Bells Puts On A Show For TBC

By mark Humphrey

Bells Beach, Vic/Aus. 9^th October 2014. Bells Beach served up a classic 3-4’ day combined with off-shore conditions to treat the Torquay Boardriders Club members who had trekked down for the club’s Agg 5 event. With a full contingent of age brackets ranging from U/14’s right through to the Grand Masters, times were hectic for organisers with the final event the Men’s Open final getting the buzzer just after 5pm. To minimise the impact on co-ordinators, the clubs Grom section ran their heats and finals around the corner at Jan JucCahill Bell-Warren in his last club comp for the year before heading OS to compete on the  ASP QS circuit.

Winners on the day were James Hughes in the 14 boys followed by Jack, Henry and Charlie. The 14 girls had 2 competitors with Bella Wilson getting the nod from Jesse. The 16 girls had a 6 person final with India Robinson taking out the division from Grace, Isabelle, Maddy, Charlie and Maggie. The 16 boys was won by 13 year old Tane Bowden followed by Josh, Zac, & Charlie. Following on from the 16’s was the 18 boys with travelled surfer Cody Robinson taking out the win. Robinson has just returned from Europe where he has been competing in the ASP Junior Pro division and wasted no time getting into the final where he was challenged right up to the wire by 2^nd place getter Lewy Oats. In a close final Robinson got the nod from Oats, Casey McCrohan and Mickey Robinson with Lewis Wright and Jordy Gibson rounding out the 6 man final. . The masters was taken out by Brad Kerr with Adam, Frankie and Trippa filling the minor positions. In the Grand Masters Dave Matthews once again picked up the win from Jeff, Rohan and Steve. Dave Matthews 'smokin' another wave

That left both the open women’s and men’s finals to be contested. The women’s final was also a 6 person final with Maylee Fox taking the win from India Robinson, Ricki Bell-Warren, Grace Day, Issabell Cook and Ella Sweeney. In the men’s final Cahill Bell-Warren picked up a wave inside the last minute of the event to leapfrog into the lead and take the win from an unlucky Harrison Mann with that 13 year old Tane Bowden in 3^rd followed by the 18 boy’s winner Cody Robinson. Fantastic effort by Tane to make the final having to despatch Troy Brooks on the way through. With the clubs other future star in Xavier Huxtable away on Grom Search duties the limelight was certainly centred on the 13 year old and he didn’t disappoint. As club president Cahill Bell-Warren mentioned during the presentations, its scary how good Bowden is at the ripe old age of 13. No doubt another future club star in the making. Everywhere you look in the junior ranks there are boys and girls surfing beyond their age which goes good for the future development of the club and the sport in general. Tane Bowden in full flight on the way to the mens final

The clubs final comp has been pencilled in for November the 8^th. To find out more on the event and the Grom place getters go to http://www.torquayboardriders.com/

Images from an awesome day at Bells.

Bell Warren Snatches Agg 5

By Mark Humphrey

Bells Beach, Vic/Aus. 4th October 2014. Current QS rated surfer and club president Cahill Bell-Warren waited until the last minute of the club's Agg 5 Open Men's division to move ahead of Harry Mann and take the win with Tane Bowden and Cody Robinson filling the minor positions. 

Bells put on a perfect day with clean off-shore sets rolling in throughout the day. Lots of quality performances throughout the day from u/14's through to the Grand Masters.

Full report including pics in Wednesday's edition.

Cahill Bell-Warren snaps off the lip during his semi final win

HELLS BELLS GROM SHOOTOUT

Bell-Warren Carves Hells Bells

By Mark Humphrey

Bells Beach, Vic/Aus. 19^th August 2014. Local ASP QS rated surfer and club president Cahill Bell-Warren has put in a dominate performance in clean 3’ surf to take out the Torquay Boardriders Club inaugural “Hells Bells” event run at the famous local Bells Beach break.

