www.waxheads.com comp update 11 9 11



King of the Rock 2011

Well, the final siren's sounded and the new King has been crowned,the surfers have all departed and those much coveted ROCKS have found new homes on shelves up and down the coast.

Now that the "KOTR Kowries' Karavan" has packed up and moved on till next year sufficient time has passed to objectively reflect on the impact that the 22nd running of our beloved Cowries Comp has left on the surfing community of the fair City of Shellharbour.

Well, from the size of the crowd, the quality of the waves, the high standard of surfing and the smiles on everyones' faces at the end of the day I'd have to say it had quite a big one. I have no doubt that if the spirit of the late, great ( His Excellency) Juan Antonio Samaranch was called upon to to throw his hat in the ring he would have proclaimed it, " The BEST Olym....I mean, King Of The Rock ever!!" And there are many that would agree.

While the day itself is what leaves the strongest memory it must be remembered that the King Of The Rock is made up of many elements.

Possibly the best and worst thing about the comp is the waiting period. Six weeks is a long time but with Century 21 swell casting and communication the wait doesn't entail repeatedly arriving at the venue only to be told to go home. There were a couple of pull-outs but this year there was a long line of reserves ready and waitng to jump in.

It takes more than 10 weeks in a Boston Hospital to keep Sloshy away from The Rock

This year's wait was well and truly worth it and the decision to extend the period by two weeks paid off. On the day,except for about one and a half heats the waves were both very contestable and consistent. For the last two years the burden of deciding to run or not has been made easier for the committee by Rusty Moran whose bi-weekly swellcasts were always right on the money. In the last week his updates were coming up to 3 times a day!

The words "in memory of Mark Clifford & Marc Prpic" are not merely a garnish.They mean a lot to us and are a very important part of the KOTR. For those of you who don't know, that strong contingent of mature-age surfers like Col Steele, Jeff Sloss, Dave Moane, Brad Costello and Marty Bell were close friends of both these guys .They rock up every year, without fail ,to surf, have some fun and pay tribute to two surfers, their mates, whose lives were cut tragically short. This year's junior winner is Mark Clifford's nephew. It's both gladdening and touching to see this strong connection continue year by year and it seems the winners never fail to make mention of "the boys" in their acceptance speeches.

We the organisers always worry about jagging a MAJOR naming sponsor. We were a little disappointed, this year, when at the 11th hour the sponsor we assumed we had secured for a 2 year period VAPORISED. Our initial panic turned to calm when we came to the realisation that the contest itself and not whose name is on the banner is the thing that gets everyone there. The chance to surf choice Cowries with only 3 others in the water IS the main attraction of "The King Of The Rock". A naming sponsor is a luxury that we CAN do without when we have to.

The dilemma of no major sponsor was soon forgotten with the help of our old friends at Beach Street and a surprise boost from RED BULL , who every year ( initially due to a direct connection with Marc Prpic via Beau Emerton) have contributed with product but this year upped the ante with a very flash prize for best air, this along with a raft of local sponsorship and support from both the Clifford and Prpic families saw the prize pool soar to a fitting level.

But, enough rattling on about the fine minutae, now for the SURFING.

In the lead up, after a disappointing five weeks, there was suddenly a buzz about MASSIVE waves and PERFECT conditions, even talk of a repeat of 2010's "Fanning Saturday". As the final week progressed this was slowly downgraded till by the time Sunday rolled around the wind was right and the swell was a very surf-able 4 foot plus.

Shortly after the first heat hit the water at, the remarkably early time of, 7.10 it was very clear that we were really going to have a competition on our hands.There were some solid start-off performances from Shaun Langlands , Byron Bay's Torren Martyn , Elliott Binkins and Geoff Latimer . A surprise early exit was Gerringong's Matt Gale who was sadly unable to come up with that second wave to keep his hopes alive. He would have easily found himself in the passenger seat of the Red Bull Pitts Special if only he completed that Ally-Oop.

However, the highlight of the round was in Heat 3 when the crowd collectively held their breath as Leigh Carey took off on an absolute bomb, back-doored a seemingly un-makable barrel and totally disappeared... only to emerge from the impossible pit several seconds later. Carey's effort didn't go unnoticed by the judges who awarded him a perfect 10 on the barrel which was not equalled for the rest the day.

Despite this no one was really tipping Leigh for victory. After all, in previous years he had shone at the start only to wither before crossing the line. The reality was, at this early stage, the crown could have been anyone's. At least a dozen other surfers looked like contenders as the contest slogged its way into round 2. Among them were visitors, Hayden Blair and Luke Doering who put in solid performances as well as a rather jet-lagged Skye Burgess, fresh off the plane from Sri Lanka, who shredded on only her second-ever visit to The Rock.

