IT WAS like a morning out surfing with your mates, finding a decent wave on an otherwise onshore Phillip Island day at the penguins' beach on the Summerland Peninsula.
Only there was a bit more on the line on Thursday than that as local surfers Carl Wright and Harry De Roth paddled out in their heats of the WSL qualifying event, the Phillip Island Pro.
Reveling in conditions he knows better than most, Wright warmed up with a couple of reasonable waves then hit the scoreboard strongly with a 4.45 ride followed by a 5.15 score to take the lead after four waves.
And in a competitive heat, three of the four surfers; Wright, Bohdie Williams and Byron Stapleton all got five waves or better as they traded blows.
But with qualification through to the Round of 16 in the bag, Carl Wright finished off with one of the waves of the day, making the most of ideal wave selection with great positioning and several of his trademark cutbacks on a wave that rolled off through plenty of chunky sections.
It was a beauty.
Harry De Roth got through to the Round of 16 after Heat 5, but it was a very near thing, surviving with his last wave of four, cranking out some good manoeuvres on his way to a wave score of 4.00 for a 7.05 total, just enough to catch and eliminate the third placed surfer in the heat, Eddy Hamaty with 6.90. Nathan Hedge was the easy winner of the heat with two good scoring waves, 5.85+5.75=11.60.
In the women’s qualifying rounds, competition was just as fierce and surfing action in powerful surf just as compelling.
Sage Goldsbury was eliminated from Heat 6 of the Round of 16, catching four scoring waves in the challenging conditions but not quite getting the points necessary to progress.
Her combo total of 8.55 (4.45+4.10) was just fractionally behind Angela Ball who advanced to the Quarters with 4.65+4.50=9.15 although it must be said Angela took off on eight waves in a very busy heat effort.
Winner of the heat with three handy waves was Nyxie Ryan, ultimately going through with 5.75+5.60=11.35.
Another Islander in the women’s qualifying event was Sophie Fletcher who went out in Heat 3 of the Round of 24 but not for want of trying to find the higher scoring wave she needed.
Sophie took off on six waves, the most of all those in the heat scoring 4.00+3.50=7.50 but just behind the second placegetter Ava Holland who progressed with wave scores of 4.50+4.25=8.75. Tru Starling took out the heat with an excellent 6.25 wave, adding a 3.50 for a combo of 9.75, but she didn’t go beyond the next round.
The action is likely to continue at Summerlands on Friday and then swing across to Cape Woolamai as the wind starts to turn northerly on Saturday, for the Island Pro finals.
Sunday is another big day for local surfers with the Phillip Island Boardriders Club team going up against the best club teams in the state in an effort to qualify for the biggest club surfing event in the world, the Australian Boardriders Battle.
Competing for Phillip Island are: Ash Easton (over 35s), Harry De Roth and Carl Wright (open men), Sage Goldsbury (open women) and Blake Green (Under 18).