Bondi Rescue’s Ryan “Whippet” Clark steered the Bondi Lifesaver’s team to victory in the first ever Jim Beam Surftag Trade Off event at Curl Curl beach.
Saturday 16th October 2010 (Curl Curl Beach, Sydney NSW) It’s official, Bondi Rescue Lifeguards are the best surfing tradies in Sydney after taking out the inaugural Jim Beam “Trade Off” event at Curl Curl on the Northern Beaches.
The second of nine events on the Jim Beam Surftag series for 2011, the “Trade Off” pitted 16 of Sydney’s top surfing trades including Builders, Fire Fighters, Teachers, Finance Brokers, Musicians and others against each other in a relay style format.
In thumping 2m waves the four man Lifeguard team of Luke Daniels, Max Ayshford, Ryan Clark and Duncan Floss out surfed all competing trades to claim victory.
Led by team captain Clark (Whippet), the Bondi boys dominated the final, leading from the opening siren to easily defeat fellow finalists Tilers, Plumbers and Transportation.
“It’s actually pretty hard out there, it picked up a lot throughout the day,” said Clark. “When you’ve only got 45 minutes and four people to get through it can be tough but everyone surfed really well, it was a good day.”
The Bondi Lifesavers team celebrate victory left to right Max Ayshford , Duncan Floss, Luke Daniels, Ryan “Whippet” Clark.
“We have got a couple of young guys on the roster at Bondi and they surf all the time so it was good to bring that element into the team.”
Despite the Tilers dominating early rounds, including a perfect 10-point ride by Sam Brown, they couldn’t continue their early form the in the final.
Brown was awarded the Sanyo Power Wave award for his perfect score, taking home a new Sanyo video camera for his efforts.
“One of the guys from the Tilers nailed a 10 in his heat this morning and the Fire Fighters were looking good early as well, but we’re pretty stoked about taking the win,” said Clark. “I guess being lifeguards we get more time at the beach than anyone else so if we were the favourites leading in then it was good to hang onto that and take it out.”
The final scores had Lifeguards 60.70, Tilers 37.60, Plumbers 24.59 and Transport 22.87.
The Jim Beam Surftag Series will roll on throughout the coming summer, visiting Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, Newcastle and Cronulla before wrapping up with the series decider in Sydney next February.
The next event on November 13 will be an all women’s Surftag at Dee Why beach.
The 2011 Jim Beam Surftag is proudly supported by FCS, Sanyo and O’Neill. Media partners for the series are Swellnet and Tracks surfing magazine.
Trade Off – Results
1. Bondi Lifeguards (Luke Daniels, Max Ayshford, Ryan Clark, Duncan Floss)
2. Tilers (Ben Hamilton, Sam Brown, Jayd Naidoo, Michael Dawes)
3. Plumbers (Brett Whiley, Vic Levett, Daniel Hamilton, Luke Phillips)
4. Transport (Jake Elliot, Ryan Alagich, Locky Macpherson, Tony Morrison)
5. Electricians (Matt Hatton, Dean Sparke, Graeme Kyle, Shawn Irving)
6. Builders 2 (Callum Drake, Matt Toghill, Steve Bewley, Marvo)
7. Finance Brokers (Cam Garlick, Troy Clutton, Mark Prideaux, Stephen Clark)
8. Fire Fighters (Geremy Blake, Dave Nolman, Craig Roberts, Phil Weekes)
9. Teachers 2 (Scott Mellis, Tommy Mitchell, Dean Stringfellow, Seb Hartog)
10. Lawnmowers (Ronnie Wong, Tom Salverson, Shem Mitchell, Steve Salvato)
11. Fashion ( Anthony Hayles, William Voss, Trent McCann)
12. Builders (Cooper Williams, Mitch Neill, Ben Bateman, Brett King)
13. Hospitality (Nudge Crick, Naig Carrol, Nathan Von Roosmalen, Ash King)
14. Personal Trainers (Nick Butler, Cam Coalan, Steve Coulter, Trent Herring)
15. Musicians (Chris Vontak, Josh Fergus, Mark Chivers, Ed Worland)
16. Teachers (Greg Moran, Adam Hearne, Mark Tickle, Ian Holmes)
2010/11 Jim Beam Surftag Dates And Locations
Oct 15 Industry Challenge (Curl Curl)
Oct 16 Trade Off (Curl Curl)
Nov 13 Women’s Surftag (Dee Why)
Dec 11 NSW North Surftag (Newcastle)
Dec 18 Victoria Surftag (TBC)
Jan 8 West Australia Surftag (TBC)
Jan 15 Queensland Surftag (Duranbah)
Jan 29/30 NSW South Surftag (Cronulla)
Feb 3/4/5 Surftag Australian Final (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