Cahill Bell-Warren was supreme in the "Bells Bowl"

Bell-Warren, ranked in the mid 60’s on the current ASP Men’s QS ratings had to overcome challenges from former WCT Pro Troy Brooks and future stars in Tristan Forras and Makenzi Bowden to  be the first ever surfer to hoist the custom made “Hells Bells” trophy in a victory celebration.

The brain child of Brooks, the unique competition format pitted the clubs elite against junior grommets, up and coming stars and even the club’s female surfers in knock out rounds with the 4 best surfers on the day contesting the 25 minute final for the coveted prize. A glowing example of the format saw under 12’s Patrick Hughes up against former WCT Pro Troy Brooks and 3 other club surfers in the first heat of the day. The outcome of the heat was obvious as the seeded Brooks took out the win but Hughes beat home 2 others to finish in 3^rd spot and advance to the round of 32. That was the beauty of the format which provided a platform for some of the younger aspiring groms to show their wares.   

Creator of the event Troy Brooks with the "Hells Bells" trophy.

Throughout the 11 heats junior surfers found themselves in the contest with their more fancied open heroes going head to head competing for waves. The seeded surfers were a who’s who of Westcoast surfing led by 2 of the clubs finest ever in Brooks and Bell-Warren. Other seeded surfers were Lewis Oats, current club ratings leader Tristan Forras, Tim Burnie, Todd Rosewall, Tom Allan, Makenzie Bowden, Harrison Mann, Johnny Hawken and Nic Muscroft.

THE SEEDSBell-WarrenBrooksOatsForrasBurnieRosewallAllanBowdenMannHawkenMuscroft

All seeded surfers as expected advanced to the round of 32 with all but Rosewall and Allan winning their heats. Rising junior star Josh Cammarere picked off Rosewall in heat 5 with another future star in Tane Bowden taking the win over Allan in the next heat. The day was set up for some upsets with the Bells bowl pushing in 3-4’ sets over the course of the contest. Later on in the day Rincon was working and providing surfers with the opportunity to hook into 150 mtr rides into the Bells shoreline. Early excitement about the possibility of a young gun making the final petered out as hot shots Cammarere, Tane Bowden and Xavier Huxtable were knocked out in the quarter finals.

Hot shots Josh Cammarere, Tane Bowden and Xavier Huxtable

The semi-finals consisted of 7 top seeded surfers with Casey McCrohan the only non-top seed that had advanced from the round 1 heat 2 contest as the 3^rd seeded surfer. Semi-finalists included Brooks, Bell-Warren, Rosewall, Forras, Muscroft, Mann and Makenzie Bowden. After 2 classic heats of surfing the inaugural field for the 2014 “Hells Bells” were Cahill Bell-Warren, Troy Brooks, Makenzie Bowden and Tristan Forras.

Casey McCrohan was the only unseeded surfer to make the semis'

With the hooter signalling the start of the 25 minute final, preparations were under way backstage setting up the victory merchandise proudly supplied by local surfing industry giants Quiksilver and Rip Curl. The amazingly sculptured “Hells Bells” eagle sat proudly on the TBC pedestal watching of the combatants as they went head to head in clean 3’ Rincon peelers. Earlier in the day the spiritual owners of Bells Beach, The Wathaurong Tribe had blessed the event with a traditional smoking ceremony.

The Wathaurong Tribe blessed the event with a traditional smoking ceremony

Bell-Warren set up the final with the opening wave that saw him take off at Rincon surfing all the way into the rocks finishing the ride with a celebrative fist pump. Bell-Warren had just posted a 7.83 score which set up the final early for Bell-Warren. Brooks who had dominated his earlier heats was struggling a touch in the final making crucial little mistakes on waves that offered plenty. It seemed like the pressure was getting to the finalist apart from Bell-Warren as mistakes become the order of the day as the combatants searched for that little bit extra. Bell-Warren had waited patiently out the back knowing that he was holding a commanding lead.  His second wave wasn’t quite as good as his opening but Bell-Warren seemed to work the wave well until drama struck.  Bell-Warren had a broken board with 18 minutes left in the final. 8 minutes had elapsed before Bell-Warren had made it back out to the line-up giving the other finalists plenty of time to put together a set of scoring waves. Both Brooks and Forras had posted reasonable waves but still trailed Bell-Warren. Bell-Warren increased his lead with another good points scoring wave leaving Brooks and Forras needing to post near perfect scores. Bowden was now in a combination situation and looked to be out of it with less than 5 minutes to go.

