North Narrabeen have successfully defended their crown as the number one female board riding club in the country by taking out the Jim Beam Women’s Surftag Australian final at Sydney’s Curl Curl beach today.

North Narrabeen have successfully defended their crown as the

number one female board riding club in the countryby taking out theJim Beam Women’s Surftag Australian finalin solid one metre wavesat Sydney’s Curl Curl beach today.

The Surftag format sees the five-member teams given one hour in which each individual must catch three waves, with the second being a “powerwave” worth double points. All three waves for each surfer count in the scoring and bonus points are awarded for teams that finish before the 60 minute mark.

For the second year in successionBelinda Hardwick starred forNorth Narrabeenas theytookoutthe final with64 points fromNorth Steyne (51.8),Northern Beaches Women(46.9)andCronulla (27.2).

Thefinal standings reversedthesemi-final result that saw North Steyne beat North Narrabeen to set up whatturned out to be an enthralling decider.

Hardwick put together a stunningseries ofvertical attacksin the challenging surf to amass 21 pointsand set upteammates Tessa De Josselin (14.1), former world tour professional Vanessa Osborne (10.0) and Simone Fitzpatrick(6.4)to carrytheir team to a deserved win.

The final had begun in thrilling fashion with Hardwick’s teammateElle Northey (nee Black) scoringa brilliant19.5, only to be called for interference and docked seven points,in turn handing theearlylead to an equally impressive Sam Joy of North Steynewith 15.5.

Hardwick then brought North Narrabeen back into contention andnotwithstandingthe powerful effort from Paige Houden(18.5),North Steyne’s lead was trimmed to just half a point whenDe Josselin hit the water andgave her team the lead for good.

After the finalHardwickrevealed her team had been inspired by a challenge from their maleNorth Narrabeen clubmates.

“That (win) means we are allowed back to Narrabeen,” Hardwick laughed.

“Our boys had said we would not be welcome back if wedidn’t win and we were hoping they were joking–I guess itdoesn’t matter now.”

Hardwick put her own consistently good form down to a desire not to let the other girls down.

“I try to do the best I can possibly do every timeI compete becauseIdon’t like not doing well, especially in a team,” she said.

“WhenIwent in Iwanted to do well for the girls, make up some points and some time andI wasdefinitely confident that the three girls afterare good surfers and could make things up.”

Despite her unfortunate interference in the final,Northeywas sensational all day, scoring the highest “powerwave”– a9.5 in thesemi-final– andtaking home a Sanyo dual waterproof camera for her troubles.

Earlier,Women in Waves from Norah Heads andVictorian powerhouse Torquaywere eliminated in the semi-finals, whilst Bondi A and Bondi B fell  by the wayside in the heats.

The next event in the series will be the men’s Victorian Surftag event at Gunnamatta on December 19. The event will feature teams from both Victoria and South Australia.

2010 Jim Beam Surftag Australian Series

23rd Oct           Industry Challenge – Winner: Hurley

29th Nov          Women’s Surftag – Winner: North Narrabeen

19th Dec           VIC Qualifier

9th Jan              WA Qualifier

15th Jan            QLD Qualifier

23rd Jan            NSW North Qualifier

30/31 Jan          NSW South Qualifier

12/13/14 Feb    Australian Final