This weekend, if you want to see some of the world’s best surfers ripping it up, get down to Burleigh Heads for the final two days of the Men’s and Women’s Breaka Pro. Action starts at 8am on both days, with the finals scheduled around lunchtime this Sunday. Starting with 160 competitors in the Men’s and 60 in the Women’s, the top seeds will be in the water and there will be a chance to see some of the up and coming rippers in the men’s, plus a big contingent of WCT surfers who have entered the event.
All the sand has been taken off the rocks at Burleigh, and the good old reliable rock-break has been producing some quality rides on the right tide, with some awesome surfing on display. There is a giant screen, milk and other giveaways and fun for one and all, as the Gold Coast has the first event of surfing silly season. Even the Burleigh locals have been impressed with the number of women in the water and the standard of surfing that they are producing. The Women’s event is a 6-star qualifying event, so it is one of the most important events for the ladies looking to qualify for the 2014 Women’s World Championship Tour.
One thing for all those going to check it out over the next few days, grab a hat, sunnies, and the sunscreen, and also work out where to park, as parking spots will be harder to get than a set wave off one of the Burleigh locals. Public transport would be the best call, as the parking inspectors at Burleigh are deadly. Catch the bus I reckon, and Surfside Buslines cover down the Tweed Coast and go to Burleigh and beyond. Check the action and enjoy!
Two weeks until the Volcom Kirra Teams Challenge
The biggest teams event in the world gets underway on Friday, February 22, finishing on Sunday the 24th. Teams from as far north as Noosa, and to the far flung reaches of Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia will be competing in the event. It is great to see small clubs coming to surf the event from so far away, and really shows in what high esteem the Kirra Teams Challenge Title is held. Some of the interstate raiders also use it as an excuse to come and party with the Quilsilver Pro starting the following week. Thirty-six teams of six open and two junior surfers per club will see some of Australia’s best surfers competing for their clubs.
It is a bit of a shame though, that the powers that be will not let the WCT surfers compete in any events other than ASP sanctioned event, with rumours of a $25,000 fine if any surfer tries to break the ban. With the new media deal struck by the ASP, they are restricting their “product” from being used somewhere else. All fair and good in the world of business, but in the world of surfing, it is the clubs which help these surfers on their journey to become stars and, once they are at the peak of their powers, the clubs can no longer have them surf for the club that bought them up.
That being said, there will be some red-hot surfers in the event, Occy, Jay Phillips, Dean Morrison, and a host of up and coming surfers for Snapper, Jack Freestone, Brent Dorrington and Samba Mann for Dbah, not to mention Matt Hoy for Merewether, Damien Hardman and Nathan Hedge for Narrabeen, Danny Wills and a host of up and coming stars for Byron Bay, and the local heroes from many clubs who have caused one or two upsets before. It will be an exciting three days of surfing, and definetly worth checking out. The event is scheduled to be held at Duranbah beach but, if there is a big swell, there is nothing more that the Kirra Surfriders would love more than holding the event for the first time since the 1980s at the famed Kirra Big Groyne.
Surfing Queensland Awards Night this Sunday
Surfing Queensland will be holding their annual awards night this Sunday, at the Breaka Pro contest site. There awards will be presented to the Queensland Champions, and few big announcements for the coming year. A big shindig I believe, and there should be plenty of fun to be had by those who attend. If you are in a Queensland Club, or a member of Surfing Queensland, check the Surfing Queensland Website on how to get you VIP ticket.. Best Boardies, T-shirts and thong on the night please!
Oswald Did Some Damage, but the banks are alright – sort of…..
Well, after the destruction of ex-TC Oswald, there has been flotsam and jetsam all over the beaches, and in the water. It looked as though all the surfing banks were going to be destroyed, and a hell of a lot of sand has been moved around. Duranbah Beach has huge sand cliffs and, like most of the other beaches in the area, took a real hiding.
This will be a hard one for the Kirra Teams Challenge infa-structure in just under two weeks. Burleigh now has a wide storm bank, and the inside rock-break. Currumbin a wide but surfable bank, there has been some pumping brown rooms at Greenmount, Coolangatta and Kirra, but the bank behind the rock at Snapper is now a deep hole, and the waves aren’t really breaking until they reach Little Marly.
As I said last week, the sand pumping will start soon, so they can return the bank back to Snapper for the Quiksilver Pro in three weeks. I am not sure if Big Groyne Kirra will be an option for the event, but has one of the best quality waves at the moment, but for sure we will have more sand pumped from Letitia Spit to Froggys, and the bank will be back, just in time for the pro. Wonder if they can make a bank for me?
Sunnyboys surf a wave of success
An update from Kingscliff’s favourite musical sons the Sunnyboys who played the house down at Day on the Green at Sirromet Winery in Brisbane at the weekend and dedicated the song from the soundtrack of Storm Riders “Tunnel of My Love” to the Kingscliff Boardriders Club. Surfers from a lot of the Gold Coast Tweed Clubs were up at Sirromet for the gig, to cheer the locals boys on. Lead singer Jeremy Oxely was Australian Schoolboy surfing champ in 1979. Yours Truly, Individual Number 118 of the Sunnyboys Fan Club, had a great time.
