Field of Dreams - Australia June 2011

Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:26 am

At the Australian Surfcasting Federations June comps we have always anticipated it with both excitement and fear, excitement at the opportunity to get together with some of Australia’s best long distance surfcasters and fear that the weather would freeze you to the bone and that the rain would turn the field into a quicksand swamp where once you entered your chances of getting out would be slim.

Image

( The field of Dreams which saw PB’s tumble over the weekend)

Well this year the casting gods were smiling on us and even though the temperatures were forecast to be only topping out at between 9~12 degrees Celsius the predicted rain did not turn up to dampen the spirits of those attending. Another weather blessing though was we had a cold south , south easterly wind that overall resulted in a number of new PB’s for over 7 of the attending casters , but more of that later.

Image

( Century rods feature heavily in the comp and put a smile on a lot of the guy’s faces this weekend )

Casters attending the event came from New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, which equates to distance from 850 to 4000 odd kilometres and I must thank all of these guys for there dedication to the sport in making a massive effort in getting over to Victoria for the event.



Overall results for the two day event were brilliant with a number of the casters hitting PB’s with there respective styles and one young man by the name of Jason , who with only 2 weeks pendulum casting practice under the tutelage of NSW top casters Gary Boner and Scott Selby hit an impressive 170+ meters not too far from the old benchmark 200 yard or 600 feet for are American mates.

Image

( Our newest addict Jason )

Also pleasing to see was our newer members with only 1 year under there belts hitting 220+ meter distances and smashing their previous PB’s. This improvement is testament to their drive to improve and get the most from their gear. The smiles on their faces as they walked past the 200 meter marker and kept going even further was brilliant to see.


Image

(New 200+ caster Peter )Australia’s top caster Scott Selby once again showed his style with some brilliant casts and a top distance of 262 meters and an overall 4 lead aggregate of 1030 meters for the 100,125,150 and 175 gram leads.

Image

( The main man Scott Selby belting one out )

It should be noted here that Scott broke the 1000 aggregate on both days and really bent up the Century E1000 that is his current weapon of choice.
Gary Bonner also showed that his casting is continuing on the improve with a number of top casts and his new comp PB of 237 meters put a smile on his face and gave him second place overall knocking me back to 3rd place.

Image

( Gary Bonner bending up one of his Century’s to take second )

Also a brilliant demonstration of what is possible when you have the drive, regardless of age were the distances put down by Ces Selby. I must personally thank Ces for inspireing me in this sport. His style and desire to help others learn is fantastic as our his achievements on the field and we can see where young Scott gets his abilities from.

Image

( The Old Master – Ces Selby launching one down field )

I can see with the new casters and their improvements that the competition is starting to heat up and people will be pushed to even bigger and better distances in the near future.

Image

( Jason starting to send one down field )
Image

( 200+ meter PB Peter Hanson )

Image

( Mike Bailey on his way to a new PB )

Image

( Mark Johnson also achieved a new PB on the 100 gram )

Image

( Graham Smith getting in on the action on day 2 )

Image

( Mike Bailey in action )

Image

( Chas , hitting for the heights )

The full result details will be released via the clubs new record tracking system and you will see that this has a number of functions that allows not only the viewing of the events results but a historical average of both the individual casters progression since they started and how they compare to others. Thanks to Eddie for creating this very useful record of our members achievements.

Image

( Eddie Dalidowicz – a moving force in the club hitting the Century )

Image

( Yours Truly - hitting it too early )
Image

( Not always happy but Mick Smajkic did achieve a number of PB’s in this comp )

So once again thanks to everyone for making this a brilliant weekend and also for supporting the sport of distance casting here in Australia. :D :D