Torquay ready to ride at ABB Grand Final

TORQUAY Boardriders Club will represent the region on the national stage this weekend in this year’s Australian Boardriders Battle (ABB) in Burleigh Heads, Queensland.

Torquay president and team member Tully Wylie said this year’s group has the capability to win the club’s first Grand Final in its history, with this year’s ABB being the 11th to date.

“I’d say we’ve been to the last 10 Grand Finals, but we haven’t been able to win it. The closest we got was last year, making it to the semi-finals.

“We definitely think we can win it this year with this group, but a lot of luck plays into these tag team events, so we hope some of that luck falls our way.

“With the surfers we have on our list we are certainly capable of pulling out a win.”

Among this year’s Torquay Boardriders list is Wylie, former World Tour surfer Troy Brooks as the over-35s Master, top-15 Challenger Series surfer Ellie Harrison as the female competitor, former Under 16 world champion Willis Droomer as the junior athlete, and Todd Rosewall as the second open men’s competitor.

The ABB format sees teams of five (made up of two open men, an open female, master and junior) compete against one another in 70-minute heats. The Grand Final will begin with 32 boardrider clubs.

“Our side is made up of surfers from the Torquay and Jan Juc areas, which is really exciting,” Wylie said.

“We’re used to those right-hand point break style waves, so we think that will be a big advantage for our team because we’re so used to surfing those conditions.

“We had a great win at the regional qualifying event in Phillip Island posting some really high scores as a team, so we’re all very confident and there looks like there will be some really fun waves too.”

The ABB will be streamed live on YouTube over both days.