1984 to 2008 - 25th annual Phillip Island kneelo contest

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:30 am

3 weeks to go!
The 25th Phillip Island Kneeboard contest will be run by the inimatable Neil Luke and his cohorts on the 15th and 16th of November.
See the links on the this site and The Australian site for entry details.
Don't miss out!

southpeakbrad · Post by **southpeakbrad** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:40 pm

Hope this year's Phillip Island event is the most successful one yet. Best of luck to all!

islandjim · Post by **islandjim** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:33 pm

End of first day of classic. Age divisions were surfed today in what could be called "testing conditions". No final results will be known until the presentations tomorrow but the standout surfers today were, Simon, Tim Kadwell , Gav, MattyG, Dale Ponsford, Baden, Neil Luke. all the finals had deserving surfers. We are praying for a forecast swell lift late tonight, so hopefully there will be much better conditions tomorrow.

eqKneelo · Post by **eqKneelo** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 9:44 am

Please keep us posted

islandjim · Post by **islandjim** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 1:20 pm

Swell jacked up. Flynn's reef was pumping 3-5'. Simon just pipped Gav, Chayne was 3rd and Albert 4th. Unbelievable surfing all through the open. When the hangover clears I will post more results and pictures

budgie · Post by **budgie** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 8:02 pm

Congrats to all those who competed on the weekend and especially all those who entertained the spectators on the beach.

There was some outstanding surfing on the weekend with dazzling vertical displays of brilliance.

I love being a kneeboarder and I love watching those who rip and put every ounce of their being on the line to pull off amazing feats of the unbelievable.

Thanks especially to Tim Kadwell (VIC) and Albert Munoz (NSW) you both consistantly blew me away.

Well done Simon for some of the best surfing at the contest, see you at the worlds

islandjim · Post by **islandjim** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:04 pm

SIMON WINS !!! and then announces his retirement.
Simon Farrer won the 2008 Phillip Island Kneeboard Classic after a very tight final just edging out Gavin Colman. Chayne Simpson was 3rd and Albert Munoz 4th.
The final result was a fitting end to a day of high quality surfing right from the start of the day. The anticipated swell looked like it was going to arrive and the call was made early to move the comp from Woolamai to flynns reef. The early heats were greeted with 3ft clean waves, a big improvement on what was on offer on Saturday. The first round was completed with most of the seeded surfers progressing through to the next round. The swell was still building and there were good waves 3-5 ft pumping into the bay. The surfing was now stepping up a notch as none of the heats from here on were easy. Simon and Mark McLeod got through first, and they were joined by Tim Kadwell and Baden. The commitment of the surfers into the flynns shorebreak had the crowd cheering and the surfers kept going harder. Neil Owen was through to the next round along with Matt Gallagher and Chris Carey. Chris hadn’t been able to make the last few comps due to work but made up for lost time by doing some huge bashes off the top and then pulling in to a stand up size barrel to take out the best tube ride of the contest. Phil Arthur and Justin Stevens got through followed by Red, and Albert who was taking his surfing up another level. The crowd was enjoying every minute as the swell was pumping and each heat seemed to outdo the previous one for highlights. Parksey then came out and smashed every wave he got . Dale Ponsford was surfing as smooth as always and Kev Fisher and Chayne Simpson also progressed after some committed surfing in their heats. Chayne was struggling with a knee injury but didn’t want to miss the chance to surf with best.
Simon again showed why he is one of the best in the world winning through to the semi but Tim Kadwell was right behind , smacking the lip, driving hard and really pushing Simon. Matt Gallagher had been surfing good all weekend and this heat was no different, while Gav was having a ball bashing every lip and showing no fear. Alberts surfing was getting better with every heat, and Dale was doing some smooth cutbacks through the bowl. Parksey and Chayne were having a great battle with Dave getting vertical a number of times and Chayne getting in some big roundhouse cutbacks.
The final 8. (semi 1) Simon , Tim, Matt, Gav,(semi 2) Albert , Dale , Dave and Chayne. 4 great surfers are going to miss out, but it is going to be good to watch.
There were still plenty of waves coming in the bay but the tide had turned and was running out .Everyone was hoping that the waves would hang in till the end , but it was getting a bit inconsistent between the sets.Semi final 1 was close , Gav was getting airborne and, when Simon took off 10 seconds before the buzzer and proceded to carve and smack the wave to pieces it just put them through. Tim and Matt had surfed brilliantly all weekend but someone had to miss out.
Semi final 2 was another cracker with the young guns knocking out their more experienced counterparts.
The last 4. all 4 had beaten the best to get there and had put on a great show for the spectators. The first half of the final was in a lull, Albert got a couple of small inside waves while the others waited for the sets. When they came Gav was getting some great waves and Simon was smooth and powerful. Gav and Simon were going neck and neck with each wave while Albert and Chayne were also pulling some good moves.
When the hooter went everyone new it was close and Simon just tipped out Gav with Chayne 3rd and Albert 4th.
The presentations were then held back at major sponsor Panhandle Tex Mex bar. Simon gave speech and thanked all the competitors for the top competition all weekend. Mike Dixon from Panhandle was presented with a Dave Fincher work of art in appreciation of his continued support of this event. Adrian Sorati our contest director was also thanked for his efficient running of this event for a number of years. Prizes and trophys were awarded to all the age division winners and the crew then partied on hard, long into the night.
Neil, Adrian, Hoges, Rosey and Jim would like to thank all the sponsors for there support, Dave for the trophies, the judges , and everyone who helped , and thank you to all the surfers for coming to make the event as good as it is.

