Corlette’s Elle Clayton-Brown and Merewether’s Jackson Baker have enjoyed some downtime over the Christmas break and surfing without the rigors of regular competition.
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But the Hunter pair, who earlier this month turned 16 and 21 respectively, are ready to hit the waves again for real by launching into 2018 via annual Newcastle event Surfest.
Clayton-Brown, who has a whiteboard full of this year’s targeted events at home, will be a busy campaigner next month after entering the Cadet Cup, Pro Junior and open trials.
“I’m really excited about it all,” she said. “Just looking forward to compete and hopefully do well this year.”
This will be Baker’s fourth go in the main draw, twice via wildcard and the latest two courtesy of rankings. After a confidence-boosting end to last season in Hawaii, he’s hopeful of cracking the top 50 on the World Surf League qualifying series this year.
“It’s a full year on the prime events and a good chance of cracking the top 50,” he said.
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Also read: Elle surfing her career to the next level
