Flat Rock in Newcastle, is a surf break home to an invite only tournament, originally organized by Greg Mayers and recently taken over by Ryan Fitzgerald.
The format of the event consists of five 20 minute heats made up of 4 competitors, where each body surfer competes at least two times, without the use of a hand plane.
This year, an invitation was extended to the Corey Sains who is a member of the Bate Bay Body Bashers, based in Cronulla, NSW. Corey is also a member of both team Keel and WAW Handplanes.
“The contest is such an epic event, which I have been looking forward to, for a long time… It was an amazing experience being there, let alone winning my heats and making it to the final.”
Corey Sains on his performance in the heats.
On the day of the competition, riders woke up to the sight of pristine 3-4 ft waves and light offshore wind, which was no doubt a treat for all involved.
Corey quickly proved that his invite was deserving as he swiftly defeated his opponents in both of his first two heats, finishing in first place on each occasion.
The only other body-surfer to achieve the same results in the heats was the very experienced Owen Hancock (Instagram).
“Today I got few lucky waves that allowed me to ride the wave the way I like it…however, the most important part is the opportunity to share a wave with a mate (old and new) and score some fun slabs with out the usual crowd.”
Owen Hancock, this years winner on his experience in the competition.
In the final the conditions got a little tricky as the wind changed to cross shore, and the surfers were forced to make the best out of a less than ideal situation.
At the conclusion of the closely fought final, Owen Hancock came out on top, Matt Breen 2nd, WAW Team rider Paul Khodor (Instagram) came 3rd and Corey Sains round it out at 4th.
This is the 4th time Owen has been competing at this event, and on each occasion he made it to the finals, yet always falling short of the 1st place until this year.
“In the past I have been coming 2nd and 3rd which does not bother me too much, as the winners have always been more than deserving. Today I just got a few lucky ones that came my way, which allowed my the ride the wave, the way I like it”.
Owen Hancock humbly responds to his result as compared to previous years.
Corey Sains was beyond ecstatic that the organizers chose to invite him as the rest of the competition was predominantly based in the Newcastle region.
“The fact the event was invite only and they chose to invite me from Cronulla with the majority being from Newcastle was very satisfying, made me feel very special. I have to thanks the organizers for their invitation once again.”
Corey Sains on his gratitude towards the organizers.
The event was supported by Owen Surfcrafts who kindly donated the hand made trophies and Podware Fins which were handed out to all competitors as a complimentary gift.
Water U Know 
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