2004-11-15
Monday the 15th saw the first
day of competition of Smackfest 2004.
There was a clearing away of rain clouds which had kept the wind gusty
over the past two days. The west south west breeze had kicked in sufficiently
by 11AM for seriuous competition to begin. 20 - 25 knots of wind provided
the fuel for the competitors to launch large forward loops, pushloops
and aerial smacks on the waves..
Round one started with great conditions and all top sailors pushing the
limits with huge smacks and large jumps. WA's Jane Seaman going up against
the best Australian mens contenders knocked out Canadian Hudson Godfrey.
Moving into round 2 she defeated New Zealands' Clayton Dougan, but in
one of the closest heats of the day was knocked out in the 3rd round by
Newcastles Brendon Peterson. Brendon got one of the highest scores of
the day with his huge forward loops and great wave smacks. He defeated
Seman by one point. Local sailor James Atkinson scored a bye in round
one and went straight into the second round where he defeated Matt Cudmore
of Merimbula. In the 3rd round he came up against contest organiser Quentin
Bye. Unfortunately the wind got flukey with rain squalls. This did not
stop Atkinson as he defeated Bye with a total 41 points, the highest score
of the day.
Contest is on stand by for good conditions for the quater finals.
... Andrew floating over a section at Greens
... Q-man in mid of a pushy
... James Atkinson charging...
Channel 9 interview for the news feed
Tim Le Souff from WA wacking it in the pocket