The 2015 Lancelin Ocean Classic, Australia’s longest running windsurfing event, celebrated its 30th anniversary between January 15th and January 18th 2015. The four-day event has brought together close to 300 professionals and amateurs windsurfers from all over the world to compete in near perfect conditions.

Homegrown Jaeger Stone took home the trophy for the 2015 Windsurfing Wave Sailing competition while Steve Allen crossed the finish line of the 25 km Ledge Point to Lancelin Windsurfing Marath in first place for the third year running.

For the first day, the competitors weren't disappointed as Lancelin delivered a strong sea breeze between 20 and 30 knots, combined with a 2 meter swell which kept the waves at a perfect size for the pros to show off their moves.

After a very close series of heats, Jaeger Stone was crowned the 2015 Windsurf Wave Sailing Champion, ahead of Starboard/Severne team mates Dieter van der Eyken and local Ben Severne.

In the Open category, Steve Sheen was crowned champion, while Jonah Desforges claimed the title in the Masters division. Making her competitive comeback after some time out raising her young family, Starboard team rider Jane Seman won it for the Women division, ahead of Maeli Cherel and Justyna Sniady.

The blue ribbon event, the 25 km Legde Point to Lancelin Windsurfing Marathon took place on the third day. Over 220 competitors were registered for the downwind marathon class, which was slightly delayed to give the sea breeze time to settle in. While some racers opted for the surety of larger equipment (8.6m²'s), the majority ran the course on 7.5m² or 7.8m² and 100+ liter boards, and as the wind filled, some opportunity for even smaller equipment emerged.

For the technically minded, Steve Allen made good use of the superb range of the 2015 iSonic 107 Carbon, together with his new Reflex R6 7.8m² and a 36cm Carpenter fin.

Twenty eight minutes and seventeen seconds later, Steve Allen crossed the finish line in first place for the third year in a row, beating his 2014 time by more than a minute. Behind him, local Patrik Diethelm claimed second position, and Western Australian Rowen Law claimed third. Starting from literally last place (#224) on the grid, Avan Griffith ripped an incredible start and mid-race performance on his iSonic 87 Carbon with 7.0m² to be up as high as 2nd outright, before finishing an impressive 4th overall to win the Open Division, seconds behind Rowen.

After the race, Steve Allen said:

“For a really fast run, conditions were perfect. I’m happy to win but I think I could have finished a little bit quicker, but my UJ broke on the second reach and I had to nurse it for the whole the race. I had a very average start, maybe seventh or worse but quickly I was just passing them one by one. Patrik is a very fast sailor, and while my start was bad luckily he’s was a bit worse!”

Steve Allen and Jaeger Stone now add their names to a long list of winners, including Bjorn Dunkerbeck in 2011 (Marathon) or Ben Severne in 2010 (Waves)… For Steve, completing that “hat-trick” record of 3 Marathons wins in a row is extra special.

Starboard claimed a credible 6 of the Top 10 Outright finishers, with Jesper Orth in 5th and Dan Engdahl in 7th place. Ash Nicol slammed home 9th overall and an impressive win in Grand Masters in, neatly edging out new inducted “Hall of Famer” Scotty McKercher.

The Severne development team also took part in the Legde Point to Lancelin Marathon and showed skills! Ben Severne finished in 5th place in the Open's division, with a time of 34:20 while James Broomhead and Barnaby Knight finished in 8th and 9th place respectively, one minute behind each other.

2015 Windsurfing Marathon Results - Men's Overall

1. Steve Allen (28:17)2. Patrik Diethelm (28:47)3. Rowen Law (28:55)4. Avan Griffith (29:02)5. Jesper Orth (29:11)6. Guy Cribb (29:40)7. Daniel Engdahl (30:19)8. Chris Lockwood (30:44)9. Ash Nicol (30:49)10. Scott McKercher (30:57)

- Pictures are courtesy of John Carter & Angus Souter -