SVNews
Penultimate day: Noosa Festival of Surfing
NOOSA/QLD (16th March, 2012): The penultimate and semi finals day of competition commenced, with inspirational action taking place from the very first heat. Although an insignificant drop of swell occurred overnight, it was complimented by a decrease in wind and more favourable direction blessed the contest arena with manicured waves running across the mid-tide sand bank.
Junior divisions abound for the quartet of opening heats, the Pacific Longboarder Under 18s rapidly followed by the Under 15 Boys semi final, sponsored by Humid.
The Jones brothers had a fantastic morning, older brother Nic, a team rider for event sponsor Classic Malibu, gleaning nine well-earned points from his opening wave, and a mid-range score very late in the piece securing a justified victory in the first heat of the day. His younger sibling Harri had more of a challenge in the Humid Under 15s, putting all his efforts in to narrowly qualify for tomorrow’s final.
Nathan Strom was untouchable in heat one of the Under 15s, leading from the commencement and indefatigable throughout to register a superb win.
Light showers came down on the heads of the spectators clamouring for position along the shoreline of First Point’s natural amphitheatre, as the inaugural Laguna Bay Longboards Logger Pro launched into its first semi final.
Matt Chojnacki, from Sydney’s Northern Beaches was world-class in his performance, his very traditional stylings the epitome of panache and the perfect example of the skills required for the event. 16 points even garnished Cojnacki with a convincing win in heat one, whilst the second heat was dominated once again by the local superhuman surfer, Harrison Roach.
Only three waves were ridden by Roach, his opening ride, an impressive 6.75, looking shabby next to his very high following scores. Roach’s faultless talent gave him a near-perfect score to set the bar for the final tomorrow.
Another traditional event ensued, the Old Mal division, sponsored by RACV Noosa Resort. Matt Cuddihy remained in the water after taking a qualifying second place in the previous division, and backed it up with a healthy twelve points, a touch of Sage Joske’s influence in his crouched rail-grab bottom turns, Joske an outstanding participant in previous years.
Cuddihy surfed outstandingly and, alongside Matt Cojnacki, was a definitive surfer in this event, featuring exclusively boards all made before 1967. Cojnacki channeled the spirits of yesteryear, emulating the surfers of a decade in which he was not even born.
Both surfers will take their well-earned places in tomorrow’s final.
The Old Guys Ruled once again, with the Over 55 and Over 60 Men’s events taking to the water.
These semis were the last opportunities for surfers to earn a berth in tomorrow’s finals, the top three of each heat advancing. This do-or-die challenge drew some outstanding performances from the surfers, Albe Curtis particularly of note, posting two very solid rides to lead from start to finish. Nipping at his heels though was Pacific Longboarder chief editor, John ‘JB’ Brasen. JB’s best was the heat’s highest score, a 7.25, but he was unable to match it and relinquishing the top spot, but not his ticket to the final.
Mike Pimm, too, was a standout, two massive 7.5 waves giving him a fantastic victory.
And then to the noserider. The Golden Breed Noserider, always a thrilling crowd-pleaser, failed to disappoint and, with little surprise, Harrison Roach again was head-and-shoulders above his adversaries.
Local knowledge paid dividends and three of the four surfers tip-timing their ways into the finals. Roach went from the sublime to ridiculous, with again very closely a minute perched on the front end of his board. But today he was in closer company, Matt Cuddihy and Beau Nixon both around ten seconds off the pace. All three were indisputable finalists, but the fourth and last remaining place was a nail-biter. With just seven seconds separating the remaining contestants, it was young Noosa local, Zye Norris who won the coveted fourth.
With so much action taking place throughout the day, it is very nearly impossible to hone the highlights, like needles in a needle stack of exceptional moments.
To précis a wonderful day of semi finals, Nic Jones was phenomenal in both the Under 18 and the Open Amateur Men’s, claiming outstanding victories in both, amounting almost 17 points of a possible twenty in his heat, making for a very busy finals day tomorrow.
The PJ Burns Under 18 Girls second semi was far too close to call. A very lethargic ocean providing little opportunity in the heat’s first half reduced the action to ten minutes. The surfers added to this compression of scores, matching each other evenly right up until the dying minutes. An overabundance of very late scores left the judges sweating for a full five minutes after the final horn, but it was Rosain Carolan who emerged victorious, Rachel Fleming set to join her in the final.
The SeaGlass Project Finless Challenge was again Harrison Roach’s feeding ground, but Fred Branger dominated the second heat and it will be very interesting watching the pair go head to head in tomorrow’s final.
Final competing was done by the Senior Women, for the John Madill Toyota semi final.
An interference call denied local favourite, Keena Wilson a berth in the first heat, Leanne ‘Bluey’ Gilkes taking the heat, and in the second semi, visiting Taiwanese surfer, BayBay Niu surfed an exquisite round, but with a breath-taking 8.25 points scored on a perfectly executed wave, Yvette Kordick tipped the balance.
Both surfers, though, will have their rematch in the final.
The greatest crowd of the day was drawn in the dying hours of daylight. Wrapping up the day was a fantastic display of surfing-meets-gymnastics, with five tandem couples paddling out and gaining the largest cheers and greatest appreciation of the festival so far.
All the action of the last day of the festival tomorrow, as finals fill the day for all divisions. Exceptional talent, thrilling tension, nail-biting finishes – the day is poised to be an unmissable event, all taking place right on the beach at First Point, Noosa.
All results for the day, and the week, are available on the event website, as well as draws for Thursday’s competition.
