![](\"http:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/uploads\/71354c10-3875-7469.jpg\")
\nPhoto: Darryl Menzies (Copyright \u2013 All Rights Reserved)<\/p>\n
The 2009 Nomad Shark Island Challenge<\/p>\n
7th \u2013 27th of July \u2013 Shark Island N.S.W, Australia<\/p>\n
\nPhoto: Darryl Menzies (Copyright \u2013 All Rights Reserved)<\/p>\n
Ewan Donnachie is the 2009 Nomad Shark Island Challenge Champion <\/p>\n
Shark Island 2nd August 2009.<\/p>\n
Shark Island, Cronulla (Saturday, August 1st, 2009) \u2013 Ewan Donnachie from Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches has won The 2009 Nomad Shark Island Challenge in clean 1 \u2013 1.5m conditions to claim first prize of $10,000 over an accumulated two round points system.<\/p>\n
Since the completion of Round 1 back on the 12th of July, riders and officials have been on stand-by waiting in anticipation for the second round to commence. The weeks that followed saw small to flat condition as Sydney basked in a stable weather pattern. Towards the end of the 21 day waiting period riders voted unanimously to extend the period to accommodate a strong fetch of ground swell that was predicted to reel up the N.S.W coastal \u2013 and it\u2019s paid off.Riders were greeted to a freshly groomed Southerly ground swell, a direct result of a powerful lower pressure system situated in the Tasman Sea. As dawn broke, long clean lines peeled around the infamous reef giving everyone an early viewing on what laid ahead. <\/p>\n
Due to the southerly direction Contest Director Mark Fordham wasted no time on calling the event \u2018ON\u2019, taking full advantage of the perfect low to mid tide conditions.<\/p>\n
The heats were reversed (4, 3, 2, and 1) to ensure that all riders had their fair share of tidal conditions. Riders had 45 minutes to top up their round 1 scores. <\/p>\n
Overall each heat had their fair share of waves. Competitors basically lined up to enjoy the fun barrelling conditions. Standouts from Round 2 were Alex Leon, Ben Sawyer, Dave Ballard, Chris James, Nick Omerod, Ewan Donnachie, Christian Riguccini and Shaun Peterson. <\/p>\n
Upon the completion all headed down to Bar 2230 for the presentation. The \u201cBest Off\u201d awards were presented and then the top eight place getters where called up for the final countdown. Riguccini and Donnachie were the last two standing. Both had shown great tube riding skills and wave knowledge through out the event. In the end, Riguccini, the 1999 SIC Champion was pipped by a mere 5.3 point leaving Donnachie to take to SIC 2009 title.. <\/p>\n
THE WINNERS LIST<\/p>\n
First Prize – Ewan Donnachie $10,000 winner takes all<\/p>\n
Best Barrel – Dave Ballard 2 weeks stay at The Secret Sumatra \u2013 Surf Camp<\/p>\n
Best Move – Shaun Peterson 2 week boat trip courtesy of The Surf Travel Company<\/p>\n
Best Wipe Out – Glen Thurston $500 \u2013 courtesy of Bar 2230, Cronulla<\/p>\n
Longest tube time – Dave Ballard Buzzing over Sydney in the world renowned Red Bull Stunt Plane<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end it came down to the most consistent rider and that rider was Ewan\u201d, explained Contest Director Mark Fordham. \u201cEven though he didn\u2019t win a Round he managed to secure two solid scoring waves from both days. For example, Dougy Showell was leading after the Round 1 and couldn\u2019t find his rhythm in Round 2. Dave Ballard only scored 1 solid wave in Round 1, but managed to find his rhythm, especially in the barrel and took out Round 2 \u2013 it was a tight event \u2013 the luck could have swung in anyone\u2019s favour, that\u2019s competition… <\/p>\n
