Torquay Boardriders get crisp conditions for club competition

XAVIER Huxtable and Sara Hickson reigned supreme in the premier open divisions last weekend at Torquay Boardriders’ fourth club aggregate for the 2022 season.

After several false starts this year due to small swell and unfavourable conditions, the club was thrilled to see crisp three-to-four feet lines coming through Jan Juc on Saturday, making for an exciting day of action.

Saturday’s club aggregate marked the first time a new speaker system that TBC was fortunate enough to fund from its Easter Bells Beach Luncheon fundraiser was used.

The state-of-the-art PA system provided crystal-clear sound and the ability for the competitors to hear everything from the water with ease.

The Open Men’s field was dominated by Surf Coast dynamo Huxtable, who showed off his damaging forehand surfing attack to publish some strong heat scores across the entirety of the event.

In the final, Huxtable found himself two great scoring rides including a near excellent 8.33 to take home his first club round win of the year.

“It was great to see everyone at the event and there was certainly some really fun wave to rip into,” he said.

“I was stoked to take out the win against a talented field, and it was an epic start to the weekend before some of us headed up to support member Tully Wylie in the Winter Jam invitational surfing event at URBNSURF.”

In the Open Women’s, 14-year-old Hickson was a class above throughout her divisional heats, posting strong score after strong score.

After winning her Semi-Final matchup in convincing fashion, Hickson took her form into the final and was able to control proceedings.

An 8.00 ride for Hickson was able to cement herself first position and deliver her a second win for the day after winning the U/16 Girls age division earlier in the afternoon.

The Open Women’s win was Hickson’s second of the year and will go a long way in her bid to capture the overall title at year’s end.

“It was such a nice day for the event, and it was awesome to get a few heats with the girls who were all surfing really well,” she said.

Other winners on the day included Leroy Filer (U/16 Boys), Willis Droomer (U/18 Boys), Emily McGettigan (U/18 Girls), Mat Donaldson (Grand Masters) and Rowan Sapwell (Legends).

The club later organised a bus to URBNSURF to watch Wylie, the 2021 Open Men’s champion, reach the quarter finals of the Winter Jam invitational event against some of the state’s best and special guests including former world tour competitor and eventual winner Reef Heazlewood.