As the time ticked down it was looking like a Bell-Warren win with Brooks having the last real chance with less than a minute to go. Brooks pulled into what looked like a perfectly formed Rincon lump and worked the wave transitioning the white water to finish off on the shore break and although it was a high point scoring wave it wasn’t a 9+ point scoring ride to get him the win.

So after a full day’s program of classic surfing Bell-Warren was declared the 2014 Hells Bells champion comfortably taking the final from Brooks, Forras and Bowden. Although it would have been a fairy-tale ending for Brooks to win his own creation there was no doubting Bell-Warren’s brilliance in the final.

A number of awards were presented by former president Dave Matthews which culminated with Bell-Warren being presented with the “Hells Bells” trophy. A sculptured eagle clinging onto a bell, the trophy was the work of creator Raff Buttonshaw and took more than 50 hours to complete. Still requiring minor detail work, the Buttonshaw creation will no doubt stand the test of time for a novelty event that is set to become the most prestigious surfing event on Victoria’s Westcoast outside of the Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro.

TBC club president Cahill Bell-Warren talked about the vision of the event.         Brooks with the ultimate prize.

With the dust now settled on the event the club can look back on what was a magical day for the club and one that no doubt will be followed by many more in the years to come. History will show forever that the event was a Troy Brooks creation with Cahill Bell-Warren being the first ever winner. For the Torquay Boardriders Club it’s back to business as the AGG comp series continue towards November. For details on future club events log onto the clubs website or facebook page.

Images from a day that will long be remembered as the start of something grand!

QS Rated Cahill Bell-Warren Wins Hells Bells

By Mark Humphrey

Bells Beach, Vic/Aus. 17th Aug 2014.  Torquay Boardriders Club president and current ASP QS rated surfer Cahill Bell-Warren took out the inaugural TBC Hells Bells surfing event yesterday at the iconic Bells Beach break beating home Troy Brooks, Tristan Forras and Makenzie Bowden.

The event celebrates the bond between the spiritual owners of Bells Beach, the boardriders club and mother nature and promises to be a sought after trophy for years to come. The vision of club favourite Troy Brooks, the event was marked with an amazing trophy carved entirely from a piece of timber that had been submerged in the ocean for more than 100 years.

Troy Brooks with the 33kg "Hells Bells" trophy.

A full wrap on the event and history of the trophy including stacks of images in tomorrow's edition of sportingscribe.com.

Cahill Bell-WarrenTroy BrooksTristan ForrasMakenzie Bowden

Spiritual Guardians To Smoke Hells Bells

Powerhouse West Coast boardriders club kick off inagural event at Bells Beach.

By Mark Humphrey

Bells Beach, Vic/Aus. 15th Aug 2014.Torquay Boardriders Club unique "all in" club event will fire up tomorrow morning at the famous west coast break of Bells Beach and promises to provide a spectacular competition format with teams made up of a mixture of junior, senior, male and female surfers.

The combination event gives junior surfers the opportunity to team up with and surf along side the likes of Cahill Bell-Warren, Troy Brooks, Todd Rosewall and a stack of other highly credentialled club surfers. Supported by local businesses and the traditional owners of Bells Beach in the Wathaurong people, the event showcases the immense surfing talents of the club and further enhances the partnership between the boardriders club, the spiritual owners and the spectacular landscape that is Bells Beach.

Penned by the TBC, the following depicts the journey of the handcrafted trophy that is on offer for the victor of Hells Bells.