I guess Round 2 was a savour for many. The waves were great for all heats so I guess everyone is happy. It would have been great if it was a little bigger though as the old saying goes \u2018you take what you\u2019ve been given\u2019 . After analysing the swell yesterday I thought that it was going to pump as the tide got higher, instead it just hovered at the 3-4ft range. Regardless, everyone on board is stoked, there was plenty of tubes and plenty of ramps to hit so all in all everyone had an equal chance to improve on their first round scores.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the winner\u2019s speech, Donnachie was quick to comment on the importance of the event, \u201cOverall it\u2019s been a \u2018Challenge\u2019 for everyone, physically and mentally, unlike any event in the world… I am stoked that everyone saw the bigger picture and decided to extend the waiting period. Having that flexibility is essential \u2013 that\u2019s the beauty of the SIC- it gives us the chance to express our sport in the best possible way…\u201d<\/p>\n
Rider Round 1 Round 2 Total Placing<\/p>\n
Ewan Donnachie 33.8 42.1 75.9 1st<\/p>\n
Christian Riguccini 24.5 46.1 70.6 2nd<\/p>\n
Alex Bunting 34.3 35.4 69.7 3rd<\/p>\n
Jose Marquina 23.8 42.1 65.9 4th<\/p>\n
Doug Showell 37.3 24.4 61.7 5th<\/p>\n
Josh Pollard 27.7 34.0 61.7 5th<\/p>\n
Brendan Ryan 27.3 33.9 61.2 7th<\/p>\n
Shaun Peterson 17.3 43.8 61.1 8th<\/p>\n
Dave Ballard 13.7 47.4 61.1 8th<\/p>\n
Nick Omerod 20.6 37.8 58.4 10th<\/p>\n
Adam Luehman 25.3 32.1 57.4 11th<\/p>\n
Glen Thurston 27.5 28.2 55.7 12th<\/p>\n
Ben Sawyer 17.0 38.4 55.4 13th<\/p>\n
Alex Leon 18.8 34.7 53.5 14th <\/p>\n
Glen Sullivan 25.5 26.8 52.3 15th <\/p>\n
Jason Finlay ` 15.0 30.3 45.3 16th <\/p>\n
Jared Houston 11.8 32.0 43.8 17th <\/p>\n
Chris James 0 42.0 42.0 18th <\/p>\n
Kira Llewellyn 13.5 9.5 23.0 19th <\/p>\n
Mike Murphy 10.0 0 10.0 20th <\/p>\n
On a final note I would like to thank all the Sponsors of this year\u2019s event for their continuous support especially in this economic climate, the riders for the total commitment and positive frame of mind and attitude during the entire competition period and, of coarse the officials and crew for their upmost professionalism. See you in 2010… <\/p>\n
Regards Mark Fordham (Contest Organiser \/ Director)<\/p>\n
SPONSORS FOR THE 2009 SHARK ISLAND CHALLENGE ARE<\/p>\n
1. Nomad Bodyboards<\/p>\n
2. Emerald Surf City<\/p>\n
3. Riptide Bodyboard Magazine<\/p>\n
4. Secret Sumatra<\/p>\n
5. Surf Travel<\/p>\n
6. Human<\/p>\n
7. Limited Edition Fins<\/p>\n
8. Red Bull Australia<\/p>\n
9. Dunes Wetsuits<\/p>\n
10. Bar 2230 – Cronulla<\/p>\n
Event info please email – sharkislandchallenge@iinet.net.au<\/p>\n
Media Updates @ www.riptidemag.com.au<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 2009 Nomad Shark Island Challenge 7th \u2013 27th of July \u2013 Shark Island N.S.W, Australia Photo: Darryl Menzies (Copyright \u2013 All Rights Reserved) Ewan Donnachie is the 2009 Nomad Shark Island Challenge Champion Shark Island 2nd August 2009. Shark Island, Cronulla (Saturday, August 1st, 2009) \u2013 Ewan Donnachie from Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches has won … Continue reading “Ewan Donnachie is the 2009 Nomad Shark Island Challenge Champion”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bodyboarding-news-2005-2015","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13744\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}