Christian Cook, Wayne Morrison, Paul Wayland and Andrew Johnson have been crowned the 2014 New South Wales Master Surfing champions, at South Boomerang Beach, Australia.
Despite the fragile one-to-two foot swell, finalists in the four divisions - Over 35, 40, 45 and 50 - showed they're still too young to let go.
In the Over 35 final, Cook managed to lock in an 8.33 wave score (out of a possible 20 points), which gave him an early lead in the 25-minute final and consequently left the rest of the field chasing solid wave scores.
"I'm quite relieved actually. I was fortunate enough to get a good score early, but for the next 20 minutes I wasn't quite able to find a decent back up," says Christian Cook.
Marcus Davidson was able to lock in a series of respectable scores in the Over 40 Men's final, however he had his work cut out for him when he came up against an in-form Wayne Morrison. Morrison, was able to notch up a heat total of 12.67 (out of a possible 20 points) to knock Davidson down the runner up spot and take the win.
"I'm over the moon. The waves were a bit tricky out there so I just tried to stick to catching the sets. Luckily, I was able to get one early in the heat and hold on to the lead. It's been a great few days down here and it's been awesome to catch up with a lot of old mates," says Wayne Davidson.
Paul Wayland was able to steal a last minute victory in the Over-45 Mens final. Despite catching 11 waves over the course of the final, the talented Northern Beaches surfer didn't hit his peak until the dying seconds where he locked in a 7.33 wave score to win the title.
"I've been runner-up in this event a few times before, so I'm stoked to get a win this year. Because the swell was dropping I decided to sit in the middle of the bank and hunt down some waves. The other guys in the heat are seasoned competitors so I was wary of them also," adds Paul Wayland.
Andrew Johnson held off event standout Rod Baldwin in the Over 50 final. The two men engaged in a two horse race, which saw fellow finalists Ged Cook and Maris Luidmanis chasing two-wave combinations to move into the top spots.
"I couldn't be happier. I've had a few second place finishes in this event in the past, but never had a win. I knew Rod would be tough to beat, so I just tried to keep my distance from him until I got the lead. Then, when I got it, I decided to stay close to him so he could get one up on me," concludes Andrew Johnson.
HIF NSW Surfmasters Titles 2014 Results
Over 35 Men
1. Christian Cook (Dee Why)
2. Marcus Davidson (Shelly Beach)
3. Jeremy Cohen (Macmasters Beach)
4. Bill Harrison (Old Bar)
Over 40 Men
1. Wayne Morrison (Port Macquarie)
2. Marcus Davidson (Shelly Beach)
3. Glenn Pringle (Cronulla)
4. John Schmidenberg (Emerald Beach)
Over 45 Men
1. Paul Wayland (Newport)
2. Glenn Pringle (Cronulla)
3. John Schmidenberg (Emerald Beach)
4. Rod Baldwin (Copacabana)
Over 50 Men
1. Andrew Johnson (Bulli)
2. Rod Baldwin (Copacabana)
3. Ged Cook (Warners Bay)
4. Maris Luidmanis (North Balgowlah)