the weekend warrior >> masters

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

 
 
ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1240: Light and Colour
 
 
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Margaret River lit up for the last few days of the Drug Aware Pro at Surfers Point last weekend. Crew awoke to a growling, 5.0m SW groundswell first thing Friday morning with solid waves up and down the Margs coast. Open ocean waves were suffering a lumpy hangover from windy conditions the previous day but were exposed to the full brunt of the swell. Margs was breaking at a wonky 10-12 foot for the contest - tough conditions for the competitors. Protected bays and points were the pick for the free-surfers.

 
 
ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0850: Mick Short, slamming on the breaks
 
 
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North Point awoke from her long summer slumber, delivering some classic freight train barrels to the star-studded line up. Pro blow-ins Chris Ward, Mason Ho and his old man, Hawaiian Legend Michael Ho were getting their fair share off the heaving crowd and local boys Alfy Cater, Dave Delroy-Carr and Vaughn Boffey made sure their local status was rewarded.

 
 
ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0826: Alfy Cater, Solid North Point 1
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0828: Alfy Cater, Solid North Point 2
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0831: Alfy Cater, Solid North Point 3
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0835: Alfy Cater, Solid North Point 4
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0840: Alfy Cater, Solid North Point 5
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0844: Alfy Cater, Solid North Point 6
 
 
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The swell dropped over the course of the day but there were still a few pulses at Northies in the early arvo before the southerly came in…and the crowd vanished!

 
 
ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0951: Unknown Soldier
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0956: Vaughn Boffey, banking bottom turn
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0958: Vaughn Boffey, slotted
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_0989: Hawaiian Legend, Michael Ho
 
 
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Saturday morning dawned to a clean 2.5m swell and light ENE winds. Surfers Point was perfect 4-6 foot for the contest. We snuck away to a remote reef up the coast which must have flown under the pros’ radar because there were only a handful of local crew out enjoying the clean tubes. Local Trigg lad, Vaughn Boffey was getting the cream.

 
 
ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1043: Vaughn Boffey, deep tube (yes, he made it)
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1056: VB Tube 1
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1057: VB Tube 2
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1058: VB Tube 3
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1060: VB Tube 4
 
 
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The swell dropped dramatically over Saturday night and into Sunday. The contest was run at South Side Margies in playful 2-3 foot clean conditions. A beach break down the road, which is a magnet for any lingering swell, turned on a couple for us. There was no one within cooee and a smorgasbord of fun peaks, schooling salmon, beautiful light and amazing water colours…

 
 
ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1143: Clean Green, check the school of salmon in the wave face!
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1349: Salmon School
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1410: Owen Davis, tucking in
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1418: Falling Curtain
 
 
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Tom Whitaker took out the Drug Aware Pro, defeating Californian Chris Ward convincingly in the final. It was Tom’s first professional win despite a few years on the WCT. He was high on stoke as his mates Jarrad Howse and Luke Munro chaired him up the beach to the podium. Yeww!

 
 
ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1498: Tom Whitaker, final domination
 
 
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ww_37_the_masters-IMG_1522: Tom Whitaker, Margaret River Master
 
 
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Hope you got onto a few over the weekend! There are some lumps forecast for this weekend combo’d with light S-SE winds. How good is Autumn?!

>>ww