Well what a weekend! For once the stars aligned and we had swell, light winds and no rain. It was the perfect platform for all competitors to showcase their talents and the spectators on the beach certainly weren’t left wanting.

Saturday saw us greeted by a 3 foot east swell with the occasional set hitting the 4ft mark. The winds were light offshore and there were some ominous looking clouds out to the west which somehow missed the southern end of the Gold Coast. A full day of action from the opens division was on the cards and the boys delivered some hotly contested surfing!

Early standouts for the title were some previous winners in Hugo Prasser and Nathan Cronan. Nath even posting a heat total of 18.5 out of 20 he was looking like the man to beat again this year. New to the PCC was Brett Edwards who was throwing down some massive scores of his own and taking the title of darkhorse of the event. Other notables from Saturdays action were Junior Liam Kelly ruffling some feathers and making it to Sunday, Favourite Garth Lewis not getting through to the Finals during  a period of tricky conditions, young guns Gareth Owens and Eddy Watson throwing down some massive turns and new competitor Nick Witheroff on a charge.

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Sunday was a repeat of the previous day for conditions. A beautiful morning with light offshore winds and a 3ft swell. It was day packed with action from the get go as the opens semis were run first up. The final was set to be a cracker!

So the pointy end of the day had everyone’s eyes locked on the waves. The over 55’s was the first final of the day and it ended up a 3 horse race with favourite Greg Kelly not making it. Tim Butcher missed the final of the 45’s but redeemed himself in the 55’s for the win. Commentator extraordinaire Gary Hall fought his way to 2nd place and Peter Kearney took out third after a horror paddle out which left him way up the beach and having to do the run around.

Juniors really stepped it up this year and the final was a doozy with sets from start to finish. The Kelly boys Liam and Ethan were in an arm wrestle the whole final which eventually saw older brother Liam getting the chocolates and Ethan placing 2nd. Eddy Watson nailed an air reverse which got the crowd going but couldn’t find a back up score and left him in 3rd spot. Primitive staff member Jack Poulier gave it a good dig to get himself into 4th position and youngest competitor of the event Ryan Heisig was shredding the shorey to place 5th in the final.

35’s saw open favourite Garth Lewis hoping to make amends for his early exit Saturday. After a slow start to the final he managed to get crackers in succession which none of the other boys could answer. Gregg Mathews had a busy weekend doing both Opens and 35’s and brought home 2nd place. Jamie Brocket jagged a couple of good ones to sneak into 3rd in front of Odell ‘Dalai Lama’ Harris.

In the over 45’s Peter Donaldson surprised himself making it through 1 heat and bettered it again on a charge to the final and found himself in 4th place overall. Peter Stone miscalculated the time of the final and was left doing his best David Hasselhoff impersonation in a sprint down the beach and into the water. After getting his breath Stoney nailed a couple crackers to take the 2014 title with Paul Curran in a close 2nd place. Brian Hall was on a hunt for the lefts which weren’t as prevalent and took home 3rd spot.

The girls were faced with some very challenging conditions for their final but put on a display of determination. 10 year old Zahli Kelly scored a 9.5 in her earlier heat and was the favourite for the title. In between duckdives she finally managed to get a wave with some run and linked a few turns to put her in a good spot but still needing a back up score. With only a few minutes she managed to do a run around and get another score which ultimately left her in 1st. Midge Dixon was charging but couldn’t get the waves with any run and took home 2nd spot. Brooke Marsh couldn’t repeat her earlier feats of her first heat and walked away with a respectable 3rd. Rebecca Schubert got a score in between dodging sets but couldn’t get the back up which left her in a hard fought 4th place.

The Opens final for 2014 was fought out in very tricky conditions with the wind that had left us alone for most of the weekend starting to bear its teeth. The sweep was also a factor and by the end of the final the boys were spread out over 100 metres. Liam Kelly had the highest score of the final picking up a great right hander which allowed him to blast several turns and leaving the judges no choice but to give him a 9+ ride. The juniors/opens double wasn’t to be for him with the conditions not giving him a chance to pick up a decent back up score. Nathan and Hugo were victims of the sweep and spent the majority of the final fight the elements in front of the tents which unfortunately wasn’t throwing them the best waves to show off their talents. Nath finishing in 3rd and Hugo 4th. Which leaves the Darkhorse Brett Edwards taking down the event and winning a trip for 2 to Aganoa Beach Resort courtesy of World Surfaris. I don’t know if its was strategy but Brett kept way down the beach for the whole final which saw him away from the sweep and the section of beach which was mostly closing out. He scored a couple of crackers and tore them to shreds for the win! Congrats mate!!

A massive thanks goes out to everyone who made the event happen! Cheers to Primitive Surf , World Surfaris, Billabong, Quiksilver, Dakine, FCS and Far King for the awesome prizes! A massive thanks to all the competitors and supporters on the beach which made the 2014 Post Code Challenge the best ever and one to remember.

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