Addicted to Bondi Boardriders

No one likes a bad loser. But losing in the first round of Bondi Boardriders usually makes me want to go home, curl up in bed, and forget the morning ever happened. But somehow I never end up leaving.

I’ve surfed at Bondi for about five years and I can’t remember the last time the waves were as good as they were on May 16. Other locals who have surfed here much longer also remarked how rarely Bondi gets like it was that Sunday. It was pretty big, about 4 or 5 feet, with a long swell period and offshore winds through the morning, making the water as smooth ceramics, and holding up and reforming all the way to shore. No surfer will walk away from that.

Then Ben Fitzgerald, taking second place in the Junior division, enticed me to stay longer with tales of a cheap English breakfast just over The Hill. And egalitarian club president Beau Sevastos encouraged me to stay and write this article. Perth Standlick, the next great hope for a Bondi-born world surf champ, lent me a new board for the day, and Kerby Lofts, Juniors winner, drove me home and back just so I didn’t have to do my business in the Pavilion public toilets (if you’ve ever used them, you’ll know what I mean).

All the competitors took advantage of the great surf, but it was newcomer Josh Bull who eliminated the locals and rode to victory in the highly competitive Opens Division. Who is Josh Bull? Some say he came over the horizon at the start of his heat, his name miraculously already on the scoring sheets to be judged. Others claim he arrived via UFO from a distant water planet where failure to win a surfing competition is met with capital punishment. What is certain is that the newcomer rips and is welcome to the club.

The next event is on June 16 and with the depths of winter looming, the surf will only get better. And although the last thing I feel like doing on a Sunday morning is to wake up early and enter freezing cold water, I can’t keep away from the spirit of the Bondi Boardriders community.
– By Tom Edwards

Here are the May 16 results:
Micro Groms:
1st – Will Reynolds
2nd – Peter Cavanah
3rd – Franklin Elms
Cadets:
1st – Ben Key
2nd – Pama Davies
3rd – Tim Munro
Juniors:
1st – Kirby Lofts
2nd – Ben Fitz
3rd – James Key
Open:
1st – Josh Bull
2nd – Jono Arnold
3rd – Luke Mussett
Masters:
1st – Phil ledley
2nd – Andy Davies
3rd – Ray Vuko