Raff Buttonshaw has spent the last few weeks sculpting what is an amazing trophy with an amazing story. Bunjil the eagle is the Wathaurong spiritual guardian for the Surfcoast, Raff has carved Bunjil grasping a bell for the champion. Only fitting as we are the Bells Angels! The wood has spent over 100 years underwater as a pylon for a pier in Port Phillip Bay and now forms the trophy. 

Courtesy TBC

The Wathaurong people are doing a traditional smoking ceremony around 9am to bless the event and the trophy with the welcoming mat out for all .

Heat surfing begins at 7.30am at Bells Beach with the final expected to be run mid - late afternoon.

Full results and pics from the event will be posted in sportingscribe.com early next week.

Winter Classic Raises 3K For Cancer Sufferer.

By Mark HumphreyLocal icon Greg Brown dominated the Over 50's category.

Point Impossible, Vic/Aus. 29^th July 2014. Surfcoast Longboarders annual Winter Classic Longboard Festival raised in excess of $3,000 from the event with the entire proceeds going to former local Torquay resident Kate Donaldson. Donaldson in her mid-20’s has had to move back to Melbourne with her family as a result of on-going treatment. The Winter Classic is Surfcoast Longboarders marquee annual event with proceeds from the event donated to a nominated worthy cause.

Heat and semi-finals were conducted on Saturday at the pristine surf spot known as “Spot” on the Fairhaven coastline. With semi-finals run and won the Sunday finals were conducted at the regular contest location of Point Impossible with 7 finals in total to be decided.

First up was the Loggers final and like the Over 50’s final the contest was virtually decided before the surfers hit the water. Junior surfer Ben Considine has been in fantastic touch throughout the year picking up wins in major senior competitions around the country and went into the final as the red hot favourite. Considine dominated the event to take out the final from Luke Lalor with Dave Edwards and Andy Roche filling the minor positions.Ben Considine's signature stance.

Considine continued on his way also winning the junior final which was next up.  A quick change of competitor tops on the shore line had Considine back out in the line up and ready to go in no time. Considine picked up the win from Luke Lalor with Kari Klewer  3^rd.

Over 60’s was next on the agenda with Nigel Kidd taking the win from Bob Smith, Al Spence and Pete Coffey.

Officials decided to bring forward the prestigious Open category to take advantage of the improving conditions. Unfortunately Michael Pinney after qualifying strongly through the heats was a no show on finals day leaving Liam Griggs-Kennelly, Luke Lalor and Emma Webb to fight out the final. G-K started off strongly dropping into a couple of neat little rollers. Webb had followed on from her heats with classic longboard surfing at pushed both G-K and Lalor throughout the 25 minute final. In the end it was Griggs-Kennelly who picked up the win in a closely fought contest with Emma Webb. Webb placed 2^nd ahead of Luke Lalor with Pinney judged 4^th. G-K picked up the coverted Open division.

After her fantastic performance in the Open final Emma Webb was going back to back with the Women’s final up next. Webb easily accounted for herself during the final to this time pick up the win from Morgan Griggs-Kennelly, Emily and Krystal.

Next up was the Over 50’s with former Aussie champ and region legend Greg Brown the overwhelming favourite. Brown got into the action early posting a high scoring wave from the outset and then elected to sit out the back and wait patiently for his next wave.

John Lane was busy racking up a number of good point scoring waves along with Brian Kuit and Bud White. The battle between club heavyweights Kuit and Lane was solid with both guys swapping good point scoring rides. With less than 5 minutes left on the clock Brown picked up another high scoring wave to comfortably take the lead and subsequently the win from John Lane with Brian Kuit hot on his heels in 3^rd followed by Bud White.Larry Hayes' gamble to take on the younger guys paid off winning the 40's category.

