Straddie Assault 2014 ran October 18th and 19th in challenging conditions with a howling Southerly and head high waves at Point Lookout. 

The Teams event on Saturday started with a bang. James Wood, Zac Wightman and Jonny Hewitt all took heat wins and Le-Ba was equal first with Snapper. Luke Condon was unlucky in the heat draw and would have won any of the other grom heats with his total but finished 4th. Steph Single battled hard in the tricky conditions and finished 3rd. Elliot P-Reid surfed great and finished 2nd. Sam Morgan was up next and dominated for another win. Stu Kennedy did what you would expect and surfed on a totally different level to everyone else in the event to post a win. A couple of other results went our way late in the arvo and Le-Ba finished in 2nd behind Snapper who were almost flawless.

Sunday was the Pairs event with an Open surfer and a Junior surfing progression heats.  Jake Snellgrove and Stu Kennedy dominated the first heat of the day. For the Quarters, Semi and Final Zac Wightman replaced Jake to take advantage of the perfect air wind for a Goofy. The fellas won every heat with powerful turns , big airs and a sick barrel ( Zac ) to be crowned champions.

Stu claimed the highest wave score award and Steve Kearney best Judge at the presso on Sunday arvo. 

Massive thank you to the management crew, The Godfather ( Donny Munro ), Blacky ( Dennis Bellato )and Jonny Hewitt. Thanks to all our support crew that took on the mission that is the Straddie Assault . Cheers to the Straddie crew for another great event. Congratulations team !!

More images to come ....

Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal runs October 12th - 23rd at Supertubos, Peniche Portugal.Adam Melling will be there chasing valuable ratings points. The forecast looks pretty bad for the first half of the waiting period with onshores. Good luck mate. 

Update October 15th 
Mello surfed well in his Round 1 heat finding the tubes and laying down powerful turns. He found the highest score of the heat but missed the win by 0.1 points. He surfs next in Round 2 heat 10 vs CJ.

ASP / Damien Poullenot/ Aquashot

Update October 20th
After heaps of laydays the event finally resumed in solid conditions at Supertubos. Luck went Mello's way when CJ was forced to retire hurt , handing him a walk through. 
In Round 3 Adam notched the first significant score, a mid range six, for a string of cutbacks and overtook the lead on a similar righthander with 5 minutes remaining. Parko hunted the lineup but, needing a high seven, he failed to find an opportunity. Melling pulled off the upset, squashing Parkinson's Title hopes.
He surfs next in heat 1 Round 4 ( No loser round ) vs Jordy and JJF.

Update October 21st
Adam found his rhythm by the midway point of his Round 4 heat. He brought some style to the tube-riding, mixing in vertical turns to earn a 9.63 and take the lead. Unfortunately JJF found a perfect 10 for a long barrel and pushed him into 2nd.
Mello dusted Brett Simpson in a tough heat in Round 5 moving into the Quarters.
"That was a scrappy heat for both of us. I was out of synch with it a little bit."
In the Quarters Adam was first out of the gate and stayed active, tallying a 6.33 before John John Florence rode a single wave. When Florence finally did find a wave, he went big, pulling into a substantial barrel and plowing through the foam to score an 8.00. His next barrel was bigger, and he threaded section after section to make a clean exit and earn a 9.83.
Mello found a nice barrel towards the end of the heat but it was not enough to overtake John.
He finished the event in 5th and moved to 25th on the WCT rankings. Congratulations mate.

ASP / Damien Poullenot/ Aquashot

ASP / Damien Poullenot/ Aquashot

ASP / Damien Poullenot/ Aquashot

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The Komune Bali Pro presented by The Mad Hueys ASP QS 1 Star runs October 8th - 12th at Keramas, Bali. James Wood and Mikey Wright are both in the event. The forecast looks good for some fun waves. Good luck fellas.

Update October 8th
A good start to the event in clean 4' - 5' waves at Keramas. Woody had a big win with a 15.40 total and Mikey scored a 2nd.

ASP / Will H-S

Update October 9th
Another day of really fun waves at Keramas today. Woody had a win in a close one and Mikey posted a good win with a 14.25 total. They are both into the final 16.

