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

Published on 13/03/2023

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. 

Luca Brodribb being chaired up the beach after taking out the Open Women’s Final.

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.”

Jake Colreavy pulled into this tube early in the final to register a seven-point ride and establish an early lead.

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

1ST Luca Brodbribb

2nd Ava Charlton

3rd Bo Ellis

4th Sienna Lawrence

OPEN MEN

1st Jake Colreavy

2nd Jy Johannesen

3rd Matt Gaby

4th Toby Lawrence

OVER 30 MEN

1st Eric Monogue

2nd Jy Johannesen

3rd Jake Woodberry

4th Toby Ray

OVER 40 MEN

1st Richard Ramsden

2nd Shaun Wallbank

3rd Justin Emmerton

4th Luke Johannesen

OVER 50 MEN

1st Glenn Saltmarsh

2nd Justin Emmerton

3rd Kim Gale

4th Tim Callahan

OVER 60 MEN

1st Kim Gale

2nd Glenn Saltmarsh

3rd John Gregory

4th 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. 

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