Donaghy victorious in perfect conditions
WEATHER conditions were near perfect for the first round of the King of the Kowie at East Beach last weekend.
The contest, the first round of a three-event series, went well seeing lots of interest from local surfers and bodyboarders across all ages.
But in the end there can only be one. In the first round it was Andrew Donaghy who won the King of the Kowie open section and who will be the guy to beat over the next two events. With warm and sunny winter weather, last Saturday’s contest was the first surfing event for Kowie Boardriders Club (KBC) this year and was originally scheduled for the previous week.
Strong winds and rain led to the cancellation, which was a blessing in disguise as last weekend’s conditions gave participants clean, smallish surf on a beautiful day.
According to contest director Clinton Millard, the surf was good, with fun right and left breaking waves. “There was something for the regular, and goofy footers,” he said.
Millard called the event at about 9am with the U15s taking to the surf first, followed by the open and other divisions.
By early afternoon the event was over and KBC members relaxed on the beach. “There was a relaxed vibe; the event is about catching a few waves with mates, getting some exercise, and trying to surf a bit better than one normally does,” Millard said.
The King of the Kowie rules allow surfers to surf in multiple divisions, thereby maximising one’s time in the surf. So, if eliminated from a heat, the competitor has the chance in another age group.
Some of the surfers were able to surf as many as three divisions in the contest.
According to Millard the event drew much interest from the groms (little kids) and junior surfers, a positive reflection on junior surfing.
Although the groms all surfed together, different prizes were awarded as they all placed first in their respective age groups.
There was some good surfing taking place, and in the premier open division, Donaghy, now 42 and a top contender, showed his class by taking out the win against five other good surfers of all ages – some half his age.
Noel Maddocks also showed his improved surfing skills, beating Donaghy to claim the over 40 division.
Anton Wiersma did well to place first in the kneeboards as well as third in the open, and Cameron Reeder ripped to win the U20 division.
New club member Shaun Uys enjoyed the day and did well to place second in the longboarding behind Richard Heny who also placed third in the over 40s.
According to Millard, the future looks bright for young Andrew Laverge and Luke Swart. The duo took a respective first and second in the U15s and second and third in the U20s.
Round two of the King of the Kowie is set to take place on the weekend of June 4-5.
Results:
Longboard
1 Richard Heny
2 Shaun Uys
3 Andrew Donaghy
4 Justin Maddocks
Body boarders
1 Clinton Millard
2 Ryan Owsley
3 Steven Slade
Kneeboarders
1 Anton Wiersma
2 Nick Donaghy
Groms
Owen Heny tie 1st U6 boys
Carl Wiersma tie 1st U6 boys
Kelly Legg 1st U7 girls
Lara Heny 1st U8 girls
Lilly Heny 1st U9 girls
Kate Heny 1st U11 girls
Kaine Heny 1st U11 boys
Under 15
1 Andrew Laverge
2 Luke Swart
3 Kaine Heny
Under 20
1 Cameron Reeder
2 Andrew Laverge
3 Luke Swart
4 Kaine Heny
Over 30
1 Anton Wiersma
2 Ryan Owsley
3 Clinton Millard
4 Steven Slade
Over 40
1 Noel Maddocks
2 Andrew Donaghy
3 Richard Heny
4 Richard Legg
Open
1 Andrew Donaghy
2 Warwick Heny
3 Cameron Reeder
4 Anton Wiersma
5 Nick Donaghy
6 Dane Cox