Visit www.noosafestivalofsurfing.com for further information and images of the daily events.#
Photos: Geoff Fanning / Noosa Festival Of Surfing
Penultimate day: Noosa Festival of Surfing
NOOSA/QLD (16th March, 2012): The penultimate and semi finals day of competition commenced, with inspirational action taking place from the very first heat. Although an insignificant drop of swell occurred overnight, it was complimented by a decrease in wind and more favourable direction blessed the contest arena with manicured waves running across the mid-tide sand bank.
Junior divisions abound for the quartet of opening heats, the Pacific Longboarder Under 18s rapidly followed by the Under 15 Boys semi final, sponsored by Humid.
The Jones brothers had a fantastic morning, older brother Nic, a team rider for event sponsor Classic Malibu, gleaning nine well-earned points from his opening wave, and a mid-range score very late in the piece securing a justified victory in the first heat of the day. His younger sibling Harri had more of a challenge in the Humid Under 15s, putting all his efforts in to narrowly qualify for tomorrow’s final.
Nathan Strom was untouchable in heat one of the Under 15s, leading from the commencement and indefatigable throughout to register a superb win.
Light showers came down on the heads of the spectators clamouring for position along the shoreline of First Point’s natural amphitheatre, as the inaugural Laguna Bay Longboards Logger Pro launched into its first semi final.
Matt Chojnacki, from Sydney’s Northern Beaches was world-class in his performance, his very traditional stylings the epitome of panache and the perfect example of the skills required for the event. 16 points even garnished Cojnacki with a convincing win in heat one, whilst the second heat was dominated once again by the local superhuman surfer, Harrison Roach.
Only three waves were ridden by Roach, his opening ride, an impressive 6.75, looking shabby next to his very high following scores. Roach’s faultless talent gave him a near-perfect score to set the bar for the final tomorrow.
Another traditional event ensued, the Old Mal division, sponsored by RACV Noosa Resort. Matt Cuddihy remained in the water after taking a qualifying second place in the previous division, and backed it up with a healthy twelve points, a touch of Sage Joske’s influence in his crouched rail-grab bottom turns, Joske an outstanding participant in previous years.
Cuddihy surfed outstandingly and, alongside Matt Cojnacki, was a definitive surfer in this event, featuring exclusively boards all made before 1967. Cojnacki channeled the spirits of yesteryear, emulating the surfers of a decade in which he was not even born.
Both surfers will take their well-earned places in tomorrow’s final.
The Old Guys Ruled once again, with the Over 55 and Over 60 Men’s events taking to the water.
These semis were the last opportunities for surfers to earn a berth in tomorrow’s finals, the top three of each heat advancing. This do-or-die challenge drew some outstanding performances from the surfers, Albe Curtis particularly of note, posting two very solid rides to lead from start to finish. Nipping at his heels though was Pacific Longboarder chief editor, John ‘JB’ Brasen. JB’s best was the heat’s highest score, a 7.25, but he was unable to match it and relinquishing the top spot, but not his ticket to the final.
Mike Pimm, too, was a standout, two massive 7.5 waves giving him a fantastic victory.
And then to the noserider. The Golden Breed Noserider, always a thrilling crowd-pleaser, failed to disappoint and, with little surprise, Harrison Roach again was head-and-shoulders above his adversaries.
Local knowledge paid dividends and three of the four surfers tip-timing their ways into the finals. Roach went from the sublime to ridiculous, with again very closely a minute perched on the front end of his board. But today he was in closer company, Matt Cuddihy and Beau Nixon both around ten seconds off the pace. All three were indisputable finalists, but the fourth and last remaining place was a nail-biter. With just seven seconds separating the remaining contestants, it was young Noosa local, Zye Norris who won the coveted fourth.
With so much action taking place throughout the day, it is very nearly impossible to hone the highlights, like needles in a needle stack of exceptional moments.
To précis a wonderful day of semi finals, Nic Jones was phenomenal in both the Under 18 and the Open Amateur Men’s, claiming outstanding victories in both, amounting almost 17 points of a possible twenty in his heat, making for a very busy finals day tomorrow.
The PJ Burns Under 18 Girls second semi was far too close to call. A very lethargic ocean providing little opportunity in the heat’s first half reduced the action to ten minutes. The surfers added to this compression of scores, matching each other evenly right up until the dying minutes. An overabundance of very late scores left the judges sweating for a full five minutes after the final horn, but it was Rosain Carolan who emerged victorious, Rachel Fleming set to join her in the final.
The SeaGlass Project Finless Challenge was again Harrison Roach’s feeding ground, but Fred Branger dominated the second heat and it will be very interesting watching the pair go head to head in tomorrow’s final.
Final competing was done by the Senior Women, for the John Madill Toyota semi final.
An interference call denied local favourite, Keena Wilson a berth in the first heat, Leanne ‘Bluey’ Gilkes taking the heat, and in the second semi, visiting Taiwanese surfer, BayBay Niu surfed an exquisite round, but with a breath-taking 8.25 points scored on a perfectly executed wave, Yvette Kordick tipped the balance.
Both surfers, though, will have their rematch in the final.
The greatest crowd of the day was drawn in the dying hours of daylight. Wrapping up the day was a fantastic display of surfing-meets-gymnastics, with five tandem couples paddling out and gaining the largest cheers and greatest appreciation of the festival so far.
All the action of the last day of the festival tomorrow, as finals fill the day for all divisions. Exceptional talent, thrilling tension, nail-biting finishes – the day is poised to be an unmissable event, all taking place right on the beach at First Point, Noosa.
All results for the day, and the week, are available on the event website, as well as draws for Thursday’s competition.
Visit www.noosafestivalofsurfing.com for further information and images of the daily events.#
Photos: Geoff Fanning / Noosa Festival Of Surfing