RIPtIDE HOLY DOYLEY!THREE MORE SISTERS IN BRANCH TEAM IT S A REAL FAMILY AFFAIR There used to be the three Miller sisters Alisha, Brooke and Georgia. Now there s the three Doyle sisters in the Sydney Northern Beaches Branch team. Twins Kimberley and Katelynn Doyle will join older sister Emily in the Branch team for the first time for the Inter Branch Championships at Stockton Beach in Newcastle on December 9 and 10. The Branch team this year is certainly a real family affair. Apart from the Doyle sisters, there s Georgie and Jami Prowse, Jodie Louw and her sister Madison, the three Morris brothers, twins Jake and Mitch, and older brother Zach and Oscar and Isaac Smith. Nutri Grain ironman Max Brooks is co-captain, along with Laura Shorter. The team has a much stronger look about it this year with Brooks, Jay Furniss, Naomi Scott, Taylar Puskaric and Lara Moses being available. Dave Rees, High Performance Manager for SNB Board of Surf Sports, said: We have some strong new competitors competing at representative level for the first time in the under 12 age group. Some of these new faces- Georgina Prowse, Ashleigh Windsham, Nina van der Ryden, Conner Maggs, Artie Leiper and Braden Crichton-Browne amassed between them six medals at last year s State titles. We also welcome back experienced open competitors into the team like Nutri Grain iron athletes Max Brooks, Jay Furniss, Taylar Puskaric and Naomi Scott. In beach events we again look strong with Australian open flags champion Blake Drysdale leading the charge. There s fresh faced Nina van der Ryden coming off a double gold medal haul in the under 11 sprint and flags at the NSW Championships. We are lucky to have such a wealth of talented athletes to choose from within the northern beaches, which always leads to having a very strong team each year and this year is no different. The championships are often decided by a handful of points so the conditions and a bit of luck either way could end up deciding the winner. But I would expect that we will be right up there in the point score. One of the newcomers is under 14 sprinter Dylan Calderon, from Manly. SNB beach coach Michael Gedz said Dylan is coming along nicely. He clinched his selection by taking out the under 14 sprint and flags at the North Steyne carnival on Sunday. Pictures: Max Brooks (front) competing in the Nutri Grain ironman at Queenscliff. The Newport all-rounder will captain the Branch team. In the blue cap of Manly is Jay Furniss. He s also back in the Branch team; The Doyle twins Katelynn (left) and Kimberley making their Branch debut.
SELECTORS PICK STRONG TEAM FOR INTER BRANCH MORRIS, LOUW OFF TO COOLUM Sydney Northern Beaches Branch selectors have chosen a powerful team to contest the Inter Branch Championships at Stockton Beach on December 9 and 10. All under 12 competitors will be representing the Branch for the first time. SNB will be looking to win back the title from Sydney Branch. A number of the Branch representative open competitors will have a vital hit out in the second round of Ocean6 at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast this weekend. Apart from Newport s regular squad, coach Trent Herring is also taking Branch representatives Zach Morris and Maddie Louw to the Sunshine Coast. We want to give them some experience at this level, Herring said. Herring also expects Australian surf champion Ollie Signorini to make another appearance in the surf race at Coolum. Signorini arrived just minutes before the event at Queenscliff three weeks ago but won the race in style. The 40-member Branch team is: UNDER 12: Conner Maggs (Manly), Braden Crichton-Browne (North Curl Curl), Georgina Prowse (North Curl Curl), Ashleigh Windsham (Manly), Artie Leiper (Freshwater), Nina van der Ryden (Manly). UNDER 13: Jake Morris, Mitch Morris (Newport), Kimberley Doyle, Katelynn Doyle (Manly), Josh Gedz (Manly), Stefanie Fejes (Freshwater). UNDER 14: Isaac Crews (North Curl Curl), Joel Piper (Newport), Charlotte Ward (Manly), Jodie Louw (Newport), Dylan Calderon (Manly), Zoe Couzens (Bilgola). UNDER 15: Oscar Smith (Newport), Mitchell Stuart (North Curl Curl), Piper Harrison (Manly), Alex Lefevre (Newport), Aiden Helu (Manly), Madeleine Wallace (Collaroy). UNDER 17: Zach Morris, Taylor Gabb, James Finn (Newport), Madison Louw, Jami Prowse (Newport), Emily Doyle (Manly), Reuben Sharma (Newport), Bailee Radford (Newport). UNDER 19/OPEN: Isaac Smith Max Brooks (Newport) capt, Jay Furniss (Manly), Naomi Scott, Taylar Puskaric (Manly), Lara Moses (Newport), Blake Drysdale (Newport), Laura Shorter (Newport) capt. HEAD COACH: Chris Allum TEAM MANAGER: Greg Heard ASSISTANT COACH WATER: Tim Hayes BEACH COACH: Michael Gedz Pictures: Top: Manly s Naomi Scott is back and expected to be one of the stars in Newcastle; Below: Newport s rising star Madison Louw.
