Torquay take the title at Victorian ABB qualifier

TORQUAY Boardriders Club has locked in their spot at the Australian Boardriders Battle National Final after taking the win at the Victorian qualifying event.

Victoria’s nine boardriding clubs were spoiled with pumping two to three feet waves at Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island for competition on Sunday.

The quality of surfing was lifted to meet the conditions, with teams putting on a great show for not only the crowds on the beach but those watching the live stream.

Torquay Boardriders stamped their authority early in proceedings by scoring the highest ever heat total at a Victorian Australian Boardriders Battle qualifier in their semi-final matchup.

The team scored 46.55 combined points, including a 9.93 and a 9.40 from team captain Xavier Huxtable.

Huxtable and his team-mates took their momentum into the final and go toe-to-toe with 2022 event champions Peninsula Surfriders, Phillip Island and dark horse Jan Juc Boardriders.

Both Torquay and Jan Juc got off to a hot start, but Peninsula took a lead in the early moments with a strong score from Willem Watson.

The midway point of the heat saw a flurry of high scores come through including a 7-point ride from Jan Juc surfer Carly Shanahan, a 7.37 from Phillip Island’s Sage Goldsbury and a 7.40 from Xavier Huxtable.

With his strong score, Huxtable narrowly elevated Torquay into first place.

Huxtable said he was thrilled to help book his club’s spot in the National Final at Burleigh Heads in March 2024.

“It was an awesome day at Woolamai with perfect tag team conditions and good weather.

“It was great to get the team together again and surf in a tag team event.

“I was stoked that we were able to go on and perform so well as a team.”

Former club president Cahill Bell-Warren said he was incredibly proud of the teams’ efforts to dig deep on the day.

“It was such an epic day at Woolies, our focus was to qualify for the Burleigh national final.

“Winning is just a step in the right direction. Today was a big team effort from an extended squad, everyone played their role and the outcome was a result of a community contribution.

“The standard in Victoria is really strong and we are pumped to be able to stand beside Peninsula Surfriders and Phillip Island Boardriders at Burleigh at the National Final and take it to the country’s best.”

South Coast Boardriders surfer Luke Skelton was rewarded with the Le Tan Breakthrough Performer Award, while Xavier Huxtable won the Oakley Prism Performance Award.

For results, head to surfingvic.com/live