Raiders among spoils at Big Rock

Some of the region’s top surfers were pipped at the weekend’s 2020 WA Surf Masters Titles held in Margaret River, with young guns shining the best against national competition.

Small summer swells on Friday and Saturday forced competition organisers to go mobile in hopes of finding the best waves along the coast, setting up at Gracetown’s Big Rock for consistent 2-4 feet surf.

Cottesloe’s Alex McGuffin took out the open men’s section, with a 16.17-point ride far better than what locals Ben Spence, Luke Campbell, and Cyrus Cox could muster.

Former Yallingup sisters Eliza and Mikaela Greene went head-to-head in the women’s open, with Eliza finishing with 12.80 versus her sister’s 11.63.

Another Yallingup surfer, Emma Cattlin, came third, followed by Arabelle Gibson.

The winners vied for the chance to represent WA in August’s Australian Surf Championships in Port Macquarie, NSW.

In the under-21 Pro Junior final, Gracetown’s Jed Gradisen redeemed the region’s reputation with victory ahead of Gnarabup surfer Finn Cox and locals Solomon Pogue-Englert and Cyrus Cox.

Gracetown’s Pogue-Englert was compensated by winning the sponsor’s Wave of the Weekend for posting the event’s only 10-point ride.

Busselton’s Belinda Adams scored 20.47 to win the over-35 women’s event.

Gracetown’s Mal Hardy also came out on top in the over-65s, with 25.00 from two finals.

“Congratulations to all our event champions and we’re so blessed to have Big Rock as a back-up location,” Surfing WA events manager Justin Majeks said .

“Despite the challenge of getting all the equipment and infrastructure up here, everyone benefited with incredible competition waves on offer.”

The WA Surf Masters Titles continue in Geraldton in June.