December 2, 2017
by Christopher Parker (@wheresbossman)

King of the Cut: Jake Jensen Dethrones Titouan Puyo, Angie Jackson Overpowers Karla Gilbert to Win Australia’s Biggest Race


King of the Cut

Angie Jackson en route to a big win at the King of the Cut (photo: Neng Chunthanom)

In brief: Jake Jensen and Angie Jackson have claimed victories at the Stand Up Surf Shop “King of the Cut” downwind showdown in Western Australia this afternoon, defeating a star-studded cast of ocean masters to give Team ONE a double victory.

Jake was too fast for defending champ and downwind dynamo Titouan Puyo, while last weekend’s Doctor winner James Casey hit the podium once again with another classy performance. Michael Booth and Molokai hero Travis Grant rounded out the top five in a field that featured most of Australia’s best, a few international guns and dozens of weekend warriors enjoying WA’s famous conditions.

While most of the field were riding unlimiteds after King of the Cut organisers opened up the board classes this year, there was still an intriguing battle in the stock 14′ class. Matt Nottage narrowly held on for the home team against Gorge champion Bernd Roediger, while 15-year-old Noic “Chicken” Garioud took third.

Jake Jensen

Jake Jensen guides his ONE unlimited to shore to claim the crown (photo: Neng Chunthanom)

After mixed forecasts all week had a few paddlers worried, conditions ended up being really good on the famous downwind run along the Dawesville Cut. There were light bumps in the first half of the race but things really picked up on the run home, with endless runners producing some very quick times (7 minutes faster than last year’s run).

Titou said after the race that it was a great run even though he lost his crown: “Light at the start which suited me. But Jake passed me near the end and I couldn’t do anything. It was a super event as always and we had good conditions. And also one dolphin!”

I also got a quick word from Travis after the race who said it was a really good run considering the winds were lighter than usual, before adding that “Man, everyone is going so fast now.”

On the women’s side, Angela Jackson dethroned 2016 winner Karla Gilbert with a stunning performance that saw the Queenslander shave 11 minutes off her time from last year. Angie finished over six minutes ahead of the defending champ to give Team ONE the golden double, with local wildcard Belinda Stowell-Brett rounding out the podium after a solid performance of her own.

Angie Jackson

Angie Jackson all smiles at the finish line (photo: Neng Chunthanom)

Ang told me after the race that she was beyond stoked by the result, which is just reward for her committed training regime — the champ has recently been using Boothy’s custom training program and it’s clearly paying dividends. “Wind was relatively light but lots of well-groomed bumps. You had to really work for them though. Stoked with my result and time — Boothy’s training is the bomb!”

The double victory from Jake and Angie is also the biggest result thus far for boutique brand ONE, while another of the little guys that are punching above their weight, Sunova, also enjoyed a strong presence in the field.

We’ll have a full recap up soon, but in the meantime here’s a quick look at today’s top finishers — get the full results on the GPS-tracking page.

King of the Cut

Champions: Jake Jensen and Angie Jackson proudly display their ONE boards after the team swept today’s King of the Cut race in Western Australia


#AthleteTimeBoardPoints
1Jake Jensen1:41:14unlimited40.00
2Titouan Puyo1:42:38unlimited30.00
3James Casey1:43:16unlimited24.00
4Michael Booth1:45:18unlimited20.00
5Travis Grant1:46:23unlimited17.00
6Beau O'Brian1:47:24unlimited14.00
7Marcus Tardrew1:47:34unlimited12.00
8Matt Nottage1:48:081410.00
9Bernd Roediger1:48:39149.00
10James Knowles1:48:54unlimited8.00
11Ben Tardrew1:50:22unlimited7.20
12Paul Jackson1:51:36unlimited6.40
13Noic Garioud1:52:27146.00
14David Kissane1:53:04unlimited5.60
15sam parker1:54:49unlimited5.20
16William Lee1:55:14144.80
17Ty Judson1:58:39unlimited4.40
18Sam McCullough1:58:44144.00
19Bryn Hoyd2:04:15unlimited3.60
20Olivier Garioud2:04:24143.20
21Mark Huxley2:04:29unlimited3.00
22Jason Oliphant2:07:07unlimited2.80
23john gerlach2:07:20unlimited2.60
24Scott McCluskey2:07:28unlimited2.40
25Ben Mardon2:07:33unlimited2.20
26Dale Chapman2:10:38unlimited2.08
27Andy Davies2:11:05141.96
28Luke Hallam2:12:14141.84
29Alain Teurquetil2:12:35unlimited1.72
30Adam Fahey2:14:09unlimited1.60
31Jason Kennett2:16:54141.52
32Derek Jones2:17:22unlimited1.44
33Travis Murphy2:17:28141.36
34Glenn Morgan2:17:37unlimited1.28
35Willis Casey2:17:43unlimited1.20
36David Hume2:18:29unlimited1.12
37Crawford Olney2:18:41141.04
38Kevin Johnson2:18:48140.96
39Darren Pratt2:19:25unlimited0.88
40Cameron McKay2:19:35140.80
41Dave White2:20:30unlimited0.76
42Alessio Voliani2:20:48unlimited0.72
43Damian England2:21:07140.68
44Greg Kerr2:22:54unlimited0.64
45Luke Jenkins2:23:35140.60
46Dany Leclerc2:24:02140.56
47Stuart Speechley2:26:31140.52
48Ben de Chaneet2:26:51140.48
49Jade Denton2:27:20140.44
50Kent Wright2:27:56140.40
51Gordon Salvage2:29:20140.00
52Tony Strang2:30:59140.00
53Peter Baldwin2:31:21140.00
54Glen Andrews2:34:11unlimited0.00
55Samuel Maurice2:34:22140.00
56Steve McCullough2:36:11140.00
57Blair Harrison2:39:16unlimited0.00
58Steve Malcom2:40:25unlimited0.00
59Matt Mudie2:41:06140.00
60phil pretty2:42:22unlimited0.00
61Darron McNab2:43:27140.00
62Darren Hope2:44:35140.00
63Matthew Kelly2:45:41unlimited0.00
64Chris Ting2:47:04unlimited0.00
65Alex Fossilo2:53:25140.00
66Neil James2:56:51unlimited0.00
67brook ekers3:17:05140.00

#AthleteTimePoints
1Angie Jackson2:07:4130.00
2Karla Gilbert2:14:1222.50
3Belinda Stowell-Brett2:21:2318.00
4Yuka Sato2:24:2015.00
5Jade Lane2:25:2212.75
6Suzanna Wilson2:27:3810.50
7Cristiana Chessa2:33:189.00
8Jacklyn Nichols2:37:417.50
9Sofie Simonsson2:57:136.75
10Tracey Mouque3:15:056.00

Click here for the full results

King of the Cut

Travis Grant (photo: Neng Chunthanom)

King of the Cut

Titouan Puyo (photo: Neng Chunthanom)

King of the Cut

James Casey (photo: Neng Chunthanom)

King of the Cut

Sam McCullough (photo: Neng Chunthanom)

King of the Cut

Angie Jackson and Karla Gilbert (photo: Neng Chunthanom)