The final event on the days program was the Over 40’s final. In what turned out to be a smart move, regular Over 50’s competitor Larry Hayes decided to drop back a division to take on the younger Over 40 longboarders. This proved to be a master stoke as Hayes picked up the win in the 30 minute final. Although not having to compete against Greg Brown, the decision to initially drop back to the 40’s was a bit of a gamble with the final being a 5 surfer final. Paul Squirrel and SOUL front-man Brian Tucker were also looking for the win with Squirrel in particular very aggressive on the wave. Female long boarders Boo Lalor and Nicky Mathews were also keen to do well in the small but clean conditions. Following in Hayes in the final was Paul Squirrel with Brian Tucker 3^rd. The girls fought out the remaining places with Boo Lalor getting the nod over Nicky Mathews. Boo Lalor picked up 4th in the Over 40's

With the completion of the 40’s final the event come to a close with organisers hailing the “Classic” a success and looking forward to presenting Kate with a cheque in excess of 3k.

Well done to the Surfcoast Longboarders and the competitors who rolled up in numbers to support the event. Plans have already started for next years’ “Winter Classic” to once again run towards the end of July. Keep an eye on http://www.surfcoastlongboardclub.com/ for future updates.

Winter Classic "Finals Day" Images

Winter Classic To Benefit Cancer Sufferer

By Mark Humphrey

Fairhaven, Vic Aus. 26th July 2014. Surfcoast Longboarders annual Winter Classic Longboard event will this year donate monies generated from the event to once local Torquay resident Kate Donaldson. Kate in her mid-20's is battling through the disease and has had to shift up to Melbourne along with her parents while she is receiving treatment. The family made the decision to sell up in Torquay and move back to Melbourne in the best interests of Kate. With ongoing regular treatment in Melbourne the family decided they could best support Kate by re-locating to Melbourne.Liam Griggs-Kennelly displays classic longboard surfing.

The Winter Classic is an annual longboard event that Surfcoast Longboarders run with the emphasis on donating monies raised from the event to either an individual or an organisation in need. As part of the event an auction night is being held at the Torquay Front Beach Cafe with all encouraged to get along. Entry is free with the night expected to go through to somewhere around 11pm...

With the heats now completed the action continues tomorrow with finals day. The club is expecting an 8am start at Pt Impossible. 

A full report on the event will be posted in sportingscribe.com on Tuesday.

Winter Classic Action

By Mark Humphrey

Winkipop, Vic Aus 23^rd July 2014. Current Torquay Boardriders Club International competitors Troy Brooks and Cahill Bell Warren went blow for blow in the clubs Agg 4 Open Men’s final held at Torquay’s Winkipop break last weekend.  Adding to the line-up was rising local star Makenzi Bowden who had no intentions of taking a back seat. Unfortunately for Tom Allen the 4^th finalist, personal commitments meant that he couldn’t join the final leaving the 3 guys to contest what was a highly anticipated final.Troy Brooks launching

Earlier in the day Brooks had spent time over at Jan Juc where the junior section of the club was conducting their rounds.  The club has grown to the point where it is no longer possible to conduct the junior and senior rounds together on the same bank. Even the junior category consisting of U/14’s and younger, had to utilize 2 take off banks in order to get through the day’s program.

Approaching 5pm and in fading light, the 3 man final opened up with Bowden straight into the action snapping off the lip to get the final under way. Makenzi Bowden finished in the middle of the Internationals.

Bowden was busy throughout the final taking off on anything that looked like forming whilst Bell Warren was more reserved in his choices electing to sit and wait for most of the first half of the final. Brooks was busy putting together a series of combination waves with the occasional launching manoeuvre sending him airborne. Classic trademark surfing from the International was treating the spectator gallery as he went head to head with Bowden pulling off some heavy carves combined with near vertical launches. Meanwhile Bell Warren had opened his account with his trademark backhand sweeping carve off the lip propelling him into a series of moves that netted 7 + scores from the judges. Cahill Bell-Warren smashes another lip.

