Lucy Small finishes runner-up in two divisions at iconic Whalebone Longboard Classic

Former Denmark resident Lucy Small shone at the return of the Whalebone Longboard Classic at Cottesloe last weekend.

Small now lives in Newtown, NSW, but was in WA to compete at the 23rd edition of the event, which returned after a two-year hiatus.

More than 100 competitors from around WA and Australia converged on the reefs of Cottesloe and battled hard through some challenging winter conditions, with fresh onshore winds and lumpy 2-4ft surf on offer on finals day.

Small competed in the pro women’s final and the open women’s logger final, finishing runner-up in both events.

In the pro women’s final she finished with a combined two-wave total of 10.4 but it was not enough to edge out Mandurah’s Sasha Jane Lowerson (12.2).

WA pair Denver Young (9.1) and Molly Hoskens (5.2) rounded out the top four.

The open women’s final was also an exciting affair in which Perth competitor Georgia Young proved too strong with a combined score of 14.6.

Small was runner-up with her 12.45 effort, while Hoskens (8.75) was third and Dunsborough’s Shae Sheridan (5.15) was fourth.

The Whalebone Classic was born in 1998 after local longboarder Peter Dunn discovered a whale’s rib bone immersed in the surf at Isolators and decided to host a longboarding competition in memory of the whale’s spirit.

Two decades on, the competition has grown to be a popular longboard event and a much-loved tradition among the community.