Brodribb And Colreavy Win 48th Rip Curl West Coast Classic Presented By Red Herring Surf In Pumping Waves

MARRAWAH/TASMANIA (Monday, 13th March,2023): The 2023 Rip Curl West Coast Classic presented by Red Herring Surf has been won by Park Beach Boardrider Luca Brodribb and Burnie Local Jake Colreavy at pumping Lighthouse Beach after three days of hard-fought competition at multiple venues in the Marrawah region, Northwest Tasmania.

Pumping conditions greeted surfers and spectators on Finals Day today as Lighthouse Beach produced the goods in the form of four to six-foot clean surf with a northeast wind change grooming the wave face from the early hours of the morning.

The Open Women’s Final opened with a flurry of waves from all four competitors all taking off on top to bottom hollow quality waves in the magic conditions but it was Luca Brodribb with excellent rail work on the best waves who got out to a strong lead after several big turns.

The Park Beach local couldn’t be matched by the other finalists, despite catching excellent waves themselves and impressing the 2023 Champion.

“That was a really tough final in big waves so i think the girls should be really proud of how they performed. I’ve been doing this a long time and they just paddled out in that big surf and went straight into catching waves which was really impressive,” said Brodribb. 

Defending Champion Jake Colreavy got off to a great start in the Men’s Final, opening up with a long critical tube right on a right-hander in the middle of the beach. The experienced Jy Johannesen then hit back with a set wave of his own that featured two big turns. 

” It was actually a really tough final in tricky conditions which wasn’t what we really wanted but I am stoked with the win. Congrats to all the winners and my other competitors in the final.And a big thanks to Surfing Tasmania, Glenn Saltmarsh and all the North West Boardriders crew who make the event such a good one. It’s a great community to be a part of and one of my favourite events to compete in.”

Burnie’s Matt Gaby and Clifton Beach young gun Toby Lawrence posted mid-range scores on their backhands throughout the twenty five minute final but the battle was really between Colreavy and Johannesen and it went down to the last few seconds when Johannesen pulled in to a tube on the north end of the beach, weaved his wave through a deep section and managed a doggy door exit before falling off, deaming the ride incomplete. 

In the age divisions there were plenty of great performances but Glenn Saltmarsh’s last minute heroics in the Over 50 Men’s Final and Justin Emerton’s stylish tube ride to cutback combination in the Over 40 Men’s Semi Final were the crowd favourites. 

Day one on Saturday was a wild one with well overhead waves making things tricky for competitors at Lighthouse for a full day of competition.  

Slaves Bays played host on day two after unfavourable winds from the south came up overnight. The bay’s natural stadium style rocky shoreline was at near capacity with hundreds of spectators keen to see the state’s best surfers in action. They didn’t leave disappointed.

RESULTS:

OPEN WOMEN

1^ST Luca Brodbribb

2^nd Ava Charlton

3^rd Bo Ellis

4^th Sienna Lawrence

OPEN MEN

1^st Jake Colreavy

2nd Jy Johannesen

3^rd Matt Gaby

4^th Toby Lawrence

OVER 30 MEN

1^st Eric Monogue

2^nd Jy Johannesen

3^rd Jake Woodberry

4^th Toby Ray

OVER 40 MEN

1^st Richard Ramsden

2^nd Shaun Wallbank

3^rd Justin Emmerton

4^th Luke Johannesen

OVER 50 MEN

1^st Glenn Saltmarsh

2^nd Justin Emmerton

3^rd Kim Gale

4^th Tim Callahan

OVER 60 MEN

1^st Kim Gale

2^nd Glenn Saltmarsh

3^rd John Gregory

4^th Duncan Sadler

A big thanks to our sponsors Rip Curl, Red Herring Surf, Hydro Flask, Sin Eyewear, Reef International, Macaronis Resort, Ocean and Earth, Woodhams Builders and We Are Feel Good Inc.