It was all about the next generation of surfers today at Cronulla as the beachside suburb’s favourite surfing son, Mark ‘Occy’ Occhilupo, donned a contest singlet to take on the division winners of his own signature junior surfing contest – Occ, Stock and barrels.
In stifling 40 degree heat and in very small 0.5m waves, Occhilupo faced a big challenge taking on the light-footed trio of Jake Scott (Malabar), Veronica Charles (Cronulla) and Jarrod Szele (Warilla), who had all gained the chance to surf against the 1999 ASP World Champion in the Occy Grand Final by earlier winning their respective divisions.
With waves few and far between at a packed North Cronulla Beach, wave selection and a little bit of luck were critical factors in the ‘Occy Grand Final’ and it was Veronica Charles who opened a narrow lead early over her more fancied opponents.
However her lead was shortly overtaken by Jake Scott who was awarded an 8.0 for a flurry of smooth turns on a rare set wave. Scott then backed this up with a 4.83 to move into a near unbeatable position.
