Locals place in The WorkSafe Tradies Challenge

PHILLIP Island surfers put on a show in the open men’s final of the WorkSafe Tradies Challenge presented by URBNSURF.

The competition was tight all day with the adjusted leader board format forcing each surfer to go big from the start, in order to come out on top over the field. 

Adapting to this new format in style was Codie Jeffery (Cape Woolamai) and Harry de Roth (Phillip Island), who put on an impressive display of surfing.

However, Cole Fox (Jan Juc) walked away with the win in the open men’s division, posting an excellent score of 9.07 and 7.97 (each out of a possible 10) for a string of powerful backhand snaps on the long running perfect rights of the wave pool. 

Placing second was Codie Jeffery (Cape Woolamai) on a 16.70-point total (out of a possible 20 points) and Harry de Roth (Phillip Island) coming in a close third on a 16.56-point total.

In the newly introduced bodyboard division Chris Watson (Rosebud) flipped his way to victory, earning himself a 15.73-point total over Jacques Le Roux who came in a close second place. 

On the master’s side of the draw Arthur McKenzie (Cowes) pulled out a few tricks to impress the judges and come out on top of his competitors. 

McKenzie was able to put together multiple hammering turns and carves to earn himself a 9.33-point ride and the victory.

However, Callan Cross (Torquay) wasn’t going to let McKenzie have the win easily. Cross earned himself an 8.33-point ride of his own but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find a backup score to overtake McKenzie.

Full results from the day can be found at surfingvic.com/live

Final results:

Open Men’s

1st - Cole Fox (Jan Juc), 17.04 

2nd - Codie Jeffery (Cape Woolamai), 16.70

3rd - Harry de Roth (Cape Woolamai), 16.56

Masters (Over 35s)

1st - Arthur McKenzie (Cowes), 17.66

2nd - Callan Cross (Torquay), 15.00

3rd - Blair O’Keefe (Torquay), 12.74