12th April 2010
Hey everyone, writing this in utter excitement, as this post signifies the launch of my new blog in conjunction with SIXTY40.co.za and I have some exciting news to share with you!
So on wednesday the 7th of April, Turbo team riders Jacob Romero, Glen Sullivan and myself packed the car in sydney and pointed the car north en route to Queensland for The QAB Pro to be held at Duranbah beach on the weekend. It was a pretty unpleasant drive for me, seeing as I'd just had a tooth extracted on the Tuesday due to an abcess. Lesson learnt, brush your teeth 3 times daily and see a dentist REGULARLY.
We made a pitstop at the Turbo factory in Port Macqaurie to see Glenn Taylor and talk boards. I had had a quiver of 3 boards made up for the upcoming IBA events and was pretty keen on picking them up early (this turned out to be a blessing in disguise). We hung with Glenn for a few hours before punching out the rest of the 6 hour trip ahead of us. Arriving on the Gold coast I was whisked straight of to the 71mag (Online magazine 71mag.com) office in Burleigh for a video interview along with Nick Ormerod, Mike Stewart and Tom Rigby, it was a really cool experience. Keep an eye out on the site and the new Issue due out end of the month.
The first day of the contest dawned small but rippable, I was in the 3rd heat of RD2, fellow South Africans Mark Watts and Daniel Worsley were also in this round. I had drawn Brad Hughes, Nick Gornall and Jacob Hein, which is not an easy heat. I went into it to win and came out on top although it was super close between Jacob and myself. Wattsy and Daniel both got 2nd in their respective heats and therefore progressed with me to the third round to be held on sunday.
Video from The QAB Pro filmed by Mike Stewart
Sunday greeted us with really fun looking 2ft peaks at Dbah and I was pumped for a big day of competition. RD3 is the round that the top 16 start in, so the heats were extremely tough from here on out. I was up the 3rd heat, against Chad Jackson, Jones Russel and Steve Venn. I was in a good state of mind and feeling super confident on the big board I was riding (a 42.5", Polypro, Bat tail) and managed a few high scores to finish the heat in 1st with Jones Russel (Turbo Team rider) joining me in 2nd.
Wattsy progressed through his heat as well, although this is where Dan left us in an incredibly tight heat featuring Mitch Rawlins, Cade Sharp and Jacob Romero. This was not the end of Daniel though, he went on to win the Dropknee division! Congrats bro! 1/4 final time, I was up the 1st one, coming up against Mike Stewart, Dallas Singer and Shaun Peterson. This was a pretty competitve heat, with Mike in the lead for the most part of the heat with some good barrels. I managed to find the scores I needed in the end, getting a good left which gave me enough speed to do a neat air reverse to end the heat in 1st with Mike in 2nd, this was by far the highlight of the event for me.
Wattsy was unfortunate to not find the 5 point ride he needed in the dying minutes and bowed out in 9th place, earning himself a sweet 125 AUD. The way the draw worked saw Mike move with me into Semi Final 1, along with Ash Bryant and Jones Russel. I really wanted to win this heat, doing multiples ARS's and spin roll combo's but frustratingly I could not pull myself out of 3rd, Jones and Ash were exchanging 1st while Mike looked like he was struggling. With 3 minutes left I found the wave I was looking for and boosted a clean ARS, spinning out of the roll spin rotation in the flats which boosted me into from 3rd to 1st, with Jonesy joining me in 2nd. I had made my first Australian Tour final, I was super pumped to say the least and the final was looking set, the Japanese wonder, Hiyato Enokido, Jones Russel, Jake Stone and myself. From about 5 mins in, Hiyato somehow managed to combo us all with a massive score of 16.81. The dude is a freak and deservingly won with his big ARS's, I finished 2nd with a score of just over 14 points. I tried my best and I was really happy with my result, especially since it was in conditions that are not usually my strong point. This event has really given me the confidence I have lacked in the past and I'm looking forward to the 2nd stop on the 2010 IBA world tour taking place at Soldiers beach this coming weekend the 15th-18th of April. Currently back in Sydney, where I am planning a secret trip, chasing a swell and have secured a new sponsor.
I'll tell you more about that as soon as I can. Thanks for all your support! Jerry
2427 views | Back to Jared Houston Blog
 | Jared Houston 16th April 2010 10:11 |
| Thanks Pete,got another one coming up soon! | |
 | Peter Brandt 15th April 2010 19:04 |
| Totally impressed, and nicely written post as well, very readable - thanks! | |
 | Kelly Footit 13th April 2010 14:50 |
| Well done to Jerry, Dan and Mark on those results ... and good luck for the Soldiers Beach Pro this week - look forward to hearing how you guys get on. | |
