“…i’ll hit you back in halfa Chilli, i just gotta go surf the final of Gromfest…” said Matt Banting. True to his word, no more than 30mins later we received an SMS saying “5 OMG Woo!”. That means the frother must have dropped his phone, ran down to the water & paddled out, surfed the heat meanwhile claiming his 5th Rusty Gromfest crown at Lennox Point, NSW Australia & still remembered to get back to us!
Bantman flaring in the Quik Pro trials @ Snapper February 2009 © adam weathered
Its not often that he gets to ride it in contests so Bantman was stoked to take the title aboard his trusty 6′1″ A2 Semi Gun (yes yes, when you usually ride a 5′9, that is a step up)“They were the biggest waves I’ve had here for sure and that final was a tough one with long paddles and super long rides as well.”
Matt has determination like we have never seen before in a 15yr old … look out world!
The Rip Curl Pro has kicked off at Bells Beach with the ASP unveiling a new contest format for the event. The new format sees man on man heats from the outset with the top rated surfers automatically seeded into the second round depending on how the went on the tour in 2008. It's a little complicated to explain the new format in detail here in our modest little blog but the ASP site has got