KIRKBY BROTHERS ARE FAST ENOUGH AT PALM BEACH NEXT EVENT AT DEE WHY For Freshwater s Kirkby brothers, Tim and Ben, the early morning trip to Palm Beach last Saturday proved fruitful in the Palmie Fast Fives. Tim took out the Male Open Board, while Ben was too strong in the Open Male Ski. Sophia Tonoli had an interesting battle in the open female ski races with Mona Vale s Jordon Hunt and her Newport clubmate Amber Moran. Newport pair Sasha Taurins and Janice Quinn went toe to toe in the Open Female Board races. One of the younger competitors, Mona Vale s Roxy Beuzeville really likes the Fast Fives concept. Roxy, who came third in the under 15 female board point score, said: It s fast, fun and challenging. It is great that you get five races to improve your result. I am really enjoying the senior carnivals and catching up with friends from other clubs. The Fast Fives also provided valuable practice for Branch representatives Alex Lefevre, Jodie Louw, James Finn and Taylor Gabb. The next Fast Fives (from under 14s to opens) will be held at Dee Why on Sunday, December 10. RESULTS FROM PALMIE Under 15 Male Board: Jack Roberts (Avalon Beach) 27 points, Luka Monnock (Mona Vale) 25, Brandon Bartlem (Newport) 25, Kye Gale (Newport) 22, Tom Donohoe (Newport) - 20, Bailey Miller (Freshwater) 15. Under 15 Female Board: Alex Lefevre (Newport) 30 points, Jodie Louw (Newport) 22, Roxy Beuzeville (Mona Vale) 17, Charli Munro (Mona Vale ) 16, Rebecca Harvey (North Curl Curl) 10, Amelia Wegenaar (North Curl Curl) 6. Open Male Board: Tim Kirkby (Freshwater) 28 points, James Finn (Newport) 26, Daniel Gabb (Newport) 11, Remi Hill (Newport) 11, James Thomas (Freshwater) 7, Lachlan Warrener (Newport) 6. Open Female Board: Sasha Taurins (Newport) 25 points, Janice Quinn (Newport) -20, Olivia Lovell (Newport) 17, Phoebe Savage (Newport) 12, Samantha Wilcox (Newport) 10, Tamsyn Curley (Freshwater) - 8 Open Male Ski: Ben Kirkby (Freshwater) 30 points, Thomas Garland (Collaroy) 10, Finn O Shea (Collaroy) 6, James Finn (Newport) 4, Taylor Gabb (Newport) 4, Alex Malm (Freshwater) 2. Pictures: Top: Newport s Sophia Tonoli and Mona Vale s Jordon Hunt in a close battle; Above: Mona Vale s Luka Monnock. PHOTOS courtesy Alison Guesdon Open Female Ski: Sophia Tonoli (Newport) 24 points, Jordon Hunt (Mona Vale) 21, Amber Moran (Newport) 19, Samantha Wilcox (Newport) 17, Phoebe Savage (Newport) 9, Tayla Tullet (Newport) 8.
