saturday`s first heats finished off the single elimination from Friday. In the Open Marcel won out against Jamie, leaving Jamie itching for a second bite at the final via the double elimination. The Masters final was closely contested between Mike and John with both sailors getting good size waves. Mike`s hard fast off the top and bottom turns won out against John`s long rides. With the single elimination completed the double elimination heats began. It would be a challenge to get right through, and with plenty of waves, heat times were reduced. With two rounds of the double elimination finished in all divisions and light fading it didn`t look like it was going to happen. The last heat was held close to sunset and the decision was made to call it a day. The forecast for Sunday was not looking promising for an early sea breeze, and with most competitors planning to head off on the 3hr drive back to Perth early afternoon it was decided to award the final results based on heats finished so far. The winners from the single elimination could breathe a sigh of relief but there were a few changes to 3rd and 4th places as a result of the double elimination. Plans for an all in Expression Session on Sunday were still on, but as it would turn out the wind came in too late.
By the end of the day about 5 trashed sails had been brought back to the beach, and many long swims to recover gear torn away by the powerful waves of the Point. At sunset the grass was still awash with windsurfing gear being packed away, but by 8.30pm the last of the crew had headed off for a few drinks, BBQ and Presentations at Scott`s house in Margaret River. The impressive trophies which were hand made by WindsurfingWA`s own Steve Stratfold, cash prizes and [org] vouchers courtesy of Mark Taylor from SurfSail Australia/Ezzy/Angulo were presented by the Contest Director WindsurfingWA`s John Grulich.
For some, the weekend was a time of uncrowded wave sailing with new and old friends at one of Australia`s - if not the world`s best and most challenging location, while family enjoyed the attractions of what has become WA`s premier holiday region, for others, like Niels and Marco, it was a weekend that will be etched in their memories for years to come as the weekend they put their fears aside and faced the challenge that is wave sailing at the Point, Margaret River.
A closing note: Matt Holder`s win in the Elite put him in the position to be sponsored by WindsurfingWA to represent Western Australia in the Australian Wavesailing titles in Gerroa NSW later in the month of February. Good Luck Matt, do WA proud!
Final results were:
ELITE DIVISION
1st - Matt Holder
2nd - Simon Peters
3rd - Scott McKercher
4th - Eric Terrien
="5th" - Ash Nicol
- Glenn Alexander
="7th" - Luke Walmsley
- Julian Calvet
9th - Blair Gavin
OPEN DIVISION
1st - Marcell Waalkens (Ezzy)
2nd - Jamie Cobill
3rd - Vegard Knudsen
4th - Geoff Golder (Ezzy/Angulo)
="5th" - Niels Van Toor
- Rick Krystallis
="7th" - John Grulich
- Nick Moffatt
="9th" - Dougal Harris
- Serg Pillonel
- Marco Van Toor
- John Koch
MASTERS DIVISION
1st - Mike Galvin
2nd - John Grulich
3rd - Flavio Gazzani
4th - Paul Jackman
="5th" - Geoff Golder(Ezzy/Angulo)
- John Koch
="7th" - Marco Van Toor
- Peter Lane
NOVICE DIVISION
1st - Alex Bertrand
2nd - Lawrence Kozlowski
3rd - Rondo Bernado
4th - Niels Van Toor
YOUTH DIVISION
1st - David Richards
2nd - Niels Van Toor
Congratulations to all competitors from the team at [org]