Some of Australia’s best amateur longboarders showed their skills today as the final day of the 2013 Australian Longboard Titles moved back to North Haven, wrapping up in clean one-to-two foot waves.
Former Nikon Wave of the Day winner Denver Young claimed her first Australian Longboard Title, claiming victory in the Under-18 Girl final. The West Australian longboarder threw down a lengthy chain of forehand turns to nab herself the first place spot.
“Halfway through that heat I was panicking,” said Denver. “All the girls were surfing so well and I was scared I wouldn’t be able to catch up. I’m so stoked to win.”
Kai Ellice-Flint took down an all-star cast to be crowned Under-18 Boys champion. The Upper Myall surfer took down a blistering Will Crowe to take the title.
“I’m so stoked,” said Kai. “I feel like I’ve been surfing pretty well, but I had a bit of a bad start to the year, but it’s beginning to feel like it’s all coming together now. This has been my goal for two years and I’m so overwhelmed with it all, it’s awesome.”
West Australian surfer Georgia Young bagged back-to-back Australian Titles taking out the Open Women final. The Swanbourne surfer fought a nail-biter of a heat to claim the win in the final minute. Georgia locked in a heat total of 14.30 to claim the win ahead of Erin Dark, Sam Suenderman and Sam Vanderford who finished in second, third and fourth respectively.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well this year,” said Georgia. “I couldn’t really find a wave until that final minute, so I just figured I’d have to go hell-for-leather and it paid off. I wanted to pick off those medium ones that ran along the bank, but I didn’t really find one until the end.”
Clinton Guest continued his impressive run through the event with a win in the final of the Loggers division. The Gold Coast surfer threw down a variety of stylish and traditional maneuvers and fought off an in-form Jared Neal to take the win with a heat total of 16.00.
“I’m so happy,” said Clinton. “All my family came down to watch me compete in the Logger division. The waves just turned on and anyone in the heat could have taken that final out, I’m just stoked to have come away with the win and be crowned the inaugural champion for the Loggers.”
Jason Livingston locked in his second win in the 2013 Australian Longboard Titles, taking the win in the Over-40 Men. Hot off a win in the Over-45 Men on Friday, Jason effortlessly executed multiple snaps and cutbacks to earn himself a heat total of 14.50. Steve Mills finished in second, while 1988 Pipeline Masters champion Robbie Page finished in third.
“It was great to be out there with four NSW surfers,” said Jason. “Everyone was smiling out there and having fun. This year is my first Australian Titles in 16 years and I definitely think I’ll come back next year. It’s been great.”
Armed with a peculiar looking purple board, Jan Juc’s Greg Brown unleashed a flurry of critical cutbacks to earn himself an impressive heat total of 16.00 in the Over-50 Men final. The powerful natural-footer took the win ahead of Over-45 Men winner Richard Smith.
“I’m well and truly over the moon,” said Greg. “My gameplan was to simply go out there, go for broke and don’t fall off. It’s always great to surf with these guys, they’re a great bunch of surfers.”
John Skinner and Glenn Mahoney went neck and neck over the course of the Over-55 Men final, however when the final hooter sounded it was John who nabbed himself the win with a heat total of 12.40.
“It was a waiting game really,” said John Skinner. “You couldn’t just take anything. With 11 minutes remaining I really didn’t have too much, but then I got two screamers and it put me into the lead. Glenn and the other guys are incredible surfers and I knew they were capable of winning the heat in the final minute. Fortunately it went my way in the end.”
Daniel Bond took out his fifteenth Australian title, claiming the win in the Over-65 Men. The Blue Bay surfer and dual division winner notched up a heat total of 13.65 to add another accomplishment to his already over-flowing resume. Tasmanian Roy Forbes fought a hard battle, but ultimately had to settle for second place.
“I didn’t start too well in that heat,” said Daniel. “I usually have a better start to my heats than that, but I was lucky I finished well and caught a few waves at the end. Generally I’m a quick starter and a slow finisher. I’ll be back every year for this event, it’s been great.”
The highly contested Open Men final saw four event standouts trading long waves and heat totals in excess of 12 points. However, all efforts to stop Jared Neal from claiming victory ultimately fell short when he locked in a 9.90 and a 9.75, the highest heat total of the event. At the end of the heat it was local surfer Ian Bell who had to settle for second, while Nic Jones took third and Nick Farago finished in fourth.
“I’ve been trying to get myself an Australian Title for such a long time,” said Jared. “I’ve had a bunch of good friends who have won titles in the past, so it’s great to get my name up there also. It was heartbreaking last year, I actually gave Jackson Close [2012 Open Longboard champion] the wave he ended up winning on, so I wasn’t about to let that happen this year. I tried not too surf too much this year as I wanted to keep myself fresh and just to ensure I didn’t peak too early.”
Jared Neal also took out the Nikon Wave of the Day award for his aformentioned 9.90 ride. Jared scored a Nikon AW110 camera for his efforts.
All heat results, event highlight clips, images and news is available at www.australiansurffestival.com
Tomorrow’s proceedings are expected to kick off with the first rounds of The Surfmasters Titles.
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
Under-18 Girls
1 – Denver Young (Cottesloe – WA)
2 – Maddie Watson-Brown (Aroona – Qld)
3 – Grace Gilbert (Goolwa – SA)
4 – Lily Ellis (Wooloweyah – NSW)
Under-18 Boys
1 – Kai Ellice-Flint (Upper Myall – NSW)
2 – Will Crowe (Long Reef – NSW)
3 – Jarred Eason (Burraneer – NSW)
4 – Joel Skinner (Yamba Waters – NSW)
Open Women
1 – Georgia Young (Swanbourne – WA)
2 – Erin Dark (Tugan – Qld)
3 – Sam Suenderman (Jan Juc – Vic)
4 – Sam Vanderford (Scarborough – WA)
Logger Men
1 – Clinton Guest (Burleigh Waters – Qld)
2 – Jared Neal (Sapphire Beach – NSW)
3 – Mark McNamara (Currumbin – Qld)
4 – Michael Young (Dunbogan – NSW)
Over-40 Men
1 – Jason Livingston (North Curl Curl – NSW)
2 – Steve Mills (Byron Bay – NSW)
3 – Rob Page (Verges Creek – NSW)
4 – John Schmidenberg (Emerald Beach – NSW)
Over-50 Men
1 – Greg Brown (Jan Juc – Vic)
2 – Richard Smith (Sawtell – NSW)
3 – Gary Burden (Suffolk Park – NSW)
4 – John Lane (Torquay – Vic)
Over-55 Men
1 – John Skinner (Warilla – NSW)
2 – Glenn Mahoney (Emerald Beach – NSW)
3 – Allan Brown (Port Macquarie – NSW)
4 – Jack Howarth (Seaford – SA)
Over-65 Men
1 – Daniel Bond (Blue Bay – NSW)
2 – Roy Forbes (Triabunna – Tas)
3 – Neville Smith (Ashgrove – Qld)
4 – Bob Smith (Jan Juc – Vic)
Open Men
1 – Jared Neal (Sapphire Beach – NSW)
2 – Ian Bell (North Haven – NSW)
3 – Nic Jones (Buderim – Qld)
4 – Nick Farago (Corrimal – NSW)
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