“The wind came up and the barrels disappeared, but it was still really fun out there,” Wright said. “I wasn’t really thinking about the event, I’ve been away from comps for a while and now I just approach them like a free surf, just have fun and it seems to be working.”

ASP / Will H-S

Update October 10th
Mikey threw his tail high to easily progress in Round 3 in fun 3' - 4' rights at Keramas. In his Quarter Mikey started with a 9.00 and laid an innovative slob cutback carve ( Sloback ? ) but couldn't find a decent back up. He finished 5th. Woody blew up, surfing with speed power and flow to easily win his Round 3 heat. His Quarter Final was held over until tomorrow.

ASP / Will H-S

ASP / Will H-S

Update October 11th
Woody went down in the Quarters to Mitch Parko, finished 5th and had cracking Keramas almost to himself for 3 days. I reckon you could call that a win.

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Cascais Billabong Pro runs October 7th - 11th at Carcavelos, Cascais - Portugal. Stu Kennedy and Adam Melling will be there lining up against the world's best. Mello starts in Ht 7 and Stu is in Ht 15. Good luck fellas.

 Update October 7th
Mello and Stu both surfed well to progress in round 1 in solid overhead waves on a day when plenty of top seeds were eliminated.

Image ASP / Laurent Masurel

Update October 8th

A great day for the fellas in a 6' -8' washing machine in Portugal with both Adam and Stu winning their heats and moving into the final 24. Mello perfectly exploited the big and critical sections with his signature power carves.

“I had a good run here last year, it started over in the Azores and finished up in Cascais. It all just came together for me, luck went my way, and that seems to be happening out here as well. I’m backing it up here on the QS, which I’m really happy about as it gives you that little roll on to the next event and gives you some confidence.”

Stu fought hard and took the win in the final minutes of his heat. His post heat interview left no doubt that he is ready to fight for his place on tour and unleash the Mongrel.

Image ASP / Laurent Masurel

Update October 9th
Similar heavy conditions today and a lot of hard work. Mello was behind for most of a drma packed heat but found his 2 keepers within the last 2 minutes. He skipped a round and moved into Round 5. Stu surfed really well but just came up short of the win. He moved into Round 4.




Update October 10th
Stu had a big win over Marc Lacomare in more settled 3' -5' waves at Guincho in Round 4 with a 15.27 total. In Round 5 he took out WCT surfer F. Patacchia Jr. and moved into the Quarters and closer to an excellent result. Good on ya mate. Mello couldn't find the high scoring waves in his heat and finished with a 9th and moved much closer to requalification for 2015. Well done mate.

Image ASP / Laurent Masurel

Image ASP / Laurent Masurel

Update October 11th
An epic day for Stuey in Portugal today finishing the event in 2nd. He smashed Flores in the Quarters and JDub in the Semis. Things didn't go his way in the final, left chasing a back up. Congratulations mate.
“It feels great to take down some of the big names. Hopefully after this it will burst my profile a bit more and I’m able hopefully to get some sponsor and keep doing this grind to get to the tour !”

 “It’s up there with some of the best results I’ve ever got, I won a 6-Star a few years ago but haven’t been on the podium in a while so it means a lot. I’m not doing Brazil, so I’ll just leave it up to Hawaii, but I’m not putting the stress on myself to qualify.”

Image ASP / Laurent Masurel

Image ASP / Laurent Masurel

Image ASP / Laurent Masurel

Image ASP / Laurent Masurel

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RipCurl Gromsearch Cronulla runs October 2nd - 5th on the Shire beaches. Mikey McDonagh will be there trying to back up his 5th place in the U14's from Victoria for the Gromsearch ratings. Good luck mate.

Update October 4th
A couple of good days for Mikey in Sydney with a 2nd in round 2 and a win in round 3 in 4' - 5' peaks at Wanda. Semi Finals and Final tomorrow.

Update October 5th
Mikey finished 2nd in the U14's in clean 3' waves at Wanda Beach. Well done mate.

Image Surfing NSW