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Reef 2 beach Longboard Classic 2012 March 2nd - 4th Agnes Water Beach Queensland

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Reef 2 Beach LONGBOARD CLASSIC 2011Agnes Water

By ROB BLACK

THE waves came to the party too on the finals day of the Reef2Beach Longboard Classic at Agnes Water yesterday, with surfers revelling in the conditions, as the swell pushed in to the Discovery Coast.

And it was the class acts that shone through in the finals, with few surprises or upsets at the business end of the contest.

Noosa’s lightning fast new-wave longboarder Brett White was awesome in the big one, the final of Open 9.

White opened with long walling righthander that he smashed and bashed to the beach, throwing in a helicopter 360 to set the standard for a high-class final.

It put the rest of the six-man final on notice and the Sunshine Coast young gun Mitch Surman answered straight back with a good wave.

But White was always in control, while Luke Potter and Fraser Biden also pulled into some strong waves.

“I would have liked to get a couple more good ones to be sure,’’ White said.

“But that first one was pretty good so it set me up for a good final.

“I didn’t see many of the other guys’ waves, but I knew it was a strong field and I was just looking to close it out as early as I could.’’

In the Women’s final youngster Monique Keane showed class beyond her years and a finesse and elegance that left many of the male competitors on the beach in awe.

Kathryn Hughes gave Keane a run for her money, but it was all red as the nimble goofy ran away with it.

In the Junior final another Sunshine Coaster Daniel Potter was the standout, with Matt Schuler keeping him honest.

The Open 8 final was a revelation as the smallest and youngest competitor in the field, Cody Coulter, the one to watch.

Agnes local Tony Bonney was a strong second in a close fight for the places with young Potter who was warming up for his Junior final win.

Coulter is part of a strong surfing dynasty from the Sunny Coast with his Dad Damian, uncle Drew and grandfather Barry all featuring on finals day at the Longboard Classic.

Damian bowed out in the Open 9s semis, while Drew went through to take fifth in the final; he also scored a podium finish (third) in the Trads (old-style traditional longboard) final.

The surfing patriarch Barry came a close second in the Over 60s final behind Keith Drinkwater of Bargara. Agnes legend Bruce Palmer came in an unlucky third after missing a couple of good waves.

Steve Miller dominated the Over 50s as did Glen Cunningham in the Over 40s.

Bluey Gilkes took the Women’s Over 35s with a combined performance over the two days.

Contest director and local surf instructor Paul White had a busy weekend contesting several events; finishing with a close-up fourth in the Over 40s and a fifth in the Open 8s.

And the contest was lucky to have surfing icon and board-building legend Californian Floyd Smith of Gordon and Smith at the contest this year.

Smith and former partner Larry Gordon started building what is the modern-day foam and fibre-glass boards in Floyd’s garage back in 1959.

A regular visitor to Australia, Smith said he had never been further north in Australia than Noosa before and was loving the Discovery Coast.

Reef2Beach surf shop owner and Longboard Classic organiser Wayne Grom Mellick said it was another great contest, the 13th annual Classic, which was blessed with good waves and a good vibe.

“It’s just such a laid back atmosphere, everyone comes again and again because they have a great time and we usually score some good waves too,’’ Grom said.

Photos Rob Black