Wollongong, February 4th 2007 - Rookie World Championship Tour bound surfers Dayyan Neve and Kai Otton have helped North Steyne defeat rivals Curl Curl in the final of the NSW Jim Beam Surftag at Wollongong’s Woonona Beach today.

The Jim Beam Surftag is the nation’s premier club surfing competition and this year for the first time was boosted by the entries of several current WCT surfers - Neve and Otton’s brilliance ensuring North Steyne won their third State title in six years, but the first since 2003.

North Steyne scored 64.9 to Curl Curl’s 62.6, preventing their Northern Beaches foes from winning their third State crown and defending the title they won last year, while Werri Beach (57.3) was third and Queenscliff (48.5) fourth.

The all important top eight positions guaranteeing a spot in the 2007 Jim Beam Surftag National Final, that will be held in Sydney on March 2 and 3, was dominated by Northern Beaches clubs with North Narrabeen A and B, North Steyne, Queenscliff, Long Reef and Curl Curl being joined by Sydney outfit Bronte and South Coast rippers Werri Beach.

But today belonged to North Steyne and there was no doubt Neve was the star of the show, the 28-year-old, who finished fifth on last year’s WQS circuit, scoring the highest score in the final and taking his side to a lead they never lost.

Neve hit the water as his club’s third surfer in second place behind Curl Curl who had led after some solid waves from WQS surfer Matt Bemrose, but after Neve scored 19.4, tearing apart the small, clean two foot waves, North Steyne took the lead for good.

Otton wasn’t far behind in performance either, also scoring highly with a 15.3 total for his allotted three waves.

Despite his standing as the highest ranked surfer in the final, Neve said he felt the pressure of representing his club.

“This might not be a WCT event but there is still heaps of pressure because surfing for your club is not easy,” Neve said.

“You are surfing with all your mates and it is like any team event – no one wants to let anyone down.”

Neve will now take some valuable form and confidence into his maiden assault on the WCT tour when the first event gets underway on the Gold Coast in late February.

“This definitely gives me confidence for my debut on the World Championship Tour on the Gold Coast in a few weeks,” Neve said.

“It’s good practice and any time you do well you take that confidence with you and hopefully I can use today’s experience and form to my advantage when I surf on the tour.”

Werri Beach’s Rhys Bombaci scored the highest individual one wave score of the day with and 8.0 in the quarter final to win the Oporto Powerwave crown.

All eight clubs will now focus their attention on snatching the National Surftag crown back from Queensland club Snapper Rocks who took out last year’s final by defeating Curl Curl, Noosa and Cronulla who were eliminated today.

Narrabeen will be boosted by the availability of former WCT surfers Nathan Hedge and Chris Davidson and look to be the big improvers.

The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) only ruled to allow their top 44 WCT surfers to compete in the Surftag on Friday and Neve said he was ecstatic to have been able to take part.

“It was pretty sweet to get the call that we could surf for the club on Friday because that’s where the heart’s at and that’s where we all started,” Neve said.

The ruling will also boost the standard of the Queensland round of qualifying on February 17-18 with WCT stars Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Dean Morrison, Mark Occhilupo and Josh Kerr all set to compete for their respective clubs.

The Jim Beam Surftag National Series is run under the popular tag team format with each club being represented by five surfers. In relay style each surfer catches three waves and then returns to the beach to tag the next surfer. All three waves ridden count towards the team’s final score with each surfer’s second wave worth double points “Powerwave”. Bonus points are also on offer for each team’s fifth surfer returning to the tag area before the one hour time limit.

The 2007 Jim Beam Surftag National Series is proudly supported by Jim Beam, Face of Australia Sunscreen, Mentawai Resorts, vmoto, Oporto, Coastalwatch and Australia’s Surfing Life.

Full Results Jim Beam Surftag NSW Qualifying Round

Quarter 1 North Narrabeen A 81.3 North Steyne B 75.7 Ulladulla 68.9 Merewether 53
Quarter 2 Bronte 82.2 Queenscliff A 74.5 Woonona Blue 73.9 Dee Why 65.4
Quarter 3 Werri Beach 84.8 Narrabeen B 68.1 Woonona Red 48.1 Catherine Hill Bay 37.5
Quarter 4 Long Reef 68.6 Curl Curl B 63.5 Wollongong 53.5 Cronulla 49.1

Semi 1 North Steyne B 83.1 Queenscliff A 59.2 North Narrabeen A 57.5 Bronte 53
Semi 2 Curl Curl B 67.8 Werri Beach 63.8 Long Reef 60.5 Narrabeen B 59.8

Final North Steyne B 64.9 Curl Curl B 62.6 Werri Beach 57.3 Queenscliff A 48.5

Oporto Powerwave Rhys Bombaci (Werri Beach)

Qualifiers for Jim Beam Surftag National Final, Sydney March 2-3
North Narrabeen A North Steyne B Bronte Queenscliff A Werri Beach Narrabeen B Long Reef Curl Curl B