Former world tour surfer Jake Patterson lead the Yallingup Boardriders to victory at the Jim Beam Surftag event in Margaret River today. The team will now travel to Sydney to compete in the National final in February.
YALLINGUP BOARDRIDERS WIN JIM BEAM SURFTAG IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Yallingup Boardriders have reclaimed the title of West Australia’s best surfing club after an emphatic come from behind victory at the Jim Beam Surftag regional qualifying event in Margaret River.
In messy 1.5m waves at Gas Bay Sewer Bowls the Yallingup team of Jake Patterson, Paul Patterson, Ryan Wordsworth, Sam Tucker, Brodie Mclean and Zak Ogram defeated archrivals Margaret River, Geraldton Boardriders and Margaret River Boardriders B Team in the eventual final.
Despite trailing Margaret River for much of the 60-minute decider it came down to a classy power wave by Yallingup surfer Ryan Wordsworth to steal the win by the absolute narrowest of margins in the dying stages.
Wordsworth’s final run up the beach for three bonus points tipped the team into first place by less than 1 point.
“I feel like the quarter back who just threw the winning pass,” claimed Wordsworth. “I felt like Jake Patterson got underscored during his surf in the final and I knew I needed to go all out on that last wave if we had any chance of getting past Margaret River.”
“The waves were pretty junky all day, really random rip bowl lefts and rights, you had to be lucky to get scores,” he said. “We have had the event up at Yallingup for the last seven years so coming down to Margaret River was always going to be tough for us, we’re all so stoked right now.”
The win came even sweeter for Yallingup who surfed without their two biggest stars, world tour surfer Taj Burrow and talented free surfer Jay Davies.
“Taj and Jay weren’t available for us today but they will be on hand for the national final in Sydney which will be a huge boost for the team,” said Yallingup team captain Shaun Wright. “It feels amazing to get the title back off Margaret River, they got us last year on our home turf so to give it back to them is unreal.”
“We have never performed well at the National final and a West Oz team has never won it but hopefully we can be the first in February.”
The final scores had Yallingup 77.13 to Margaret River 76.27, Geraldton 67.68 and Margaret River B Team 39.70.
Despite missing out on the win today, both Margaret River and Geraldton will join Yallingup at the National Final with three teams eligible to represent the state. It’s a major coup for Geraldton who will be the first West Australian club outside of Yallingup and Margaret River to compete on a national stage.
The third round of the FCS Manufacturers cup also ran today with Dave Macauley Surfboards winning ahead of Rusty Surfboards and Nathan Rose Surfboards. The Macauley team of Zac Ogram, Dave Delroy-Carr, Jake Fawcett and Dave Macauley were too classy in the tricky conditions. They have now qualified for the FCS Manufacturers Cup final in Sydney next February.
Only two more regional qualifying events remain in the series with QLD next weekend followed by NSW South on January 29.
The 2011 Jim Beam Surftag is proudly supported by FCS, Sanyo and O’Neill. Media partners for the series are Swellnet and Tracks surfing magazine.
WA Regional Qualifier Results
1. Yallingup
2. Margaret River 1
3. Geraldton
4. Margaret River 2
5. Trigg
6. City Beach
7. Contacio
8. Scarborough
9. Cottesloe
2010/11 Jim Beam Surftag Dates And Locations
Oct 15 Industry Challenge (Curl Curl) - (Winner – Quiksilver)
Oct 16 Trade Off (Curl Curl) - (Winner – Bondi Life Guards)
Nov 13 Women’s Surftag (Dee Why) - (Winner – Norah Head Women In Waves)
Dec 11 NSW North Surftag (Newcastle) - (Winner – North Shelley)
Dec 18 Victoria Surftag (Jan Juc) - (Winner – Torquay)
West Australia Surftag (Gas Bay) (Winner – Yallingup Boardriders)
Jan 15 Queensland Surftag (Duranbah)
Jan 29/30 NSW South Surftag (Cronulla)
Feb 3/4/5 Surftag Australian Final (Northern Beaches, Sydney)