Surf gods smile on Slash

THE SURF gods smiled on the 20th edition of the Werri Autumn Slash, producing an epic weekend of waves.

Some original Slash surfers and Werri locals were calling Sunday"s finals day the best competition session ever seen at Werri Beach.

It was a family affair for the Wrench brothers, Tim and Sam, who continued their dynasty. Tim won a hotly-contested Open Men"s Final while Sam grabbed his fourth Werri Slash title in a row, this year taking the Junior Boys crown.

The Werri Beach Boardriders had a great event, with Sally Fitzgibbons claiming her second open women"s title.

President Todd Prestage won the Senior Men"s title, 19 years after winning the inaugural junior boys title in only the second-ever Werri Slash.

Werri local Matt Gale capped a great weekend for the host club by winning the Cadet Boys.

It was truly an historic weekend for the Slash, with eight-year-old Karena Holland-Redfern becoming the youngest competitor in the competition"s history.

"Karena paddled out into some challenging waves and did herself so proud by claiming two waves in her contest debut," Werri Beach Boardriders secretary David Hunt said.

Werri Beach's Ryan Bailey claimed the first perfect 10 of the event in the open men"s semi final, before Shayne Sutherland Sam Wrench posted 10s in the Junior Boys final.

On Sunday the finals were held and a nice offshore breeze fanned the waves at the northern end of Werri Beach.

In the open men"s final Wrench unleashed two high scoring waves to snatch the lead after Dan Marczuk, Guy Bartlett and Ryan Bailey had all held the lead at different points in the contest.

"Bartlett caught a nice left-hander from the corner to lay some nice carves and then finish with a big forehand hack," Hunt said.

"It wasn"t enough though and Wrench claimed his first open men"s title with Bartlett second, Marczuk third and Bailey in fourth.

The Cadet Boys were the first in the surf on Sunday for their final, which was won by Werri"s own Matt Gale.

Keiren Quinn held an early lead before Gale took control with two handy waves.

Jake Spellacy and Elliott Marshall scored late waves to rattle Gale"s cage but these scores were not enough to stop Gale claiming his first Werri Slash title.

The open women"s decider was another triumph for the hosts with Sally Fitzgibbons becoming the inaugural Bellachara Belle.

Former champ Yvonne Byron was keen to reclaim her title and opened with a 7.5.

Fitzgibbons fought back with 3 high scores in a row to take the lead before putting victory on ice with a 7.6.

Sally was crowned champ with Byron second, Katherine Turk third and Kirstie Jones fourth

The Juniors then hit the water for their final, surfed in calm conditions until Shayne Sutherland dropped in to a backside barrel to score the day"s second perfect ten.

Sam Wrench took up the challenge, replying with a ten of his own before a 6.0 to establish a handy lead.

Sutherland wasn't able to pick off another wave and finished in second place. Mitch Kenyon was third with Ross Wilson fourth.

The senior men then took centre stage with Jeremy Smith and Chris Homer exchanging good early waves.

Prestage waited patiently, using all his experience before nailing 8.7 and 9.0 rides to shut out the others. Smith claimed second, Homer third and Jake Spooner fourth.

"The Werri Slash organisers would like to thank Surf Dive 'N' Ski, Ocean & Earth, OP Surfwear, Carve Optics, Bellachara Boutique Hotel, Jindaleespa, DSN Surfboards, Kiama Council, Gerringong Hardware and Advanced Concrete Cutting for their tremendous support of Werri Beach Boardriders and the Werri Autumn Slash," Hunt said.

"Many thanks to the tireless efforts from the Werri Beach Boardriders who ensure that the Werri Slash is still the best club contest on the coast."