photo: Clifton local Matt Kennedy, Boys under 16 winner. ©2005 Thomas Moore | CoastView.com.au

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Rip Curl GromSearch presented by NINTENDO
STOP 6: Clifton, Tasmania - Saturday, January 15

Tasmania’s hottest 16 & Under aged surfers converged on Clifton Beach to contest Stop 6 of this year’s national Rip Curl GromSearch Series presented by NINTENDO.
Conditions were ideal for the enthusiastic and talented bunch of young surfers with clean 1m peaking waves at Clifton Beach.
For many it was the perfect environment to begin their surfing contest careers while a few others showed they were already experienced in the art of surfing competitively.
A few Victorian surfers also made the journey south to compete in what is the most prestigious and well established young surfers national series with some major prestige and opportunities for many of the finalists.
Divisions included under 16, 14 and 12’s across Girls and Boys
Winning the Boy’s under 16 was Clifton Beach local surfer Matt Kennedy with second place going to Matt Burke (NE Coast) - Both will now get the opportunity to surf in the final of the Australian Rip Curl GromSearch series during late March at Bells Beach and if he makes the final at that event he goes into the Rip Curl GromSearch international final, also surfed at Bells Beach during the Rip Curl Pro at Easter!
Under 16 Girls was won by Edwina Hogarth, Under 14 Boys Zac Grey, Under 14 Girls Ruby Wallace, under 12 Boys Hamish Renwick and under 12 Girls Sophie Burke.
After running events in all other surfing states, the Rip Curl GromSearch Series was stoked to include a contest in Tasmania before finishing in Sydney later this month.

GromSearch events are aimed at male and female surfers and are all about having fun and surfing competitively with your friends. For the older competitors the event also provides a chance to win an invite to the National GromSearch Final, being held at Bells Beach, Victoria, during the Rip Curl Pro this March. Paddling out into an empty Bells Beach line-up with thousands of people watching from the cliffs is every grom’s dream .

As well as competing in their respective age divisions titles, surfers also had the chance to win specialty prizes from Rip Curl and GromSearch associate partners NINTENDO, TELSTRA .
The NINTENDO highest scoring wave of the day went to Sam Faulkner for a super 8.5 ride scored early in the day in her u/16 opening heat - Sammi won a NINTENDO Game Cube for her efforts
The Telstra $100 phone card   for boys and girls rewarding the days most powerful move were won by Girls - Sam Faulkner and Boys - Matt Burke

The National Final will be held in Victoria on March 19, 2005. The International GromSearch Final will run during the Prestigious 2004 Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach March 21-31.

[Editors Note: This copy is straight from the SurfingAustralia news release and has a particular spelling for both Matt and Sophie Burke.  We note that the SurfingTasmania beach score-sheet has the last names for Matt and Sophie spelled “Bourke” ]