Taj Burrow in action
TAJ BURROW TO LEAD POWERFUL YALLINGUP SURFTAG SQUAD
World Championship Tour contender Taj Burrow will headline a powerful Yallingup team in their title defence on their home beach when the Western Australian round of the Jim Beam Surftag is contested this Saturday.
Burrow, who ended the 2009 season ranked number four in the world after a stunning victory in the last event at Pipeline in Hawaii when he beat legend Kelly Slater in the final, will be joined in his club’s ‘A’ team by former pro Jake Paterson, classy aerial exponent Jay Davies, two-time reigning club champion Zak Ogram and rising teenager Sammy Tucker.
Margaret River won the Western Australian title the first four times it was contested but Yallingup have won the last three on the trot and according to team manager Shaun Wright the defending champions are not only looking to make it four in a row but are confident their ‘B’ team can finish second.
“The aim is definitely to win a fourth straight WA title on our home beach,” Wright said.
“All our key guys are back at home and surfing locally and we are ready. We are pretty confident we won’t lose.
“Our ideal aim is to go one-two. Last year we were first and fourth but we now have more overall depth including some more experienced older heads in our second team like Paul ‘Antman’ Paterson and big wave charger Damian ‘Taco’ Warr.”
The Surftag format sees five-member teams square off in a relay style event with the top three teams from the Western Australian round progressing through to face the country’s best clubs in the Jim Beam Surftag Australian final.
The final is expected to witness elite ASP World Tour surfers including current World Champion Mick Fanning, Kai Otton, Burrow and numerous other elite competitors line up for their beloved clubs at Sydney’s North Narrabeen beach on February 13/14.
Wright said his club wasn’t going to be content with just taking the state title this year either with their eyes well and truly set on the National finals.
“The overall goal is to make an impact in the final at Narrabeen and I’d like to think we can,” Wright said.
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves and are definitely focussed on doing well this weekend but then it’s the final we’ll look at.”
Margaret River will also enter a second team and will face tough competition from Trigg Point, Contacio, Cottesloe and City Beach. Yallingup and Margaret River are the only Western Australian clubs that have ever progressed through to the final in Sydney but with organisers granting another finals position to WA clubs this year, competition is sure to be hot amongst the four Perth based clubs.
The event sees five-member teams given an hour in which each individual must catch three waves, with the second being a “powerwave” worth double points. All three waves for each surfer count in the scoring and bonus points are awarded for teams that finish before the 60 minute mark.
Another event on Saturday’s program will be the FCS Manufacturers Cup.
A competition for surfboard manufacturers, the event is run to a similar format to the Surftag series. Four man teams, made up of two factory employees and two team riders, will compete for the right to contest the national Manufacturers Cup final. The winning team will progress from the Western Australian event.
Saturday’s surfing will get underway at 9am and is expected to wind up around 3pm.
The next event in the series will be the Queensland Surftag event at Duranbah on January 15.
2010 Jim Beam Surftag Australian Series
23rd Oct - Industry Challenge ? Winner: Hurley29th Nov - Women's Surftag - Winner: North Narrabeen
19th Dec - VIC Qualifier - Phillip Island
9th Jan - WA Qualifier
15th Jan - QLD Qualifier
23rd Jan - NSW North Qualifier
30/31 Jan - NSW South Qualifier
12/13/14 Feb - Australian Final
The 2010 Jim Beam Surftag Australian Series is proudly supported by FCS, Tracks, Swellnet, Sanyo, Beever and Global Surftag.