mal · Post by **mal** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 12:24 am

nice report, sounds like a real good comp cant wait to see the photoes

. is simon coming to the worlds? would love to see him surf, even just an expression session

Mike Fernandez · Post by **Mike Fernandez** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:48 am

Hi Jim, very nice story man, you have a talent there, I was reading with anticipation after every sentence.
Congrats to Simon, what a great competitive career!
Can't wait to see the photo's. I was just watching a show, and it seems Phillip Island is famous for the "little penguins" that live there.
Glad everyone had fun, say hello to Baden.

southpeakbrad · Post by **southpeakbrad** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 10:39 am

Thanks for the report Jim. Wow, 3 of the same Finalists from last year. Congratulations to all. Would love to see some video of everyone tearing it up

albert · Post by **albert** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 1:49 pm

A couple of things of worthy re-mention from my experience at this year's PI comp;

-the fact that the comp director and the rest of the staff broke the usual mold and switched the order of the weekend around. This is the first comp where I have seen a comp director have the b@lls to swap things around to ensure that the opens had the better conditions. 99% of the time comps are held under the same formula (get the opens done on the Saturday and save all the age divisions and finals for the Sunday), this does not always ensure the best conditions for the most competitive surfing in the event and it was very refreshing to see that.

-The commitment that most of these competitors have to their surfing is truly amazing. The shorebreak at Flynns (which by the way is the best part of the wave IMHO) has claimed more than its fair share of broken boards, some of the pictures you will see posted from the event will be of people hitting the lip on what seems to be an end section with plenty of water, the truth is this section only affords you a split second to recover from the maneuver and duck out before dry sand rearranges your fin system. Similar to hitting the lip on the end section at the wedge in California

-Tim Caldwell was absolutely ripping! A true standout of every Phillip Island event that is seldom seen outside of Victoria.

ill probably add more to this later, but for now I have to get back to work.

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 3:46 pm

Chris Carey is a Torquay based kneelo who is riding Buddy's boards.
He is a surfing photographer who took the water shots at shipsterns bluff(tasmania) a few years back when Ross Clarke Jones and Tony Ray did the first expose on the spot.
He shot some pics at the event as did Kev Fischer using Chris's "cannon", now we just have to introduce him to the site so we can all enjoy his pics.

Post by **joe** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 4:00 pm

Congratulations to Simon, Gavin, Chayne and Albert.

I've created a new section in the photo album for this year's PI contest.