| Mark McCarthy wins the 2009 Cave Rock Challenge |
| Friday, 24 April 2009 17:51 |
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With contestants on standby and indicators pointing to some quality conditions, the competitors for the 2009 Cave Rock Challenge were poised for an early start and arrived at Durban's Bluff to be greeted by 'just what the doctor ordered' - solid six foot, back breaking and firing Cave Rock beasts! The contest was ON! Contest organisers held a quick meeting to decide the format that would run as the easterly wind was predicted later in the day and it was decided to hold 2 rounds with both heat scores counting towards an overall score - highest score wins. Waves of Consequence Round one definitely saw the best of the conditions with glassy, clean, hollow pits being enjoyed by the contestants and allowing them to show case their bodyboarding skills in waves which bodyboarders thrive on. As a Speciality Event on the SABA circuit, the aim of the contest is to add a wave venue onto the circuit which is competed in 'Waves of Consequence' and the Rock delivered just that and in the process chewed up and spat out three broken bodyboards from Rob Gray, Mark McCarthy and David Lee - all riding different brand boards. Lee tried to sub a monster set wave and came up with a broken board, Gray tried to land a huge roll in the flats, which broke his board and, what many are calling the highlight of the contest, McCarthy launched a massive invert and tried to land it on his face (Go Boetie!), in the end severely creasing his board. According to fellow casualty David Lee, "that was the biggest invert I've ever seen!" Stand Outs Jared Houston, who had flown up from Cape Town for the event, launched two huge scissor kick inverts, which blew the crowd away, but unfortunately didn't land either of them. Derek Footit, representing the South Coast crew and Daniel Worsley, the other Capetonian, each threw in a few flips to open their accounts. Charles Pass, a Durban local, had a really good launch, which he inverted and landed, and for a while that was the best move of the contest. Wesley Fischer launched some big inverts and air-roll-spins (ARS) to keep himself in the hunt, but it was the man of the moment, Mark McCarthy, who came up with the goods - a long tube and ARS combo, coupled with another near perfect tube and ARS combination, and a few inverts as back up, gave the man from Richards Bay the 2009 Cave Rock Challenge title + R2500 cash prize. Wesley Fischer took second + R2000 cash prize, with Charles Pass (R1500) and Jared Housten (R1000) completing the top four. Chocolate Cake Fittingly, McCarthy also won the chocolate cake for the best wave of the contest but willingly gave it to Jared Houston as a present because it was his birthday.
1st Mark McCarthy (Richards Bay, NKZN): 87.5 points
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