Live stream Day 2 of the Carve Pro.
Day 2
The 2016 Carve Pro saw another action packed day at Maroubra Beach as the elite World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) event continued with two-to-three foot bumpy waves on offer for competitors. The unfavourable winds didn’t detract from the action however with round two of the women’s now complete and the men making it halfway through round four.
Round two of the women’s division provided an exciting start with Philippa Anderson (Merewether, NSW/AUS) attaining a good lead early in heat one. Needing a 5.50 (out of a possible ten points) to take the lead, Kobie Enright (Tweed Heads, NSW/AUS) took off on a number of waves in the final minutes, but was unable to convert. A second for Enright means she will still progress with Anderson into round three.
“I have surfed a lot of heats in tough conditions,” Anderson said. “I just like to keep busy because any wave that looks bad could open up and offer you a few turns. I knew if I could better my 5.00 I’d be in a good position. I’m really happy to make a couple of heats and get the ball rolling at the beginning of the year and settle the nerves a bit.”
Although she took a while to get going, Macy Callaghan (Avoca, NSW/AUS) put on the most dominating performance of the Carve Pro so far, posting a near-perfect 9.90 and an excellent 8.00. Callaghan displayed great wave selection and was able to perform a number of stylish turns to jag herself the aforementioned scores.
“I’m so stoked,” Callaghan said. “My first few waves weren’t that great, so I was beginning to get a bit nervous, then when I took off on my 9.90 I knew it was going to be a big score, but not that big. After that was locked in, I could just enjoy myself.”
In what was an absolute nail-biter of a heat, Sophie Bernard (Manly, NSW/AUS) held a commanding lead with a solid heat total of 16.00. Needing an excellent score of 8.76 with only ten seconds left, Skye Burgess (Lake Heights, NSW/AUS) took off on a set wave and performed two extremely critical turns and was rewarded with a near perfect 9.50 to win the heat.
“I haven’t done a contest in ages,” Burgess said. “I was just enjoying being out there and surfing a heat, I was comfortably making it through, so I wasn’t too stressed about getting the score on that last one. Turns out it gave me a couple of sections and I got the 9.50, so I’m really happy.
For the second day in a row, former WSL CT competitor and local Blake Thornton (Maroubra, NSW/AUS) used his knowledge of the banks and tricky conditions to post the highest single wave score of the round, for the second day running; a 9.00.
“Knowing what you’re looking for makes a big difference,” Thornton said. “The banks haven’t changed much the last couple of weeks and I’ve been out here a lot which definitely helps in conditions like this. There’s no point in me going for the smaller ones especially against these younger, lighter guys, so I was just patient and waited for the sets. I finally got one that I was able to lay into a bit and managed to get the 9.00 which feels great.”
Connor O’Leary (Cronulla, NSW/AUS), engaged in a fierce battle with fellow Cronulla surfers Joe Sear (Cronulla, NSW/AUS) and Harrison Martin (Cronulla, NSW/AUS) in the men’s round of 64, as all surfers attempted to book themselves one of two positions into the round of 32. With a strong southerly wind on offer, O’Leary opted to resort to aerial manoeuvres on the lefthanders, while Sear picked the eyes out of the longer righthand walls. All surfers managed to post a series of respectable scores, however Sear got the nod thanks to one right-hander, which allowed for a barrage of mammoth backside hits and as a result was rewarded with an 8.15 score.
“It felt like an Elouera Boardriders heat out there,” said O’Leary. “I knew Joey was absolutely lethal on his backhand on the righthanders, which is why I opted to stick to the lefts and use my forehand. It was actually a really hard heat to surf with all three of us surfing for the same Boardriders club, but we all wanted to get the spots into the next round. I’m stoked to have got one of them.”
The Carve Pro forms the first of four QS1000 competitions on the NSW Pro Surf Series and serves as a replacement to the Carve Pro Junior, which ran at Maroubra over the last two years.
NSW Pro Surf Series Dates and Locations:
Carve Pro – Maroubra Beach, NSW 15-17 January, 2016
Telstra Stores Tweed Coast Pro – Cabarita Beach, NSW 1 – 4 Feb 2016
Central Coast Pro – Avoca Beach, NSW 9 – 11 Feb 2016
Komunity Project Great Lakes Pro presented by Rockstar Energy Drink – Boomerang Beach, NSW 16 – 18 Feb 2016
The NSW Pro Surf Series was developed for Australian and international surfers to gain ranking points and prize money on the WSL Qualifying Series. The Series also creates a NSW coastal road trip for all to explore the variety of waves, visit local communities and enjoy NSW surfing culture.
The 2016 NSW Pro Surf Series is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. The series is also proudly supported by Randwick City Council, Gosford City Council, Destination Tweed, Great Lakes Council & Tourism, NBN, GoGet, Lost Surfboards, World Surf League and Surfing NSW.
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