Bell Warren looked to have tightened up his stance on the day giving the impression of a more compact Bell Warren as he went about his business. The 3 surfers went blow for blow in the second half of the final with the end result leaving the judges having to do a count back to determine the winner.  Troy Brooks was declared the winner with Makenzi Bowden getting the nod ahead of Bell Warren in one of the closest open finals seen at the club for some time. Brooks on accepting his trophy talked about the unbelievable growth and talent within the club having spent part of the morning conducting the junior ranks. In trying to encapsulate and enhance the altogether feeling within the club Brooks launched a new event “The Hells Bells” which will become an annual event on the TBC calendar. The unique event will run along the same format as the club’s single fin event that combines senior and junior surfers together in a team against team format. Scheduled to run on the 16^th of August, Brooks was excited about the fact that the event would team up the clubs best open surfers with junior boys and girls in the team format. Brooks spoke of having a selected judging panel for the day with a special trophy being struck for the event. Club President Cahill Bell Warren added to the launch by stating that the club was in the process of developing a new code of vision which is working towards addressing items like slowing down club membership and developing events like the Hells Bells.

Action from finals preceding the Open final showcased the depth of talent within the club. On paper the U/16 boy’s final looked to be a heads up contest between Tully Wylie and Tane Bowden. Wylie has had a chequed junior career to date both in club and state events while Bowden carries a bag full of tricks. Bowden with an awesome display of Arial surfing picked up the win from Wylie with Josh Van Neikirk hot on Wylie’s heels in 3^rd followed by Nathan Rivilland. Van Neikirk can consider himself unlucky to have to come up against talent like Bowden and Wylie comp after comp but in reality the stiff competition looks to be having a positive impact on Van Neikirk. Van Neikirk pulled off some powerful carves during the final with good strong bottom turns. It was no doubt one of his best performances in a final and showed the improvement he has made in just a short time. If he keeps picking it up at this pace expect to see Van Neikirk figuring at the pointy end in the not too distant future. Tane Bowden was awesome taking out the 16's final

The U/18 boy’s final was decided on the very last wave as Micky Robinson pulled off a reverse air to get the judges nod ahead of Lewis Oats with Josh Cammarere and Lewy Wright filling the minor places. Early in the final it was a tussle between Oats and Cammarere as they went head to head racking up good combination waves to each consistently score in the 6-7 point range. With Oats just getting away from Cammarere towards the end of the final it looked like Oats had it sewn up until Robinson finished a strong routine with a classic air reverse that catapulted him into the lead and the win. Micky Robinson on his way to a last gasp win in the 18's

In the Master’s final Damian Wilson carried on from where he left off by dominating the final and taking the win from a very busy Brad Kerr followed by Adam Ferrari and Nathan Swan. Kerr pulled off some good manoeuvres throughout the final but just couldn’t match it on the day will the air-time king in Wilson.Damian "Airtime" Wilson

The Grand Masters started off with regular top seed Dave Matthews carrying the blue #4 seed into the final. When asked what the deal was with wearing blue Matthews laughed and said “a few hiccups in the morning heats”. Steve Kay went into the final carrying the red #1 seed and surfed well throughout the 20 minute final. Matthews had opened his account early with a look back heavy carve that dropped him straight away into the lead. He backed that up quickly with some more aggressive work on the face and was never headed in the final. Kay finished 2^nd with Pete Caruthers doing enough to fill the number 3 spot. Martin Renahackkamp put in one of his best performances in a final and was probably a bit unlucky not to finish higher up the leader board. From the outset Renahackkamp got to work putting together a number of multiple manoeuvre waves that from the beach looked to have a bit of quality about them. Great effort from Renahackkamp and all the Grand Masters who put on a good show. Dave Matthews looks back at the damage done.

Earlier in the day the Women’s Open was conducted with Indi Robinson taking out the win from Maylee Fox followed by Grace Day and Bella Wilson.

Next event for the TBC is the Hells Bells on the 16^th of August. For more details go to http://torquayboardriders.com/