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CLIFTON Beach surfer James Eaves has won Tasmania's most prestigious surf contest, the West Coast Classic.
The final day of the contest was held at Lighthouse Beach in one- metre surf, which was a drop from the larger waves of the previous two days.
Eaves found the best waves in the final and didn't hold back with impressive attacks on the lip and critical manoeuvres taking him to his second West Coast Classic crown.
Event director Glenn Saltmarsh said Eaves had been the form surfer in state contests for the past year and was always going to be hard to beat in powerful waves that suited his stylish, free-flowing surfing.
"The waves that the West Coast Classic were blessed with this year were the best waves I has ever surfed in a competition, and was stoked to win the title in such great surf," Eaves said.
Having won a cash prize and trip to Indonesia, Eaves also becomes the favourite for the state title with two competitions remaining at South Arm and the East Coast.
The East Coast's Ben Richardson was a close second.
Winning the open women's title for a third time was Zoe Gray, who lives on the doorstep of the West Coast surf reefs and used that knowledge to tame the quality waves.
The junior divisions were hotly contested with only the most confident surfers getting through the large surf.
Tom Grey, of the East Coast, won the under-21 boys, with Zoe Gray adding the under-21 title to her open crown.
Other Clifton Beach surfers also fared well in the junior divisions, with Kelly Nordstrom taking out the under-18 boys and Rudy Davis the under-16 boys.
Bruny Islander Lizzy Stokely won both the under-16 and under-18 girls' divisions, while North-West Coast siblings Ben and Inti Callighan claimed both under-14 divisions.
Saltmarsh said the 38th year of the classic would be remembered for decades due to the prime surf conditions and power surfing.
"This is the best waves for the contest in the last 15 years and it will be hard to top the waves and performance surfing that we were blessed with," Saltmarsh said.
