Torquay Boardriders records high finish at national nudie battle

THE nudie Australian Boardriders Battle (ABB) on the weekend of February 17-18 saw 24 of Australia’s best board riding clubs do battle for a share of $82,000 and bragging rights for the title of the best club in the country.

The Bells Angels squad, keen to capitalise on their wildcard invitation to the event, came out of the gates strongly, with powerful performances from Cody Robinson and India Robinson in their respective individual formats and a solid progression in the opening round of the Tag.

With an incoming swell courtesy of Cyclone Gita, TBC took in its most experienced team in it’s 3 showings at the ABB.

It was India Robinson who really put on a show for Torquay, surfing through injury and taking a Women’s Skin win and $500 for TBC despite snapping her leg rope on her opening ride.

“That heat was always going to be tough one and it certainly became a lot more work than I hoped,” India said.

“I really wanted to get the win for TBC, I’m proud of our club and pleased to get it done here at the National Final”.

Headed up by the club’s co-coach Jack Perry, Torquay’s list was stacked with talent.

Former WCT surfer Nic Muscroft was the O/35 representative, India Robinson the female and a combination of Todd Rosewall, Xavier Huxtable and Cody Robinson used as Open Surfers.

Reserves on standby included Bella Wilson, Harry Mann and Cahill Bell-Warren.

Late on the finals day, Torquay climbed as high as second position on the leader board, which gave them a great opportunity to push into the Grand Final.

TBC’s run ultimately ended in the Quarter Finals of the Tag Team component, after a strong start a barrage unfortunately timed 8ft sets on the head played spoiler to TBC’s chances, eventually losing out to Snapper Rocks and North Narrabeen, both past two-time ABB champions.

“We really stuck to our guns in that heat and it was a shame things didn’t go our way in the last half of the quarter final,” Perry said.

“We had a deadly squad and are developing a real sense of club pride and culture through the group, I’m really looking to what the future holds for our club at the national level”.

As the dust settled, TBC finished in 6th place overall, the first time the club has secured a Top 10 finish at the National Final.

Culburra Beach Boardriders Club took the overall win, with Merewether Surfriders in second, North Narrabeen third, North Shelly fourth and Snapper Rocks fifth.

TBC has now turned its focus to their maiden attack on the Kirra Teams Challenge this weekend on the Gold Coast.