The 2013 Australian Surf Festival relocated to Watonga Rocks on Lighthouse Beach for day eight of competition.
Multiple Australian Title winner Daniel Bond added another win to his stellar list of previous accomplishments when he went on to claim the Over-60 Men final. The Blue Bay natural-footer successfully executed multiple carves and nose-rides to get the win. George Watt finished in second with Neville Smith in third and Ray Palmer in fourth.
“I think this is my fourteenth Australian Title and they all feel fantastic,” said Daniel. “I’m really excited. I owe it all to Debbie Allan, she got me up at 5.30am every morning and we had an early surf before the competition every day. All us all old guys get along really well when we’re surfing heats and there’s always a great atmosphere in the water.”
Hugh Mitchell, Liam Griggs-Kennelly, Will Crowe and Declan Wyton all locked in victories in their Under-18 Men heats. All surfers booked their spot into the semi-finals alongside the respective runner-ups.
The Logger division got underway today with some of Australia’s best amateur loggers rewinding the clock to the 1960s and trading off a variety of traditional and stylish manoeuvres.
Local surfer Michael Young wowed the crowd and the judges in his first Logger heat, locking in an impressive 16.00 heat total. The Dunbogan natural-footer performed multiple nose-rides and drawn out carves to earn himself a spot into the quarterfinals.
NSW State Logger champion Jarrod Morrell lived up to his previous triumphs nabbing himself a heat win and a spot in the quarterfinals.
“It’s great to see logging make its way into the Australian titles,” said Morrell. “I thoroughly enjoy riding a log and think it’s exactly what longboarding is all about.”
Other standouts in the second round of the Loggers included Nic Jones, Patrick O’Leary, Jared Neal, Mark McNamara and Mark Mattison who all locked in heat totals in excess of 14 points.
Both Denver Young and Grace Gilbert took impressive wins in their Over-18 Girls semi-finals. Maddie Watson-Brown and Lily Ellis also qualified for the final, taking out the runner-up spots in their semi-final heats.
The Teams division rounded out the day with all states nominating a team of five people to surf in an hour long tag-team heat which would determine the seedings for the 2014 Australian Surf Festival. When the division wrapped up it was NSW who claimed victory with Victoria in second place and WA in third.
The Nikon Wave of the Day award was handed to Denver Young for an 8.65 ride in her Under-18 Women semi-final. Denver was awarded with a Nikon AW110 Coolpix camera for her efforts.
The Australian Longboard Titles and The Australian Logger Titles are scheduled to wrap up tomorrow with the finals taking place at a yet-to-be-confirmed location.
All heat results, event highlight clips, images and news is available at www.australiansurffestival.com
All competitors are advised to ring the event hotline (0458 247 212) by 6.45am on the days of competition to confirm location and running order.
The main base for the Australian Surf Festival will be Town Beach, which is located in the heart of Port Macquarie, however the event is mobile with numerous beach break options available between Port Macquarie and North Haven (20 minutes drive south of Port Macquarie CBD) including Flynns Beach, Lighthouse Beach, Rainbow Beach at Bonny Hills and Grants Beach at North Haven.
This year’s event will feature a busy schedule out of the water with live music and surf education courses, including Surfing NSW’s free CPR and board rescue course, Surfers Rescue 24/7. Town Green Inn is the official headquarters for all functions and courses.
The Australian Surf Festival is a key regional event on the NSW Events Calendar, and is supported by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.
The Australian Surf Festival is proudly supported by the NSW Government, Destination NSW, Port Macquarie Tourism, Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Be the Influence, Harley-Davidson Australia, Town Green Inn, Nikon, Suncorp, Australian Sports Commission, Coastalwatch, NBN, Port Macquarie News, 2MC, Star FM, Surfing World Magazine and Pacific Longboarder Magazine.
RESULTS:
Over-60 Men Final
1 – Daniel Bond (Blue Bay – NSW)
2 – George Watt (Bonny Hills – NSW)
3 – Neville Smith (Ashgrove – Qld)
4 – Ray Palmer (Port Noarlunga – SA)
2013 AUSTRALIAN SURF FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
10-18 August – Australian Longboard Titles
16-18 August – Australian Logger Titles
16-18 August – Australian Longboard Titles – Under 18 Boys and Girls
19-23 August – Australian Surfmasters Titles
21-23 August – Australian Single Fin Titles