Top: Smiling faces of Newport girls Sasha Taurins, Tayla Tullet, Sam Wilcox, Amber Moran, Sophia Tonoli and Phoebe Savage; Below: Mona Vale s Roxy Beuzeville, Charli Munro and Jayme Saggers enjoying the Fast Fives at Palm Beach. PHOTOS courtesy Alison Guesdon
PALMY IN CLASS OF THEIR OWN The surf at Dee Why for the first round of Ocean Thunder was challenging at times but the Palm Beach women s crew (Exeter Plumbing) was in a class of their own last Saturday. Better known as the Patriots, sweep Peter Spence and his crew of Elly Reynolds, newcomer Paparangi Hipango, Lucy Day and Verity Boulton sounded a loud warning that they mean business in defence of their title. They recorded seven wins and a second from eight races the most dominant performance by any crew on the day. Not even men s winners Bulli could match that performance. The Palmy girls were hot favourites for the final and certainly didn t disappoint to win comfortably from Torquay and Currumbin. Speaking after the final, bow Elly Reynolds said: We really wanted to go out today and put everything we have been doing for the past couple of months into practice. There was a little bit of pressure with Papa (Hipango) rowing in Thunder for the first time. We had Alex (Tyrrell) rowing for such a long time and she was so experienced. But Papa was so adaptable the way she handled the surf and shore break at Dee Why. We just wanted to get out in every race and try something different. To come away with a win today is amazing. Reynolds said the surfing conditions really changed in the afternoon. When you go from round races to the knockout stage there s always a bit of pressure, she said. There was a lot of wash out the back. But it also favoured us in that we were able to skate home. There was a bit more push on the way home come the semi-final and final. Two other Sydney Northern Beaches crews North Narrabeen, swept by Don McManus and Collaroy, swept by Phil Massingham also made the final and finished fourth and fifth respectively. Tallebudgera was the other finalist. Pictures: Top: Smiling faces of the Palmy crew: Verity Boulton (left), Elly Reynolds, Peter Spence, Paparangi Hipango and Lucy Day; Below: Elly Reynolds jumps out of the boat to secure Palmy s win in the final.
WATCH SOUTH CURLY IN NEXT ROUND South Curl Curl boat sweep Rob Lowery can t wait for the second round of Ocean Thunder at Dee Why next month. Our target is to make the final next time, Lowery said after the opening round last Saturday. Lowery was very pleased with the way the crew performed and they were a little unlucky not to make the final. We had eight rows, one short of the final unfortunately, he said. I thought we did enough to get there. We made a few mistakes ourselves but when we got it right we went really well. Lowery said it was a brand new crew as a five. There s two new blokes there, Lowery said. Trent Rogers has returned to the club after rowing for Mona Vale. Mike (Egan) is our rookie. He is an Australian lightweight Stillwater rower. He s in the bow. Jordy Thurlow has come from Palm Beach and there s Chris Hughes. It s bit of a mixed bag. We can take a lot out of today. As I said we made a couple of mistakes but in general coming home in that last race we were level with Collaroy and they are no slouches. We would have been four lengths ahead of third and fourth and the only thing that cost us was we couldn t get to the finishing line. We ended up in the dead water. The others kept coming and coming and then we got tapped out on the finish. I think they were good enough to make the final today and that s very pleasing. Bryce Munro, who made a return to sweeping with Mona Vale Black was also delighted with the way his crew rowed on the day. Not bad for a reserve crew, Bryce said. Collaroy were the only Sydney Northern Beaches crew to make a very hot final but the outcome is one they will want to forget as they got swamped in the first race of the double race final. Pictures: Top: The South Curl Curl crew in action; Below: Bryce Munro sweeps the Mona Vale Black crew.
IT WAS ONE OF THOSE DAYS YOU JUST DON T WANT OVER AND OUT FOR COLLAROY You just never know what is going to happen in surf boat racing when there s a wave on. All appeared to be going well for the Collaroy crew (The Beach Club) in the final of the first round of Ocean Thunder at Dee Why last Saturday until they took off on a wave on the way home in the first of the double race. Both Collaroy and North Cronulla lost control on the bank and both boats were upended. It left Bulli, Avoca, racing for the first time in Thunder, Batemans Bay and Currumbin to fight it out. Once Bulli hit the beach and turned for the second race they were going to take some catching. The Thunder champions were too good, finishing ahead of Avoca and Batemans Bay. Meanwhile, North Cronulla and Collaroy finally got their boats back to shore, emptied the water and headed out to sea again to secure points in the series. It was an afternoon Collaroy sweep Phil Massingham would like to forget. No doubt lessons learned for round two at Dee Why on December 9. Pictures: Top: Collaroy sweep Phil Massingham is desperate to get the boat back to shore; Below: Not what the Collaroy crew hoped for an overturned boat.