With a combined score of 14.77, Torren Martyn began his break away from the pack in Round 2. His often vertical and always varied repertoire of moves combined with shrewd wave selection produced all the elements of speed, power and flow that the judges were looking for. The surprise package of the round was Troy Hodges whose in-the-pocket, power manoeuvres kept both the crowd entertained and the judges happy. Shaun Langlands was also charging, seeming able to do anything on his new Winter Swells stick and for the first time ever in KOTR history there was a surfer without a Y chromosome in the second round line up. Judging by the way Skye was surfing combined with the strong presence of both Annabelle Bowrett and Kiara Meredith it won't be the last time! Maybe there's scope for a "Queen Of The Rock"?

We were well into Round 3 when the combination of a rapidly dropping tide, and an unwelcome nor'wester made conditions very tricky for both locals and visitors alike. Fortunately by heat 3 Huey had re-set the wind and turned the waves back on, setting the scene for a battle between Hayden Blair and Leigh Carey which saw Blair come out on top by .66 of a point.

When the round had concluded we saw the exit of our last cadet ( Culburra's Louis Gillick) and junior (Nick Clifford) as well as a rejuvenated Elliott Binkins and Troy Hodges, who bowed out in one of the closest heats of the day. Less than 3 points separated 1st from 4th . While Geoff Latimer, Matt Smith and Torren Martin were looking good for the semis, local goofy-footer, Shaun Langlands, was emerging as the dark horse with his powerful and tight backhand attack.There were a few murmurs around 'The Rock' that he could even end up going home with the crown.

After a very short break, the first semi hit the water. The best barrel had already been decided in the first round but the Red Bull Air Prize was still ...well up in he air. The Rock had been punching out more pits than ramps. Throughout the day there had been only one attempt so the organisers announced that if the prize did not go before the final an 'Expression Session' open to all eliminated entrants would be the best way to decide it. Hayden Blair, almost immediately, responded to the challenge and completed a short frontside flight in semi-final 1 assuring himself a seat next to the Red Baron but was unable to better a determined Torren Martyn who by the time the red light flashed had secured the first spot in the man-on-man final. Semi-final 1 also marked the end of Langa's campaign for the title.

Semi number 2 saw a rematch of last year's final.Brothers-in-law Leigh Carey and, 2010 winner Matt Smith pitted together with Geoff Latimer taking up the number three spot. Though surfing well, Matt was unable to find his rhythm in the alloted 20 minutes. All of a sudden it was a two horse race and Latimer, surfing consistently all day, was in with a chance. The KOTR '11 final was starting to look like it might be the first NOT to have a local in it! That was until Carey ,paddled into one of the better waves of the heat and posted a score in the excellent range and, with a 5 point lead, booked his place in his third KOTR Final in four years!

Despite the Red Bull Flight having flown, a $60 prize was offered and The Expression Session went off with a bang and will be returning next year.

Meanwhile, the tension was mounting. After the traditional handshake, Martyn and Carey paddled out for the deciding 30 minutes. Torren, an unknown final's quantity and Leigh, twice the bridesmaid or should I say groomsman but never the King, in recent years.

After the 'settling exchange' Torren posted a 7.17 to Carey's 6.00 and took an early lead. It looked like history might be repeating itself until Leigh ripped the next one apart scoring an 8.00 and a 7.5 in quick succession.Then if that was not enough he took off on a bomb and stunned the spectators with some serious, vertical ,power moves that earned him an 8.67. With the heat half over, Martyn was on the ropes but had plenty of time to do something about it. The 7.40 on his next wave put him within reach, if he could only find one more wave with enough scoring potential for the 8.41 needed to shut Carey out. After the display of progressive power surfing we’d seen from the lanky lad from Byron throughout the day the task, though difficult, was definitely not beyond him.

As the clock counted down and the amber light was not to far from turning red, a lump loomed on the horizon. Torren got the jump on Leigh, launched himself onto what was to be the last wave of the heat and worked it masterfully to put in an excellent ride. But was it good enough? The next minute seemed like an hour and had all the hallmarks of a Hollywood thriller as the judging panel, under former ASP head judge Terry Day, deliberated over Martyn's final effort. Torren's ride WAS in the excellent range at 8.27 but fell short of the mark by less than two tenths of a point. Two great surfers had taken each other on in a nail biting final and one proved a little better on the day. Leigh had broken the 'Groomsman's Curse'!
Being the complete sportsman, Torren was the first to congratulate the new successor to the crown. Carey , a deserving winner who had posted the highest scores throughout the day, later spoke fondly of Verdy and Prpic at the presentation, in keeping with tradition, at what was one of the best Kings Of The Rock yet. Even the dolphins were smiling.

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THE SURFERS AT SOUTH BRIDGE BOARDRIDERS